Cyrus the Great

Cyrus the Great
King of Persia, King of Anshan, King of Media, King of Babylon, King of Sumer and Akkad, King of the four corners of the World[1]
Reign	559 BC-530 BC (30 years)
Coronation	Anshan, Persis
Born	600 BC or 576 BC
Birthplace	Anshan, Persis
Died	December, 530 BC
Place of death	Along the Syr Darya
Buried	Pasargadae
Predecessor	Cambyses I
Successor	Cambyses II
Consort	Cassandane of Persia
Offspring	Cambyses II Smerdis Artystone Atossa Unamed unknown
Royal House	Achaemenid
Father	Cambyses I of Persia
Mother	Mandane of Media or Argoste of Persia?
Religious beliefs	Zoroastrianism[2]

Cyrus the Great (Old Persian: 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁^[3], IPA: [kʰuːrʰuʃ], Kūruš^[4], Persian: کوروش بزرگ, Kūrošé Bozorg) (c. 600 BC or 576 BC  – December^[5][6] 530 BC), also known as Cyrus II of Persia and Cyrus the Elder,^[7] was the first Zoroastrian Persian Shāhanshāh (Emperor). He was the founder of the Persian Empire under the Achaemenid dynasty.^[8]

It was under his own rule that the empire embraced all previous civilized states of the ancient Near East,^[8] expanded vastly, and eventually conquered most of Southwest Asia and much of Central Asia, from Egypt and the Hellespont in the west to the Indus River in the east, to create the largest empire the world had yet seen.^[9]

The reign of Cyrus lasted twenty nine to thirty years. Cyrus built his empire by fighting and conquering first the Median Empire then Lydian Empire and the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Either before or after Babylon, he led an expedition into central Asia, which resulted in major campaigns that brought "into subjection every nation without exception."^[10] Cyrus did not venture into Egypt, as he himself died in battle, fighting the Massagetae along the Syr Darya in December 530 BC.^[11][12] He was succeeded by his son, Cambyses II, who managed to add to the empire by conquering Egypt, Nubia, and Cyrenaica during his short rule.

As a military leader, Cyrus left an everlasting legacy on the art of leadership and decision-making and he attributed his success to "Diversity in counsel, unity in command."^[13] Cyrus the Great respected the customs and religions of the lands he conquered.^[14] It is said that, in universal history the role of the Achaemenid empire founded by Cyrus lies in its very successful model for centralized administration and establishing a government working to the advantage and profit of its subjects.^[8] In fact, the administration of the empire through satraps and the vital principle of forming a government at Pasargadae were the work of Cyrus.^[15] Aside from his own nation, Iran, Cyrus also left a lasting legacy on Jewish religion (through his Edict of Restoration), human rights, politics, and military strategy, as well as on both Eastern and Western civilizations.

Background

Etymology

The word Cyrus is derived, via Latin, from Ancient Greek Κῦρος, from Old Persian Kūrūš.^[16] The name has been recorded in ancient inscriptions in many different languages. The ancient Greek historians Ctesias and Plutarch noted that Cyrus was named from Kuros, the sun, a concept which has been interpreted as meaning "like the sun," by noting its relation to the Persian noun for sun, khor, while using -vash as a suffix of likeness.^[17] However, some modern historians, such as Dr. Nasser Engheta translates Kurosh as "the Son of Truth" based on the combination of the Median word "Kora" meaning "Son" and the Gathic (old Iranian language) word "Asha" meaning "the Truth",^{[citation needed]} while Karl Hoffmann and Rüdiger Schmitt of the Encyclopædia Iranica, have suggested the translation "humiliator of the enemy in verbal contest."^[16]

In Iran, Cyrus is always referred to as "Kūrošé Bozorg" and/or "Kūrošé Kabīr"  – meaning "Cyrus the Great". In the Bible, he is known as simply Koresh (Hebrew: כורש‎). Also he is possibly mentioned in the Qur'an under the title "Dhul-Qarnayn".

Dynastic history

"The four winged guardian figure", a bas-relief found at Pasargadae on top of which once inscribed in three languages the sentence "I am Cyrus the king an Achaemenian."^[18]

The Persian domination and kingdom in the Iranian plateau started by an extension of Achaemenid dynasty who expanded their earlier domination existed possibly from 9th century BC onward. The founder of this dynasty was Achaemenes (from Old Persian Haxāmaniš). Achaemenids are "descendants of Achaemenes" as Darius the Great, the ninth king of the dynasty, traces his genealogy to him and declares "for this reason we are called Achaemenids". Achaemenes built the state Parsumash in southwest of Iran and succeeded by his son Teispes who took the title "King of Anšān" after seizing Anšān city and enlarging his kingdom further to include Pars proper.^[8] Ancient documents^[19] mention that Teispes had a son called Cyrus I who also succeeded his father as "king of Anshan". Cyrus I had another full brother whose name is recorded as Ariaramnes.^[8]

In 600 BC Cyrus I was succeeded by his son Cambyses I who reigned until 559 BC as king of Persia. Cyrus (the Great) was son of Cambyses I who named his son after his father Cyrus I.^[20] There are several inscriptions of Cyrus the Great and later kings which refer to Cambyses I as great king and king of Anshan. Among these are some passages in Cyrus cylinder where Cyrus calls himself “son of Cambyses, great king, king of Anshan” and also other inscriptions which mention Cambyses I explicitly as "mighty king” and "an Achaemenian”. Xenophon's account in Cyropædia further names Cambyses's wife as Mandane and mentions Cambyses as king of Persia. These agree with Cyrus' own inscriptions as Anshan and Parsa were different names of the same land. These also agree with other non-Iranian accounts except at one point from Herodotus that Cambyses was not a king but a "Persian of good family".^[21] However at some other passage his account is wrong also on the name of the son of Chishpish which he mentions as Cambyses but according to modern scholars should be Cyrus I.^[22]

Thus Cyrus the Great was an Achaemenian and his relation to Achaemenes is fully established and supported by ancient Iranian and non-Iranian documents and latest archaeological researches.^[8][23]

Cyrus had a wife named Cassandane. She was an Achaemenian and daughter of Pharnaspes. From this marriage Cyrus had four children Cambyses II, Smerdis, Atossa, and another daughter whose name is not attested in ancient sources. Also, Cyrus had a fifth child named Artystone, the sister or half sister of Atossa, who may not have been the daughter of Cassandane. Cyrus had a special dearly love for Cassandane and according to chronicle of Nabonidus when she died, all nations of Cyrus's empire observed “a great mourning” and particularly in Babylonia there was probably even a public mourning lasting for six days (identified from 21-26 March 538 BC). Her tomb is suggested to be at Cyrus' capital Pasargadae.^[24] There are other accounts suggesting that Cyrus the Great also married a daughter of the Median king Astyages named Amytis. This name may not be the correct one however Cyrus probably had once and after the death of Cassandane a Median woman in his royal family.^[25] Cyrus' sons Cambyses II and Smerdis both later became kings of Persia, respectively, and his daughter Atossa married Darius the Great and bore him Xerxes I.

Early life

Standard of Cyrus the Great

The best known dates for the birth of Cyrus is either 600-599 BC or 576-575 BC.^[26] Little is known of his early years, as there are only a few sources known which detail that part of his life, and have been damaged or lost.

Herodotus's story of Cyrus' early life belongs to a genre of legends in which abandoned children of noble birth, such as Oedipus and Romulus and Remus, return to claim their royal positions. His overlord was his own grandfather, Astyages, ruler of the powerful Median kingdom.

After the birth of Cyrus, Astyages had a dream that his Magi interpreted as a sign that his grandson would eventually overthrow him. He then ordered his steward Harpagus to kill the infant. Harpagus, morally unable to kill a newborn, summoned the Mardian Mitradates (which the historian Nicolaus of Damascus calls Atradates), a royal bandit herdsman from the mountainous region bordering the Saspires,^[27] and ordered him to leave the baby to die in the mountains. Luckily the herdsman and his wife (whom Herodotus calls Cyno in Greek, and Spaca-o in Median) took pity and raised the child as their own, passing off their recently stillborn infant as the murdered Cyrus.^[28][29] For the origin of Cyrus's mother, Herodotus says Mandane of Media and Ctesias insists she is full Persian but gives no name, while Nicolaus gives the name Argoste as Atradates' wife, whether this figure represents Cyno or Cambyses' unnamed Persian queen has yet to be determined. It's also known that Strabo says Cyrus was originally named Agradates by his step parents, therefore it's probable that when reuniting with his original family, in custom Cambyses names him (or had named him before the separation) "Cyrus" after his own father, who was the first Cyrus.

When Cyrus was ten years old, Herodotus claims that it was obvious that Cyrus was not a herdsman's son, stating that his behavior was too noble. Astyages interviewed the boy and noticed that they resembled each other. Astyages ordered Harpagus to explain what he had done with the baby, and after confessing that he had not killed the boy, the king tricked him into eating his own broiled and chopped up son.^[30] Astyages was more lenient with Cyrus, and allowed him to return to his biological parents, Cambyses and Mandane.^[31] While Herodotus' description may be a legend, it does give insight into the figures surrounding Cyrus the Great's early life.

Rise and military campaigns

Diversity in counsel, unity in command.

—Cyrus the Great^[32]

Median Empire

The Median Empire, Lydian Empire, and Neo-Babylonian Empire, prior to Cyrus the Great's conquests.

Though his father died in 551 BC, Cyrus had already succeeded to the throne in 559 BC. However, Cyrus was not yet an independent ruler. Like his predecessors, Cyrus had to recognize Median overlordship. During Astyages' reign, the Median Empire may have ruled over the majority of the Ancient Near East, from the Lydian frontier in the west to the Parthians and Persians in the east.

In Herodotus' version, Harpagus, seeking vengeance, convinced Cyrus to rally the Persian people to revolt against their feudal lords, the Medes. However, it is likely that both Harpagus and Cyrus rebelled due to their dissatisfaction with Astyages' policies.^[28] From the start of the revolt in summer 553 BC, with his first battles taking place from early 552 BC, Harpagus with Cyrus led his armies against the Medes until the capture of Ecbatana in 549 BC, effectively conquering the Median Empire.^[33]

While Cyrus seems to have accepted the crown of Media, by 546 BC, he officially assumed the title King of Persia instead. With Astyages out of power, all of his vassals (including many of Cyrus' relatives) were now under his command. His uncle Arsames, who had been the king of the city-state of Parsa under the Medes, therefore would have had to give up his throne. However, this transfer of power within the family seems to have been smooth, and it is likely that Arsames still was the nominal governor of Parsa, under Cyrus' authority - more of a Prince or a 'Grand Duke' than a King.^{[citation needed]} His son, Hystaspes, who was also Cyrus' second cousin, was then made satrap of Parthia and Phrygia. Cyrus thus united the twin Achamenid kingdoms of Parsa and Anshan into Persia proper. Arsames would live to see his grandson become Darius the Great, Shahanshah of Persia, after the deaths of both of Cyrus' sons.^[34]

Cyrus' conquest of Media was merely the start of his wars. Astyages had been allied with his brother-in-law Croesus of Lydia, (son of Alyattes II), Nabonidus of Babylon, and Amasis II of Egypt, who reportedly intended to join forces against Cyrus.^{[citation needed]}

Lydian Empire and Asia Minor

Croesus on the pyre. Attic red-figure amphora, 500–490 BC, Louvre (G 197).

The exact dates of the Lydian conquest are unknown, but it must have taken place between Cyrus' overthrow of the Mede kingdom (550 BC) and his conquest of Babylon (539 BC). It was common in the past to give 547 BC as the year of the conquest due to some interpretations of the Nabonidus Chronicle, but this position is currently not much held.^[35] The Lydians first attacked the Achaemenid Empire's city of Pteria in Cappadocia. Croesus besieged and captured the city enslaving its inhabitants. Meanwhile, the Persians invited the citizens of Ionia who were part of the Lydian kingdom, to revolt against their ruler. The offer was rebuffed, and thus Cyrus levied an army and marched against the Lydians, increasing his numbers while passing through nations in his way. The Battle of Pteria was effectively a stalemate, with both sides suffering heavy casualties by nightfall. Croesus retreated to Sardis the following morning.^[36]

While in Sardis, Croesus sent out requests for his allies to send aid to Lydia. However, near the end of winter, before the allies could unite, Cyrus pushed the war into Lydian territory and besieged Croesus in his capital, Sardis. Shortly before the final Battle of Thymbra between the two rulers, Harpagus advised Cyrus to place his dromedaries in front of his warriors; the Lydian horses, not used to the dromedaries' smell, would be very afraid. The strategy worked; the Lydian cavalry was routed. Cyrus defeated and captured Croesus. Cyrus occupied the capital at Sardis, conquering the Lydian kingdom in 546 BC.^[36] According to Herodotus, Cyrus spared Croesus' life and kept him as an advisor, but this account conflicts with some translations of the contemporary Nabonidus Chronicle, which interpret that the king of Lydia was slain.^[37]

Before returning to the capital, a Lydian named Pactyes was entrusted by Cyrus to send Croesus' treasury to Persia. However, soon after Cyrus' departure, Pactyes hired mercenaries and caused an uprising in Sardis, revolting against the Persian satrap of Lydia, Tabalus. With recommendations from Croesus that he should turn the minds of the Lydian people to luxury, Cyrus sent Mazares, one of his commanders, to subdue the insurrection, but demanded that Pactyas be returned alive. Upon Mazares' arrival, Pactyas fled to Ionia, where he had hired more mercenaries. Mazares marched his troops into the Greek country and subdued the cities of Magnesia and Priene, where Pactyas was captured and sent back to Persia for punishment.^{[citation needed]}

Mazares continued the conquest of Asia Minor, but died of unknown causes during his campaign in Ionia. Cyrus sent Harpagus to complete Mazares' conquest of Asia Minor. Harpagus captured Lycia, Cilicia and Phoenicia, using the technique of building earthworks to breach the walls of besieged cities, a method unknown to the Greeks. He ended his conquest of the area in 542 BC, and returned to Persia.^[28]

Neo-Babylonian Empire

Superimposed on modern borders, the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus' rule extended approximately from Turkey, Israel, Georgia and Arabia in the west to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Indus River and Oman in the east. Persia became the largest empire the world had ever seen.

By the year 540 BC, Cyrus captured Elam (Susiana) and its capital, Susa.^[38] The Nabonidus Chronicle records that prior to the battle(s), Nabonidus had ordered cult statues from outlying Babylonian cities to be brought into the capital, suggesting that the conflict had begun possibly in the winter of 540 BC.^[39] .Near the beginning of October, Cyrus fought the Battle of Opis in or near the strategic riverside city of Opis on the Tigris, north of Babylon. The Babylonian army was routed and on October 10, Sippar was seized without a battle, with little to no resistance from the populace.^[40] It is probable that Cyrus engaged in negotiations with the Babylonian generals to obtain a compromise on their part and therefore avoid an armed confrontation.^[41] Nabonidus was staying in the city at the time, and soon fled to the capital, Babylon, which he had not visited in years.^[42]

Two days later, on October 12 (Julian calendar; October 7 by the Gregorian calendar), Gubaru's troops entered Babylon, again without any resistance from the Babylonian armies, and detained Nabonidus.^[43] Herodotus explains that to accomplish this feat, the Persians diverted the Euphrates river into a canal so that the water level dropped "to the height of the middle of a man's thigh," which allowed the invading forces to march directly through the river bed to enter at night.^[44] On October 29, Cyrus himself entered the city of Babylon and detained Nabonidus.^[45]

Prior to Cyrus' invasion of Babylon, the Neo-Babylonian Empire had conquered many kingdoms. In addition to Babylonia itself, Cyrus probably incorporated its subnational entities into his Empire, including Syria, Judea, and Arabia Petraea, although there is no direct evidence of this fact.^[46]

After taking Babylon, Cyrus proclaimed himself "king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four corners of the world" in the famous Cyrus cylinder, an inscription deposited in the foundations of the Esagila temple dedicated to the chief Babylonian god Marduk. The text of the cylinder denounces Nabonidus as impious and portrays the victorious Cyrus as pleasing to Marduk. It goes on to describe how Cyrus had improved the lives of the citizens of Babylonia, repatriated displaced peoples and restored temples and cult sanctuaries. Although some have asserted that the cylinder represents a form of "human rights charter", historians generally portray it in the context of a long-standing Mesopotamian tradition of new rulers beginning their reigns with declarations of reforms.^[47]

Cyrus' dominions comprised the largest empire the world had ever seen.^[9] At the end of Cyrus' rule, the Achaemenid Empire stretched from Asia Minor in the west to the northwestern areas of India in the east.^[48]

Death

The details of Cyrus' death can vary by account. The account of Herodotus from his Histories provides the second longest detail, in which Cyrus met his fate in a fierce battle with the Massagetae, a tribe from the southern deserts of Kharesm and Kizilhoum in the southernmost portion of the steppe regions of modern-day Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, following the advice of Croesus to attack them in their own territory.^[49] The Massagetae were related to the Scythians in their dress and mode of living; they fought on horseback and on foot. In order to acquire her realm, Cyrus first sent an offer of marriage to their ruler Tomyris, a proposal she rejected. He then commenced his attempt to take Massagetae territory by force, beginning by building bridges and towered war boats along his side of the river Jaxartes, or Syr Darya, which separated them. Sending him a warning to cease his encroachment in which she stated she expected he would disregard anyway, Tomyris challenged him to meet her forces in honorable warfare, inviting him to a location in her country a day's march from the river, where their two armies would formally engage each other. He accepted her offer, but, learning that the Massagetae were unfamiliar with wine and its intoxicating effects, he set up and then left camp with plenty of it behind, taking his best soldiers with him and leaving the least capable ones. The general of Tomyris's army, which was also her son Spargapises, and 1/3 of the Massagetian troops killed the group Cyrus had left there, and, finding the camp well-stocked with food and the wine, unwittingly drank themselves into inebriation, diminishing their capability to defend themselves when they were then overtaken by a surprise attack. They were successfully defeated, and although he was taken prisoner, Spargapises committed suicide once he regained sobriety. Upon learning of what had transpired, Tomyris denounced Cyrus' tactics as underhanded and swore vengeance, leading a second wave of troops into battle herself. Cyrus was ultimately killed and his forces suffered massive casualties in what Herodotus referred to as the fiercest battle of his career, and the ancient world. When it was over, Tomyris ordered the body of Cyrus brought to her, then decapitated him and dipped his head in a vessel of blood, in a symbolic gesture of revenge for his bloodlust and the death of her son.^[50][51] However, some scholars question this version, mostly when Herodotus admits this event was one of many versions of Cyrus' death that he heard from a supposedly reliable source who told him no one was there to see the aftermath. Nevertheless, others suggest the Persian troops may have later recovered the body after it was crucified which was also after his beheading, or that Tomyris beheaded and then crucified a man other than Cyrus, or Cyrus's double.^{[citation needed]}

Ctesias, in his Persica, has the longest account which says Cyrus met his death while putting down resistance from the Derbices infantry, aided by other Scythian archers and cavalry, plus Indians and their elephants. According to him, this event took place north-east of the headwaters of the Syr Darya.^{[citation needed]}

An alternative account from Xenophon's Cyropaedia contradicts the others, claiming that Cyrus died peaceably at his capital.^[52]

The final version of Cyrus's death comes from Berossus, who only reports Cyrus met his death while warring against the Dahae archers north-west of the headwaters of the Syr Darya.^{[citation needed]}

Tomb

Cyrus' tomb lies in Pasargadae, Iran, a UNESCO World Heritage Site (2006).

Cyrus' remains were interred in his capital city of Pasargadae, where today a tomb still exists which many believe to be his. Both Strabo and Arrian give nearly equal descriptions of the tomb, based on the eyewitness report of Aristobulus of Cassandreia, who at the instigation of Alexander the Great visited the tomb two times.^[53] Though the city itself is now in ruins, the burial place of Cyrus the Great has remained largely intact; and the tomb has been partially restored to counter its natural deterioration over the years. According to Plutarch, his epitaph said,

Cuneiform evidence from Babylon proves that Cyrus died around December 530 BC,^[12] and that his son Cambyses II had become king. His younger son, Smerdis, died before Cambyses left to invade the eastern front. From Herodotus' account, Cambyses killed his brother to avoid a rebellion in his absence. Cambyses continued his father's policy of expansion, and managed to capture Egypt for the Empire, but soon died after only seven years of rule. An imposter named Gaumata, claiming to be Smerdis, became the sole ruler of Persia for seven months, until he was killed by Darius the Great.^{[citation needed]}

Cyrus was praised in the Tanakh (Isaiah 45:1-6) and (Ezra 1:1-11) for the freeing of slaves, humanitarian equality and costly reparations he makes. However he has been criticized for believing the false report of the Cuthites, who wanted to halt the rebuilding of the Temple. They accused the Jews of conspiring to rebel, so "the king of Persia" in turn stopped the construction of the temple, which would not be completed until 516BCE,^{[citation needed]} during the reign of Darius the Great. According to The Bible it was King Artaxerxes who was convinced to stop the construction of the second temple in Jerusalem[Ezra 4:7-24^[55]]

Legacy

Cyrus the Great helped the Hebrew exiles to resettle and rebuild Jerusalem, earning him an honored place in Judaism.

In scope and extent his achievements ranked far above that of the Macedonian king,
Alexander("the great") who was to demolish the empire in the 320's but fail to provide
any stable alternative.

—Charles Freeman in 'The Greek Achievement'^[56]

The achievements of Cyrus the Great throughout antiquity is well reflected in the way he is remembered today. His own nation, the Iranians, regarded him as "The Father" and the Babylonians as "The Liberator".^[57] After this liberation of Babylonians, followed Cyrus' liberal help for the return of Jews. For this Cyrus is addressed in the Jewish Tanakh as the "Lord's anointed ". Glorified by Ezra and by Isaiah, Cyrus is the one who "The Lord, the God of heaven" has given him "all the Kingdoms of the earth".^[18]

Cyrus was distinguished equally as a statesman and as a soldier. By pursuing a policy of generosity instead of repression, and by favoring local religions, he was able to make his newly conquered subjects into enthusiastic supporters.^[58] Due in part to the political infrastructure he created, the Achaemenid empire endured long after his death.

The rise of Persia under Cyrus's rule had a profound impact on the course of world history. Persian philosophy, literature and religion all played dominant roles in world events for the next millennia. Despite the Islamic conquest of Persia in the 7th century CE by the Islamic Caliphate, Persia continued to exercise enormous influence in the Middle East during the Islamic Golden Age, and was particularly instrumental in the growth and expansion of Islam.

Many of the Iranian dynasties following the Achaemenid empire and their kings saw themselves as the heirs to Cyrus the Great and have claimed to continue the line begun by Cyrus.^{[citation needed]} However there are different opinions among scholars whether this is also the case for the Sassanid Dynasty.^[59] Mohammad Reza Shah of Pahlavi dynasty celebrated the 2500^th anniversary of the Iranian monarchy in 1971, though it ended with the 1979 revolution. Even today many consider Cyrus greater than Alexander the Great in his accomplishment.

According to Professor Richard Frye:^[60]

Religion

Dhul-Qarnayn is thought to refer to Cyrus by many Qur'anic commentators.

Religious policy of Cyrus is well documented in Babylonian texts as well as Jewish sources. Cyrus initiated a general policy that can be described as a policy of permitting religious freedom throughout his vast empire. He brought peace to the Babylonians and is said to have kept his army away from the temples and restored the statues of the Babylonian gods to their sanctuaries.^[14] Another example of his religious policies, as evidenced by the Cyrus cylinder (see below), was his treatment of the Jews during their exile in Babylon after Nebuchadnezzar II destroyed Jerusalem. The Jewish Bible's Ketuvim ends in Second Chronicles with the decree of Cyrus, which returned the exiles to the Promised Land from Babylon along with a commission to rebuild the temple.

'Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD, the God of heaven, given me; and He hath charged me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whosoever there is among you of all His people--the LORD his God be with him--let him go up.' (ezra 1:1-4)

This edict is also fully reproduced in the Book of Ezra.

“In the first year of King Cyrus, Cyrus the king issued a decree: ‘Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the temple, the place where sacrifices are offered, be rebuilt and let its foundations be retained, its height being 60 cubits and its width 60 cubits; with three layers of huge stones and one layer of timbers. And let the cost be paid from the royal treasury. ‘Also let the gold and silver utensils of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be returned and brought to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; and you shall put them in the house of God.’ (Ezra 6:3-5)

As a result of Cyrus' policies, the Jews honored him as a dignified and righteous king. He is the only Gentile to be designated as a messiah, a divinely-appointed king, in the Tanakh (Isaiah 45:1-6). Isaiah 45:13: " I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness: I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price or reward, says the LORD Almighty." As the text suggests, Cyrus did ultimately release the nation of Israel from its exile without compensation or tribute. Traditionally, these passages in Isaiah were believed to pre-date the rule of Cyrus by about 100 years, however, most modern scholars date Isaiah 40-55(often referred to as Deutero-Isaiah), toward the end of the Babylonian exile(ca. 536 BCE).^[61] Whereas Isaiah 1-39 (referred to as Proto-Isaiah) saw the destruction of Israel as imminent, and the restoration in the future, Deutero-Isaiah speaks of the destruction in the past (Isa 42:24-25), and the restoration as imminent (Isa 42:1-9). Notice, for example, the change in temporal perspective from (Isa 39:6-7), where the Babylonian Captivity is cast far in the future, to (Isa 43:14), where the Israelites are spoken of as already in Babylon.^[62]

There was Jewish criticism of him after he was lied to by the Cuthites, who wanted to halt the building of the Second Temple. They accused the Jews of conspiring to rebel, so Cyrus in turn stopped the construction, which would not be completed until 515 BCE, during the reign of Darius I.^[63][64] According to The Bible it was King Artaxerxes who was convinced to stop the construction of the temple in Jerusalem[Ezra 4:7-24]

Some contemporary Muslim scholars have suggested that the Qur'anic figure of Dhul-Qarnayn is Cyrus the Great. This theory was proposed by Sunni scholar Abul Kalam Azad and endorsed by Shi'a scholars Allameh Tabatabaei, in his Tafsir al-Mizan and Makarem Shirazi and Sunni scholar Abul Ala Maududi.^[65]

Politics and philosophy

During his reign, Cyrus maintained control over a vast region of conquered kingdoms, achieved partly through retaining and expanding Median satrapies. Further organization of newly conquered territories into provinces ruled by vassal kings called satraps, was continued by Cyrus' successor Darius the Great. Cyrus' empire was based on tribute and conscripts from the many parts of his realm.^{[citation needed]}

Cyrus' conquests began a new era in the age of empire building, where a vast superstate, comprising many dozens of countries, races, religions, and languages, were ruled under a single administration headed by a central government. This system lasted for centuries, and was retained both by the invading Seleucid dynasty during their control of Persia, and later Iranian dynasties including the Persian Parthians and Sassanids.^[66]

In 1992, he was ranked #87 on Michael H. Hart's list of the most influential figures in history. On December 10, 2003, in her acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize, Shirin Ebadi evoked Cyrus, saying:

Cyrus' legacy has been felt even as far away as Iceland^[68] and colonial America. Many of the forefathers of the United States of America sought inspiration from Cyrus the Great through works such as Cyropaedia. Thomas Jefferson, for example, had two personal copies of the book, "which was a mandatory read for statesmen alongside Machiavelli's The Prince."^[69]

Cyrus cylinder

The Cyrus cylinder, a contemporary cuneiform script proclaiming Cyrus as legitimate king of Babylon.

One of the few surviving sources of information that can be dated directly to Cyrus's time is the Cyrus cylinder, a document in the form of a clay cylinder inscribed in Akkadian cuneiform. It had been placed in the foundations of the Esagila (the temple of Marduk in Babylon) as a foundation deposit following the Persian conquest in 539 BC. It was discovered in 1879 and is kept today in the British Museum in London.^[70]

The text of the cylinder denounces the deposed Babylonian king Nabonidus as impious and portrays Cyrus as pleasing to the chief god Marduk. It goes on to describe how Cyrus had improved the lives of the citizens of Babylonia, repatriated displaced peoples and restored temples and cult sanctuaries.^[71] Although not mentioned in the text, the repatriation of the Jews from their "Babylonian captivity" was part of this policy.^[72]

The British Museum describes the cylinder as "an instrument of ancient Mesopotamian propaganda" that "reflects a long tradition in Mesopotamia where, from as early as the third millennium BC, kings began their reigns with declarations of reforms."^[47] The cylinder emphasizes Cyrus's continuity with previous Babylonian rulers, asserting his virtue as a traditional Babylonian king while denigrating his predecessor.^[73]

In the 1970s the Shah of Iran adopted it as a political symbol, using it in his own propaganda celebrating 2,500 years of the Iranian monarchy^[74] and asserting that it was "the first human rights charter in history".^[75] This view has been disputed by some as "rather anachronistic" and tendentious,^[76] as the modern concept of human rights would have been quite alien to Cyrus's contemporaries and is not mentioned by the cylinder.^[77][78] The cylinder has, nonetheless, become seen as part of Iran's cultural identity.^[74]

Family tree

Notes

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Cyrus the Great

• The Day of Cyrus The Great The Day of Cyrus The Great in Cambrige/UK
• Historic Personalities - Cyrus the Great Iran Chamber Society
• Cyropaedia of Xenophon Iran Chamber Society
• PersianDNA Cyrus The Great - Persian Empire & The Greatest King of the History
• Pictures of Tomb of Cyrus the Great
• Cyrus Cylinder Full Babylonian text of the Cyrus Cylinder as it was known in 2001; translation; brief introduction
• Cylinder of Cyrus, Persian text منشور کوروش هخامنشی
• Who Was Zulqarnain?
• Cyrus The Great
• International Committee to Save the Archaeological Sites of Pasargadae.
• Images of Cyrus the Great's tomb
• Cyrus Cylinder to be returned to Iran Cultural Heritage News Agency, Tehran, June 2008
• Iran, The Forgotten Glory - Documentary Film About Ancient Persia (Achaemenids & Sassanids)
• A short sample of the documentary film In Search of Cyrus the Great, directed by Cyrus Kar, in production, hosted by International Committee to Save the Archaeological Sites of Pasargadae (9 min 58 sec).
• Xenophon, Cyropaedia: the education of Cyrus, translated by Henry Graham Dakyns and revised by F.M. Stawell, Project Gutenberg.