Cyrus conquered the known world because God strengthened his hand. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle translated by Moses Gaster in 1899, God opened gates of iron before him and broke doors of brass, just as the prophet Isaiah had foretold. Cyrus captured India, Ethiopia, Arabia, the lands of the west as far as Sefarad, and the northern territories all the way to the impassable Snow Mountains.
But the king who remade the map of the ancient world met his end in the land of the Shittim. The chronicle notes that this should not surprise anyone: King Saul, anointed of God, also died in battle, as did the beloved King Josiah.
Cyrus had already defeated the Shittite king and his warriors. The survivors fled with their queen, Tamirah, and her son to their fortresses. Cyrus lured them out with a false retreat, then turned and slaughtered 300,000 warriors. Among the dead was Tamirah's son.
A mother's grief became a weapon more dangerous than any army. Tamirah wandered the mountains and valleys, lying in ambush. Cyrus, confident in his victory, let his main army march ahead while he camped between two mountains with a small guard. That night, Tamirah struck like a bereaved lioness. She destroyed the entire camp of 200,000 Persian soldiers and killed the king himself. Then she found his body, severed his head, placed it in a leather bottle filled with the blood of the slain, and spoke to the dead king: "Drink and satisfy thyself with the blood which thou hast been so fond of shedding these thirty years."
His son Cambyses succeeded him and returned to annihilate the Shittites, their queen, and all her offspring. After Cambyses came Ahasuerus, who halted all work on the Temple when the enemies of the Jews wrote new accusations against them.