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Cyrus Cylinder

Cyrus Cylinder
Front view of a barrel-shaped clay cylinder resting on a stand. The cylinder is covered with lines of cuneiform text Rear view of a barrel-shaped clay cylinder resting on a stand. The cylinder is round with square edge very close up. It is covered with lines of cuneiform and has a hollow centre. The centre is lined with plate measuring around 10 millimeters in thickness.text Barrel cylinder of Cyrus (transcription)
The Cyrus Cylinder, obverse and reverse sides, and transcription
MaterialBaked clay
Size21.9 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]
WritingAkkadian cuneiform script
CreatedAbout 539–538 BC
Period/cultureAchaemenid Empire[1]
DiscoveredBabylon, Baghdad Vilayet of Ottoman Iraq, by Hormuzd Rassam in March 1879[1]
Present locationRoom 52,[1] British Museum (London)
IdentificationBM 90920 [1]
Registration1880,0617.1941 [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 the 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 the "first charter of human rights", though this interpretation has been described by various historians as "rather anachronistic" and controversial.[11][12][13][14]

  1. ^ a b c d e f Cite error: The named reference BM-database was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Dandamayev, (2010-01-26)
  3. ^ a b Kuhrt (2007), p. 70, 72
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference BM-CC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Free & Vos (1992), p. 204
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Becking was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Janzen was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Barbara Slavin (6 March 2013). "Cyrus Cylinder a Reminder of Persian Legacy of Tolerance". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ansari was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference UN was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Daniel was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference Mitchell was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Arnold was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference KQED-cylinder was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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