1:3 let him go up. The archeological discovery of the “Cyrus cylinder” showed that Cyrus—perhaps because of the divine prediction of the Jewish return as his special ministry—did the same for various other captive peoples in his empire. This clay cylinder on which was inscribed an account of the decree of Cyrus was found in the nineteenth century in present-day Iraq (ancient Babylonia). It not only described the capture of Babylon but also his permission for the peoples captured by the Babylonians to return to their homelands.