abonidus, in fact, had excited a strong feeling
against himself by attempting to centralize the religion of Babylonia in
the temple of Merodach (Marduk) at Babylon, and while he had thus alienated
the local priesthoods the military party despised him on account of his
antiquarian tastes. He seems to have left the defence of his kingdom to
others, occupying himself with the more congenial work of excavating the
foundation records of the temples and determining the dates of their
builders. The invasion of Babylonia by Cyrus was doubtless facilitated by
the existence of a disaffected party in the state, as well as by the
presence of foreign exiles like the Jews, who had been planted in the midst
of the country. One of the first acts of Cyrus accordingly was to allow
these exiles to return to their own homes, carrying with them the images of
their gods and their sacred vessels. The permission to do so was embodied
in a proclamation, in which the conqueror endeavoured to justify his claim
to the Babylonian throne. The feeling was still strong that none had a
right to rule over western Asia until he had been consecrated to the office
by Bel and his priests; and from henceforth, accordingly, Cyrus assumed the
imperial title of "king of Babylon." A year before his death, in 529 B.C.,
he associated his son Cambyses (_q.v._) in the government, making him king
of Babylon, while he reserved for himself the fuller title of "king of the
(other) provinces" of the empire. It was only when Darius Hystaspis, the
representative of the Aryan race and the Zoroastrian religion, had
re-conquered the empire of Cyrus, that the old tradition was broken and the
claim of Babylon to confer legitimacy on the rulers of western Asia ceased
to be acknowledged (see DARIUS). Darius, in fact, entered Babylon as a
conqueror; after the murder of the Magian it had recovered its independence
under Nidinta-Bel, who took the name of Nebuchadrezzar III., and reigned
from October 521 B.C. to August 520 B.C., when the Persians took it by
storm. A few years later, probably 514 B.C., Babylon again revolted under
the Armenian Arakha; on this occasion, after its capture by the Persians,
the walls were partly destroyed. E-Saggila, the great temple of Bel,
however, still continued to be kept in repair and to be a centre of
Babylonian patriotism, until at last the foundation of Seleucia diverted
the population to the new capital of Babylonia and the ruins of the old
city be