The Cyrus Cylinder

Study Of The Object | According to John Curtis of the British Museum

Translation Line By Line

The Cyrus Cylinder Translation

1-19

20-22

23-34

34-37

1-19: Associating Cyrus with the god Marduk Translate Line 1-19

20-22: Peaceful entry to Babylon Translate Line 20-22

23-34: Cyrus’s policy of restoring Babylon Translate Line 23-34

34-37: Cyrus let people to live in peace Translate Line 34-37

38-45: Building Activities Orered by Cyrus In Babylon Translate Line 38-45

Associating Cyrus with the god Marduk

1-19

1. [When ... Mar]duk, king of the whole of heaven and earth, the ....... who, in his ..., lays waste his.......

2. [........................................................................] broad? in intelligence, ...... who inspects (?) the wor]ld quarters (regions)

3. [..............................................................…] his [first]born (=Belshazzar), a low person, was put in charge of his country,

4. but [..................................................................................] he set [a (…) counter]feit over them.

5. He ma[de] a counterfeit of Esagil, [and .....….......]... for Ur and the rest of the cult-cities.

6. Rites inappropriate to them, [impure] fo[od-offerings ….......................................................] disrespectful […] were daily gabbled, and, as an insult,

7. 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, came to an end.

8. He did yet more evil to his city every day; … his [people ................…], he brought ruin on them all by a yoke without relief.

9. Enlil-of-the-gods became extremely angry at their complaints, and […] their territory. The gods who lived within them left their shrines,

10. angry that he had made (them) enter into Shuanna (Babylon). Ex[alted Marduk, Enlil-of-the-Go]ds, relented. He changed his mind about all the settlements whose sanctuaries were in ruins,

11. 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,

12. seeking for the upright king of his choice. He took the hand of Cyrus, king of the city of Anshan, and called him by his name, proclaiming him aloud for the kingship over all of everything.

13. He made the land of Guti and all the Median troops prostrate themselves at his feet, while he shepherded in justice and righteousness the black-headed people

14. whom he had put under his care. Marduk, the great lord, who nurtures his people, saw with pleasure his fine deeds and true heart,

15. and ordered that he should go to Babylon. He had him take the road to Tintir (Babylon), and, like a friend and companion, he walked at his side.

16. His vast troops whose number, like the water in a river, could not be counted, were marching fully-armed at his side.

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. The lord through whose help all were rescued from death and who saved them all from distress and hardship, they blessed him sweetly and praised his name.

The Shape of Cylinder

The shape of Cylinder was traditionally used in ancient Mesopotamia for foundation places – inscriptions buried under large structure such as city walls or temples. As a foreign conqueror, Cyrus used the cylinder shape to establish his respect for local tradition. The text on cylinder never starts and never finishes, It’s endlessly revolving. You come to the end go seamlessly again onto the beginning. It’s a rather ingenious object. It’s a different concept from a sheet of paper, with a start and finish point. It gives more majesty and authority to the document itself. The interesting point is that, even though it’s meant to be read by turning, when you stand in front of it, you’re looking at it right away up. If you go around to the back of the case, you’re looking at it upside down. [11]

Meant To Be Read Before Buried

The object is partly a religious document, and was buried to ask for the ongoing protection of the god of Babylon. Although at the same time, we know it contains a declaration, and [recently discovered] tablet fragments make clear that three were copies of It sent all around the Persian empire. It’s very likely that there were other cylinders buried by Cyrus in Babylon, it’s just that they haven’t been found yet.[11]

The Two Tablet fragments

The significance of the discovery was that cylinders were made to be buries privately but tablets were made for public announcements.
This discovery showed that Cyrus wanted to publicise what he did in Babylon. He made press releases to tell the empire that he brought peace to Babylon and allowed gods to return to their own sanctuaries and late people how worshipped those gods go back to their lands and temples.
[12]

Line 1-2 and 44-45 are restored on the basis of the two clay fragments from a late Babylonian tablet, inscribed with text which duplicates that of the Cyrus cylinder

The Cyrus Cylinder Restorations

As the Cyrus Cylinder, which is permanently exhibited at the British Museum, sometimes removed from the exhibition and subjected to contemporary conservation. There were several generations of old restorations done. In addition, this object has been subjected to at least one moulding process, some of whose residues were still found in depressions of the object. The bonds between two fragments were softened and undone by acetone compresses. After removing most of the old fillings and cleaning the surface, the two loose fragments were re-glued using acrylic resin. The smaller fragment needed a relining made from a mixture of acrylic resin. Also The British museum re fire their clay tablets for long lasting purposes.[11]

Video From The British Museum

References

*PW - Persian Wonders (based on our conclusion and study)

1. Majidzadeh, Yousef. "The Land of Aratta." Journal of Near Eastern Studies 35, no. 2 (1976): 105-13. Accessed August 10, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/545195.
2. The British Museum. 2020. collection. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_1936-1217-2. [Accessed 10 August 2020].
3. Madjidzadeh, Youssef & Pittman, Holly. (2008). Excavations at Konar Sandal in the region of Jiroft in the Halil basin: First preliminary report (2002-2008). Iran. 46. 69-103. 10.2307/25651436.
4. Geoffrey,B. Olivier,J. Youssef,M. ARTE France.; Gedeon Programmes. Special Broadcasting Service Corporation. SBS-TV. (2005). Unearthing the lost kingdom of Aratta. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.terranoa.com/product/product.php?code=125
5. Majidzadeh, Yousef. "The Land of Aratta." Journal of Near Eastern Studies 35, no. 2 (1976): 105-13. Accessed August 10, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/545195.
6. Francfort H.-P., Tremblay X. Marhaši et la civilisation de l'Oxus // Iranica Antiqua, vol. XLV (2010), pp. 51–224. doi: 10.2143/IA.45.0.2047119.
7. Madjidzadeh, Youssef & Pittman, Holly. (2008). Excavations at Konar Sandal in the region of Jiroft in the Halil basin: First preliminary report (2002-2008). Iran. 46. 69-103. 10.2307/25651436.
8. Desset, Francois. (2014). A new writing system discovered in 3rd millennium bce iran: The konar sandal 'geometric' tablets. Iranica Antiqua. 49. 83-109. 10.2143/IA.49.0.3009239.
9. Geoffrey,B. Olivier,J. Youssef,M. ARTE France.; Gedeon Programmes. Special Broadcasting Service Corporation. SBS-TV. (2005). Unearthing the lost kingdom of Aratta. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.terranoa.com/product/product.php?code=125
10. Geoffrey,B. Olivier,J. Youssef,M. ARTE France.; Gedeon Programmes. Special Broadcasting Service Corporation. SBS-TV. (2005). Unearthing the lost kingdom of Aratta. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.terranoa.com/product/product.php?code=125
11. Curtis, J. Finkel,I (Ed.). (2013). The Cyrus Cylinder: The Great Persian Edict from Babylon.
12. Curtis, J. (2013). The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia: A New Beginning for the Middle East.
13. Farzin, R. (2007). Iran: Seven Faces of Civilization.

The Cyrus Cylinder

Study Of The Object | According to John Curtis of the British Museum

Translation Line By Line

Associating Cyrus with the god Marduk

1-19

Peaceful entry to Babylon

Cyrus’s policy of restoring Babylon

Cyrus has enabled the people to live in peace

Building Activities Orered by Cyrus In Babylon

The Shape of Cylinder

Meant To Be Read Before Buried

The Two Tablet fragments

The Cyrus Cylinder Restorations

Video From The British Museum

References