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cyrus the great 473

European elements (compare the legend of Romulus and Cyrus decreed that theTemple of Jerusalem be rebuilt and
Remus, the founders of the city of Rome).The third leg- that what had been taken away by Nebuchadnezzar
end (by Nicolaus of Damascus) states that Cyrus’s father (Chaldean king of Babylon) be brought back to Jerusalem.
was a bandit, who was given to a wealthy and noble fam- Hence,the OldTestament (Isaiah,Ezra) remembers Cyrus
ily of the Median court to raise. and the Persians kindly. In Isaiah 45:1–3 the respect and
In 550 BCE Cyrus met Astyages in battle and won a compact between Cyrus andYahweh, the Jewish god, are
major victory in which many of the Median forces mentioned,again suggesting the king’s religious liberality.
defected to him. Now ruler of a confederation of Median- Cyrus the Great also left us a firsthand account of his
Persian forces, Cyrus set out to conquer the neighboring tolerance and worldview, which is known as the “Cyrus
regions.He moved onto Anatolia (in modernTurkey) and Cylinder” in the Akkadian language (Semitic language
faced the rich kingdom of Lydia with its famous King common in Mesopotamia at the time).This account also
Croesus with his capital at Sardis. The oracle of Delphi reveals aspects of his royalty. He was presented with all
had warned Croesus that if he fought Cyrus, he would the titles of the Mesopotamian kings, such as “a great
destroy a great kingdom,which,in fact,would be his own. king, king of kings, king of the Four Corners of the
Sardis and Croesus fell into the hands of Cyrus in 547 world.” He stated that the people had the freedom to
BCE.This event was followed by the conquest of Mesopo- practice their religion and live as they wished, which we
tamia with its chief city, Babylon, in 539 BCE.The Baby- could consider as the first human rights declaration. By
lonian king Nabonidus was despised by the local popu- the time of his death at the hands of nomadic Iranian
lation for neglecting the NewYear festival and especially people known as “Sakas” in 530 BCE in central Asia,
for neglecting the temple of the great Mesopotamian god Cyrus had established an empire that spanned from the
Marduk.Cyrus entered the city almost unopposed and,as Iranian Plateau to the Mediterranean Sea. His tomb is at
part of his policy of respecting local people and their reli- Pasargadae, the location where he defeated the Median
gion and culture, made his way to the temple of Marduk. king and where Cyrus had his stronghold. The
There he made offerings and paid homage to the great Achaemenid Persian Empire would further expand and
Mesopotamian god, presented himself as a servant of last for two centuries.
Marduk,and made arrangements for the rebuilding of the
Touraj Daryaee
temple.This tactic on the part of Cyrus would pay off in
many parts of the soon-to-be Achaemenid Persian Empire See also Persian Empire
(550–330 BCE). Unlike the Assyrians, who used brute
force to subdue the local population,the Persians allowed
local traditions to survive and the provinces to be Further Reading
autonomous, providing security and collecting taxes. At Briant, P. (2002). From Cyrus to Alexander, a history of the Persian
Empire. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns.
this time the Hebrews who had been held captive in Baby- Frye, R. N. (1984). The history of ancient Iran. Munich, Germany: C. H.
lon (the period in Jewish history known as the “Babylon- Beck.
Gershevitch, I. (Ed.). (1979).The Median and the Achaemenian periods.
ian Captivity”) were also freed and allowed to go back to
In The Cambridge history of Iran, 2. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Uni-
their homeland. According to the Bible (Ezra 6:2–5), versity Press.