Cyrus the Great

   
This is what remains of the splendid capital city of Pasargadae (and the palace) of the reign of Cyrus the Great; photo credit OnTheOtherSide    

Cyrus the Great (c. 600 - 530 bce) was the real creator of the Ancient Persian Empire (Achaemenid dynasty). An extremely powerful leader. Cyrus was a great conqueror and led his armies in a series of campaigns over the years against the Medes, Lydia and Babylon, creating an empire that spanned the Near East and that has been considered the first "world" empire, spanning a distance of almost two thousand miles.

Cyrus was known as generous to those he conquered, as well as very tolerant. He showed respect for the religious beliefs of others, even those he had conquered. Rather than completely destroying the political structure of the lands he conquered, and rebuilding them from the ground up, he would leave intact their basic framework of government, their institutions and their customs. One of his main goals in conquering other nations was to bring peace to mankind.

His philosophy is evident from the writings on the Cyrus cylinder, which has been called the first Human Rights Charter by some scholars. The cylinder contains a decree/manifesto promulgated by Cyrus in 539 bce upon the Persian conquest of Babylon. You will evaluate for yourself the main features of the decree, but it is clear that the Cyrus decree had very practical implications for establishing Persian control of the newly-conquered Babylonian territory.

Cyrus the Great is known to history as a genius, diplomat, manager, and leader of men. He was respected not only by his own people, but by those he conquered. Persians called him “father,” The Greeks called him “Law-giver” and the Jews called him “The anointed of the Lord,” which means that he was blessed by God. (www.persiandna.com/his_cyrus.htm)

 

References and suggested websites:

• See the the Cyrus Cylinder web page for more links to information on the cylinder
• the British Museum info on Cyrus
• Wiki entry for Cyrus the Great (and also one on Ancient Persia). See also the Achaemenid Empire.
• www.persiandna.com/his_cyrus.htm is a pretty informative site.
• www.cyrusthegreat.net/ has a nice map and a good discussion of the origins of Cyrus' name.
• www.cyrusgreat.com/ is a disappointing site.
• Here are two very short histories of Cyrus: www.iranchamber.com/history/cyrus/cyrus.php and oznet.net/cyrus/cyframe.htm. A better introduction is at www.livius.org/ct-cz/cyrus_I/cyrus.html. You can also check here.
• There is a good overview of Cyrus' empire
• Did Cyrus the Persian praise the Jewish God?
• The Decree of Return for the Jews, 539 BCE (Ancient History Sourcebook)
• Source materials about Ancient Persia at the Internet Ancient History Sourcebook
• The Education of Cyrus by Xenophon (an important ancient source about Cyrus); it is also online by the Iran Chamber Society.
• In Search of Cyrus the Great
• See an art slide show about ancient Persian art with a short historical essay by MOMA.
• Persian Art at the Louvre
• History of Iran Part IV: Achaemenid Empire
• A timeline of Ancient Persia
• Achaemenid Dynasty by R. Schmitt
• Cyrus II The Great by Muhammad A. Dandamayev
• Overview of Ancient Persia
• Pictures of the tomb of Cyrus
• A note about the human rights implications of the Cyrus cylinder
• Biblical passage in which Cyrus frees the Jews (a list of other biblical mentions)
• For extra credit please suggest to your instructor a relevant website for this unit of the course.  Send the title of the site, the url and a brief explanation why you find the information interesting and applicable to the material being studied in this unit.