In Ezra 3:10–12 we are also told that Sheshbazzar laid the Temple’s foundations. The historical accuracy of this material has been seriously questioned by Frank Michaeli in his Les Livres des Chroniques, d’Esdras et de Nehemie, Commentaire de l’Ancien Testament, No. 16 (Neuchatel and Paris, 1967) pp. 265, 268. But in any event, the passage refers to the foundations of the Temple, not the temple platform or podium. Sheshbazzar was perhaps the son of Jehoiachim (cf. 1 Chronicles 3:18), the penultimate king of Judah, who ruled from 598 to 597 B.C.