Ezekiel

Greetings,

If I understood Frank's question, according to some Biblical
historians Ezekiel was among the deportees in 589 BCE who
was forced out of Jerusalem and settled in Babylon.  Before
the sack of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzer (596), Ezekiel 
already had predicted the loss of the Temple.  But the seventh
century definetely set the stage for this tragedy.  In the reign
of Manasseh (first half of the 7th c.) there was deep internal
divisions in Jerusalem which resulted in a "city full of blood."
Manasseh is known as the worst king Jerusalem ever had.
Shortly thereafter, the reign of Josiah would also end in
tragedy.  But such tragedies were shared throughout the
imperial world, where the latter also went through similar
developments.  Indeed, the whole complex of what scholars
have long termed "the Ancient Near East" drew rapidly to
a close in a quick succession of imperial wars during the 
following century that left most societies exhausted and 
impoverished and many regions depopulated.  

Khaldoun Samman