Cyrus Cylinder: A Comparative Approach

This lecture is part of my series on Iranian history delivered at the Zoroastrian Cultural Center in California during the summer of 2019.

Notes to this Episode:

• The Cyrus Cylinder is a barrel-shaped baked clay tablet, approximately 10 inches long, engraved in Babylonia in 539 BC. Discovered in the ruins of Babylon in present-day Iraq, the cylinder is inscribed in Akkadian Babylonian cuneiform, detailing Cyrus the Great’s (601-530 BC) conquest of Babylon in 539 BC. Originally intended as a foundation deposit rather than for exhibition, it is not visually striking but serves as a significant document of statecraft. The cylinder reflects a long Mesopotamian tradition, dating as early as the third millennium BC, where monarchs began their reigns with declarations of reforms. The cylinder was found in March 1879. The great debate on the trustworthiness of Hebrew scriptures arose with the 1917 Balfour Declaration, 40 years after its discovery. There were two notable exhibitions in Tehran, one in 1971 and another in 2010, held under different circumstances. Cyrus claims: As a Persian King, I was called by Marduk, the Babylonian deity, to help the Babylonians, echoing narratives in the Old Testament. Marduk is neither a Persian nor an Iranian god, and the Akkadian language in which the cylinder is inscribed is not Iranian. If Cyrus intended to leave a legacy for Iranians, he would have had it written in Elamite, Old Persian, or at least Aramaic, the lingua franca of the Persian Empire. A modern analogy might be Napoleon’s arrival in Egypt in 1798, or John F. Kennedy’s "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech in West Berlin on June 26, 1963, widely regarded as a pivotal moment in the Cold War. Cyrus and his genealogy, his deeds as evidence of legitimacy, ensured 200 years of stability until disrupted by Alexander. The Cyrus Cylinder is captivating due to Cyrus's unique strategy compared to other monarchs: - Ruler-faith constitution or ruler being hostile to religion. - Clemency, benevolence, generosity, and justice. - Multilingual, multiethnic, multireligious cosmopolitanism, or ‘multiculturalism’. The text is written in Babylonian Akkadian, not Persian, conveying the message: I am Babylonian; I appreciate your cultural, religious, and linguistic legacy. This stance contrasts with the Old Testament's Isaiah passage. Cyrus maintained an equidistance from religion, akin to a constitutional principle observed in India. While not akin to modern democracy, it was considered fair, as evidenced by even Iran’s arch-enemies, the Greeks, who remembered him as a just and righteous king in Xenophon’s *Cyropaedia*. Cyrus’s exceptionalism is highlighted in the *Expedition of Cyrus* and *Cyropaedia*.