Ancient clay cylinder with Akkadian cuneiform script
Cyrus Cylinder
The Cyrus Cylinder, obverse and reverse sides, and transcription
Material
Baked clay
Size
21.9 centimetres (8.6 in) x 10 centimetres (3.9 in) (maximum) x (end A) 7.8 centimetres (3.1 in) x (end B) 7.9 centimetres (3.1 in)[1]
Writing
Akkadian cuneiform script
Created
About 539–538 BC
Period/culture
Achaemenid Empire[1]
Discovered
Babylon, Baghdad Vilayet of Ottoman Iraq, by Hormuzd Rassam in March 1879[1]
Present location
Room 52,[1] British Museum (London)
Identification
BM 90920 [1]
Registration
1880,0617.1941 [1]
The Cyrus Cylinder is an ancient clay cylinder, now broken into several pieces, on which is written an Achaemenid royal inscription in Akkadian cuneiform script in the name of Persian king Cyrus the Great.[2][3] It dates from the 6th century BC and was discovered in the ruins of the ancient Mesopotamian city of Babylon (now in modern Iraq) in 1879.[2] It is currently in the possession of the British Museum. It was created and used as a foundation deposit following the Persian conquest of Babylon in 539 BC, when the Neo-Babylonian Empire was invaded by Cyrus and incorporated into his Persian Empire.
The text on the Cylinder praises Cyrus, sets out his genealogy and portrays him as a king from a line of kings. The Babylonian king Nabonidus, who was defeated and deposed by Cyrus, is denounced as an impious oppressor of the people of Babylonia and his low-born origins are implicitly contrasted to Cyrus' kingly heritage. The victorious Cyrus is portrayed as having been chosen by the chief Babylonian god Marduk to restore peace and order to the Babylonians. The text states that Cyrus was welcomed by the people of Babylon as their new ruler and entered the city in peace. It appeals to Marduk to protect and help Cyrus and his son Cambyses. It extols Cyrus as a benefactor of the citizens of Babylonia who improved their lives, repatriated displaced people and restored temples and cult sanctuaries across Mesopotamia and elsewhere in the region. It concludes with a description of how Cyrus repaired the city wall of Babylon and found a similar inscription placed there by an earlier king.[3]
The Cylinder's text has traditionally been seen by biblical scholars as corroborative evidence of Cyrus' policy of the repatriation of the Jewish people following their Babylonian captivity[4] (an act that the Book of Ezra attributes to Cyrus[5]), as the text refers to the restoration of cult sanctuaries and repatriation of deported peoples.[6] This interpretation has been disputed, as the text identifies only Mesopotamian sanctuaries, and makes no mention of Jews, Jerusalem, or Judea.[7] Nonetheless, it has been seen as a sign of Cyrus's relatively enlightened approach towards cultural and religious diversity. The former Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, said that the cylinder was "the first attempt we know about running a society, a state with different nationalities and faiths – a new kind of statecraft".[8]
In modern times, the Cylinder was adopted as a national symbol of Iran by the ruling Pahlavi dynasty, which put it on display in Tehran in 1971 to commemorate the 2,500-year celebration of the Persian Empire.[9] Princess Ashraf Pahlavi presented United Nations Secretary General U Thant with a replica of the Cylinder. The princess asserted that "the heritage of Cyrus was the heritage of human understanding, tolerance, courage, compassion and, above all, human liberty".[10] Her brother, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, promoted the Cylinder as a "charter of human rights", though this interpretation has been described by various historians as "rather anachronistic" and controversial.[11][12][13][14]
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^ abDandamayev, (2010-01-26)
^ abKuhrt (2007), p. 70, 72
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^Free & Vos (1992), p. 204
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^Barbara Slavin (6 March 2013). "Cyrus Cylinder a Reminder of Persian Legacy of Tolerance". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
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The CyrusCylinder is an ancient clay cylinder, now broken into several pieces, on which is written an Achaemenid royal inscription in Akkadian cuneiform...
Cyrus the Great was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire and king of Persia from 559 to 530 BC. He is venerated in the Tanakh as Cyrus the Messiah for...
the success of Cyrus' campaign, Babylonia was incorporated into the Persian realm as a satrapy. As recorded in the CyrusCylinder, Cyrus vowed to respect...
and he was also the brother of Mandane, Cyrus the Great's mother (1.2.1, 1.4.7). He describes the Persian, Cyrus II/The Great, as leading the campaign to...
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According to the CyrusCylinder (the oldest extant genealogy of the Achaemenids) the kings of Anshan were Teispes, Cyrus I, Cambyses I and Cyrus II, also known...
identical to the final sentence of 2 Chronicles. The CyrusCylinder contains a statement related to the Cyrus's edict which gives the historical background to...
The Edict of Cyrus refers to a proclamation by Cyrus the Great, the founding king of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, in 539 BCE. It was issued after the...
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part of his conquest, Cyrus created a foundation deposit to be buried in the walls of Babylon, now known as the CyrusCylinder, with text written in Akkadian...
eponymous ancestor and founder, the dynasty furthermore included Cyrus I, Cambyses I, Cyrus II, Cambyses II and Bardiya. Anshan was part of the Elamite Kingdom...
Bible, Cyrus later issued a decree permitting captive people, including the Jews, to return to their own lands. The text found on the CyrusCylinder has...
broke out with the Persian king Cyrus the Great, who is mentioned as an instrument of the gods. The Nabonidus Cylinder from Sippar contains echoes from...
non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the CyrusCylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The earliest known form of...
the Persian king Cyrus the Great, founder of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, in 539 BC. The CyrusCylinder is an ancient clay cylinder written in Akkadian...
conquering Babylon. Cyrus does much the same in the CyrusCylinder, stressing that his father and grandfather were "kings of Anšan" and that Cyrus was the "heir...
"King of Sumer and Akkad" was Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid Empire, who reigned from 559 to 530 BC. In the CyrusCylinder, written in Akkadian cuneiform...
was occupied by a copy of the CyrusCylinder, the original being kept at the British Museum. Next, to the CyrusCylinder, there was a gold plaque commemorating...
the few documents to have survived from Cyrus's lifetime, the CyrusCylinder. Further information on Cyrus's campaign is provided by the later ancient...
nationalist policies leading to the establishment of Cyrus the Great, CyrusCylinder, and Tomb of Cyrus the Great as popular symbols of Iran. The Shah initiated...
6th century BC under Cyrus the Great. After his conquest of the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 539 BC, the king issued the Cyruscylinder, discovered in 1879...
undertaking that the CyrusCylinder would be loaned to the National Museum of Iran in return. The planned loan of the Cylinder was postponed in October...
latter's seizure of the throne. Cyrus II does not mention Achaemenes at all in the detailed genealogy given in the Cyruscylinder. While the patronym haxāmanišiya—"of...
reading of the Psalms and Law. The CyrusCylinder, an ancient tablet on which is written a declaration in the name of Cyrus referring to restoration of temples...
an ancestor of Cyrus the Great. There is evidence that Cyrus I and Ariaramnes were both his sons. Cyrus I is the grandfather of Cyrus the Great, whereas...
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