..... was the founder of the Achaemenid Persian EmpirThe founder of the Persian Empire, Cyrus II (best known to history as Cyrus the Great) was admired by such diverse figures as Alexander the Great and Thomas Jefferson, and is the only gentile described in the Bible as “anointed” by God. During Cyrus’s reign his empire ultimately stretched from the Indus River to the Aegean Sea—an empire that would culturally and militarily dominate much of the ancient world for over two centuries, and whose influence would continue to be felt long afterwards. When Cyrus ascended to the throne upon the death of his father in 559 BC, Persia (Persis) was a vassal state of the Median kingdom. But in the so-called “Persian Revolt,” Cyrus led the Persians in an overthrow of Median authority, resulting in the Persian conquest of Media in 550 BC. Persian armies led by Cyrus then conquered Lydia and Asia Minor. With the conquest of Babylon in 539 BC Cyrus’s Persian Empire became the largest empire in world history to that point.
Cyrus is remembered as one of history’s most successful conquerors, but also as one of history’s most benevolent. Cyrus he did not try to impose foreign religion or culture on his newly acquired subjects, instead leaving them free to worship and live largely as they pleased. Further, he allowed (and encouraged) deported people living in the territories he conquered to return to their ancestral homelands, requiring no compensation or tribute from them. It was his liberation of the exiled Hebrews in Babylon that earned him so much praise in the Bible. The book of Ezra quotes Cyrus as urging the Jews released from Babylonian captivity to return to Jerusalem and build a temple and as saying “The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth.” In the book of Isaiah God refers to Cyrus as his “anointed,” “whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him.”
In around 370 BC the Greek historian Xenophon published Cyropaedia, a biography of Cyrus describing both his heroism in battle and his wisdom in employing tolerance in the governing of his diverse empire. It was principally this example of religious and cultural toleration in government that made Cyropeadia appealing to Thomas Jefferson and other figures of the Enlightenment. In fact, Jefferson owned, and treasured, two copies of Cyropaedia, and he recommended it as the primary text for any student learning Greek.
In 1879 in what is now modern-day Iraq, British archeologists discovered a 2600-year old clay cylinder (now called the “Cyrus Cylinder”) that offered more historical support for the accounts of Cyrus found in the Cyropaedia and the Hebrew Bible. On the cylinder, which dates to the time of Cyrus, were inscriptions encouraging religious freedom in the Persian Empire and allowing deported people to return to their homelands.
It is believed the Cyrus the Great died in December of 530 BC, but conflicting accounts of his death make it impossible to know exactly when and how he died. In the Cyropaedia Xenophon says Cyrus died peacefully in his capital, but according to other accounts he died in battle. In the best-known account (the subject of numerous paintings), Cyrus was killed in battle against the Scythians, who afterwards decapitated him and presented his head to their empress Tomyris.
However Cyrus may have met his fate, he is believed to be entombed in modern-day Pasargadae, Iran. The Tomb of Cyrus located there is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The illustration is “Cyrus, King of the Persians,” by the Flemish master Gerard de Jode from around 1585. It is now in the British Museum in London, as is the Cyrus Cylinder.
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