Achaemenid, The Cyrus Cylinder, 539–538 BC
Clay, British Museum.
© Trustees of the British Museum
British Museum’s Cyrus Cylinder at MFAH Houston ‘The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia: A New Beginning’ is on display at the MFAH from May 3 to June 14, 2013. The tour is supported by the Iran Heritage Foundation.]]>
May 7th, 2013 – source: MFAH Houston
The Cyrus Cylinder is among the most famous objects to have survived from the ancient world. The Cylinder was inscribed in Babylonian cuneiform (cuneiform is the earliest form of writing) on the orders of the Persian King Cyrus the Great (559–530 BC) after he captured Babylon in 539 BC. It is often referred to as the first bill of human rights because it appears to encourage freedom of worship throughout the Persian Empire and to allow deported people to return to their homelands. It was first found in Babylon, which is now in modern Iraq, in 1879 during a British Museum excavation, and has been on display at the British Museum ever since.
The Cyrus Cylinder is truly an object of world heritage, produced for a Persian king and seen and studied for over 130 years in the British Museum. It is valued by people around the world as a symbol of tolerance and respect for different peoples and different faiths, so much so that a copy of the cylinder is on display at the United Nations in New York. The British Museum previously lent the Cylinder to the National Museum of Iran during 2010 and 2011, where it was seen by more than one million people. This tour provides an opportunity for an American audience to engage with this unique object of world importance.
“The Cyrus Cylinder tells a great story of human history,” commented Gary Tinterow, director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. “We are thrilled to be able to bring this touchstone of ancient civilization to Houston, and to present the Cyrus Cylinder and related objects in the context of our collections.“
Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, has said, “You could almost say that the Cyrus Cylinder is a history of the Middle East in one object, and it is a link to a past which we all share and to a key moment in history that has shaped the world around us.“
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