Research Paper On Cyrus The Great

Cyrus the Great is an extremely important and powerful figure in Ancient history, he managed to form a powerful empire and create a model for future ones through the use of useful strategies to manage his territory. As a result of this, Cyrus should have the title ‘The Great’. Cyrus the Great was born between 590 and 580 BC, either in the region of Media or, more likely, in Persis, and died on 4 December 530 BC. There are many reasons why he should be known as ‘the Great’ such as his successful military conquests, humanitarianism, administrative reforms in the ancient world, and the legacy that he has left. Cyrus is well known for having one of the first declarations of human rights by having fair religious tolerance meaning he recognized the

He manages to conquer Media, Lydia, Babylon, and parts of Central Asia. The Persian Empire crossed from the Aegean Sea in the west to the Indus River in the east. At the time of his death, the empire covered areas of modern-day Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Egypt, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and several other countries. One of Cyrus the Great’s most known conquest is his conquest of Babylon. He overtook Babylon in 529 BC which was one of the most powerful nations of the time. Many sources of the time state that Cyrus’ managed to take over Babylon with very little amount of fighting. An extract from the Nabonidus Chronicle offers an overview of his capture of Babylon, this source was written by Babylonians. The statement “ On the sixteenth day, Gubaru (Gobryas in Greek) the governor of Gutium and the army of Cyrus entered Babylon without a battle. “ demonstrates how his army entered Babylon with no battle however it does not explain how this was done this source may be exaggerated. The story also mentions how peace was brought upon Babylon once Cyrus took over. An extract from a secondary source known as the Histories written by Herodotus in 425 BC explains how the capture

Cyrus is well known for his humanitarianism and him making one of the first declarations of human rights known as the Cyrus Cylinder, he also repaired the infrastructure of his empire and oversaw problems within the empire. Cyrus’ acceptance of other religions and acceptance of people is expressed in the Cyrus Cylinder in the extract “Marduk, the great lord, who cares for his people, looked with pleasure at his (Cyrus') good deeds and his righteous heart. He (Marduk) ordered him to go to Babylon.“ the Cylinder refers to Marduk who was a Babylonian God and not the god of Zoroastrianism the religion Cyrus was devoted to, the is important as it explains that the god that wasn’t his own rather the people’s of the city he took allowed him to take over showing his respect to this religion and allowing people to still believe in their god. Cyrus also had many religious policies that were also in the Cyrus Cylinder that stated that he would help rebuild shrines and other places of worship within the kingdoms he overtook to pay respect to their beliefs and improve infrastructure in the empire. Cyrus is also mentioned in the Bible many times such as in Ezra 1:2-4 “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:“‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in