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Cyrus the Great

July 27, 2023

Cyrus II of Persia (c. 600–530 BC; Old Persian: 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁 Kūruš),[a] commonly known as Cyrus the Great,[4] was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, the First Persian Empire.[5] Under his rule the empire embraced all of the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East,[5] expanded vastly and eventually conquered most of Western Asia and much of Central Asia. Spanning from the Mediterranean Sea and Hellespont in the west to the Indus River in the east, the empire created by Cyrus was the largest the world had yet seen.[6] At its maximum extent under his successors, the Achaemenid Empire stretched from parts of the Balkans (Eastern Bulgaria–Paeonia and Thrace–Macedonia) and Southeast Europe proper in the west to the Indus Valley in the east.

Cyrus the Great
𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁
Cyrus the Great with a Hemhem crown, from a relief in the residence of Cyrus in Pasargadae[1]
King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire
Reign559–530 BC
PredecessorEmpire established
SuccessorCambyses II
King of Persia
Reign559–530 BC
PredecessorCambyses I
SuccessorCambyses II
King of Media
Reign549–530 BC
PredecessorAstyages
SuccessorCambyses II
King of Lydia
Reign547–530 BC
PredecessorCroesus
SuccessorCambyses II
King of Babylon
Reign539–530 BC
PredecessorNabonidus
SuccessorCambyses II
Bornc. 600 BC[2]
Anshan, Persis (present-day Fars Province, Iran)
Died4 December 530 BC[3] (aged 70)
Syr Darya, Central Asia
Burial
Pasargadae
ConsortCassandane, Amytis of Media
Issue
HouseTeispid
FatherCambyses I
MotherMandane of Media

The reign of Cyrus lasted about thirty years. His empire took root with his conquests of the Median Empire, then the Lydian Empire and eventually the Neo-Babylonian Empire. He also led an expedition into Central Asia, which resulted in major campaigns that were described as having brought "into subjection every nation without exception".[7] Cyrus did not venture into Egypt, and was alleged to have died in battle while fighting the Massagetae, an ancient Eastern Iranian nomadic tribal confederation, along the Syr Darya in December 530 BC.[8][b] However Xenophon claimed that Cyrus did not die in battle and returned to the Achaemenid ceremonial capital of Persepolis again.[9] He was succeeded by his son, Cambyses II, who managed to conquer Egypt, Nubia and Cyrenaica during his short rule.

Known as Cyrus the Elder (Greek: Κῦρος ὁ Πρεσβύτερος, translit. Kŷros ho Presbýteros) to the Greeks, he was well-known for having respected the customs and religions of the lands he conquered.[10] He was important in developing the system of a central administration at Pasargadae governing satraps in the empire's border regions, which worked very effectively and profitably for both rulers and subjects.[5][11] The Edict of Restoration, a proclamation attested by a cylinder seal in which Cyrus authorized and encouraged the return of the Israelites to the Land of Israel following his conquest of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, is described in the Bible and likewise left a lasting legacy on the Jewish religion due to his role in ending the Babylonian captivity and facilitating the Jewish return to Zion. According to Isaiah 45:1 of the Hebrew Bible,[12] God anointed Cyrus for this task, even referring to him as a messiah (lit. 'anointed one'); Cyrus is the only non-Jewish figure in the Bible to be revered in this capacity.[13]

Cyrus is also recognized for his achievements in human rights, politics, and military strategy, as well as his influence on both Eastern and Western civilizations. The Achaemenid influence in the ancient world would eventually extend as far as Athens, where upper-class Athenians adopted aspects of the culture of the ruling class of Achaemenid Persia as their own.[14] Having originated from Persis, roughly corresponding to the modern-day Fars Province of Iran, Cyrus has played a crucial role in defining the national identity of modern Iran.[15][16][17] He remains a cult figure amongst modern Iranians, with his tomb serving as a spot of reverence for millions of people.[18] In the 1970s, the last Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, identified Cyrus's famous proclamation inscribed onto the Cyrus Cylinder as the oldest-known declaration of human rights,[19] and the Cylinder has since been popularized as such.[20][21][22] This view has been criticized by some Western historians as a misunderstanding of the Cylinder's generic nature as a traditional statement that new monarchs make at the beginning of their reign.[23][21][22][24][25]

Etymology

Further information: Cyrus

The name Cyrus is a Latinized form derived from the Greek-language name Κῦρος (Kỹros), which itself was derived from the Old Persian name Kūruš.[26][27] The name and its meaning have been recorded within ancient inscriptions in different languages. The ancient Greek historians Ctesias and Plutarch stated that Cyrus was named from the Sun (Kuros), a concept which has been interpreted as meaning "like the Sun" (Khurvash) by noting its relation to the Persian noun for Sun, khor, while using -vash as a suffix of likeness.[28] Karl Hoffmann has suggested a translation based on the meaning of an Indo-European root "to humiliate", and accordingly, the name "Cyrus" means "humiliator of the enemy in verbal contest".[27] Another possible Iranian derivation would mean "the young one, child", related to Kurdish kur ("son, little boy") or Ossetian i-gur-un ("to be born") and kur (young bull).[29] In the Persian language and especially in Iran, Cyrus's name is spelled as کوروش (Kūroš, [kuːˈɾoʃ]).[30] In the Bible, he is referred to in the Hebrew language as Koresh (כורש‎).[31] Some pieces of evidence suggest that Cyrus is Kay Khosrow, a legendary Persian king of the Kayanian dynasty and a character in Shahnameh, a Persian epic.[32]

Some scholars, however, believe that neither Cyrus nor Cambyses were Iranian names, proposing that Cyrus was Elamite[33] in origin and that the name meant "he who bestows care" in the extinct Elamite language.[34] One reason is that, while Elamite names may end in -uš, no Elamite texts spell the name this way — only Kuraš.[29] Meanwhile, Old Persian did not allow names to end in -aš, so it would make sense for Persian speakers to change an original Kuraš into the more grammatically correct form Kuruš.[29] Elamite scribes, on the other hand, would not have had a reason to change an original Kuruš into Kuraš, since both forms were acceptable.[29] Therefore, Kuraš probably represents the original form.[29] Another scholarly opinion is that Kurus was a name of Indo-Aryan origin, in honour of the Indo-Aryan Kuru and Kamboja mercenaries from eastern Afghanistan and Northwest India that helped in the conquest of the Middle-East.[35][36][c]

Dynastic history

See also: Achaemenes, Achaemenid family tree, and Teispids
 
The four-winged guardian figure representing Cyrus the Great. Bas-relief found on a doorway pillar at Pasargadae on top of which was once inscribed in three languages the sentence "I am Cyrus the King, an Achaemenian."[37][38] Scholars who doubt that the relief depicts Cyrus note that the same inscription is written on other palaces in the complex.[39]

The Persian domination and kingdom in the Iranian plateau started as an extension of the Achaemenid dynasty, who expanded their earlier dominion possibly from the 9th century BC onward. The eponymous founder of the dynasty was Achaemenes (from Old Persian Haxāmaniš). Achaemenids are "descendants of Achaemenes", as Darius the Great, the ninth king of the dynasty, traces his ancestry to him, declaring "for this reason we are called Achaemenids." Achaemenes built the state Parsumash in the southwest of Iran and was succeeded by Teispes, who took the title "King of Anshan" after seizing the city Anshan and enlarging his kingdom further to include Pars proper.[40] Ancient documents[41] mention that Teispes had a son called Cyrus I, who also succeeded his father as "king of Anshan". Cyrus I had a full brother whose name is recorded as Ariaramnes.[5]

In 600 BC, Cyrus I was succeeded by his son, Cambyses I, who reigned until 559 BC. Cyrus II "the Great" was a son of Cambyses I, who had named his son after his father, Cyrus I.[42] There are several inscriptions of Cyrus the Great and later kings that refer to Cambyses I as the "great king" and "king of Anshan". Among these are some passages in the Cyrus cylinder where Cyrus calls himself "son of Cambyses, great king, king of Anshan". Another inscription (from CM's) mentions Cambyses I as a "mighty king" and "an Achaemenian", which according to the bulk of scholarly opinion was engraved under Darius and considered as a later forgery by Darius.[43][44] However Cambyses II's maternal grandfather Pharnaspes is named by historian Herodotus as "an Achaemenian" too.[45] Xenophon's account in Cyropædia further names Cambyses's wife as Mandane and mentions Cambyses as king of Iran (ancient Persia). These agree with Cyrus's 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 stating that Cambyses was not a king but a "Persian of good family".[46] However, in some other passages, Herodotus's 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.[47]

The traditional view based on archaeological research and the genealogy given in the Behistun Inscription and by Herodotus[5] holds that Cyrus the Great was an Achaemenid. However, M. Waters has suggested that Cyrus is unrelated to the Achaemenids or Darius the Great, and that his family was of Teispid and Anshanite origin instead of Achaemenid.[48]

Early life

 
"I am Cyrus the King, an Achaemenian" in Old Persian, Elamite and Akkadian languages. It is known as the "CMa inscription", carved in a column of Palace P in Pasargadae.[49] These inscriptions on behalf of Cyrus were probably made later by Darius I in order to affirm his lineage, using the Old Persian script he had designed.[44]

Cyrus was born to Cambyses I, King of Anshan, and Mandane, daughter of Astyages, King of Media, during the period of 600–599 BC.

By his own account, generally believed now to be accurate, Cyrus was preceded as king by his father Cambyses I, grandfather Cyrus I, and great-grandfather Teispes.[50] Cyrus married Cassandane[citation needed] who was an Achaemenian and the daughter of Pharnaspes who bore him two sons, Cambyses II and Bardiya along with three daughters, Atossa, Artystone, and Roxane.[citation needed] Cyrus and Cassandane were known to love each other very much – Cassandane said that she found it more bitter to leave Cyrus than to depart her life.[51] After her death, Cyrus insisted on public mourning throughout the kingdom.[52] The Nabonidus Chronicle states that Babylonia mourned Cassandane for six days (identified as 21–26 March 538 BC).[53] After his father's death, Cyrus inherited the Persian throne at Pasargadae, which was a vassal of Astyages. The Greek historian Strabo has said that Cyrus was originally named Agradates[34] by his step-parents. It is possible that, when reuniting with his original family, following the naming customs, Cyrus's father, Cambyses I, named him Cyrus after his grandfather, who was Cyrus I.[citation needed] There is also an account by Strabo that claimed Agradates adopted the name Cyrus after the Cyrus river near Pasargadae.[34]

Mythology

 
Painting of king Astyages sending Harpagus to kill young Cyrus

Herodotus gave a mythological account of Cyrus's early life. In this account, Astyages had two prophetic dreams in which a flood, and then a series of fruit-bearing vines, emerged from his daughter Mandane's pelvis, and covered the entire kingdom. These were interpreted by his advisers as a foretelling that his grandson would one day rebel and supplant him as king. Astyages summoned Mandane, at the time pregnant with Cyrus, back to Ecbatana to have the child killed. General Harpagus delegated the task to Mithradates, one of the shepherds of Astyages, who raised the child and passed off his stillborn son to Harpagus as the dead infant Cyrus.[54] Cyrus lived in secrecy, but when he reached the age of 10, during a childhood game, he had the son of a nobleman beaten when he refused to obey Cyrus's commands. As it was unheard of for the son of a shepherd to commit such an act, Astyages had the boy brought to his court, and interviewed him and his adoptive father. Upon the shepherd's confession, Astyages sent Cyrus back to Persia to live with his biological parents.[55] However, Astyages summoned the son of Harpagus, and in retribution, chopped him to pieces, roasted some portions while boiling others, and tricked his adviser into eating his child during a large banquet. Following the meal, Astyages's servants brought Harpagus the head, hands and feet of his son on platters, so he could realize his inadvertent cannibalism.[56] In another version, Cyrus was presented as the son of a poor family that worked in the Median court.

Rise and military campaigns

Median Empire

Main article: Persian Revolt
 
Detail of Cyrus Hunting Wild Boar by Claude Audran the Younger, Palace of Versailles

Cyrus the Great succeeded to the throne in 559 BC following his father's death; however, Cyrus was not yet an independent ruler. Like his predecessors, Cyrus had to recognize Median overlordship. Astyages, last king of the Median Empire and Cyrus's grandfather, 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.[citation needed]

According to the Nabonidus Chronicle, Astyages launched an attack against Cyrus, "king of Ansan". According to the historian Herodotus, it is known that Astyages placed Harpagus in command of the Median army to conquer Cyrus. However, Harpagus contacted Cyrus and encouraged his revolt against Media, before eventually defecting along with several of the nobility and a portion of the army. This mutiny is confirmed by the Nabonidus Chronicle. The Chronicle suggests that the hostilities lasted for at least three years (553–550), and the final battle resulted in the capture of Ecbatana. This was described in the paragraph that preceded the entry for Nabonidus's year 7, which detailed Cyrus's victory and the capture of his grandfather.[57] According to the historians Herodotus and Ctesias, Cyrus spared the life of Astyages and married his daughter, Amytis. This marriage pacified several vassals, including the Bactrians, Parthians, and Saka.[58] Herodotus notes that Cyrus also subdued and incorporated Sogdia into the empire during his military campaigns of 546–539 BC.[59][60]

With Astyages out of power, all of his vassals (including many of Cyrus's 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 was still the nominal governor of Parsa under Cyrus's authority—more a Prince or a Grand Duke than a King.[61] His son, Hystaspes, who was also Cyrus's second cousin, was then made satrap of Parthia and Phrygia. Cyrus the Great thus united the twin Achaemenid kingdoms of Parsa and Anshan into Persia proper. Arsames lived to see his grandson become Darius the Great, Shahanshah of Persia, after the deaths of both of Cyrus's sons.[62] Cyrus's conquest of Media was merely the start of his wars.[63]

Lydian Empire and Asia Minor

Further information: Battle of Pteria, Battle of Thymbra, and Siege of Sardis (547 BC)
 
Victory of Cyrus over Lydia's Croesus at the Battle of Thymbra, 546 BC

The exact dates of the Lydian conquest are unknown, but it must have taken place between Cyrus's overthrow of the Median 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.[64] 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.[65]

While in Sardis, Croesus sent out requests for his allies to send aid to Lydia. However, near the end of the winter, before the allies could unite, Cyrus the Great 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 the Great 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.[65] According to Herodotus, Cyrus the Great spared Croesus's life and kept him as an advisor, but this account conflicts with some translations of the contemporary Nabonidus Chronicle (the King who was himself subdued by Cyrus the Great after conquest of Babylonia), which interpret that the king of Lydia was slain.[66]

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

Before returning to the capital, Commagene was incorporated into Persia in 546 BCE.[67] Later, a Lydian named Pactyas was entrusted by Cyrus the Great to send Croesus's treasury to Persia. However, soon after Cyrus's departure, Pactyas 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's 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. The end of Pactyas is unknown, but after capture, he was probably sent to Cyrus and put to death after a succession of tortures.[68]

Mazares continued the conquest of Asia Minor but died of unknown causes during his campaign in Ionia. Cyrus sent Harpagus to complete Mazares's conquest of Asia Minor. Harpagus captured Lycia, Aeolia and Caria, 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.[69]

Eastern Campaigns

Further information: Gedrosia

After the conquest of Lydia, Cyrus campaigned at the east around 545 BC to 540 BC. Cyrus first tried to campaign against Gedrosia, however was decisively defeated and had to leave the land.[70] The land of Gedrosia was most likely under the reign of Darius I. After the failed attempt in Gedrosia, Cyrus attacked in the regions of Bactria, Arachosia, Sogdia, Saka, Chorasmia, Margiana and other provinces in the east. In 533 BC, Cyrus the Great crossed the Hindu Kush mountains and collected tribute from the Indus cities. Thus, Cyrus probably had vassalage in India.[71] Cyrus then returned to camp near Babylon due to unrest in Babylon.

Neo-Babylonian Empire

Further information: Battle of Opis

By the year 540 BC, Cyrus captured Elam (Susiana) and its capital, Susa.[72] 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.[73] Near the beginning of October 539 BC, 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 10 October, Sippar was seized without a battle, with little to no resistance from the populace.[74] 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.[75] Nabonidus, who had retreated to Sippar following his defeat at Opis, fled to Borsippa.[76]

 
Ancient Near East circa 540 BC, prior to the invasion of Babylon by Cyrus the Great

Two days later, on 12 October[77] (proleptic Gregorian calendar), Gubaru's troops entered Babylon, again without any resistance from the Babylonian armies, and detained Nabonidus.[78] Herodotus explains that to accomplish this feat, the Persians, using a basin dug earlier by the Babylonian queen Nitokris to protect Babylon against Median attacks, 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.[79] Shortly thereafter, Nabonidus returned from Borsippa and surrendered to Cyrus.[80] On 29 October, Cyrus himself entered the city of Babylon.[81]

Prior to Cyrus's 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.[3][82]

After taking Babylon, Cyrus the Great 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 pleasing the god Marduk. It describes 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.[83]

Cyrus the Great's dominions composed the largest empire the world had ever seen to that point.[6] At the end of Cyrus's rule, the Achaemenid Empire stretched from Asia Minor in the west to the Indus River in the east.[3]

Death

The details of Cyrus's death 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, an Iranian tribal confederation from the southern deserts of Khwarezm and Kyzyl Kum in the southernmost portion of the Eurasian Steppe regions of modern-day Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, following the advice of Croesus to attack them in their own territory.[84] 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, the empress Tomyris, a proposal she rejected.[citation needed]

 
Achaemenid soldiers (left) fighting against Scythians, 5th century BC. Cylinder seal impression (drawing).[85]

He then commenced his attempt to take Massagetae territory by force (c. 529),[86] beginning by building bridges and towered war boats along his side of the river Oxus, or Amu Darya, which separated them. Sending him a warning to cease his encroachment (a warning 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.[citation needed]

The general of Tomyris's army, Spargapises, who was also her son, and a third 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's tactics as underhanded and swore vengeance, leading a second wave of troops into battle herself. Cyrus the Great 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.[84][87] However, some scholars question this version, mostly because even Herodotus admits this event was one of many versions of Cyrus's death that he heard from a supposedly reliable source who told him no one was there to see the aftermath.[88]

 
Queen Tomyris of the Massagetae receiving the head of Cyrus

Herodotus also recounts that Cyrus saw in his sleep the oldest son of Hystaspes (Darius I) with wings upon his shoulders, shadowing with the one wing Asia, and with the other wing Europe.[89] Archaeologist Sir Max Mallowan explains this statement by Herodotus and its connection with the four winged bas-relief figure of Cyrus the Great in the following way:[89]

Herodotus therefore, as I surmise, may have known of the close connection between this type of winged figure and the image of Iranian majesty, which he associated with a dream prognosticating the king's death before his last, fatal campaign across the Oxus.

Muhammad Dandamayev says that Persians may have taken Cyrus's body back from the Massagetae, unlike what Herodotus claimed.[3]

According to the Chronicle of Michael the Syrian (AD 1166–1199) Cyrus was killed by his wife Tomyris, queen of the Massagetae (Maksata), in the 60th year of Jewish captivity.[90]

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 war-elephants. According to him, this event took place northeast of the headwaters of the Syr Darya.[91] An alternative account from Xenophon's Cyropaedia contradicts the others, claiming that Cyrus died peacefully at his capital.[92] The final version of Cyrus's death comes from Berossus, who only reports that Cyrus met his death while warring against the Dahae archers northwest of the headwaters of the Syr Darya.[93]

Burial

Main article: Tomb of Cyrus
 
Tomb of Cyrus in Pasargadae, Iran, a UNESCO World Heritage Site (2015)

Cyrus the Great's remains may have been interred in his capital city of Pasargadae, where today a limestone tomb (built around 540–530 BC[94]) still exists, which many believe to be his. Strabo and Arrian give nearly identical descriptions of the tomb, based on the eyewitness report of Aristobulus of Cassandreia, who at the request of Alexander the Great visited the tomb twice.[95] 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 centuries. According to Plutarch, his epitaph read:

O man, whoever you are and wherever you come from, for I know you will come, I am Cyrus who won the Persians their empire. Do not therefore begrudge me this bit of earth that covers my bones.[96]

Cuneiform evidence from Babylon proves that Cyrus died around December 530 BC,[97] and that his son Cambyses II had become king. Cambyses continued his father's policy of expansion, and captured Egypt for the Empire, but soon died after only seven years of rule. He was succeeded either by Cyrus's other son Bardiya or an impostor posing as Bardiya, who became the sole ruler of Persia for seven months, until he was killed by Darius the Great.[citation needed]

The translated ancient Roman and Greek accounts give a vivid description of the tomb both geometrically and aesthetically; the tomb's geometric shape has changed little over the years, still maintaining a large stone of quadrangular form at the base, followed by a pyramidal succession of smaller rectangular stones, until after a few slabs, the structure is curtailed by an edifice, with an arched roof composed of a pyramidal shaped stone, and a small opening or window on the side, where the slenderest man could barely squeeze through.[98]

Within this edifice was a golden coffin, resting on a table with golden supports, inside of which the body of Cyrus the Great was interred. Upon his resting place, was a covering of tapestry and drapes made from the best available Babylonian materials, utilizing fine Median worksmanship; below his bed was a fine red carpet, covering the narrow rectangular area of his tomb.[98] Translated Greek accounts describe the tomb as having been placed in the fertile Pasargadae gardens, surrounded by trees and ornamental shrubs, with a group of Achaemenian protectors called the "Magi", stationed nearby to protect the edifice from theft or damage.[98][99]

Years later, in the chaos created by Alexander the Great's invasion of Persia and after the defeat of Darius III, Cyrus the Great's tomb was broken into and most of its luxuries were looted. When Alexander reached the tomb, he was horrified by the manner in which the tomb was treated, and questioned the Magi and put them to court.[98] On some accounts, Alexander's decision to put the Magi on trial was more about his attempt to undermine their influence and his show of power in his newly conquered empire, than a concern for Cyrus's tomb.[100] However, Alexander admired Cyrus, from an early age reading Xenophon's Cyropaedia, which described Cyrus's heroism in battle and governance as a king and legislator.[101] Regardless, Alexander the Great ordered Aristobulus to improve the tomb's condition and restore its interior.[98] Despite his admiration for Cyrus the Great, and his attempts at renovation of his tomb, Alexander had, six years previously (330 BC), sacked Persepolis, the opulent city that Cyrus may have chosen the site for, and either ordered its burning as an act of pro-Greek propaganda or set it on fire during drunken revels.[102]

The edifice has survived the test of time, through invasions, internal divisions, successive empires, regime changes, and revolutions. The last prominent Persian figure to bring attention to the tomb was Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (Shah of Iran) the last official monarch of Persia, during his celebrations of 2,500 years of monarchy. Just as Alexander the Great before him, the Shah of Iran wanted to appeal to Cyrus's legacy to legitimize his own rule by extension.[103] The United Nations recognizes the tomb of Cyrus the Great and Pasargadae as a UNESCO World Heritage site.[94]

Legacy

 
Cyrus the Great is said in the Bible to have liberated the Jews from the Babylonian captivity to resettle and rebuild Jerusalem, earning him an honored place in Judaism.

British historian Charles Freeman suggests that "In scope and extent his achievements [Cyrus] ranked far above that of the Macedonian king, Alexander, who was to demolish the [Achaemenid] empire in the 320s but fail to provide any stable alternative."[104] Cyrus has been a personal hero to many people, including Thomas Jefferson, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and David Ben-Gurion.[105]

The achievements of Cyrus the Great throughout antiquity are reflected in the way he is remembered today. His own nation, the Iranians, have regarded him as "The Father," the very title that had been used during the time of Cyrus himself, by the many nations that he conquered, as according to Xenophon:[106]

And those who were subject to him, he treated with esteem and regard, as if they were his own children, while his subjects themselves respected Cyrus as their "Father" ... What other man but 'Cyrus', after having overturned an empire, ever died with the title of "The Father" from the people whom he had brought under his power? For it is plain fact that this is a name for one that bestows, rather than for one that takes away!

The Babylonians regarded him as "The Liberator", as they were offended by their previous ruler, Nabonidus, for committing sacrilege.[107]

The Book of Ezra narrates a story of the first return of exiles in the first year of Cyrus, in which Cyrus proclaims: "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."(Ezra 1:2)

Cyrus was distinguished equally as a statesman and as a soldier. Due in part to the political infrastructure he created, the Achaemenid Empire endured long after his death.[citation needed]

The rise of Persia under Cyrus's rule had a profound impact on the course of world history. Iranian philosophy, literature and religion all played dominant roles in world events for the next millennium. Despite the Islamic conquest of Persia in the 7th century AD 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.[citation needed]

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.[108][109] However, there are different opinions among scholars whether this is also the case for the Sassanid Dynasty.[110]

Alexander the Great was himself infatuated with and admired Cyrus the Great, from an early age reading Xenophon's Cyropaedia, which described Cyrus's heroism in battle and governance and his abilities as a king and a legislator.[101] During his visit to Pasargadae he ordered Aristobulus to decorate the interior of the sepulchral chamber of Cyrus's tomb.[101]

Cyrus's legacy has been felt even as far away as Iceland[111] and colonial America. Many of the thinkers and rulers of Classical Antiquity as well as the Renaissance and Enlightenment era,[112] and the forefathers of the United States of America sought inspiration from Cyrus the Great through works such as Cyropaedia. Thomas Jefferson, for example, owned two copies of Cyropaedia, one with parallel Greek and Latin translations on facing pages showing substantial Jefferson markings that signify the amount of influence the book has had on drafting the United States Declaration of Independence.[113][114][115]

According to Professor Richard Nelson Frye, Cyrus – whose abilities as conqueror and administrator Frye says are attested by the longevity and vigor of the Achaemenid Empire – held an almost mythic role among the Persian people "similar to that of Romulus and Remus in Rome or Moses for the Israelites", with a story that "follows in many details the stories of hero and conquerors from elsewhere in the ancient world."[116] Frye writes, "He became the epitome of the great qualities expected of a ruler in antiquity, and he assumed heroic features as a conqueror who was tolerant and magnanimous as well as brave and daring. His personality as seen by the Greeks influenced them and Alexander the Great, and, as the tradition was transmitted by the Romans, may be considered to influence our thinking even now."[116]

Religion and philosophy

Main articles: Cyrus the Great in the Bible and Cyrus the Great in the Quran
 
Cyrus the Great (center) with his General Harpagus behind him, as he receives the submission of Astyages (18th century tapestry)

Though it is generally believed that Zarathushtra's teachings maintained influence on Cyrus's acts and policies, so far no clear evidence has been found to indicate that Cyrus practiced a specific religion. Pierre Briant wrote that given the poor information we have, "it seems quite reckless to try to reconstruct what the religion of Cyrus might have been."[117]

The policies of Cyrus with respect to treatment of minority religions are documented in Babylonian texts as well as Jewish sources and the historians accounts.[118] Cyrus had a general policy of religious tolerance throughout his vast empire. Whether this was a new policy or the continuation of policies followed by the Babylonians and Assyrians (as Lester Grabbe maintains)[119] is disputed. 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.[10]

His treatment of the Jews during their exile in Babylon after Nebuchadnezzar II destroyed Jerusalem is reported in the Bible. 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.[citation needed]

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 there. — (2 Chronicles 36:23)

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)

 
The Cyrus Street, Jerusalem

The Jews honored him as a dignified and righteous king. In one Biblical passage, Isaiah refers to him as Messiah (lit. "His anointed one") (Isaiah 45:1), making him the only gentile to be so referred. Elsewhere in Isaiah, God is described as saying, "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 God Almighty." (Isaiah 45:13) As the text suggests, Cyrus did ultimately release the nation of Israel from its exile without compensation or tribute. These particular passages (Isaiah 40–55, often referred to as Deutero-Isaiah) are believed by most modern critical scholars to have been added by another author toward the end of the Babylonian exile (c. 536 BC).[120]

Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian, relates the traditional view of the Jews regarding the prediction of Cyrus in Isaiah in his Antiquities of the Jews, book 11, chapter 1:[121]

In the first year of the reign of Cyrus, which was the seventieth from the day that our people were removed out of their own land into Babylon, God commiserated the captivity and calamity of these poor people, according as he had foretold to them by Jeremiah the prophet, before the destruction of the city, that after they had served Nebuchadnezzar and his posterity, and after they had undergone that servitude seventy years, he would restore them again to the land of their fathers, and they should build their temple, and enjoy their ancient prosperity. And these things God did afford them; for he stirred up the mind of Cyrus, and made him write this throughout all Asia: "Thus saith Cyrus the king: Since God Almighty hath appointed me to be king of the habitable earth, I believe that he is that God which the nation of the Israelites worship; for indeed he foretold my name by the prophets, and that I should build him a house at Jerusalem, in the country of Judea." This was known to Cyrus by his reading the book which Isaiah left behind him of his prophecies; for this prophet said that God had spoken thus to him in a secret vision: "My will is, that Cyrus, whom I have appointed to be king over many and great nations, send back my people to their own land, and build my temple." This was foretold by Isaiah one hundred and forty years before the temple was demolished. Accordingly, when Cyrus read this, and admired the Divine power, an earnest desire and ambition seized upon him to fulfill what was so written; so he called for the most eminent Jews that were in Babylon, and said to them, that he gave them leave to go back to their own country, and to rebuild their city Jerusalem, and the temple of God, for that he would be their assistant, and that he would write to the rulers and governors that were in the neighborhood of their country of Judea, that they should contribute to them gold and silver for the building of the temple, and besides that, beasts for their sacrifices.

 
Painting of Daniel and Cyrus before the Idol Bel

While Cyrus was praised in the Tanakh (Isaiah 45:1–6 and Ezra 1:1–11), 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 BC, during the reign of Darius I.[122][123] According to the Bible it was King Artaxerxes who was convinced to stop the construction of the temple in Jerusalem. (Ezra 4:7–24)

 
Statue of Cyrus the great at Olympic Park in Sydney

The historical nature of this decree has been challenged. Professor Lester L Grabbe argues that there was no decree but that there was a policy that allowed exiles to return to their homelands and rebuild their temples. He also argues that the archaeology suggests that the return was a "trickle", taking place over perhaps decades, resulting in a maximum population of perhaps 30,000.[124] Philip R. Davies called the authenticity of the decree "dubious", citing Grabbe and adding that arguing against "the authenticity of Ezra 1.1–4 is J. Briend, in a paper given at the Institut Catholique de Paris on 15 December 1993, who denies that it resembles the form of an official document but reflects rather biblical prophetic idiom."[125] Mary Joan Winn Leith believes that the decree in Ezra might be authentic and along with the Cylinder that Cyrus, like earlier rulers, was through these decrees trying to gain support from those who might be strategically important, particularly those close to Egypt which he wished to conquer. He also wrote that "appeals to Marduk in the cylinder and to Yahweh in the biblical decree demonstrate the Persian tendency to co-opt local religious and political traditions in the interest of imperial control."[126]

Some modern Muslims have suggested that the Quranic figure of Dhu al-Qarnayn is a representation of Cyrus the Great, but the scholarly consensus is that he is a development of legends concerning Alexander the Great.[127]

Politics and management

Cyrus founded the empire as a multi-state empire governed by four capital states; Pasargadae, Babylon, Susa and Ecbatana. He allowed a certain amount of regional autonomy in each state, in the form of a satrapy system. A satrapy was an administrative unit, usually organized on a geographical basis. A 'satrap' (governor) was the vassal king, who administered the region, a 'general' supervised military recruitment and ensured order, and a 'state secretary' kept the official records. The general and the state secretary reported directly to the satrap as well as the central government.[citation needed]

During his reign, Cyrus maintained control over a vast region of conquered kingdoms, achieved through retaining and expanding the satrapies. Further organization of newly conquered territories into provinces ruled by satraps, was continued by Cyrus's successor Darius the Great. Cyrus's empire was based on tribute and conscripts from the many parts of his realm.[128]

Through his military savvy, Cyrus created an organized army including the Immortals unit, consisting of 10,000 highly trained soldiers.[129] He also formed an innovative postal system throughout the empire, based on several relay stations called Chapar Khaneh.[130]

Cyrus's 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 Parthians and Sasanians.[131]

 
17th-century bust of Cyrus the Great in Hamburg, Germany

Cyrus has been known for his innovations in building projects; he further developed the technologies that he found in the conquered cultures and applied them in building the palaces of Pasargadae. He was also famous for his love of gardens; the recent excavations in his capital city has revealed the existence of the Pasargadae Persian Garden and a network of irrigation canals. Pasargadae was a place for two magnificent palaces surrounded by a majestic royal park and vast formal gardens; among them was the four-quartered wall gardens of "Paradisia" with over 1000 meters of channels made out of carved limestone, designed to fill small basins at every 16 meters and water various types of wild and domestic flora. The design and concept of Paradisia were exceptional and have been used as a model for many ancient and modern parks, ever since.[132]

The English physician and philosopher Sir Thomas Browne penned a discourse entitled The Garden of Cyrus in 1658 in which Cyrus is depicted as an archetypal "wise ruler" – while the Protectorate of Cromwell ruled Britain.[citation needed]

"Cyrus the elder brought up in Woods and Mountains, when time and power enabled, pursued the dictate of his education, and brought the treasures of the field into rule and circumscription. So nobly beautifying the hanging Gardens of Babylon, that he was also thought to be the author thereof."[citation needed]

Cyrus's standard, described as a golden eagle mounted upon a "lofty shaft", remained the official banner of the Achaemenids.[133]

Cyrus Cylinder

Main article: 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 (Persian: استوانه کوروش), 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.[134]

The text of the cylinder denounces the deposed Babylonian king Nabonidus as impious and portrays Cyrus as pleasing to the chief god Marduk. It describes how Cyrus had improved the lives of the citizens of Babylonia, repatriated displaced peoples and restored temples and cult sanctuaries.[135] Although not mentioned specifically in the text, the repatriation of the Jews from their "Babylonian captivity" has been interpreted as part of this general policy.[136]

In the 1970s the Shah of Iran adopted the Cyrus cylinder as a political symbol, using it "as a central image in his celebration of 2500 years of Iranian monarchy".[137] and asserting that it was "the first human rights charter in history".[19] This view has been disputed by some as "rather anachronistic" and tendentious,[138] as the modern concept of human rights would have been quite alien to Cyrus's contemporaries and is not mentioned by the cylinder.[139][140] The cylinder has, nonetheless, become seen as part of Iran's cultural identity.[137]

The United Nations has declared the relic to be an "ancient declaration of human rights" since 1971, approved by then Secretary General Sithu U Thant, after he "was given a replica by the sister of the Shah of Iran".[141] 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."[83] The cylinder emphasizes Cyrus's continuity with previous Babylonian rulers, asserting his virtue as a traditional Babylonian king while denigrating his predecessor.[142]

Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, has stated 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."[143] He explained that "It has even been described as the first declaration of human rights, and while this was never the intention of the document – the modern concept of human rights scarcely existed in the ancient world – it has come to embody the hopes and aspirations of many."[144]

Titles

His regal titles in full were The Great King, King of Persia, King of Anshan, King of Media, King of Babylon, King of Sumer and Akkad, and King of the Four Corners of the World. The Nabonidus Chronicle notes the change in his title from "King of Anshan" to "King of Persia". Assyriologist François Vallat wrote that "When Astyages marched against Cyrus, Cyrus is called 'King of Anshan", but when Cyrus crosses the Tigris on his way to Lydia, he is 'King of Persia.' The coup therefore took place between these two events."[145]

Family tree

Further information: the full Achaemenid family tree
Cyrus family tree[146]
Achaemenes
King of Persia
Teispes
King of Persia
Ariaramnes
Ruler of Persia[i]
Cyrus I
Ruler of Anshan
Arsames
Ruler of Persia[i]
Cambyses I
Ruler of Anshan
Hystaspes
Prince
Cyrus the Great
(Cyrus II)
King of Persia
Darius the Great
(Darius I)
King of Persia
Cambyses II
King of Persia
Bardiya (Smerdis)
Prince
(imposter Gaumata
ruled as Smerdis[i])
Artystone
Princess
Atossa
Princess
Notes:
  1. ^ a b c Unconfirmed rulers, due to the Behistun Inscription

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Image:      
  2. ^ Cyrus's date of death can be deduced from the last two references to his own reign (a tablet from Borsippa dated to 12 August and the final from Babylon 12 September 530 BC) and the first reference to the reign of his son Cambyses (a tablet from Babylon dated to 31 August and or 4 September), but an undocumented tablet from the city of Kish dates the last official reign of Cyrus to 4 December 530 BC; see R.A. Parker and W.H. Dubberstein, Babylonian Chronology 626 B.C. – A.D. 75, 1971.
  3. ^ Kuraš is also attested as an Elamite name before Cyrus's lifetime.[29]

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Bibliography

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Modern sources

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  • Cannadine, David; Price, Simon (1987). Rituals of royalty : power and ceremonial in traditional societies (1. publ. ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-33513-2.
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  • Dandamaev, M. A. (1989). A political history of the Achaemenid empire. Leiden: Brill. p. 373. ISBN 90-04-09172-6.
  • Dandamayev, Muhammad A. (1993). "Cyrus iii. Cyrus II The Great". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. IV, Fasc. 7. pp. 516–521. from the original on 17 November 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
  • Freeman, Charles (1999). The Greek Achievement: The Foundation of the Western World. New York: Viking. ISBN 0-7139-9224-7.
  • Fried, Lisbeth S. (2002). "Cyrus the Messiah? The Historical Background to Isaiah 45:1". Harvard Theological Review. 95 (4). doi:10.1017/S0017816002000251. S2CID 162589455.
  • Frye, Richard N. (1962). The Heritage of Persia. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 1-56859-008-3
  • Gershevitch, Ilya (1985). The Cambridge History of Iran: Vol. 2; The Median and Achaemenian periods. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-20091-1.
  • Grayson (1975), Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles
  • Kuhrt, Amélie (2013). The Persian Empire: A Corpus of Sources from the Achaemenid Period. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-01694-3. from the original on 10 June 2021. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  • Llewellyn-Jones, Lloyd (2017). "The Achaemenid Empire". In Daryaee, Touraj (ed.). King of the Seven Climes: A History of the Ancient Iranian World (3000 BCE - 651 CE). UCI Jordan Center for Persian Studies. pp. 1–236. ISBN 978-0-692-86440-1. from the original on 14 June 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  • Moorey, P.R.S. (1991). The Biblical Lands, VI. New York: Peter Bedrick Books . ISBN 0-87226-247-2
  • Olmstead, A. T. (1948). History of the Persian Empire [Achaemenid Period]. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-62777-2
  • Palou, Christine; Palou, Jean (1962). La Perse Antique. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
  • Potts, Daniel T. (2005). "Cyrus the Great and the Kingdom of Anshan". Birth of the Persian Empire. London: University of Sydney. pp. 1–27. from the original on 31 July 2022.
  • Schmitt, Rüdiger (1983). "Achaemenid dynasty". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Vol. 3. London: Routledge. from the original on 3 December 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  • Schmitt, Rüdiger (2010). CYRUS i. The Name. Routledge & Kegan Paul.
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  • Waters, Matt (2004). "Cyrus and the Achaemenids". Iran. Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 42: 91–102. doi:10.2307/4300665. JSTOR 4300665. (registration required)
  • Waters, Matt (2014). Ancient Persia: A Concise History of the Achaemenid Empire, 550–330 BCE. Cambridge University Press. pp. 1–272. ISBN 978-1-107-65272-9. from the original on 15 October 2021. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
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Further reading

  • Amelie Kuhrt: Ancient Near Eastern History: The Case of Cyrus the Great of Persia. In: Hugh Godfrey Maturin Williamson: Understanding the History of Ancient Israel. Oxford University Press 2007, ISBN 978-0-19-726401-0, pp. 107–28
  • Beckman, Daniel (2018). "The Many Deaths of Cyrus the Great". Iranian Studies. 51 (1): 1–21. doi:10.1080/00210862.2017.1337503. S2CID 164674586.
  • Bickermann, Elias J. (September 1946). "The Edict of Cyrus in Ezra 1". Journal of Biblical Literature. 65 (3): 249–75. doi:10.2307/3262665. JSTOR 3262665.
  • Dougherty, Raymond Philip (1929). Nabonidus and Belshazzar: A Study of the Closing Events of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. New Haven: Yale University Press.
  • Drews, Robert (October 1974). "Sargon, Cyrus, and Mesopotamian Folk History". Journal of Near Eastern Studies. 33 (4): 387–93. doi:10.1086/372377. S2CID 162226226.
  • Harmatta, J. (1971). "The Rise of the Old Persian Empire: Cyrus the Great". Acta Antiquo. 19: 3–15.
  • Irannejad, A. Mani (2022). "The Ancient Iranian Perception of Cyrus the Great". Iranian Studies. 56 (2): 231–253. doi:10.1017/irn.2022.54. S2CID 252353659.
  • Lawrence, John M. (1985). "Cyrus: Messiah, Politician, and General". Near East Archaeological Society Bulletin. n.s. 25: 5–28.
  • Lawrence, John M. (1982). "Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian Attitudes Towards Foreigners and Their Religion". Near East Archaeological Society Bulletin. n.s. 19: 27–40.
  • Mallowan, Max (1972). "Cyrus the Great (558–529 BC)". Iran. 10: 1–17. doi:10.2307/4300460. JSTOR 4300460.
  • Waters, Matthew W. (2022). King of the world : the life of Cyrus the Great. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190927172.
  • Wiesehöfer, Josef (1996). Ancient Persia : from 550 BC to 650 AD. Azizeh Azodi, trans. London: I. B. Tauris. ISBN 1-85043-999-0.

External links

  • Cyrus Cylinder 22 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine Full Babylonian text of the Cyrus Cylinder as it was known in 2001; translation; brief introduction
  • Xenophon, Cyropaedia: the education of Cyrus, translated by Henry Graham Dakyns and revised by F.M. Stawell, Project Gutenberg.
Cyrus the Great
Born: c. 600 BC Died: 530 BC
New title
Not previously established
 King of Kings of Persian Empire
?–530 BC 		Succeeded by
Preceded by King of Persia
559–530 BC
Preceded by King of Media
550–530 BC
Preceded by King of Lydia
547–530 BC
Preceded by King of Babylon
539–530 BC

July 27, 2023
cyrus, great, cyrus, persia, persian, 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁, kūruš, commonly, known, founder, achaemenid, empire, first, persian, empire, under, rule, empire, embraced, previous, civilized, states, ancient, near, east, expanded, vastly, eventually, conquered, most, western, a. Cyrus II of Persia c 600 530 BC Old Persian 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁 Kurus a commonly known as Cyrus the Great 4 was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire the First Persian Empire 5 Under his rule the empire embraced all of the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East 5 expanded vastly and eventually conquered most of Western Asia and much of Central Asia Spanning from the Mediterranean Sea and Hellespont in the west to the Indus River in the east the empire created by Cyrus was the largest the world had yet seen 6 At its maximum extent under his successors the Achaemenid Empire stretched from parts of the Balkans Eastern Bulgaria Paeonia and Thrace Macedonia and Southeast Europe proper in the west to the Indus Valley in the east Cyrus the Great𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁King of AnshanKing of PersiaKing of MediaKing of the WorldKing of KingsGreat KingMighty KingKing of BabylonKing of Sumer and AkkadKing of the Four Corners of the WorldKing of the UniverseCyrus the Great with a Hemhem crown from a relief in the residence of Cyrus in Pasargadae 1 King of Kings of the Achaemenid EmpireReign559 530 BCPredecessorEmpire establishedSuccessorCambyses IIKing of PersiaReign559 530 BCPredecessorCambyses ISuccessorCambyses IIKing of MediaReign549 530 BCPredecessorAstyagesSuccessorCambyses IIKing of LydiaReign547 530 BCPredecessorCroesusSuccessorCambyses IIKing of BabylonReign539 530 BCPredecessorNabonidusSuccessorCambyses IIBornc 600 BC 2 Anshan Persis present day Fars Province Iran Died4 December 530 BC 3 aged 70 Syr Darya Central AsiaBurialPasargadaeConsortCassandane Amytis of MediaIssueCambyses II Bardiya Artystone Atossa Roxane 3 HouseTeispidFatherCambyses IMotherMandane of Media The reign of Cyrus lasted about thirty years His empire took root with his conquests of the Median Empire then the Lydian Empire and eventually the Neo Babylonian Empire He also led an expedition into Central Asia which resulted in major campaigns that were described as having brought into subjection every nation without exception 7 Cyrus did not venture into Egypt and was alleged to have died in battle while fighting the Massagetae an ancient Eastern Iranian nomadic tribal confederation along the Syr Darya in December 530 BC 8 b However Xenophon claimed that Cyrus did not die in battle and returned to the Achaemenid ceremonial capital of Persepolis again 9 He was succeeded by his son Cambyses II who managed to conquer Egypt Nubia and Cyrenaica during his short rule Known as Cyrus the Elder Greek Kῦros ὁ Presbyteros translit Kŷros ho Presbyteros to the Greeks he was well known for having respected the customs and religions of the lands he conquered 10 He was important in developing the system of a central administration at Pasargadae governing satraps in the empire s border regions which worked very effectively and profitably for both rulers and subjects 5 11 The Edict of Restoration a proclamation attested by a cylinder seal in which Cyrus authorized and encouraged the return of the Israelites to the Land of Israel following his conquest of the Neo Babylonian Empire is described in the Bible and likewise left a lasting legacy on the Jewish religion due to his role in ending the Babylonian captivity and facilitating the Jewish return to Zion According to Isaiah 45 1 of the Hebrew Bible 12 God anointed Cyrus for this task even referring to him as a messiah lit anointed one Cyrus is the only non Jewish figure in the Bible to be revered in this capacity 13 Cyrus is also recognized for his achievements in human rights politics and military strategy as well as his influence on both Eastern and Western civilizations The Achaemenid influence in the ancient world would eventually extend as far as Athens where upper class Athenians adopted aspects of the culture of the ruling class of Achaemenid Persia as their own 14 Having originated from Persis roughly corresponding to the modern day Fars Province of Iran Cyrus has played a crucial role in defining the national identity of modern Iran 15 16 17 He remains a cult figure amongst modern Iranians with his tomb serving as a spot of reverence for millions of people 18 In the 1970s the last Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi identified Cyrus s famous proclamation inscribed onto the Cyrus Cylinder as the oldest known declaration of human rights 19 and the Cylinder has since been popularized as such 20 21 22 This view has been criticized by some Western historians as a misunderstanding of the Cylinder s generic nature as a traditional statement that new monarchs make at the beginning of their reign 23 21 22 24 25 Contents 1 Etymology 2 Dynastic history 3 Early life 3 1 Mythology 4 Rise and military campaigns 4 1 Median Empire 4 2 Lydian Empire and Asia Minor 4 3 Eastern Campaigns 4 4 Neo Babylonian Empire 5 Death 5 1 Burial 6 Legacy 6 1 Religion and philosophy 6 2 Politics and management 6 3 Cyrus Cylinder 7 Titles 8 Family tree 9 See also 10 Notes 11 References 12 Bibliography 12 1 Ancient sources 12 2 Modern sources 13 Further reading 14 External linksEtymology EditFurther information Cyrus The name Cyrus is a Latinized form derived from the Greek language name Kῦros Kỹros which itself was derived from the Old Persian name Kurus 26 27 The name and its meaning have been recorded within ancient inscriptions in different languages The ancient Greek historians Ctesias and Plutarch stated that Cyrus was named from the Sun Kuros a concept which has been interpreted as meaning like the Sun Khurvash by noting its relation to the Persian noun for Sun khor while using vash as a suffix of likeness 28 Karl Hoffmann has suggested a translation based on the meaning of an Indo European root to humiliate and accordingly the name Cyrus means humiliator of the enemy in verbal contest 27 Another possible Iranian derivation would mean the young one child related to Kurdish kur son little boy or Ossetian i gur un to be born and kur young bull 29 In the Persian language and especially in Iran Cyrus s name is spelled as کوروش Kuros kuːˈɾoʃ 30 In the Bible he is referred to in the Hebrew language as Koresh כורש 31 Some pieces of evidence suggest that Cyrus is Kay Khosrow a legendary Persian king of the Kayanian dynasty and a character in Shahnameh a Persian epic 32 Some scholars however believe that neither Cyrus nor Cambyses were Iranian names proposing that Cyrus was Elamite 33 in origin and that the name meant he who bestows care in the extinct Elamite language 34 One reason is that while Elamite names may end in us no Elamite texts spell the name this way only Kuras 29 Meanwhile Old Persian did not allow names to end in as so it would make sense for Persian speakers to change an original Kuras into the more grammatically correct form Kurus 29 Elamite scribes on the other hand would not have had a reason to change an original Kurus into Kuras since both forms were acceptable 29 Therefore Kuras probably represents the original form 29 Another scholarly opinion is that Kurus was a name of Indo Aryan origin in honour of the Indo Aryan Kuru and Kamboja mercenaries from eastern Afghanistan and Northwest India that helped in the conquest of the Middle East 35 36 c Dynastic history EditSee also Achaemenes Achaemenid family tree and Teispids The four winged guardian figure representing Cyrus the Great Bas relief found on a doorway pillar at Pasargadae on top of which was once inscribed in three languages the sentence I am Cyrus the King an Achaemenian 37 38 Scholars who doubt that the relief depicts Cyrus note that the same inscription is written on other palaces in the complex 39 The Persian domination and kingdom in the Iranian plateau started as an extension of the Achaemenid dynasty who expanded their earlier dominion possibly from the 9th century BC onward The eponymous founder of the dynasty was Achaemenes from Old Persian Haxamanis Achaemenids are descendants of Achaemenes as Darius the Great the ninth king of the dynasty traces his ancestry to him declaring for this reason we are called Achaemenids Achaemenes built the state Parsumash in the southwest of Iran and was succeeded by Teispes who took the title King of Anshan after seizing the city Anshan and enlarging his kingdom further to include Pars proper 40 Ancient documents 41 mention that Teispes had a son called Cyrus I who also succeeded his father as king of Anshan Cyrus I had a full brother whose name is recorded as Ariaramnes 5 In 600 BC Cyrus I was succeeded by his son Cambyses I who reigned until 559 BC Cyrus II the Great was a son of Cambyses I who had named his son after his father Cyrus I 42 There are several inscriptions of Cyrus the Great and later kings that refer to Cambyses I as the great king and king of Anshan Among these are some passages in the Cyrus cylinder where Cyrus calls himself son of Cambyses great king king of Anshan Another inscription from CM s mentions Cambyses I as a mighty king and an Achaemenian which according to the bulk of scholarly opinion was engraved under Darius and considered as a later forgery by Darius 43 44 However Cambyses II s maternal grandfather Pharnaspes is named by historian Herodotus as an Achaemenian too 45 Xenophon s account in Cyropaedia further names Cambyses s wife as Mandane and mentions Cambyses as king of Iran ancient Persia These agree with Cyrus s 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 stating that Cambyses was not a king but a Persian of good family 46 However in some other passages Herodotus s 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 47 The traditional view based on archaeological research and the genealogy given in the Behistun Inscription and by Herodotus 5 holds that Cyrus the Great was an Achaemenid However M Waters has suggested that Cyrus is unrelated to the Achaemenids or Darius the Great and that his family was of Teispid and Anshanite origin instead of Achaemenid 48 Early life Edit I am Cyrus the King an Achaemenian in Old Persian Elamite and Akkadian languages It is known as the CMa inscription carved in a column of Palace P in Pasargadae 49 These inscriptions on behalf of Cyrus were probably made later by Darius I in order to affirm his lineage using the Old Persian script he had designed 44 Cyrus was born to Cambyses I King of Anshan and Mandane daughter of Astyages King of Media during the period of 600 599 BC By his own account generally believed now to be accurate Cyrus was preceded as king by his father Cambyses I grandfather Cyrus I and great grandfather Teispes 50 Cyrus married Cassandane citation needed who was an Achaemenian and the daughter of Pharnaspes who bore him two sons Cambyses II and Bardiya along with three daughters Atossa Artystone and Roxane citation needed Cyrus and Cassandane were known to love each other very much Cassandane said that she found it more bitter to leave Cyrus than to depart her life 51 After her death Cyrus insisted on public mourning throughout the kingdom 52 The Nabonidus Chronicle states that Babylonia mourned Cassandane for six days identified as 21 26 March 538 BC 53 After his father s death Cyrus inherited the Persian throne at Pasargadae which was a vassal of Astyages The Greek historian Strabo has said that Cyrus was originally named Agradates 34 by his step parents It is possible that when reuniting with his original family following the naming customs Cyrus s father Cambyses I named him Cyrus after his grandfather who was Cyrus I citation needed There is also an account by Strabo that claimed Agradates adopted the name Cyrus after the Cyrus river near Pasargadae 34 Mythology Edit Painting of king Astyages sending Harpagus to kill young CyrusHerodotus gave a mythological account of Cyrus s early life In this account Astyages had two prophetic dreams in which a flood and then a series of fruit bearing vines emerged from his daughter Mandane s pelvis and covered the entire kingdom These were interpreted by his advisers as a foretelling that his grandson would one day rebel and supplant him as king Astyages summoned Mandane at the time pregnant with Cyrus back to Ecbatana to have the child killed General Harpagus delegated the task to Mithradates one of the shepherds of Astyages who raised the child and passed off his stillborn son to Harpagus as the dead infant Cyrus 54 Cyrus lived in secrecy but when he reached the age of 10 during a childhood game he had the son of a nobleman beaten when he refused to obey Cyrus s commands As it was unheard of for the son of a shepherd to commit such an act Astyages had the boy brought to his court and interviewed him and his adoptive father Upon the shepherd s confession Astyages sent Cyrus back to Persia to live with his biological parents 55 However Astyages summoned the son of Harpagus and in retribution chopped him to pieces roasted some portions while boiling others and tricked his adviser into eating his child during a large banquet Following the meal Astyages s servants brought Harpagus the head hands and feet of his son on platters so he could realize his inadvertent cannibalism 56 In another version Cyrus was presented as the son of a poor family that worked in the Median court Rise and military campaigns EditMedian Empire Edit Main article Persian Revolt Detail of Cyrus Hunting Wild Boar by Claude Audran the Younger Palace of VersaillesCyrus the Great succeeded to the throne in 559 BC following his father s death however Cyrus was not yet an independent ruler Like his predecessors Cyrus had to recognize Median overlordship Astyages last king of the Median Empire and Cyrus s grandfather 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 citation needed According to the Nabonidus Chronicle Astyages launched an attack against Cyrus king of Ansan According to the historian Herodotus it is known that Astyages placed Harpagus in command of the Median army to conquer Cyrus However Harpagus contacted Cyrus and encouraged his revolt against Media before eventually defecting along with several of the nobility and a portion of the army This mutiny is confirmed by the Nabonidus Chronicle The Chronicle suggests that the hostilities lasted for at least three years 553 550 and the final battle resulted in the capture of Ecbatana This was described in the paragraph that preceded the entry for Nabonidus s year 7 which detailed Cyrus s victory and the capture of his grandfather 57 According to the historians Herodotus and Ctesias Cyrus spared the life of Astyages and married his daughter Amytis This marriage pacified several vassals including the Bactrians Parthians and Saka 58 Herodotus notes that Cyrus also subdued and incorporated Sogdia into the empire during his military campaigns of 546 539 BC 59 60 With Astyages out of power all of his vassals including many of Cyrus s 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 was still the nominal governor of Parsa under Cyrus s authority more a Prince or a Grand Duke than a King 61 His son Hystaspes who was also Cyrus s second cousin was then made satrap of Parthia and Phrygia Cyrus the Great thus united the twin Achaemenid kingdoms of Parsa and Anshan into Persia proper Arsames lived to see his grandson become Darius the Great Shahanshah of Persia after the deaths of both of Cyrus s sons 62 Cyrus s conquest of Media was merely the start of his wars 63 Lydian Empire and Asia Minor Edit Further information Battle of Pteria Battle of Thymbra and Siege of Sardis 547 BC Victory of Cyrus over Lydia s Croesus at the Battle of Thymbra 546 BCThe exact dates of the Lydian conquest are unknown but it must have taken place between Cyrus s overthrow of the Median 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 64 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 65 While in Sardis Croesus sent out requests for his allies to send aid to Lydia However near the end of the winter before the allies could unite Cyrus the Great 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 the Great 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 65 According to Herodotus Cyrus the Great spared Croesus s life and kept him as an advisor but this account conflicts with some translations of the contemporary Nabonidus Chronicle the King who was himself subdued by Cyrus the Great after conquest of Babylonia which interpret that the king of Lydia was slain 66 Croesus on the pyre Attic red figure amphora 500 490 BC Louvre G 197 Before returning to the capital Commagene was incorporated into Persia in 546 BCE 67 Later a Lydian named Pactyas was entrusted by Cyrus the Great to send Croesus s treasury to Persia However soon after Cyrus s departure Pactyas 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 s 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 The end of Pactyas is unknown but after capture he was probably sent to Cyrus and put to death after a succession of tortures 68 Mazares continued the conquest of Asia Minor but died of unknown causes during his campaign in Ionia Cyrus sent Harpagus to complete Mazares s conquest of Asia Minor Harpagus captured Lycia Aeolia and Caria 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 69 Eastern Campaigns Edit Further information Gedrosia After the conquest of Lydia Cyrus campaigned at the east around 545 BC to 540 BC Cyrus first tried to campaign against Gedrosia however was decisively defeated and had to leave the land 70 The land of Gedrosia was most likely under the reign of Darius I After the failed attempt in Gedrosia Cyrus attacked in the regions of Bactria Arachosia Sogdia Saka Chorasmia Margiana and other provinces in the east In 533 BC Cyrus the Great crossed the Hindu Kush mountains and collected tribute from the Indus cities Thus Cyrus probably had vassalage in India 71 Cyrus then returned to camp near Babylon due to unrest in Babylon Neo Babylonian Empire Edit Further information Battle of Opis By the year 540 BC Cyrus captured Elam Susiana and its capital Susa 72 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 73 Near the beginning of October 539 BC 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 10 October Sippar was seized without a battle with little to no resistance from the populace 74 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 75 Nabonidus who had retreated to Sippar following his defeat at Opis fled to Borsippa 76 Ancient Near East circa 540 BC prior to the invasion of Babylon by Cyrus the GreatTwo days later on 12 October 77 proleptic Gregorian calendar Gubaru s troops entered Babylon again without any resistance from the Babylonian armies and detained Nabonidus 78 Herodotus explains that to accomplish this feat the Persians using a basin dug earlier by the Babylonian queen Nitokris to protect Babylon against Median attacks 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 79 Shortly thereafter Nabonidus returned from Borsippa and surrendered to Cyrus 80 On 29 October Cyrus himself entered the city of Babylon 81 Prior to Cyrus s 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 3 82 After taking Babylon Cyrus the Great 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 pleasing the god Marduk It describes 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 83 Cyrus the Great s dominions composed the largest empire the world had ever seen to that point 6 At the end of Cyrus s rule the Achaemenid Empire stretched from Asia Minor in the west to the Indus River in the east 3 Death EditThe details of Cyrus s death 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 an Iranian tribal confederation from the southern deserts of Khwarezm and Kyzyl Kum in the southernmost portion of the Eurasian Steppe regions of modern day Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan following the advice of Croesus to attack them in their own territory 84 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 the empress Tomyris a proposal she rejected citation needed Achaemenid soldiers left fighting against Scythians 5th century BC Cylinder seal impression drawing 85 He then commenced his attempt to take Massagetae territory by force c 529 86 beginning by building bridges and towered war boats along his side of the river Oxus or Amu Darya which separated them Sending him a warning to cease his encroachment a warning 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 citation needed The general of Tomyris s army Spargapises who was also her son and a third 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 s tactics as underhanded and swore vengeance leading a second wave of troops into battle herself Cyrus the Great 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 84 87 However some scholars question this version mostly because even Herodotus admits this event was one of many versions of Cyrus s death that he heard from a supposedly reliable source who told him no one was there to see the aftermath 88 Queen Tomyris of the Massagetae receiving the head of CyrusHerodotus also recounts that Cyrus saw in his sleep the oldest son of Hystaspes Darius I with wings upon his shoulders shadowing with the one wing Asia and with the other wing Europe 89 Archaeologist Sir Max Mallowan explains this statement by Herodotus and its connection with the four winged bas relief figure of Cyrus the Great in the following way 89 Herodotus therefore as I surmise may have known of the close connection between this type of winged figure and the image of Iranian majesty which he associated with a dream prognosticating the king s death before his last fatal campaign across the Oxus Muhammad Dandamayev says that Persians may have taken Cyrus s body back from the Massagetae unlike what Herodotus claimed 3 According to the Chronicle of Michael the Syrian AD 1166 1199 Cyrus was killed by his wife Tomyris queen of the Massagetae Maksata in the 60th year of Jewish captivity 90 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 war elephants According to him this event took place northeast of the headwaters of the Syr Darya 91 An alternative account from Xenophon s Cyropaedia contradicts the others claiming that Cyrus died peacefully at his capital 92 The final version of Cyrus s death comes from Berossus who only reports that Cyrus met his death while warring against the Dahae archers northwest of the headwaters of the Syr Darya 93 Burial Edit Main article Tomb of Cyrus Tomb of Cyrus in Pasargadae Iran a UNESCO World Heritage Site 2015 Cyrus the Great s remains may have been interred in his capital city of Pasargadae where today a limestone tomb built around 540 530 BC 94 still exists which many believe to be his Strabo and Arrian give nearly identical descriptions of the tomb based on the eyewitness report of Aristobulus of Cassandreia who at the request of Alexander the Great visited the tomb twice 95 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 centuries According to Plutarch his epitaph read O man whoever you are and wherever you come from for I know you will come I am Cyrus who won the Persians their empire Do not therefore begrudge me this bit of earth that covers my bones 96 Cuneiform evidence from Babylon proves that Cyrus died around December 530 BC 97 and that his son Cambyses II had become king Cambyses continued his father s policy of expansion and captured Egypt for the Empire but soon died after only seven years of rule He was succeeded either by Cyrus s other son Bardiya or an impostor posing as Bardiya who became the sole ruler of Persia for seven months until he was killed by Darius the Great citation needed The translated ancient Roman and Greek accounts give a vivid description of the tomb both geometrically and aesthetically the tomb s geometric shape has changed little over the years still maintaining a large stone of quadrangular form at the base followed by a pyramidal succession of smaller rectangular stones until after a few slabs the structure is curtailed by an edifice with an arched roof composed of a pyramidal shaped stone and a small opening or window on the side where the slenderest man could barely squeeze through 98 Within this edifice was a golden coffin resting on a table with golden supports inside of which the body of Cyrus the Great was interred Upon his resting place was a covering of tapestry and drapes made from the best available Babylonian materials utilizing fine Median worksmanship below his bed was a fine red carpet covering the narrow rectangular area of his tomb 98 Translated Greek accounts describe the tomb as having been placed in the fertile Pasargadae gardens surrounded by trees and ornamental shrubs with a group of Achaemenian protectors called the Magi stationed nearby to protect the edifice from theft or damage 98 99 Years later in the chaos created by Alexander the Great s invasion of Persia and after the defeat of Darius III Cyrus the Great s tomb was broken into and most of its luxuries were looted When Alexander reached the tomb he was horrified by the manner in which the tomb was treated and questioned the Magi and put them to court 98 On some accounts Alexander s decision to put the Magi on trial was more about his attempt to undermine their influence and his show of power in his newly conquered empire than a concern for Cyrus s tomb 100 However Alexander admired Cyrus from an early age reading Xenophon s Cyropaedia which described Cyrus s heroism in battle and governance as a king and legislator 101 Regardless Alexander the Great ordered Aristobulus to improve the tomb s condition and restore its interior 98 Despite his admiration for Cyrus the Great and his attempts at renovation of his tomb Alexander had six years previously 330 BC sacked Persepolis the opulent city that Cyrus may have chosen the site for and either ordered its burning as an act of pro Greek propaganda or set it on fire during drunken revels 102 The edifice has survived the test of time through invasions internal divisions successive empires regime changes and revolutions The last prominent Persian figure to bring attention to the tomb was Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Shah of Iran the last official monarch of Persia during his celebrations of 2 500 years of monarchy Just as Alexander the Great before him the Shah of Iran wanted to appeal to Cyrus s legacy to legitimize his own rule by extension 103 The United Nations recognizes the tomb of Cyrus the Great and Pasargadae as a UNESCO World Heritage site 94 Legacy Edit Cyrus the Great is said in the Bible to have liberated the Jews from the Babylonian captivity to resettle and rebuild Jerusalem earning him an honored place in Judaism British historian Charles Freeman suggests that In scope and extent his achievements Cyrus ranked far above that of the Macedonian king Alexander who was to demolish the Achaemenid empire in the 320s but fail to provide any stable alternative 104 Cyrus has been a personal hero to many people including Thomas Jefferson Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and David Ben Gurion 105 The achievements of Cyrus the Great throughout antiquity are reflected in the way he is remembered today His own nation the Iranians have regarded him as The Father the very title that had been used during the time of Cyrus himself by the many nations that he conquered as according to Xenophon 106 And those who were subject to him he treated with esteem and regard as if they were his own children while his subjects themselves respected Cyrus as their Father What other man but Cyrus after having overturned an empire ever died with the title of The Father from the people whom he had brought under his power For it is plain fact that this is a name for one that bestows rather than for one that takes away The Babylonians regarded him as The Liberator as they were offended by their previous ruler Nabonidus for committing sacrilege 107 The Book of Ezra narrates a story of the first return of exiles in the first year of Cyrus in which Cyrus proclaims 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 Ezra 1 2 Cyrus was distinguished equally as a statesman and as a soldier Due in part to the political infrastructure he created the Achaemenid Empire endured long after his death citation needed The rise of Persia under Cyrus s rule had a profound impact on the course of world history Iranian philosophy literature and religion all played dominant roles in world events for the next millennium Despite the Islamic conquest of Persia in the 7th century AD 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 citation needed 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 108 109 However there are different opinions among scholars whether this is also the case for the Sassanid Dynasty 110 Alexander the Great was himself infatuated with and admired Cyrus the Great from an early age reading Xenophon s Cyropaedia which described Cyrus s heroism in battle and governance and his abilities as a king and a legislator 101 During his visit to Pasargadae he ordered Aristobulus to decorate the interior of the sepulchral chamber of Cyrus s tomb 101 Cyrus s legacy has been felt even as far away as Iceland 111 and colonial America Many of the thinkers and rulers of Classical Antiquity as well as the Renaissance and Enlightenment era 112 and the forefathers of the United States of America sought inspiration from Cyrus the Great through works such as Cyropaedia Thomas Jefferson for example owned two copies of Cyropaedia one with parallel Greek and Latin translations on facing pages showing substantial Jefferson markings that signify the amount of influence the book has had on drafting the United States Declaration of Independence 113 114 115 According to Professor Richard Nelson Frye Cyrus whose abilities as conqueror and administrator Frye says are attested by the longevity and vigor of the Achaemenid Empire held an almost mythic role among the Persian people similar to that of Romulus and Remus in Rome or Moses for the Israelites with a story that follows in many details the stories of hero and conquerors from elsewhere in the ancient world 116 Frye writes He became the epitome of the great qualities expected of a ruler in antiquity and he assumed heroic features as a conqueror who was tolerant and magnanimous as well as brave and daring His personality as seen by the Greeks influenced them and Alexander the Great and as the tradition was transmitted by the Romans may be considered to influence our thinking even now 116 Religion and philosophy Edit Main articles Cyrus the Great in the Bible and Cyrus the Great in the Quran Cyrus the Great center with his General Harpagus behind him as he receives the submission of Astyages 18th century tapestry Though it is generally believed that Zarathushtra s teachings maintained influence on Cyrus s acts and policies so far no clear evidence has been found to indicate that Cyrus practiced a specific religion Pierre Briant wrote that given the poor information we have it seems quite reckless to try to reconstruct what the religion of Cyrus might have been 117 The policies of Cyrus with respect to treatment of minority religions are documented in Babylonian texts as well as Jewish sources and the historians accounts 118 Cyrus had a general policy of religious tolerance throughout his vast empire Whether this was a new policy or the continuation of policies followed by the Babylonians and Assyrians as Lester Grabbe maintains 119 is disputed 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 10 His treatment of the Jews during their exile in Babylon after Nebuchadnezzar II destroyed Jerusalem is reported in the Bible 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 citation needed 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 there 2 Chronicles 36 23 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 The Cyrus Street JerusalemThe Jews honored him as a dignified and righteous king In one Biblical passage Isaiah refers to him as Messiah lit His anointed one Isaiah 45 1 making him the only gentile to be so referred Elsewhere in Isaiah God is described as saying 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 God Almighty Isaiah 45 13 As the text suggests Cyrus did ultimately release the nation of Israel from its exile without compensation or tribute These particular passages Isaiah 40 55 often referred to as Deutero Isaiah are believed by most modern critical scholars to have been added by another author toward the end of the Babylonian exile c 536 BC 120 Josephus the first century Jewish historian relates the traditional view of the Jews regarding the prediction of Cyrus in Isaiah in his Antiquities of the Jews book 11 chapter 1 121 In the first year of the reign of Cyrus which was the seventieth from the day that our people were removed out of their own land into Babylon God commiserated the captivity and calamity of these poor people according as he had foretold to them by Jeremiah the prophet before the destruction of the city that after they had served Nebuchadnezzar and his posterity and after they had undergone that servitude seventy years he would restore them again to the land of their fathers and they should build their temple and enjoy their ancient prosperity And these things God did afford them for he stirred up the mind of Cyrus and made him write this throughout all Asia Thus saith Cyrus the king Since God Almighty hath appointed me to be king of the habitable earth I believe that he is that God which the nation of the Israelites worship for indeed he foretold my name by the prophets and that I should build him a house at Jerusalem in the country of Judea This was known to Cyrus by his reading the book which Isaiah left behind him of his prophecies for this prophet said that God had spoken thus to him in a secret vision My will is that Cyrus whom I have appointed to be king over many and great nations send back my people to their own land and build my temple This was foretold by Isaiah one hundred and forty years before the temple was demolished Accordingly when Cyrus read this and admired the Divine power an earnest desire and ambition seized upon him to fulfill what was so written so he called for the most eminent Jews that were in Babylon and said to them that he gave them leave to go back to their own country and to rebuild their city Jerusalem and the temple of God for that he would be their assistant and that he would write to the rulers and governors that were in the neighborhood of their country of Judea that they should contribute to them gold and silver for the building of the temple and besides that beasts for their sacrifices Painting of Daniel and Cyrus before the Idol BelWhile Cyrus was praised in the Tanakh Isaiah 45 1 6 and Ezra 1 1 11 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 BC during the reign of Darius I 122 123 According to the Bible it was King Artaxerxes who was convinced to stop the construction of the temple in Jerusalem Ezra 4 7 24 Statue of Cyrus the great at Olympic Park in SydneyThe historical nature of this decree has been challenged Professor Lester L Grabbe argues that there was no decree but that there was a policy that allowed exiles to return to their homelands and rebuild their temples He also argues that the archaeology suggests that the return was a trickle taking place over perhaps decades resulting in a maximum population of perhaps 30 000 124 Philip R Davies called the authenticity of the decree dubious citing Grabbe and adding that arguing against the authenticity of Ezra 1 1 4 is J Briend in a paper given at the Institut Catholique de Paris on 15 December 1993 who denies that it resembles the form of an official document but reflects rather biblical prophetic idiom 125 Mary Joan Winn Leith believes that the decree in Ezra might be authentic and along with the Cylinder that Cyrus like earlier rulers was through these decrees trying to gain support from those who might be strategically important particularly those close to Egypt which he wished to conquer He also wrote that appeals to Marduk in the cylinder and to Yahweh in the biblical decree demonstrate the Persian tendency to co opt local religious and political traditions in the interest of imperial control 126 Some modern Muslims have suggested that the Quranic figure of Dhu al Qarnayn is a representation of Cyrus the Great but the scholarly consensus is that he is a development of legends concerning Alexander the Great 127 Politics and management Edit Cyrus founded the empire as a multi state empire governed by four capital states Pasargadae Babylon Susa and Ecbatana He allowed a certain amount of regional autonomy in each state in the form of a satrapy system A satrapy was an administrative unit usually organized on a geographical basis A satrap governor was the vassal king who administered the region a general supervised military recruitment and ensured order and a state secretary kept the official records The general and the state secretary reported directly to the satrap as well as the central government citation needed During his reign Cyrus maintained control over a vast region of conquered kingdoms achieved through retaining and expanding the satrapies Further organization of newly conquered territories into provinces ruled by satraps was continued by Cyrus s successor Darius the Great Cyrus s empire was based on tribute and conscripts from the many parts of his realm 128 Through his military savvy Cyrus created an organized army including the Immortals unit consisting of 10 000 highly trained soldiers 129 He also formed an innovative postal system throughout the empire based on several relay stations called Chapar Khaneh 130 Cyrus s 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 Parthians and Sasanians 131 17th century bust of Cyrus the Great in Hamburg GermanyCyrus has been known for his innovations in building projects he further developed the technologies that he found in the conquered cultures and applied them in building the palaces of Pasargadae He was also famous for his love of gardens the recent excavations in his capital city has revealed the existence of the Pasargadae Persian Garden and a network of irrigation canals Pasargadae was a place for two magnificent palaces surrounded by a majestic royal park and vast formal gardens among them was the four quartered wall gardens of Paradisia with over 1000 meters of channels made out of carved limestone designed to fill small basins at every 16 meters and water various types of wild and domestic flora The design and concept of Paradisia were exceptional and have been used as a model for many ancient and modern parks ever since 132 The English physician and philosopher Sir Thomas Browne penned a discourse entitled The Garden of Cyrus in 1658 in which Cyrus is depicted as an archetypal wise ruler while the Protectorate of Cromwell ruled Britain citation needed Cyrus the elder brought up in Woods and Mountains when time and power enabled pursued the dictate of his education and brought the treasures of the field into rule and circumscription So nobly beautifying the hanging Gardens of Babylon that he was also thought to be the author thereof citation needed Cyrus s standard described as a golden eagle mounted upon a lofty shaft remained the official banner of the Achaemenids 133 Cyrus Cylinder Edit Main article Cyrus Cylinder The Cyrus cylinder a contemporary cuneiform script proclaiming Cyrus as legitimate king of BabylonOne of the few surviving sources of information that can be dated directly to Cyrus s time is the Cyrus Cylinder Persian استوانه کوروش 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 134 The text of the cylinder denounces the deposed Babylonian king Nabonidus as impious and portrays Cyrus as pleasing to the chief god Marduk It describes how Cyrus had improved the lives of the citizens of Babylonia repatriated displaced peoples and restored temples and cult sanctuaries 135 Although not mentioned specifically in the text the repatriation of the Jews from their Babylonian captivity has been interpreted as part of this general policy 136 In the 1970s the Shah of Iran adopted the Cyrus cylinder as a political symbol using it as a central image in his celebration of 2500 years of Iranian monarchy 137 and asserting that it was the first human rights charter in history 19 This view has been disputed by some as rather anachronistic and tendentious 138 as the modern concept of human rights would have been quite alien to Cyrus s contemporaries and is not mentioned by the cylinder 139 140 The cylinder has nonetheless become seen as part of Iran s cultural identity 137 The United Nations has declared the relic to be an ancient declaration of human rights since 1971 approved by then Secretary General Sithu U Thant after he was given a replica by the sister of the Shah of Iran 141 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 83 The cylinder emphasizes Cyrus s continuity with previous Babylonian rulers asserting his virtue as a traditional Babylonian king while denigrating his predecessor 142 Neil MacGregor Director of the British Museum has stated 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 143 He explained that It has even been described as the first declaration of human rights and while this was never the intention of the document the modern concept of human rights scarcely existed in the ancient world it has come to embody the hopes and aspirations of many 144 Titles EditHis regal titles in full were The Great King King of Persia King of Anshan King of Media King of Babylon King of Sumer and Akkad and King of the Four Corners of the World The Nabonidus Chronicle notes the change in his title from King of Anshan to King of Persia Assyriologist Francois Vallat wrote that When Astyages marched against Cyrus Cyrus is called King of Anshan but when Cyrus crosses the Tigris on his way to Lydia he is King of Persia The coup therefore took place between these two events 145 Family tree EditFurther information the full Achaemenid family tree vteCyrus family tree 146 AchaemenesKing of PersiaTeispesKing of PersiaAriaramnesRuler of Persia i Cyrus IRuler of AnshanArsamesRuler of Persia i Cambyses IRuler of AnshanHystaspesPrinceCyrus the Great Cyrus II King of PersiaDarius the Great Darius I King of PersiaCambyses IIKing of PersiaBardiya Smerdis Prince imposter Gaumataruled as Smerdis i ArtystonePrincessAtossaPrincessNotes a b c Unconfirmed rulers due to the Behistun InscriptionSee also EditKay Bahman List of biblical figures identified in extra biblical sources List of people known as the Great 2016 Cyrus the Great RevoltNotes Edit Image Cyrus s date of death can be deduced from the last two references to his own reign a tablet from Borsippa dated to 12 August and the final from Babylon 12 September 530 BC and the first reference to the reign of his son Cambyses a tablet from Babylon dated to 31 August and or 4 September but an undocumented tablet from the city of Kish dates the last official reign of Cyrus to 4 December 530 BC see R A Parker and W H Dubberstein Babylonian Chronology 626 B C A D 75 1971 Kuras is also attested as an Elamite name before Cyrus s lifetime 29 References Edit Curzon George Nathaniel 2018 Persia and the Persian Question Cambridge University Press p 75 ISBN 978 1 108 08085 9 Archived from the original on 6 June 2020 Retrieved 16 March 2019 Ilya Gershevitch ed 1985 The Cambridge History of Iran The Median and Achaemenian periods Vol 2 Cambridge University Press p 404 ISBN 978 0 521 20091 2 Archived from the original on 11 October 2021 Retrieved 10 November 2020 a b c d e Dandamayev 1993 pp 516 521 Xenophon Anabasis I IX see also M A Dandamaev Cyrus II in Encyclopaedia Iranica a b c d e Schmitt 1983 Achaemenid dynasty i The clan and dynasty a b Kuhrt 1995 p 647 Cambridge Ancient History IV Chapter 3c p 170 The quote is from the Greek historian Herodotus Beckwith Christopher 2009 Empires of the Silk Road A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present Princeton and Oxford Princeton University Press ISBN 978 0 691 13589 2 p 63 Bassett Sherylee R 1999 The Death of Cyrus the Younger The Classical Quarterly 49 2 473 483 doi 10 1093 cq 49 2 473 ISSN 0009 8388 JSTOR 639872 PMID 16437854 a b Dandamayev Cyrus iii Cyrus the Great Cyrus s religious policies The Cambridge Ancient History Vol IV p 42 See also G Buchaman Gray and D Litt The foundation and extension of the Persian empire Chapter I in The Cambridge Ancient History Vol IV 2nd edition published by The University Press 1927 p 15 Excerpt The administration of the empire through satrap and much more belonging to the form or spirit of the government was the work of Cyrus Jona Lendering 2012 Messiah Roots of the concept From Josiah to Cyrus livius org Archived from the original on 31 December 2011 Retrieved 26 January 2012 The Biblical Archaeology Society BAS 24 August 2015 Cyrus the Messiah bib arch org Archived from the original on 26 January 2015 Retrieved 27 July 2015 Margaret Christina Miller 2004 Athens and Persia in the Fifth Century BC A Study in Cultural Receptivity Cambridge University Press p 243 ISBN 978 0 521 60758 2 Archived from the original on 10 June 2021 Retrieved 28 September 2020 Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis Sarah Stewart 2005 Birth of the Persian Empire I B Tauris p 7 ISBN 978 1 84511 062 8 Archived from the original on 12 January 2022 Retrieved 28 September 2020 verification needed Amelie Kuhrt 3 December 2007 The Persian Empire A Corpus of Sources from the Achaemenid Period Routledge p 47 ISBN 978 1 134 07634 5 Archived from the original on 8 January 2016 Retrieved 20 June 2015 Shabnam J Holliday 2011 Defining Iran Politics of Resistance Ashgate Publishing Ltd pp 38 40 ISBN 978 1 4094 0524 5 Archived from the original on 8 January 2016 Retrieved 20 June 2015 Llewellyn Jones 2017 p 67 a b Neil MacGregor The whole world in our hands in Art and Cultural Heritage Law Policy and Practice pp 383 84 ed Barbara T Hoffman Cambridge University Press 2006 ISBN 0 521 85764 3 The Cyrus Cylinder travels to the US British Museum 2012 Archived from the original on 22 September 2013 Retrieved 21 September 2013 a b Cyrus cylinder world s oldest human rights charter returns to Iran on loan The Guardian Associated Press 10 September 2010 Archived from the original on 9 June 2019 Retrieved 21 September 2013 a b Oldest Known Charter of Human Rights Comes to San Francisco 13 August 2013 Archived from the original on 22 September 2013 Retrieved 21 September 2013 Daniel Elton L 2000 The History of Iran Westport CT Greenwood Publishing Group ISBN 0 313 30731 8 Arnold Bill T Michalowski Piotr 2006 Achaemenid Period Historical Texts Concerning Mesopotamia In Chavelas Mark W ed The Ancient Near East Historical Sources in Translation London Blackwell ISBN 0 631 23581 7 Mitchell T C 1988 Biblical Archaeology Documents from the British Museum London Cambridge University Press ISBN 0 521 36867 7 Schmitt Rudiger Cyrus name Encyclopaedia Iranica Archived from the original on 4 March 2016 Retrieved 8 February 2016 a b Schmitt 2010 p 515 Plutarch Artaxerxes 1 3 classics mit edu Archived 29 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine Photius Epitome of Ctesias Persica 52 livius org Archived 23 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine a b c d e f Tavernier Jan 2007 Iranica in the Achaemenid Period ca 550 330 B C Leuven Peeters pp 528 9 ISBN 9789042918337 OCLC 167407632 Dandamaev 1989 p 71 Tait 1846 p 342 343 Al Biruni 1879 1000 The Chronology of Ancient Nations Translated by Sachau C Edward p 152 D T Potts Birth of the Persian Empire Vol I ed Curtis amp Stewart I B Tauris British Museum London c2005 p 13 22 a b c Waters 2014 p 171 Eric G L Pinzelli 2022 Masters of Warfare Fifty Underrated Military Commanders from Classical Antiquity to the Cold War p 3 ISBN 9781399070157 The Modern Review Volume 89 the University of Michigan 1951 which should really be Kurush an Indo aryan name cf Kuru of the Mahabharata legend Thus Cambyses was really Kambujiya Max Mallowan p 392 and p 417 Kuhrt 2013 p 177 Stronach David 2003 HERZFELD ERNST ii HERZFELD AND PASARGADAE Encyclopaedia Iranica online edition Encyclopaedia Iranica Archived from the original on 11 May 2021 Retrieved 8 March 2021 Schmitt 1983 under i The clan and dynasty e g Cyrus Cylinder Fragment A 21 Schmitt R Iranian Personal Names i Pre Islamic Names Encyclopaedia Iranica Vol 4 Naming the grandson after the grandfather was a common practice among Iranians Visual representation of the divine and the numinous in early Achaemenid Iran old problems new directions Mark A Garrison Trinity University San Antonio Texas last revision 3 March 2009 see page 11 Archived 26 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine a b Briant 2002 p 63 Waters 2004 p 92 Dandamev M A 1990 Cambyses Encyclopaedia Iranica Encyclopaedia Iranica Foundation ISBN 0 7100 9132 X Archived from the original on 17 November 2017 Retrieved 21 September 2011 Dandamaev 1989 p 9 Waters 2004 p 97 Pasargadae Palace P Livius www livius org Archived from the original on 1 November 2020 Retrieved 13 May 2019 Amelie Kuhrt The Ancient Near East c 3000 330 BC Routledge Publishers 1995 p 661 ISBN 0 415 16762 0 Benjamin G Kohl Ronald G Witt Elizabeth B Welles 1978 The Earthly republic Italian humanists on government and society Manchester University Press ND p 198 ISBN 978 0 7190 0734 7 Archived from the original on 15 October 2021 Retrieved 31 July 2022 Kuhrt 2013 p 106 Grayson 1975 p 111 Herodotus p 1 95 Herodotus p 1 107 21 Stories of the East From Herodotus pp 79 80 Briant 2002 p 31 Briant 2002 pp 31 33 Antoine Simonin 8 Jan 2012 Sogdiana Archived 21 April 2021 at the Wayback Machine Ancient History Encyclopedia Retrieved 1 September 2016 Kirill Nourzhanov Christian Bleuer 2013 Tajikistan a Political and Social History Canberra Australian National University Press p 12 ISBN 978 1 925021 15 8 Jack Martin Balcer 1984 Sparda by the bitter sea imperial interaction in western Anatolia Scholars Press p 137 ISBN 978 0 89130 657 3 Archived from the original on 17 August 2021 Retrieved 28 September 2020 A Sh Sahbazi Arsama in Encyclopaedia Iranica The encyclopaedia britannica a dictionary of arts sciences literature and general information Volume 21 edited by Hugh Chrisholm b1911 pp 206 07 Rollinger Robert The Median Empire the End of Urartu and Cyrus the Great s Campaign in 547 B C Archived 4 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine Lendering Jona The End of Lydia 547 Archived 6 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine a b Herodotus The Histories Book I Archived 29 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine 440 BC Translated by George Rawlinson Croesus Archived 30 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine Fifth and last king of the Mermnad dynasty Syria Urartu 612 501 The life and travels of Herodotus Volume 2 by James Talboys Wheeler 1855 pp 271 74 Herodotus A Barguet L Enquete in French Bibliotheque de la Pleiade pp 111 124 Ancient India by Vidya Dhar Mahajan 2019 pp 203 Chronology of the Ancient World by H E L Mellersh 1994 Tavernier Jan Some Thoughts in Neo Elamite Chronology PDF p 27 Archived PDF from the original on 30 July 2013 Retrieved 13 March 2009 Kuhrt Amelie Babylonia from Cyrus to Xerxes in The Cambridge Ancient History Vol IV Persia Greece and the Western Mediterranean pp 112 38 Ed John Boardman Cambridge University Press 1982 ISBN 0 521 22804 2 Nabonidus Chronicle 14 Archived 26 December 2018 at the Wayback Machine Tolini Gauthier Quelques elements concernant la prise de Babylone par Cyrus Paris Il est probable que des negociations s engagerent alors entre Cyrus et les chefs de l armee babylonienne pour obtenir une reddition sans recourir a l affrontement arme p 10 Archived 8 July 2018 at the Wayback Machine PDF Bealieu Paul Alain 1989 The Reign of Nabonidus King of Babylon 536 539 B C New Haven and London Yale University Press p 230 ISBN 0 300 04314 7 Briant 2002 p 41 Nabonidus Chronicle 15 16 Archived 26 December 2018 at the Wayback Machine Potts Daniel 1996 Mesopotamian civilization the material foundations Cornell University Press pp 22 23 ISBN 978 0 8014 3339 9 Archived from the original on 15 October 2021 Retrieved 10 November 2020 Bealieu Paul Alain 1989 The Reign of Nabonidus King of Babylon 536 539 B C New Haven and London Yale University Press p 231 ISBN 0 300 04314 7 Nabonidus Chronicle 18 Archived 26 December 2018 at the Wayback Machine Briant 2002 pp 44 49 a b British Museum Website The Cyrus Cylinder Britishmuseum org Retrieved 30 December 2012 a b Ancient History Sourcebook Herodotus Queen Tomyris of the Massagetai and the Defeat of the Persians under Cyrus Fordham edu Archived from the original on 28 June 2011 Retrieved 30 December 2012 Hartley Charles W Yazicioglu G Bike Smith Adam T 2012 The Archaeology of Power and Politics in Eurasia Regimes and Revolutions Cambridge University Press p 83 ISBN 978 1 107 01652 1 Archived from the original on 22 November 2020 Retrieved 21 February 2019 Grousset Rene 1970 The Empire of the Steppes Rutgers University Press p 9 ISBN 0 8135 1304 9 Tomyris Queen of the Massagetae Defeats Cyrus the Great in Battle Archived 29 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine Herodotus The Histories Nino Luraghi 2001 The historian s craft in the age of Herodotus Oxford University Press US p 155 ISBN 978 0 19 924050 0 Archived from the original on 10 June 2022 Retrieved 31 July 2022 a b Ilya Gershevitch ed 1985 The Cambridge History of Iran The Median and Achaemenian periods Volume 2 Cambridge University Press pp 392 98 ISBN 978 0 521 20091 2 Archived from the original on 11 October 2021 Retrieved 10 November 2020 Michael the Syrian Chronicle of Michael the Great Patriarch of the Syrians via Internet Archive A history of Greece Volume 2 By Connop Thirlwall Longmans 1836 p 174 Xenophon Cyropaedia VII 7 M A Dandamaev Cyrus II in Encyclopaedia Iranica p 250 See also H Sancisi Weerdenburg Cyropaedia Archived 17 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine in Encyclopaedia Iranica on the reliability of Xenophon s account A political history of the Achaemenid empire By M A Dandamaev Brill 1989 p 67 a b UNESCO World Heritage Centre 2006 Pasargadae Archived from the original on 5 March 2020 Retrieved 26 December 2010 Strabo Geographica 15 3 7 Arrian Anabasis Alexandri 6 29 Life of Alexander 69 in Plutarch The Age of Alexander translated by Ian Scott Kilvert Penguin Classics 1973 p 326 similar inscriptions give Arrian and Strabo Cyrus s date of death can be deduced from the last reference to his own reign a tablet from Borsippa dated to 12 Augustus 530 and the first reference to the reign of his son Cambyses a tablet from Babylon dated to 31 August see R A Parker and W H Dubberstein Babylonian Chronology 626 B C A D 75 1971 a b c d e grk Lucius Flavius Arrianus en Arrian trans Charles Dexter Cleveland 1861 A compendium of classical literature comprising choice extracts translated from Greek and Roman writers with biographical sketches Biddle p 313 Archived from the original on 15 October 2021 Retrieved 10 November 2020 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Abraham Valentine Williams Jackson 1906 Persia past and present The Macmillan Company p 278 tomb of cyrus the great Ralph Griffiths George Edward Griffiths 1816 The Monthly review 1816 p 509 Cyrus influence on persian identity a b c Ulrich Wilcken 1967 Alexander the Great W W Norton amp Company p 146 ISBN 978 0 393 00381 9 Alexander admiration of cyrus John Maxwell O Brien 1994 Alexander the Great the invisible enemy Psychology Press pp 100 01 ISBN 978 0 415 10617 7 Archived from the original on 15 October 2021 Retrieved 10 November 2020 James D Cockcroft 1989 Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Shah of Iran Chelsea House Publishers ISBN 978 1 55546 847 7 Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and the Cyrus legacy Freeman 1999 p 188 The Cyrus cylinder Diplomatic whirl The Economist 23 March 2013 Archived from the original on 22 June 2017 Retrieved 26 August 2017 Xenophon 1855 The Cyropaedia H G Bohn cyropaedia Cardascia G Babylon under Achaemenids in Encyclopedia Iranica Richard Nelson Frye 1963 The Heritage of Persia World Pub Co Cyrus Kadivar 25 January 2002 We are Awake The Iranian E Yarshater for example rejects that Sassanids remembered Cyrus whereas R N Frye do propose remembrance and line of continuity See A Sh Shahbazi Early Sassanians Claim to Achaemenid Heritage Namey e Iran e Bastan Vol 1 No 1 pp 61 73 M Boyce The Religion of Cyrus the Great in A Kuhrt and H Sancisi Weerdenburg eds Achaemenid History III Method and Theory Leiden 1988 p 30 and The History of Ancient Iran by Frye p 371 and the debates in Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis et al The Art and Archaeology of Ancient Persia New Light on the Parthian and Sasanian Empires Published by I B Tauris in association with the British Institute of Persian Studies 1998 ISBN 1 86064 045 1 pp 1 8 38 51 Jakob Jonson Cyrus the Great in Icelandic epic A literary study Acta Iranica 1974 49 50 Nadon Christopher 2001 Xenophon s Prince Republic and Empire in the Cyropaedia Berkeley UC Press ISBN 0 520 22404 3 Cyrus and Jefferson Did they speak the same language www payvand com Archived from the original on 26 October 2015 Retrieved 26 December 2015 Cyrus Cylinder How a Persian monarch inspired Jefferson BBC News 11 March 2013 Archived from the original on 24 June 2018 Retrieved 21 July 2018 Boyd Julian P The Papers of Thomas Jefferson Retrieved 18 August 2010 a b Cyrus II Encyclopaedia Britannica 2008 Encyclopaedia Britannica Online Original britannica com Retrieved 30 December 2012 permanent dead link Briant 2002 p 84 Crompton Samuel Willard 2008 Cyrus the Great New York Chelsea House Publishers p 80 ISBN 978 0 7910 9636 9 Oded Lipschitz Manfred Oeming eds 2006 The Persian Documents in the Book of Ezra Are They Authentic Judah and the Judeans in the Persian period Eisenbrauns p 542 ISBN 978 1 57506 104 7 Simon John De Vries From old Revelation to new a tradition historical and redaction critical study of temporal transitions in prophetic prediction Archived 8 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine Wm B Eerdmans Publishing 1995 ISBN 978 0 8028 0683 3 p 126 Josephus Flavius The Antiquities of the Jews Book 11 Chapter 1 1 Archived 20 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine Goldwurm Hersh 1982 History of the Jewish People The Second Temple Era ArtScroll pp 26 29 ISBN 0 89906 454 X Schiffman Lawrence 1991 From text to tradition a history of Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism KTAV Publishing pp 35 36 ISBN 978 0 88125 372 6 Grabbe Lester L 2004 A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period Yehud A History of the Persian Province of Judah v 1 T amp T Clark p 355 ISBN 978 0 567 08998 4 Archived from the original on 27 April 2021 Retrieved 10 November 2020 Philip R Davies 1995 John D Davies ed Words Remembered Texts Renewed Essays in Honour of John F A Sawyer Continuum International Publishing Group p 219 ISBN 978 1 85075 542 5 Archived from the original on 27 April 2021 Retrieved 10 November 2020 Winn Leith Mary Joan 2001 1998 Israel among the Nations The Persian Period In Michael David Coogan ed The Oxford History of the Biblical World Google Books Oxford New York Oxford University Press p 285 ISBN 0 19 513937 2 LCCN 98016042 OCLC 44650958 Archived from the original on 27 April 2021 Retrieved 14 December 2012 Toorawa 2011 p 8 John Curtis Julian Reade Dominique Collon 1995 Art and empire The Trustees of the British Museum by British Museum Press ISBN 978 0 7141 1140 7 Archived from the original on 15 October 2021 Retrieved 28 September 2020 From Cyrus to Alexander A History of the Persian Empire Archived 22 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine by Pierre Briant Herodotus Herodotus trans A D Godley vol 4 book 8 verse 98 pp 96 97 1924 Wilcox Peter MacBride Angus 1986 Rome s Enemies Parthians And Sassanid Persians Osprey Publishing p 14 ISBN 0 85045 688 6 Persepolis Recreated Publisher NEJ International Pictures 1ST edition 2005 ISBN 978 964 06 4525 3 Alireza Shapur Shahbazi 15 December 1994 DERAFS Archived 26 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine Encyclopaedia Iranica Vol VII Fasc 3 pp 312 315 H F Vos Archaeology of Mesopotamia p 267 in The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia ed Geoffrey W Bromiley Wm B Eerdmans Publishing 1995 ISBN 0 8028 3781 6 The Ancient Near East Volume I An Anthology of Texts and Pictures Vol 1 Ed James B Pritchard Princeton University Press 1973 British Museum Cyrus Cylinder British Museum Archived from the original on 4 December 2009 Retrieved 28 October 2009 a b British Museum explanatory notes Cyrus Cylinder In Iran the cylinder has appeared on coins banknotes and stamps Despite being a Babylonian document it has become part of Iran s cultural identity Elton L Daniel The History of Iran p 39 Greenwood Publishing Group 2000 ISBN 0 313 30731 8 restricted online copy p 39 at Google Books John Curtis Nigel Tallis Beatrice Andre Salvini Forgotten Empire p 59 University of California Press 2005 restricted online copy p 59 at Google Books See also Amelie Kuhrt Babylonia from Cyrus to Xerxes in The Cambridge Ancient History Vol IV Persia Greece and the Western Mediterranean p 124 Ed John Boardman Cambridge University Press 1982 ISBN 0 521 22804 2 The telegraph 16 July 2008 Cyrus Cylinder The Daily Telegraph London Archived from the original on 11 January 2022 Retrieved 15 December 2010 Hekster Olivier Fowler Richard 2005 Imaginary kings royal images in the ancient Near East Greece and Rome Vol Oriens et occidens 11 Franz Steiner Verlag p 33 ISBN 978 3 515 08765 0 Barbara Slavin 6 March 2013 Cyrus Cylinder a Reminder of Persian Legacy of Tolerance Al Monitor Archived from the original on 22 September 2013 Retrieved 21 September 2013 MacGregor Neil 24 February 2013 A 2 600 year old icon of freedom comes to the United States CNN Archived from the original on 25 September 2013 Retrieved 21 September 2013 Francois Vallat 2013 Perrot Jean ed The Palace of Darius at Susa The Great Royal Residence of Achaemenid Persia I B Tauris p 39 ISBN 978 1 84885 621 9 Archived from the original on 15 October 2021 Retrieved 11 March 2018 Family Tree of Darius the Great JPG Encyclopaedia Iranica Retrieved 28 March 2011 Bibliography EditAncient sources Edit The Nabonidus Chronicle of the Babylonian Chronicles The Verse account of Nabonidus The Prayer of Nabonidus one of the Dead Sea scrolls The Cyrus Cylinder Herodotus The Histories Ctesias Persica The biblical books of Isaiah Daniel Ezra and Nehemiah Flavius Josephus Antiquities of the Jews Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War Plato Laws dialogue Xenophon Cyropaedia Quintus Curtius Rufus Library of World History Plutarchos Plutarch s Lives Fragments of Nicolaus of Damascus Arrian Anabasis Alexandri Polyaenus Stratagems in War Justin Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus Archived 7 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine in English Polybius The Histories Polybius Diodorus Siculus Bibliotheca historica Athenaeus Deipnosophistae Strabo History Quran Dhul Qarnayn Al Kahf Modern sources Edit Toorawa Shawkat M 2011 Islam In Allen Roger ed Islam A Short Guide for the Faithful Eerdmans p 8 ISBN 978 0 8028 6600 4 Archived from the original on 15 October 2021 Retrieved 14 November 2020 Ball Charles James 1899 Light from the East Or the witness of the monuments London Eyre and Spottiswoode Boardman John ed 1994 The Cambridge Ancient History IV Persia Greece and the Western Mediterranean C 525 479 B C Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN 0 521 22804 2 Briant Pierre 2002 From Cyrus to Alexander A History of the Persian Empire Eisenbrauns pp 1 1196 ISBN 978 1 57506 120 7 Archived from the original on 14 May 2022 Retrieved 10 November 2020 Cannadine David Price Simon 1987 Rituals of royalty power and ceremonial in traditional societies 1 publ ed Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN 0 521 33513 2 Cardascia G 1988 Babylon under Achaemenids Encyclopaedia Iranica Vol 3 London Routledge ISBN 0 939214 78 4 Archived from the original on 17 November 2011 Retrieved 21 September 2011 Chavalas Mark W ed 2007 The ancient Near East historical sources in translation Malden MA Blackwell ISBN 978 0 631 23580 4 Church Alfred J 1881 Stories of the East From Herodotus London Seeley Jackson amp Halliday Curtis Vesta Sarkhosh Stewart Sarah 2010 Birth of the Persian Empire I B Tauris pp 1 160 ISBN 978 0 85771 092 5 Archived from the original on 10 June 2021 Retrieved 10 November 2020 Dandamaev M A 1989 A political history of the Achaemenid empire Leiden Brill p 373 ISBN 90 04 09172 6 Dandamayev Muhammad A 1993 Cyrus iii Cyrus II The Great Encyclopaedia Iranica Vol IV Fasc 7 pp 516 521 Archived from the original on 17 November 2018 Retrieved 28 September 2013 Freeman Charles 1999 The Greek Achievement The Foundation of the Western World New York Viking ISBN 0 7139 9224 7 Fried Lisbeth S 2002 Cyrus the Messiah The Historical Background to Isaiah 45 1 Harvard Theological Review 95 4 doi 10 1017 S0017816002000251 S2CID 162589455 Frye Richard N 1962 The Heritage of Persia London Weidenfeld and Nicolson ISBN 1 56859 008 3 Gershevitch Ilya 1985 The Cambridge History of Iran Vol 2 The Median and Achaemenian periods Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN 0 521 20091 1 Grayson 1975 Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles Kuhrt Amelie 2013 The Persian Empire A Corpus of Sources from the Achaemenid Period Routledge ISBN 978 1 136 01694 3 Archived from the original on 10 June 2021 Retrieved 16 March 2019 Llewellyn Jones Lloyd 2017 The Achaemenid Empire In Daryaee Touraj ed King of the Seven Climes A History of the Ancient Iranian World 3000 BCE 651 CE UCI Jordan Center for Persian Studies pp 1 236 ISBN 978 0 692 86440 1 Archived from the original on 14 June 2022 Retrieved 28 September 2020 Moorey P R S 1991 The Biblical Lands VI New York Peter Bedrick Books ISBN 0 87226 247 2 Olmstead A T 1948 History of the Persian Empire Achaemenid Period Chicago University of Chicago Press ISBN 0 226 62777 2 Palou Christine Palou Jean 1962 La Perse Antique Paris Presses Universitaires de France Potts Daniel T 2005 Cyrus the Great and the Kingdom of Anshan Birth of the Persian Empire London University of Sydney pp 1 27 Archived from the original on 31 July 2022 Schmitt Rudiger 1983 Achaemenid dynasty Encyclopaedia Iranica Vol 3 London Routledge Archived from the original on 3 December 2015 Retrieved 21 September 2011 Schmitt Rudiger 2010 CYRUS i The Name Routledge amp Kegan Paul Tait Wakefield 1846 The Presbyterian review and religious journal Oxford University Archived from the original on 10 June 2021 Retrieved 28 September 2020 Waters Matt 1996 Darius and the Achaemenid Line Ancient History Bulletin London 10 11 18 Archived from the original on 22 June 2021 Retrieved 9 February 2020 Waters Matt 2004 Cyrus and the Achaemenids Iran Taylor amp Francis Ltd 42 91 102 doi 10 2307 4300665 JSTOR 4300665 registration required Waters Matt 2014 Ancient Persia A Concise History of the Achaemenid Empire 550 330 BCE Cambridge University Press pp 1 272 ISBN 978 1 107 65272 9 Archived from the original on 15 October 2021 Retrieved 10 November 2020 Kuhrt Amelie 1995 13 The Ancient Near East c 3000 330 BC Routledge p 647 ISBN 0 415 16763 9 Further reading EditAmelie Kuhrt Ancient Near Eastern History The Case of Cyrus the Great of Persia In Hugh Godfrey Maturin Williamson Understanding the History of Ancient Israel Oxford University Press 2007 ISBN 978 0 19 726401 0 pp 107 28 Beckman Daniel 2018 The Many Deaths of Cyrus the Great Iranian Studies 51 1 1 21 doi 10 1080 00210862 2017 1337503 S2CID 164674586 Bickermann Elias J September 1946 The Edict of Cyrus in Ezra 1 Journal of Biblical Literature 65 3 249 75 doi 10 2307 3262665 JSTOR 3262665 Dougherty Raymond Philip 1929 Nabonidus and Belshazzar A Study of the Closing Events of the Neo Babylonian Empire New Haven Yale University Press Drews Robert October 1974 Sargon Cyrus and Mesopotamian Folk History Journal of Near Eastern Studies 33 4 387 93 doi 10 1086 372377 S2CID 162226226 Harmatta J 1971 The Rise of the Old Persian Empire Cyrus the Great Acta Antiquo 19 3 15 Irannejad A Mani 2022 The Ancient Iranian Perception of Cyrus the Great Iranian Studies 56 2 231 253 doi 10 1017 irn 2022 54 S2CID 252353659 Lawrence John M 1985 Cyrus Messiah Politician and General Near East Archaeological Society Bulletin n s 25 5 28 Lawrence John M 1982 Neo Assyrian and Neo Babylonian Attitudes Towards Foreigners and Their Religion Near East Archaeological Society Bulletin n s 19 27 40 Mallowan Max 1972 Cyrus the Great 558 529 BC Iran 10 1 17 doi 10 2307 4300460 JSTOR 4300460 Waters Matthew W 2022 King of the world the life of Cyrus the Great New York NY Oxford University Press ISBN 9780190927172 Wiesehofer Josef 1996 Ancient Persia from 550 BC to 650 AD Azizeh Azodi trans London I B Tauris ISBN 1 85043 999 0 External links EditCyrus the Great at Wikipedia s sister projects Definitions from Wiktionary Media from Commons Quotations from Wikiquote Texts from Wikisource Cyrus Cylinder Archived 22 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine Full Babylonian text of the Cyrus Cylinder as it was known in 2001 translation brief introduction Xenophon Cyropaedia the education of Cyrus translated by Henry Graham Dakyns and revised by F M Stawell Project Gutenberg Cyrus the GreatAchaemenid dynastyBorn c 600 BC Died 530 BCNew titleNot previously established King of Kings of Persian Empire 530 BC Succeeded byCambyses IIPreceded byCambyses I King of Persia559 530 BCPreceded byAstyages King of Media550 530 BCPreceded byCroesus King of Lydia547 530 BCPreceded byNabonidus King of Babylon539 530 BC Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Cyrus the Great amp oldid 1166465754, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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