Iraq and the Jewish People: The Growth and Development of the Jewish Community

Prophet Jeremiah, Rembrandt

Part IV

The Mesopotamian Jewish community at the time, however, was growing. Jeremiah wrote to the community, knowing the exile would last at least 70 years, urging the Jews to organize themselves, build houses and live there—literally, go into business and become established. The prophet Ezekiel was also in Mesopotamia, having been exiled in 597 BCE, and he attested to advanced religious activity in the region.

At this time, there is evidence that the exiled Jews were also searching for employment. Psalms 137 says: “There we sat, and also cried, remembering Zion … How can we sing the song of the Lord on this foreign land?” The exiles felt unable to sing when the Temple had been destroyed. They quickly established themselves in other professions.

It appears that the exiles were sent to settle ruins of cities. Most of the cities they occupied had names such as “Tel Aviv.” A tel is the name for an area built on the remains of a previous city. (The original Tel Aviv was in Mesopotamia; the exiles used the name when they resettled Israel.) The Jews revived the ruins in Mesopotamia with economic and agricultural activity, settling many tels and creating new cities.

Although there is a tremendous debate on this point, many scholars believe that the well-known banking house in Mesopotamia called Murashu was a Jewish one. The Encyclopedia Judaica, for instance, states that as fact. Those who claim that it was Jewish rely on the fact that the names ended in what is translated from Akkadian as “ia”—names such as Yeshaya, Yirmiyah—which are Jewish-sounding names. However, the authoritative scholarly volume which discusses the Murashu bankers uses the word “Jews” three times in total, clearly indicating that the author did not agree with this theory. For our purposes, it is important to note that the biggest banking house in Mesopotamia in this period is believed by some to have been con-trolled by a Jewish family.

Regardless of the religious affiliations of the bankers, the documents they left behind are evidence that the banking business in Mesopotamia at the time was quite advanced and included borrowing, letters of credit to transfer capital, and loans. Once again, it is apparent that, aside from the developing agriculture of the time, the economic system was complex and advanced; it is safe to assume that Jews in the region were involved in some of these endeavors.

More information about the exiled community in Mesopotamia exists from some 70 years later, as the return to Israel unfolded. Cyrus the Great from Iran conquered Medes, Mesopotamia, Israel, and Egypt, and many other countries, and Jews were permitted to return to Israel. However, most Jews chose not to return, indicating that the economy where they had settled was so developed that they were hesitant to leave. It also appears that Jews had risen to high positions in exile. In 540 BCE some Jews returned to Israel and were presented with Temple objects by Cyrus, in accordance with his policy of letting each of the nations build its own society. The situation in Israel at the time was not easy; Nehemiah received a report from his brother, Hanani, who had gone to visit. Nehemiah, in exile, was well-respected; he is named in the Bible as the cupbearer of the king, a position that was exceptionally important—he was relied upon not to poison the king. Economically and politically, Jews appear to have been comfortable in exile.

Nehemiah was named governor of Judea and returned to Judea with rights given by the king to rebuild. The king them sent Ezra, a scribe, to make Torah the law of the land and create a religious revival to accompany the social and political revival, ensuring the future of the province. This went on while Jews were also significant in the Mesopotamian exile.

But it was this very development that proved to be the undoing of the Jewish community in exile. The role that the Jews played, due to their reputation as trustworthy, was one of intermediary between the local ruler and the native population, and proved a problematic one.

The Persians ruled the land of Mesopotamia from approximately 540 BCE until the Moslem conquest in 638/640 CE. During the majority of the period that Jews were in Mesopotamia, Persia ruled from their capital, Ctesiphon. Indeed, even following the Moslem conquest, Persian patterns of administration as well as cultural elements remained prominent.