This clay cylinder inscribed in the ancient Babylonian script told about Cyrus, King of Persia (559-530 BC) and his conquest of Babylon in 539 BC, capturing Nabonidus, the last Babylonian King. The Cylinder was discovered more than 140 years ago in the ruins of Babylon about 90 km southwest of Baghdad in Iraq. The Cylinder was in several pieces and reconstructed at the British Museum. The translation of the inscription talks about the Persian (Iran) and the Iraq war of 539 BC., resulting in the triumph over Babylon by the Achaemenid King Cyrus the Great. It confirms Cyrus as a King of Kings and decries the tyranny of the previous King of Babylon and declares Peace for its citizens.
The Cylinder relates how the god of Babylon has chosen Cyrus to improve the lives of the Babylonians. It talks about Cyrus’s efforts in freeing the slaves and restoring temples across Mesopotamia, letting them worship the god of their choice, not the god of the conqueror. It tells the story of permitting people to live their lives even after conquering their country, something that unheard of at the time. In the ancient world and many years to come, conquering a new land would mean “owning” the “lands” and its people.
