Dr. Mosi Dorbayani: The Cyrus Cylinder

The following article has been written by Dr. Mosi Dorbayani and first appeared in the Human Rights Evolution website.

================================================================================

The First Human Rights Charter  

The Cyrus Cylinder is the first charter of right of nations in the world. It is a baked-clay cylinder in Akkadian language with cuneiform script. This cylinder was excavated in 1879 by the Assyro-British archaeologist Hormuzd Rassam in the foundations of the Esagila (the Marduk temple of Babylon) and is kept today in the British Museum in London.   On October 12 (Julian calendar; October 7 by the Gregorian calendar) 539 BC, Achaemanid army without any conflict entered the city of Babylon. Cyrus the Great himself, on October 29, entered the city, assuming the titles of “king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four corners of the world”. Cyrus The Great, on this cylinder, describes how he conquers the old city of Babylon and how his mighty army in peace marched into the city and mentions his decrees. 

Cyrus Cylinder housed at the British Museum. 

His decrees cover three main premises:

The Cyrus Cylinder then was placed under the walls of “Esagila” as a foundation deposit, following a Mesopotamian tradition.  

Passages in the text of cylinder have been interpreted as expressing Cyrus’ respect for humanity, and as promoting a form of religious tolerance and freedom; and as result of his generous and humane policies, Cyrus gained the overwhelming support of his subjects. 

Cyrus the Great as portrayed by the late Angus McBride.

In 1971, the Cyrus Cylinder was described as the world’s first charter of human rights, [1, 2, 3, 4] and it was translated into all six official U.N. languages. [4] A replica of the cylinder is kept at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City in the second floor hallway, between the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council chambers. [5]

 The size of Cyrus Cylinder is 23 cm long, 11 cm wide with 40+ lines of writing (although broken) and it is dated 539 BCE.

Translation of Cyrus Cylinder

    The above translation of Cyrus the Great Cylinder is the courtesy of K. C. Hanson’s HomePage.

The West Wall in Jerusalem. After his conquest of Babylon, Cyrus allowed Jewish captives in Babylon to return to Israel and rebuild the Hebrew temple. It is believed that approximately 40,000 Jews permanently returned to Israel.

Below is the latest translation of the text by the British Musuem:

[When …] … [… wor]ld quarters […] … a low person was put in charge of his country, but he set [a (…) counter]feit over them. He ma[de] a counterfeit of Esagil [and …] … for Ur and the rest of the cult-cities. Rites inappropriate to them, [impure] fo[od- offerings …] [dis]respectful […] were daily gabbled, and, intolerably, he brought the daily offerings to a halt; he inter[fered with the rites and] instituted […] within the sanctuaries. In his mind, reverential fear of Marduk, king of the gods, ca[me to an e]nd. He did yet more evil to his city every day; … his [people…], he brought ruin on them all by a yoke without relief.

Enlil-of-the-gods became extremely angry at their complaints, and […] their territory. The gods who lived within them left their shrines, angry that he had made them enter into Babylon (Shuanna). Ex[alted Marduk, Enlil-of-the-Go]ds, relented. He changed his mind about all the settlements whose sanctuaries were in ruins and the population of the land of Sumer and Akkad who had become like corpses, and took pity on them. He inspected and checked all the countries, seeking for the upright king of his choice. He took under his hand Cyrus, king of the city of Anshan, and called him by his name, proclaiming him aloud for the kingship over all of everything. He made the land of the Qutu and all the Medean troops prostrate themselves at his feet, while he looked out in justice and righteousness for the black-headed people whom he had put under his care.

Marduk, the great lord, who nurtures his people, saw with pleasure his fine deeds and true heart and ordered that he should go to his city, Babylon. He had him take the road to Tintir, and, like a friend and companion, he walked at his side. His vast troops whose number, like the water in a river, could not be counted, marched fully-armed at his side. He had him enter without fighting or battle right into Shuanna; he saved his city Babylon from hardship. He handed over to him Nabonidus, the king who did not fear him. All the people of Tintir, of all Sumer and Akkad, nobles and governors, bowed down before him and kissed his feet, rejoicing over his kingship and their faces shone. The lord through whose trust all were rescued from death and who saved them all from distress and hardship, they blessed him sweetly and praised his name.

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, ki[ng of the ci]ty of Anshan, descendant of Teispes, the great king, king of Anshan, the perpetual seed of kingship, whose reign Bel and Nabu love, and with whose kingship, to their joy, they concern themselves.

When I went as harbinger of peace i[nt]o Babylon I founded my sovereign residence within the royal palace amid celebration and rejoicing. Marduk, the great lord, bestowed on me as my destiny the great magnanimity of one who loves Babylon, and I every day sought him out in awe. My vast troops marched peaceably in Babylon, and the whole of [Sumer] and Akkad had nothing to fear. I sought the welfare of the city of Babylon and all its sanctuaries. As for the population of Babylon […, w]ho as if without div[ine intention] had endured a yoke not decreed for them, I soothed their weariness, I freed them from their bonds(?). Marduk, the great lord, rejoiced at [my good] deeds, and he pronounced a sweet blessing over me, Cyrus, the king who fears him, and over Cambyses, the son [my] issue, [and over] my all my troops, that we might proceed further at his exalted [command]. All kings who sit on thrones, from every quarter, from the Upper Sea to the Lower Sea, those who inhabit [remote distric]ts (and) the kings of the land of Amurru who live in tents, all of them, brought their weighty tribute into Shuanna, and kissed my feet.

From [Shuanna] I sent back to their places to the city of Ashur and Susa, Akkad, the land of Eshnunna, the city of Zamban, the city of Meturnu, Der, as far as the border of the land of Qutu – the sanctuaries across the river Tigris – whose shrines had earlier become dilapidated, the gods who lived therein, and made permanent sanctuaries for them. I collected together all of their people and returned them to their settlements, and the gods of the land of Sumer and Akkad which Nabonidus – to the fury of the lord of the gods – had brought into Shuanna, at the command of Marduk, the great lord, I returned them unharmed to their cells, in the sanctuaries that make them happy.

May all the gods that I returned to their sanctuaries, every day before Marduk and Nabu, ask for a long life for me, and mention my good deeds, and say to Marduk, my lord, this: “Cyrus, the king who fears you, and Cambyses his son, may their … […] […….].” The population of Babylon call blessings on my kingship, and I have enabled all the lands to live in peace. Every day I copiously supplied [… ge]ese, two ducks and ten pigeons more than the geese, ducks and pigeons […]. I sought out to strengthen the guard on the wall Imgur-Enlil, the great wall of Babylon, and […] the quay of baked brick on the bank of the moat which an earlier king had bu[ilt but not com]pleted, [I …] its work. [… which did not surround the city] outside, which no earlier king had built, his troops, the levee from [his land, in/to] Shuanna. [… with bitume]n and baked brick I built anew, and [completed its wor]k. […] great [doors of cedarwood] with copper cladding. [I installed all] their doors, threshold sla[bs and door fittings with copper par]ts. […] I s[aw within it] an inscription of Ashurbanipal, a king who preceded me, […] … […] … [… for] ever.

The above translation of Cyrus the Great Cylinder is the courtesy of Dr.Finkel and the British Museum’s homepage.

On 14 October 1971, Princess Ashraf Pahlavi, sister of Muhammad Reza Pahlavi the Shah (King) of Iran (Persia) (Reign: 26 September 1941 – 11 February 1979) presented the United Nations Secretary General U Thant with a replica of The Cyrus Cylinder. The princess asserted that “the heritage of Cyrus the Great was the heritage of human understanding, tolerance, courage, compassion and, above all, human liberty”.

The Secretary General accepted the gift, linking the Cylinder with the efforts of the United Nations General Assembly to address “the question of Respect for Human Rights in Armed Conflict”. Since then the replica has been kept at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City on the second floor hallway, and the text has been translated into all six official U.N. languages. 

Former United Nations Under-Secretary General Shashi Tharoor and filmmaker Cyrus Kar with replica of the Cyrus Cylinder at UN Headquarters, NY

Notes

Esagila: the temple of Marduk
Marduk: the patron god of Babylon
King of Anshan: a small kingdom in what is now southern Iran
land of Qutu:  a region in the Zagros mountains along what is now the border between Iran and Iraq
Nabonidus: the last Neo-Babylonian king (reigned 556-539 BCE)
Cambyses: Cyrus’s son and successor, who reigned c. 530-523 BCE
Bêl: an epithet of the god Marduk (see Jeremiah 50:2; 51:44)
Nabu: the Babylonian god of writing and wisdom (see Isaiah 46:1)

Footnotes

1. Kaveh Farrokh, Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War, History, Page 44, 2007.

2. Arthur Henry Robertson and J. G. Merrills, Human Rights in the World: An Introduction to the Study of the International, Political Science, Page 7, 1996.

3. Paul Gordon Lauren, The Evolution of International Human Rights: Visions Seen, Political Science, Page 11, 2003.

4. Xenophon and Larry Hedrick, Xenophon’s Cyrus the Great: The Arts of Leadership and War, History, Page xiii, 2007.

5. United Nations Press Release (SG/SM/1553/HQ263), 14 October 1971.