In 440 BCE, 18 years prior to the destruction of the First Temple, King Yehoyakim burned a scroll containing the biblical Book of Lamentations, as recorded in the Book of Jeremiah (ch. 36). The idea of a Jewish king taking such an un-Jewish approach was viewed by the community as a great tragedy, and this date was proclaimed as a fast day. The prophet Jeremiah later re-wrote the scroll.