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# Cyrus the Great

## Overview
Cyrus II of Persia (Old Persian: *Kūruš*; ~600–530 BCE), known as Cyrus the Great, founded the Achaemenid Persian Empire and is celebrated for his tolerance toward conquered peoples. @t[600 BCE..530 BCE]

## Key Facts
- Born: ~600 BCE, Anshan (modern Iran) @t[~600 BCE] <!-- reviewed:2026-02-23 -->
- Died: ~530 BCE (in battle against the Massagetae along the Syr Darya) @t[~530 BCE] <!-- reviewed:2026-02-23 -->
- Reign: ~559–530 BCE @t[559 BCE..530 BCE] <!-- reviewed:2026-02-23 -->
- Title: King of Kings, King of Anshan, King of Persia, King of Babylon <!-- reviewed:2026-02-23 -->
- Father: Cambyses I, King of Anshan [^3]
- Mother: Mandane, daughter of the Median king Astyages [^3]
- Successor: Cambyses II (son) [^1]

## Conquests
- Defeated the Medes under Astyages (~550 BCE) — his own maternal grandfather @t[~550 BCE] <!-- reviewed:2026-02-23 --> [^3]
- Conquered Lydia and captured Croesus (~547 BCE) @t[~547 BCE] <!-- reviewed:2026-02-23 -->
- Conquered Babylon (539 BCE) — reportedly entered without a battle @t[=539 BCE] [^1] <!-- reviewed:2026-02-23 -->
- Issued the Edict of Cyrus (~538 BCE): allowed exiled peoples, including the Jews, to return to their homelands and rebuild their temples @t[~538 BCE] [^2] [^4]

## Legacy
- Cyrus Cylinder: Clay cylinder inscribed in Akkadian cuneiform, discovered in 1879 in the Ésagila temple of Babylon; declares policies of religious tolerance and restoration of displaced peoples; sometimes called the "first charter of human rights" [^2] <!-- reviewed:2026-02-23 -->
- Respected by Greeks (Xenophon's *Cyropaedia*), Jews (called "messiah" in Isaiah 45:1), and Persians <!-- reviewed:2026-02-23 -->
- Tomb at Pasargadae (UNESCO World Heritage Site, Fars Province, Iran) still stands <!-- reviewed:2026-02-23 -->
- Founded the largest empire the world had yet seen, stretching from Egypt to the Indus Valley <!-- reviewed:2026-02-23 -->
- Death attributed to battle with the Massagetae under their queen Tomyris (Herodotus, *Histories* I.214) [^3]

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[^1]: Kuhrt, A. *The Persian Empire* (Routledge, 2007)
[^2]: British Museum, "The Cyrus Cylinder" (BM 90920)
[^3]: Herodotus, *Histories*, Book I (c. 440 BCE)
[^4]: Ezra 1:2–4 (Hebrew Bible); cf. Kuhrt (2007) [^1]