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  2. The Achaemenid Empire, 550-330 BC
  3. Week 1 - Cyrus at Babylon

Cyrus Cylinder from Babylon (BM)

Commentary
Cyrus Cylinder from Babylon (BM)
Accession number: 
Museum Number 90920
Collection: 
British Museum

Cyrus Cylinder from Babylon (BM)

Barrel-shaped clay cylinder from Babylon, originally deposited in the foundations of the city wall, with Babylonian inscription recounting the capture of Babylon by Cyrus the Great in 539 BC.

L. 0.219m; Diam. 0.078-0.10m. British Museum (BM 90920).

Translation: ​M. Brosius, The Persian Empire from Cyrus II to Artaxerxes I (2000), no.12; A. Kuhrt, The Persian Empire: A Corpus of Sources from the Achaemenid Period (2007), pp. 70-74; also new translation by I. Finkel, here. 
 
Kuhrt, A. (1983) ‘The Cyrus Cylinder and Achaemenid Imperial Policy’ Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 25: 83-97; I. Finkel, The Cyrus Cylinder: The King of Persia's Proclamation from Ancient Babylon; R. J. van der Spek, 'Cyrus the Great, Exiles, and Foreign Gods', in Extraction and Control, eds. W. Henkelman et al. (2014), 233-264 (with another new translation).