Answer:
In October 539 bce, the greatest city of the ancient world fell to the Persians. In the Bible (e.g., Ezra 1:1–4), Cyrus is famous for freeing the Jewish captives in Babylonia and allowing them to return to their homeland. Cyrus was also tolerant toward the Babylonians and others.
In the Elizabethan great chain of being, it was "minerals" that were at the lowest rung of human society, since it was believed that these were the foundations of plant life and nothing more.
