ABSTRACT
Babylonian Jewry, also known as the Jews of Mesopotamia, lived in what is known today as Iraq for more than 2,500 years. In 597 BCE King Yehoyakhin, the first Exilarch, was exiled with Jerusalem’s élite, and 10,000 inhabitants to Babylon.2 A hereditary title, the Exilarch, the head of Babylonian Jewry in exile, was a descendant of the House of David and had supreme authority in both religious and secular matters. A second wave of exiles was deported to Babylon following the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem in 586 BCE by Nebuchadnezzar II. The Persian conquest of Babylon in 538 BCE formally marked the end of the Babylonian exile, when King Cyrus II permitted the Jewish exiles to return to Jerusalem to live there and rebuild the Temple and the city walls. Though many returned, the majority remained in Babylon, many having risen to high status. In time, the greatest number of Babylonian Jews lived in Baghdad, which was founded in 762 CE, and where they formed an important part of the general population.
