When Cyrus, king of Persia, conquered Babylon in 539 BC, he allowed the exiled Jews to return home and rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. One group returned the next year, completing and dedicating the temple foundation within two more years. But they were stopped by suspicious and resentful neighbors who had influence in the Persian court (see Ezra 4:4–6:22). Sixteen years later, when King Darius takes the throne, the prophet Haggai urges the people to restart their work.