Many books of the Hebrew Bible were either composed in some form or edited during the Exilic
and post-Exilic periods among a community that was to identify itself as returning from
Babylonian captivity. At the same time a dearth of contemporary written evidence from Judah
Yehud and its environs renders any particular understanding of the process within its social
cultural and political context virtually impossible. This has led some to label the period a
dark age or black box - as obscure as it is essential for understanding the history of Judaism.
In recent years however archaeologists and historians have stepped up their effort to look
for and study material remains from the period and integrate the local history of Yehud the
return from Exile and the restoration of Jerusalem's temple more firmly within the regional
and indeed global developments of the time. At the same time Assyriologists have also been
introducing a wide range of cuneiform material that illuminates the economy literary
traditions practices of literacy and the ideologies of the Babylonian host society - factors
that affected those taken into Exile in variable changing and multiple ways. This volume of
essays seeks to exploit these various advances.
