Paradise, a term meaning a place or condition of beauty or happiness, is a good term to describe the times when the Jews of Iran were prospering. During the sixth century B.C.E., King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon conquered Judea and exiled the Jews to surrounding regions. This marked the start of the Jews in Iran, and history shows that the Jews went through both good and bad times in Iran. To this day, there exists a significant population of Jews in Iran. For most of the period, between the times of Cyrus the Great in 550 B.C.E. to the end of the Sasanian dynasty in 642 C.E., the Jews of Iran did not experience prosperity and suffering due to their religious beliefs, rather this occurred due to the decision made by the Iranian leaders for their own Iranian interest. This paper will emphasize the lives of Judeo-Iranians after their exile from Judea by King Nebuchadnezzar to the time of the Muslim invasion in the seventh century. This paper is divided into three sections to make the paper more accessible to the reader, similar to Habib Levy's book. Each section will be relevant to a significant time for the people of Iran.
             The Good Times: The Achaemenid Dynasty [550 B.C.E. – 330 B.C.E.]
             In 550 B.C.E., Cyrus the Great, the third descendent from the Achaemenid family came to power and established the Persian Empire (Olmstead, Pg. 39). Cyrus the Great is portrayed as a smart, noble, and ideal character in Persian history. He is the greatest and most powerful leader in Persian history (Levy, Pg. 45). During his reign, he conquered Babylon and created an empire stretching from the borders of India to the Mediterranean (Seltzer, Pg. 113). Cyrus respected the faiths of all nations and peoples (Levy, Page46). He freed all the Babylonian captives, including the Jewish captives, and allowed the return of the Jews to Judea to build a new temple (Levy, Pg. 46). There are many passages in the Old Testament regarding the Persian leadership. Th...