Original sentence: During the eighth century BCE, Aramaic became the lingua franca of the Near East.Ezra 4:8–6:18 and 7:12–26 — documents from the 4th century BCE concerning the restoration of the temple in Jerusalem.In 586 BCE, King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and exiled many of people of Judah to the east.In 701 BCE, King Hezekiah of Judah negotiated with King Sennacherib of Assyria, as his army besieged Jerusalem.King Darius I declared that Aramaic was to be the official language of the western half of his empire in 500 BCE, and it is this Imperial Aramaic language that forms the basis of Biblical Aramaic
Edited sentence: During the eighth century BC, Aramaic became the lingua franca of the Near East.Ezra 4:8–6:18 and 7:12–26 — documents from the 4th century BC concerning the restoration of the temple in Jerusalem.In 586 BC, King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and exiled many of people of Judah to the east.In 701 BC, King Hezekiah of Judah negotiated with King Sennacherib of Assyria, as his army besieged Jerusalem.King Darius I declared that Aramaic was to be the official language of the western half of his empire in 500 BC, and it is this Imperial Aramaic language that forms the basis of Biblical Aramaic