KING CYRUS is the primary Persian king who saved the Jewish people in the Bible by ending their exile and allowing them to return to Jerusalem to rebuild their temple. An alternative biblical rescue from genocide under Persian rule is associated with King Xerxes, whose Jewish wife Queen Esther intervened to save the Jews from Haman's plot. Cyrus conquered Babylon and ended the 70-year Jewish captivity. Recorded in the Book of Ezra and 2 Chronicles, Cyrus issued a royal proclamation allowing exiled Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the House of God. He ordered the return of sacred gold and silver temple vessels that had been stolen by Nebuchadnezzar.