This group had the support of Cyrus’ son, Darius, but even so the rebuilding of Jerusalem did not recommence until 445 BC. This was when Nehemiah arrived. He was a wealthy Jew, highly placed in the Persian court, who had heard about the sorry state of affairs in Jerusalem. He rebuilt the walls and the Temple, and he introduced changes that helped the poor. But, as Robin Lane Fox says, ‘although he appears to have assumed a broad awareness of Moses’ law among the people, nowhere does he allude to written scripture’.9
