Seal of Cyrus I

"Cyrus the Anshanite, son of Teispes" (as translated in A. Kuhrt The Persian Empire (2010) 54).

This image of Cyrus I's seal impression is a composite of several impressions found in the Persepolis Fortification Texts, Kuhrt adding that this 'seems to have been an old seal that continued in use' on account of the Late Elamite style (A. Kuhrt The Persian Empire (2010) 54). This is the earliest attestation of a Persian king and the use of Elamite iconography and script may have been intended by Cyrus I to express an affinity for the Elamite kingdom 'under whose rule Persian peoples had settled peacefully in Fars from the beginning of the first milennium BC onwards' (M. Brosius The Persian Empire from Cyrus II to Artaxerxes I (2000) 4-5).