For most of the period, between the times of Cyrus the Great in 550 B.C.E. to the end of the Sasanian dynasty in 642 C.E., the Jews of Iran did not experience prosperity and suffering due to their religious beliefs, rather this occurred due to the decision made by the Iranian leaders for their own Iranian interest. This paper will emphasize the lives of Judeo-Iranians after their exile from Judea by King Nebucchadnezzar to the time of the Muslim invasion in the seventh century. This paper is divided into three sections to make the paper more accessible to the reader, similar to Habib Levy's book. Each section will be relevant to a significant time for the people Iran.

The Good Times: The Achaemenid Dynasty [550 B.C.E. - 330 B.C.E.]

Kavad's son, Khusrow I, (531-579) realized the new religion had its faults, arrested and executed the heads of the Madak and allowed freedom of religion (ibid, Pg. 151). In result, many Jewish schools reopened, and many Jews immigrated back to Iran (ibid, Pg. 152). It is in this time that many Jewish scholars decided to surmount a vowel system in the Hebrew language in Iran. This increased the ease of reading Hebrew for everyone (ibid, Pg. 153).

It was not only the Jews who experienced the pain of minority religious status; the followers of Jesus, Mazdak, Mani, and Buddha also fell into this category (ibid, Pg. 129). But in the end, because of the continuing wars with Rome and the spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire, the Christians frequently came under greater pressure (ibid, Pg. 131).

It was under the king Volagases I, in the first century C.E., that the Jews had the most miserable time in Iran under Parthian rule (ibid. Pg. 103). He was a strict follower of the Zoroastrian religion and prosecuted all but the followers of Zoroaster. Volagase's mother had roots in Greece, so he supported the Greek cause. Due to his heritage, he made an Iranian-Roman alliance during the fall of the Second Temple (ibid, Pg. 106). This played a pivotal role in the downfall of Judea. On this basis, it can be asserted that when Iran supported Judea, the Jews of Iran lived in comfort and were respected, whereas when Iran turned its back on Judea, the plight of Iranian Jewry was distressing (ibid, Pg. 107).

Darius I, the next king, was Cyrus' son-in-law and military leader (Olmstead, Pg. 93). He established a stable government, fair legislation, and thirty different state-like regions (Levy, Pg. 60). Each region had two leaders and duties to collect taxes for the King and keep that region in order. Darius supported the Jews of Judea because Judea would provide a stable amount of income from the taxes, which would ultimately help Persia's war campaigns (Berquist, Pg. 61). Darius also funded the construction of a Jerusalem temple, which the Persians used as a base for its local bureaucracy (ibid. Pg. 67). A strengthened administrative base (the temple) along the Persian army's path in wars would facilitate the creation of food and supplies for the passing army and provide the army with a safe passage during wars. (Ibid. Pg 63). According to the Hebrew Bible:

According to the Zoroastrian religion, the material world is derived from two sources: Light and Darkness, or Good and Evil (Encyclopedia Britannica). Cleanliness, both physical and spiritual, is one of the foundations of the Zoroastrian faith (Levy, Pg. 122). One belief of the Zoroastrian religion was that the earth should not be polluted with the corpses of the dead (ibid, Pg. 123). For this reason, the cadavers were placed in the mountains to become food for vultures. In addition, they believed that followers of other religions were considered "polluters of the world" (ibid, Pg. 124). Written on a prominent Magi's, or religious leader, tombstone was:

The Jews, from a political standpoint, tried to maintain to some extent their organizational framework, whose foundations had been laid during the Parthian period. The Jewish community had a leader they called the resh galuta (chief of Jews and head rabbi) (ibid, Pg. 130). The resh galuta collected taxes, appointed and removed judges, and administered all-important affairs. Because of the religious bigotry, this structure lost some power at times, and at other times, the resh galuta had a good relationship with the king.

"(Chapter4)...the house of God in Jerusalem stopped and was discontinued until the second year of the reign of King Darius...(chapter 6)...the house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius..."

Some common words found in the essay are:
Jews Iran, India China, Levy Pg, Nazoreans Christians, Olmstead Pg, Jews Isfahan, Middle East, ibid pg, Berquist Pg, Sasanian Ardeshir, Mar Kahana, jews iran, levy pg, ibid pg 131, ce jews, olmstead pg, pg 131, pg 54, hebrew bible, jews judea, zoroastrian religion, magi ibid pg, ibid pg 54, ibid pg 110, jews iran period,
Approximate Word count = 3036
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)