d dispersed at Opis in the beginning of Tammuz, or
June, and a few days later Sippara surrendered to the conqueror.
Gobryas, the governor of Kurdistan, was then sent to Babylon, which also
opened its gates "without fighting," and Nabonidos, who had concealed
himself, was taken prisoner. The daily services in the temples as well
as the ordinary business of the city proceeded as usual, and on the 3rd
of Marchesvan Cyrus himself arrived and proclaimed a general amnesty,
which was communicated by Gobryas to "all the province of Babylon," of
which he had been made the prefect. Shortly afterwards, the wife--or,
according to another reading, the son--of Nabonidos died; public
lamentations were made for her, and Kambyses, the son of Cyrus,
conducted the funeral in one of the Babylonian temples. Cyrus now took
the title of "King of Babylon," and associated Kambyses with himself in
the government. Conquest had proved his title to the crown, and the
priests and god of Babylon hastened to confirm it. Cyrus on his side
claimed to be the legitimate descendant of the ancient Babylonian kings,
a true representative of the ancient stock, who had avenged the injuries
of Bel-Merodach and his brother-gods upon Nabonidos, and who professed
to be their devoted worshipper. Offerings to ten times the usual amount
were bestowed on the Babylonian temples, and the favour of the
Babylonian priesthood was secured. The images which Nabonidos had
sacrilegiously removed from their shrines were restored to their old
homes, and the captive populations in Babylonia were allowed to return
to their native soil. The policy of transportation had proved a failure;
in time of invasion the exiles had been a source of danger to the
government, and not of safety.

Each people was permitted to carry back with it its ancestral gods. The
Jews alone had no images to take; the sacred vessels of the temple of
Jerusalem were accordingly given to them. It was a faithful remnant that
returned to the land of their fathers, consisting mostly of priests and
Levites, determined henceforward to obey strictly the laws of their God,
and full of gratitude to their deliverer. In Jerusalem Cyrus thus had a
colony whose loyalty to himself and his successors could be trusted, and
who would form, as it were, an outpost against attacks on the side of
Egypt.

As long as Cyrus and his son Kambyses lived Babylonia also was tranquil.
They flattered the religious and political prejudices o