n.
flourished 5th century BC
Jewish leader who supervised the rebuilding of Jerusalem .
His story is told in the biblical book of Nehemiah. He was cupbearer to the Persian ruler Artaxerxes I soon after the end of the Babylonian Exile , when the Temple of Jerusalem had been rebuilt but the Jewish community was still weak and fragmented. Around 444 BC he was put in charge of Jerusalem's reconstruction, and he organized the rebuilding of the city walls. He also revived adherence to Mosaic law and forbade intermarriage with non-Jews. His work as a reformer was later continued by Ezra .