Tomb of Cyrus the Great, C6 BC

Pasargad, Iran

This image from https://apochi.com/attractions/shiraz/pasargadae/

“I am Cyrus, king of the world”

These are the words inscribed on a cuneiform cylinder, now in the British Museum. The cylinder was found in Babylon, and is dated to 539 BC. But who was Cyrus, and of what exactly was he king?

To find his home we shall venture over the Zagros Mountains into the ancient region of Persis in southern Iran. There we will find not only a victory city built by his successors – Persepolis – but Cyrus’ own tomb at Pasargadae. If the latter sounds familiar, it may be because in recent weeks the authorities have stopped modern-day Iranians from travelling there in order to venerate him.

This man clearly deserves further investigation. Oh – and I may not have mentioned… he conquered the whole of the Middle and Near East in the sixth century BC. Perhaps that’s why he’s mentioned more than thirty times in the Old Testament. We really must meet him!

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