Biblical Archaeology Review

The rulers of the Persian empire were known as Achaemenids after Achaemenes, an ancestor of Cyrus II.

Dunand also noted some differences that he regarded as insignificant: The size of the ashlars differs somewhat in other dimensions and the stone is different.

It is also worth observing that Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian, ascribes the building of the eastern temple enclosure wall to Solomon or his direct, pre-Exilic descendants; The Jewish Wars (V, V, 1, 184–189), as well as Antiquities of the Jews (VIII, III, 9, secs. 95–98; XV, XI, 3, secs. 397–402; XX, IX, 7, sec. 221).

Zechariah was a head of one of the priestly families that returned to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel (see Nehemiah 12:16). He prophesied from 520 to 518 B.C.

The prophecies of Haggai date to the early years of the reign of Darius I (the third Achaemenid), to about 520 B.C., 18 to 20 years after the edict of Cyrus II.

Ezra and Chronicles were likely written by the same author, and the Chronicler probably wrote around 350 B.C. (For discussion of the authorship of Ezra and Chronicles, see Menahem Haran, “Explaining the Identical Lines at the End of Chronicles and the Beginning of Ezra,” Bible Review, Fall 1986, and Hugh G. M. Williamson, “Did the Author of Chronicles Also Write the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah?” Bible Review, Spring 1987.)

Note how much of the Temple enclosure walls survived the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., despite the power and technology available to the Romans when they devastated the city. Why, then, should we suppose the Babylonians totally destroyed the eastern wall in 586 B.C.?

Solomon ruled over the United Kingdom of Israel from about 970 to 931 B.C.