"... Scholars have long debated whether Ezra was a real historical figure, with some claiming he was a fictive creation and others arguing that Ezra was not only real but, in fact, the original source for the authors who wrote the biblical book that carried his name. What is clear, in any case, is that there was a circle of early Jews — however small or influential — who were sympathetic to Ezra and worked to preserve his legacy and the values, traditions, and activities they associated with him. On the other hand, there exists a range of other ancient Jewish sources where, much as in the Dead Sea Scrolls, Ezra is largely absent. One example is the famous “Praise of the Ancestors,” a hymn offered by the second-century B.C.E. priestly sage Ben Sira that is included within the apocryphal work that takes his name ... when we reach the time of the return from exile and the beginning of the restoration period, where we might reasonably expect Ezra to be mentioned we read nothing ... Ben Sira credits the leadership of Zerubbabel and Jeshua and praises the achievements of Nehemiah, but he has not a word about Ezra ... Second Maccabees, another second-century B.C.E. Jewish work, similarly presents Nehemiah alone as the one who built the Temple and the altar ..."