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Iron Age II - King David and the First Temple Period
  • Documents from Al Yahudu. Courtesy of David Sofer and the Bible Lands Museum, Jerusalem.
    Documents from Al Yahudu. Courtesy of David Sofer and the Bible Lands Museum, Jerusalem.
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Iron Age II - King David and the First Temple Period

Jerusalem in Babylonia

After the destruction in 586 BCE, the Judahite exiles were settled by the Babylonians in various communities, including one, whose location is unknown, called “Al Yahudu,” which means “city of Judah.” This is what the Babylonians called Jerusalem.

Hundreds of documents composed in Al Yahudu deal with the daily life of the Jewish community that flourished there from the time after Jerusalem’s destruction until the Persian period. The documents are mainly of financial and legal nature, and they greatly helped scholars learn about the everyday life of the people in this community in this little-known period in the history of the Jewish people.

In the picture: Documents from Al Yahudu.