Cyrus the Great

Cyrus (580-529 BC) was the first Achaemenian Emperor. He founded Persia by uniting the two original Iranian tribes, the Medes & the Persians. Although he was known to be a great conqueror, who at one point controlled one of the greatest Empires ever seen, he is best remembered for his unprecedented tolerance & magnanimous attitude towards those he defeated.
Upon his victory over Medes, he founded a government for his new kingdom, incorporating both Median & Persian nobles as civilian officials. The conquest of Asia Minor completed, he led his armies to the eastern frontiers. The victories to the east led him again to the west & sounded the hour for attack on Babylon & Egypt. When he conquered Babylon, he did so to cheers from the Jewish community, who welcomed him as a liberator- he allowed the Jews to return to the Promised Land. He showed great respect towards the religious beliefs & cultural traditions of other races. These qualities earned him the respect & homage of all the people over whom he ruled.
The victory over Babylonia expressed all the facets of the policy of conciliation which Cyrus had followed until then. He presented himself not as a conqueror, but a liberator & the legitimate successor to the crown. He took the title of “king of Babylon_ king of the land”
Cyrus had no thought of forcing conquered people into a single mould, & had the wisdom to leave unchanged the institution of each kingdom he attached to the Persian Crown.
In 537 BC he allowed more than 40,000 Jews to leave Babylon & return to Palestine. This step was in line with his policy to bring peace to mankind. A new wind was blowing from the east, carrying away the cries & humility of defeated & murdered victims, extinguishing the fires of sacked cities, & liberating nations from slavery.
Cyrus was upright, a great leader of men, generous & benevolent. The Hellenes, whom he conquered, regarded him as ‘law-giver’ & the Jews as ‘the anointed of the lord’.
Prior to his death, he founded a new capital city at Pasargade in Fars & had established a government for his Empire. He appointed a governor (Satrap) to represent him in each province, however the administration, legislation, & cultural activities of each province was the responsibility of the Satrap. His doctrines were adopted by the future emperors of the Achaemenian dynasty. Dariush 1 (521-486 BC) brought together skills & craftsmen from all over the empire in building the city of Persepolis.
The Achaemanide map showing the boundries of the empire that Cyrus 2 initiated & Dariush1 consolidated. Below is listed some of the great achievements of the Persians during the Achaemenide period, some world firsts.
Suez Canal workers, digging 20 miles north of Suez in 1866 came upon fragments of a red granite stele that, whole, had stood nearly 10 tall & measured about 7 across. Startled at finding the monument, the workmen would have been even more surprised had they been able to read the inscriptions on its sides, spelled out in Old Persia, Babylonian, Elamite, & Egyptian. These included an astonishing message- repeated in all four languages- from Darius the great king of Persia: “I ordered this canal to be dug from the Nile, which flows in Egypt, to the sea that goes to Persia”. “This canal was dug out as I recommended,” He boasts on his stele, “& ships went from Egypt through this canal into Persia as was my desire.” According to Herodotus, the canal was wide enough for two war galleys to pass each other under oar. Ships took four days to move from one end to the other.
The empire that Dariush acquired & extended united western Asia from the Mediterranean to the Indus valley under a single ruler covering an area almost two million square miles, with some 10 million inhabitants.
Other achievements of note of the Achaemenids are the road built between Susa in southern Iran to Sardis in Lydia (the royal road). Herodotus had calculated that it took Cyrus 3 months to move his army from Susa to Sardis, a journey of some 1700 miles. Cyrus is also reputed to have the first postal system. Xenophon reports that Cyrus first calculated the distance a horse could go in one day without being too exhausted, he then had a series of posting stations built distances of one horse-day apart, hence ensuring efficient flow of information between the king & provincial governors.

The charter of Cyrus the great, a baked-clay Aryan language (Old Persian) cuneiform cylinder, was discovered in 1878 in excavation of the site of Babylonia after its conquest by the Iranians. It has been hailed as the first charter of human rights.

“I am Cyrus, king of the world, great king, mighty king, king of Babylon, king of the land of Sumer & Akkad, king of the four quarters, son of Cambyses, great king, king of Anshan, grandson of Cyrus, great king, king of Anshan, descendant of Teispes, great king, king of Anshan , progeny of an unending royal line, whose rule Bel & Nabu cherish, whose kingship they desire for their heart’s pleasures.
When I well disposed, entered Babylon, I established the seat of government in the royal palace amidst jubilation & rejoicing. Marduk, the great God, caused the big hearted inhabitants of
Babylon obeys me. I sought daily to worship him. My numerous troops moved about undisturbed in the midst of Babylon.
I did not allow any to terrorize the land of Sumer & Akkad. I kept in view the needs of Babylon & all its sanctuaries to promote their well being. The citizens of Babylon, I lifted their unbecoming yoke. Their dilapidated dwellings I restored. I put an end to their misfortunes.
At my deeds Marduk, the great lord, rejoiced, & to me, Cyrus the king who worshipped, & to Cambyses, my son, the offspring of my loins, & to all my troops, he graciously gave his blessing, & in good spirit is before him we glorified exceedingly his high divinity.
All the kings who sat in the throne rooms, throughout the four quarters, from the upper to the lower sea, all the kings of the West Country who dwelt in tents, brought me their heavy tribute & kissed my feet in Babylon. I returned to the places & housed them in lasting abodes. I gathered together all their inhabitants & restored to them their dwellings. The Gods, brought into Babylon, I at the bidding of Marduk, the great lord made to dwell in peace in their inhabitations, delightful abodes.
May all the Gods whom I have placed within their sanctuaries address a daily prayer in my favor before Bel & Nabu, that my days may long, & may they say to Marduk my lord, may Cyrus the king who reveres you & Cambyses his son …”