2500th Anniversary of the Founding of the Persian Empire

The ‘Cyrus Cylinder’ is a fired clay cylinder that was made by the order of the Persian King Cyrus after he captured Babylon in 539 B.C. It was excavated by archaeologists in 1879 and is considered as the first “charter of human rights” due to the Cyrus decrees that are referred on it. The text is written in the Akkadian cuneiform script and indicates that all people are entitled to freedom, the deported are allowed to return home, to restore their temples and believe their gods. The Cylinder is exhibited in the British Museum