The exile of Jewish deportees to Babylon
after Nebuchadnezzar II's capture of 
Jerusalem in 586 BC;
according to tradition, the captivity lasted
70 years, but Cyrus of Persia, who conquered
Babylon, actually allowed them to go home in
536 BC. By analogy, the name has also been
applied to the papal exile to Avignon,
France, 1309-77.