Jews return home from the Exile

Jews return home from the Exile

Zerubbabel and Sheshbazzar, prince of Judah, lead 50,000 Jews home, beginning in 538 BC. With a Persian military escort, they took a longer and safer route, following water sources. Almost a century after the first Jews returned to Israel, Ezra led a group. Ezra took the shorter route, with a long walk through a dangerous part of the Arabian Desert. Nehemiah came last and furthest, from Persia’s capital of Susa. He repaired Jerusalem’s walls.