the last Wednesday was the day of Cyrus the Great in Iran and as it was celebrated those days in the time of the Shah (Reza Pahlavi) it will be still celebrated, in spite of the Islamic prohibition of any acknowledgement on old Persians culture, even more since then.

I write about this anniversary not only because I’m a proud Persian (if there is something left now to be proud of!) but there is no doubt that Cyrus II the King was not a normal king like the most of kings in the history of mankind. He was Great for his deeds; on all the folks in his kingdom, with their different ancestry, religions, cultures or faith. He was a king with a heart for all people and a defender for human right. It might sound uncommon but it is true.

Cyrus the Great 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁
King of Anshan King of Persia King of Media King of the World Great King Mighty King King of Babylon King of Sumer and Akkad King of the Four Corners of the World  Cyrus the Great with a Hemhem crown, or four-winged Cherub tutelary divinity, from a relief in the residence of Cyrus in Pasagardae. on top of which was once inscribed in three languages the sentence “I am Cyrus the king, an Achaemenian.

He’s been born about 600 BC and reigned from 559 – 530 BC, it doesn’t look very long but he had pointed a lot about human right in his time and from the Jewish point of view, he is famous for the liberation of the Jewish people under Babylonian force. Let’s have a look at in the Wikipedia:

Cyrus II of Persia commonly known as Cyrus the Great, and also called Cyrus the Elder by the Greeks, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian Empire. 

The Persian domination and kingdom in the Iranian plateau started by an extension of the Achaemenid dynasty, who expanded their earlier domination possibly from the 9th century BC onward. The eponymous founder of this dynasty was Achaemenes (from Old Persian Haxāmaniš). (هخامنشی) Achaemenids are “descendants of Achaemenes” as Darius the Great, the ninth king of the dynasty, traces his genealogy to him and declares “for this reason we are called Achaemenids.” Achaemenes built the state Parsumash in the southwest of Iran and was succeeded by Teispes, who took the title “King of Anshan” after seizing Anshan city and enlarging his kingdom further to include Pars proper.^[38] Ancient documents^[39] 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.^[9]

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. 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 “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. However Cambyses II’s maternal grandfather Pharnaspes is named by historian Herodotus as “an Achaemenian” too. 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.” 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. (Wikipedia )

It is surely known by many that there’s been found a Cycle which shows the history of law at the beginning of the Persian Kingdom but as we see everywhere and every time in our history, there is a typical rewrite and revision on the old text, as a fake, to sell them better! Therefore, I introduce this famous Cycle as it truly is and it is in any case, the first constitution of the human right.

The Cyrus Cylinder revered by people all around the world as a symbol of tolerance and respect for different peoples, different cultures and different faiths, is one of the most famous surviving icons from the ancient world.

That’s just unfortunate that the truth mostly will be reformed and after that, it causes a lot of misfortune; as I believe if the Kings after Cyrus kept his promises to their kingdom, the Arabs or other invaders could never get their success.

It dates from the 6th century BC and was discovered in the ruins of Babylon in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) in 1879

This text is a long and unfortunately, somehow damaged but there is, thanks to the experts, a translation; Of course, we don’t want to deal with it here, I just share these some words and their worth. the rest, if you are interested, there is the link below. here I’d try to offer a summary of these whole:

I am Cyrus, king of the universe, the great king, the powerful king, king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four quarters of the world, son of Cambyses, the great king, king of the city of Anshan, grandson of Cyrus, the great king, king of the city of Anshan, descendant of Teispes, the great king, king of the city of Anshan. I announce that I will respect the traditions, customs and religions of the nations of my empire and never let any of my governours and subordinates look down on or insult them as long as I shall live. From now on, while Marduk lets me rule, I will impose my monarchy on no nation. Each is free to accept it, and if anyone of them rejects it, I shall never resolve on war to reign.

Thanks for your interest and have a peaceful time 🙏💖🙏

Sources:

https://www.livius.org/sources/content/cyrus-cylinder/cyrus-cylinder-translation/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrus_Cylinder

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrus_the_Great

https://www.thecultureconcept.com/