More than 2 millennia before the French Revolution introduced the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizens, an ancient Near Eastern monarch issued a charter that is considered to be the oldest known declarations of human rights. This charter is known today as the Cyrus Cylinder.
Discovery of the Cyrus Cylinder, Content, and Inscription
The Cyrus Cylinder was discovered in the ruins of Babylon, in modern Iraq, in March 1879. The ancient relic, which was a foundation deposit at the city’s main temple, the Ésagila, was made of baked clay, and measured 22.5 cm (8.85 in) in length. On the cylinder is an account detailing the conquest of Babylon in 539 BC by Persian king Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, who had created the largest empire of the era. It also describes the capture of Nabonidus, the last king of Babylon. The account was inscribed in cuneiform text and has been dated to between 539 and 530 BC.
Archaeologists Find Inscribed Stone Honoring Babylonian King Nabonidus Cyrus the Great: Conquests and Death! – Part I
AI image of Cyrus the Great, who led the Persian army to fight against the Median Empire. (jkjeffrey/Adobe Stock)
The inscription on the cylinder speaks of Cyrus’ promotion of religious, racial, and linguistic freedom and his permission to those deported by the Babylonians to return to their homelands. It extols Cyrus as a benefactor of the citizens of Babylonia who improved their lives, and restored temples and cult sanctuaries across Mesopotamia and elsewhere in the region. Some segments of the text read: