Cyrus Cylinder at Asian Art Museum in San Francisco

 

Cyrus Cylinder on display at Asian Art Museum  [Mark Pyruz, 9/1/13]

This writer took the opportunity afforded by the Labor Day holiday to visit the Asian Art Museum (free admission the first Sunday of every month) to view the celebrated Cyrus cylinder.

There was a long line to gain entrance to the exhibit room, where other artifacts from Achaemenid Persia were also on display. The wait gave me to time to actually read a translation of the cylinder, provided by a thoughtful  usher. I must admit, in all candidness, I did not find this cylinder text to render itself as a "human rights charter." Rather, it reads more like a high-minded justification for the use of military force and foreign occupation, the likes of which we're only too familiar with during the 20th and 21st centuries.

Still, the historical artifacts and cylinder provided a wonder to behold. I can truly state seeing the exhibit was a chance of a lifetime.

The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia exhibit at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco runs until September 22, 2013.

The Cyrus Cylinder in Washington

Opens March 9 at Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

The Cyrus Cylinder, on loan from the British Museum, makes its US debut today at the Sackler. It is shown with a number of key items that offer insight into the religious, cultural, and linguistic traditions of the vast and powerful Achaemenid Empire (539–331 BCE) founded by Cyrus the Great.

The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia: A New Beginning is organized by the British Museum in partnership with the Iran Heritage Foundation and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. To learn more about other U.S. venues, please click here.

A short description of the Cylinder from Freer-Sackler website:

“Modest in scale and appearance, the Cyrus Cylinder is one of the most important and iconic objects in world history. The origins of this baked clay object can be traced to the Persian king Cyrus the Great’s conquest of Babylon in the sixth century BCE. It bears an inscription, written in Babylonian cuneiform, that claims Cyrus’s victory over the last Babylonian ruler, Nabonidus. Also in this text, Cyrus declared religious freedom for his newly conquered people. He encouraged Jews to return to Jerusalem and build the second temple, which earned him the title ‘shepherd of God’ and even the ‘Lord’s anointed’ (Messiah) in the Book of Isaiah.”



“Although the Cylinder was not discovered until 1879, Cyrus’s support for religious tolerance has inspired generations of philosophers, rulers, and statesmen—from ancient Greece to the Renaissance, and from the Founding Fathers to leaders in the modern-day Middle East.”

Image credit: The Cyrus Cylinder (British Museum/Freer-Sackler) 

Cyrus Cylinder Coming To America

The Cyrus Cylinder, often referred to as “the first charter of human rights,” will travel to the United States for the first time, touring five major metropolitan centers, starting with Washington, to be exhabited at the Sackler Gallery from 9 March to 28 April.

The exhibition is entitled “The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia: A New Beginning.” It is organized by the British Museum in partnership with the Iran Heritage Foundation (IHF) and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution in collaboration with other major museums.

Please click here to see the video for a remarkable recount of the meaning and symbolism of this mesmerizing object.

Honoring Cyrus

Honoring Cyrus the Great

Sydney Olympic Park

Cyrus Cylinder in Tehran

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visiting the Cyrus Cylinder in Tehran on Sunday. Cyrus the Great created the Cylinder after the Persian conquest of Babylon in 539 BC. The Cylinder depicts Cyrus’s efforts to improve the lives of the citizens of Babylonia; repatriate displaced peoples and restore temples across Mesopotamia. It has become a historic charter on human rights and freedom of thoughts and religion.

The Cylinder was discovered in the ruins of Babylon in 1879 and is kept in the British Museum. It is on loan to Iran’s National Museum in Tehran and will be on display for the next four months.

Photo: Press TV