Familienstammbaum Homs » Cyrus II 'the Great' de Perse King of Persia (± 600-± 529)

Persönliche Daten Cyrus II 'the Great' de Perse King of Persia 

• Er wurde geboren rund -600 in of, Persia.
• Er wurde getauft in 1st Shah of Persia.
• Beruf: in Ruled 559-529 BCE.
• Er ist verstorben rund -529 in of, Persia.
• Ein Kind von Cambyses I de Perse und Mandane de Médie
• Diese Information wurde zuletzt aktualisiert am 17. März 2012.

Familie von Cyrus II 'the Great' de Perse King of Persia

Er ist verheiratet mit Cassadane of Persia.

Sie haben geheiratet rund -546 in Persia.

Kind(er):

1. Atossa Atossa  ± 550-± 475 

Notizen bei Cyrus II 'the Great' de Perse King of Persia

Cyrus the Great
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cyrus II of Persia
576 or 590 BC — July 529 BC

An old Iranian portrait of Cyrus the Great (artist's concept).
Place of birth: Presumably Anshan
Place of death: Unknown; along the Syr Darya

Cyrus the Great (Old Persian: Kuruš,[1] modern Persian: ?????, Kourosh; ca. 576 or 590 BC — July 529 BC), also known as Cyrus II of Persia and Cyrus the Elder, was the founder of the Persian Empire under the Achaemenid dynasty. As the ruler of the Persian people in Anshan, from approximately 559 BC, he conquered the Medes and unified the two separate Iranian kingdoms. He then expanded beyond the Iranian plateau, conquering most of Southwest Asia to create the largest empire the world had yet seen.

Little certain is known, however, of his actual life or reign. He is best known for the stories told about him later and by foreigners, which range from depicting him as the exemplar of a princely education, or as the fulfillment of prophecy, to earning a death of bloodthirsty arrogance. He is perhaps most remembered for restoring the exiled Jews to Jerusalem.

Contents [hide]
1 Background
1.1 Dynastic history
1.2 Early life
2 Rise and military campaigns
2.1 Media
2.2 Lydia and Asia Minor
2.3 Babylonia
3 Death
4 Herodotus
5 Legacy
5.1 Religion
5.2 Politics and philosophy
5.2.1 Cyrus Cylinder
6 Notes
7 References
8 External links

[edit]
Background
Faravahar symbolizes Zoroastrianism, whose teachings influenced Cyrus to the extent that it became the de facto state religion of Persia.The name Cyrus is a Latin transliteration of the Greek ?????, which is a version of the Old Persian Kourosh or Khorvash. The ancient historians Ctesias and Plutarch noted that Cyrus was named from Kuros, the sun, a concept which has been interpreted as meaning "like the sun," by noting its relation to the Persian noun for sun, khorsheed, while using -vash as a suffix of likeness.[2] However, some modern historians, such as Karl Hoffmann and Rüdiger Schmitt of the Encyclopædia Iranica, have suggested the translation "humiliator of the enemy in verbal contest."[3]

In modern Persian, Cyrus is referred to as Kourosh-e Bozorg — the Persian-derived name for Cyrus the Great. In the Bible, he is known as simply Koresh.

[edit]
Dynastic history
Cyrus the Great was the son of the Persian king Cambyses I and a Mede princess from the Achaemenid dynasty, which ruled the kingdom of Anshan, in what is now southwestern Iran. The dynasty had been founded by Achaemenes (ca. 700 BC), who was succeeded by his son Teispes of Anshan. Inscriptions indicate that when the latter died, two of his sons shared the throne as Cyrus I of Anshan and Ariaramnes of Persia. They were succeeded by their respective sons Cambyses I of Anshan and Arsames of Persia.[2] However, the authenticity of these inscriptions has been called into question, thus blurring the history of Cyrus' predecessors.[4]

A bas-relief found at Pasargadae shows a figure thought to be Cyrus, depicted with four Assyrian wings, and wearing a horned Egyptian-like crown and a Persian dress.Cambyses is considered by Herodotus and Ctesias to be of humble origin, but they further note his marriage to Princess Mandane of Media, who was the daughter of Princess Aryenis of Lydia and Astyages, king of the Medes. From their union, Mandane bore only one son, Cyrus II, better known today as Cyrus the Great, whom Cambyses named after the child's grandfather.

According to Ctesias, Cyrus the Great married a daughter of Astyages, which seems unlikely, as his wife would also be his aunt. A possible explanation is that Astyages married again, and his second wife bore him this daughter.[5] Cyrus' first wife, Cassandane, is equally obscure. According to Herodotus and the Behistun Inscription, she bore Cyrus at least two sons, Cambyses II and Smerdis.[1] Both sons later separately ruled Persia for a short period of time. Cyrus also had several daughters, of which two would marry Darius the Great, Artystone[6] and Atossa. The latter is significant, as she gave birth to of Xerxes I, Darius' successor.[7]

[edit]
Early life
The Homa griffin was one of the symbols of the Persian Empire.Cyrus was born in either 576 BC or 590 BC.[8] Little is known of his early years, as the sources detailing that part of his life are few, and have been damaged or lost.

Herodotus's story of Cyrus' early life belongs to a genre of legends in which abandoned children of noble birth, such as Oedipus or Romulus and Remus, return to claim their royal positions. His overlord was his own grandfather, Astyages, ruler of the powerful Median kingdom.

After the birth of Cyrus, Astyages had a dream that his Magi interpreted as a sign that his grandson would eventually overthrow him. He then ordered his steward Harpagus to kill the infant. Harpagus, morally unable to kill a newborn, summoned a herdsman of the king named Mithridates and ordered him to dispose of the child. Luckily for the young boy, the herdsman took him in and raised him as his own.[9][10]

When Cyrus was ten years old, Herodotus claims that it was obvious that Cyrus was not a herdsman's son, stating that his behavior was too noble. Astyages interviewed the boy and noticed that they resembled each other. Astyages ordered Harpagus to explain what he had done with the baby, and after confessing that he had not killed the boy, the king forced him to eat his own son.[11] Astyages was more lenient with Cyrus, and allowed him to return to his biological parents, Cambyses and Mandane.[12] While Herodotus' description may be a legend, it does give insight into the figures surrounding Cyrus the Great's early life.

[edit]
Rise and military campaigns
[edit]
Media
After his father's death in 559 BC, Cyrus became king of Anshan. However, Cyrus was not yet an independent ruler. Like his predecessors, Cyrus had to recognize Mede overlordship. Although the size of their area of influence is not certainly known, during Astyages' reign the Medes may have ruled over a large part of the Ancient Near East, up to the Lydian frontier to the west, the Parthians to the east, and the Persians to the south.

In Herodotus' version, Harpagus, seeking vengeance, convinced Cyrus to rally the Persian people to revolt against their feudal lords, the Medes. However, it is likely that both Harpagus and Cyrus rebelled due to their dissatisfaction with Astyages' policies.[9] Herodotus continuous reporting that Harpagus was commander of the Mede army at the time, and, when the revolt occured, he betrayed Astyages, aiding Cyrus to capture Ecbatana, and effectively conquering the Mede Empire.

This account is corroborated by Babylonian, nearly contemporaneous, sources. The Nabonidus Chronicle states that during the year 550/549 BC [13], the Mede troops revolted and delivered Astyages in fetters to Cyrus, who captured Ecbatana and brought its treasury to Anshan. The Nabonidus Chronicle date seems to be contradicted by the Sippar Cylinder, which gives the year 554/553 for Astyages' defeat. This apparent contradiction may reflects that the war was longer; 554/543 may indicate the begining of the revolt, and 550/549, Cyrus victory over Ecbatana. [14]

While Cyrus seems to have accepted the crown of Media, by 546 BC, he had officially assumed the title of King of Persia instead. Arsames, who had been the ruler of Persia under the Medes, therefore had to give up his throne. His son, Hystaspes, who was also Cyrus' second cousin, was then made satrap of Parthia and Phrygia. Arsames would live to see his grandson become Darius the Great, Shahanshah of Persia, after the deaths of both of Cyrus' sons.

Cyrus' conquest of Media was merely the start of his wars. Astyages had been allied with his brother-in-law Croesus of Lydia (son of Alyattes II), Nabonidus of Babylon, and Amasis II of Egypt, who reportedly intended to join forces against Cyrus and Empire.

[edit]
Lydia and Asia Minor
Croesus was the first ally of Astyages to attack Persia, but was ultimately defeated by Cyrus.The dates of the Lydian conquest are untenable, but it has been generally suggested to have begun in 547 BC.[15] The Lydians first attacked the Achaemenid Empire's city of Pteria in Cappadocia. Croesus laid siege to the city, and captured its inhabitants as slaves. Meanwhile, The Persians invited the citizens of Ionia, who were part of the Lydian kingdom, to revolt against their ruler. The offer was rebuffed, and thus Cyrus levied an army and marched against the Lydians, increasing his numbers while passing through nations in his way. The Battle of Pteria was effectively a stalemate, with both sides suffering heavy casualties by nightfall. Croesus retreated to Sardis the following morning.[16]

While in Sardis, Croesus sent out requests for his allies to send aid to Lydia. However, near the end of winter, before the allies could unite, Cyrus pushed the war into Lydian territory and besieged Croesus in his capital, Sardis. Shortly before the final battle between the two rulers, Harpagus advised Cyrus to place his dromedaries in front of his warriors; the Lydian horses, not used to the dromedaries' smell, would be very afraid. The strategy worked; the Lydian cavalry was routed. Cyrus defeated and captured Croesus. Cyrus occupied the capital at Sardis, conquering the Lydian kingdom in 546 BC.[16] According to Herodotus, Cyrus spared Croesus' life and kept him as an advisor, but this account conflicts with some translations of the contemporary Nabonidus Chronicle, which interpret that the king of Lydia was slain.[17]

Before returning to the capital, a Lydian named Pactyes was entrusted by Cyrus to send Croesus' treasury to Persia. However, soon after Cyrus' departure, Pactyes hired mercenaries and caused an uprising in Sardis, revolting against the Persian satrap of Lydia, Tabalus. With recommendations from Croesus that he should turn the minds of the Lydian people to luxury, Cyrus sent Mazares, one of his commanders, to subdue the insurrection, but demanded that Pactyas be returned alive. Upon Mazares' arrival, Pactyas fled to Ionia, where he had hired mercenaries. Mazares marched his troops into the Greek country and captured the cities of Magnesia and Priene, where Pactyas was captured and sent back to Persia for punishment.

Mazares continued the conquest of Asia Minor, but died of unknown causes during his campaign in Ionia. Cyrus sent Harpagus to complete Mazares' conquest of Asia Minor. Harpagus captured Lycia, Cilicia and Phoenicia, using the technique of building earthworks to breach the walls of besieged cities, a method unknown to the Greeks. He ended his conquest of the area in 542 BC, and returned to Persia.[9]

[edit]
Babylonia
Superimposed on modern borders, the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus' rule extended approximately from Turkey, Israel, and Azerbaijan in the west to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Pakistan in the east. Persia became the largest empire the world had ever seen.In 539 BC, towards the end of September, Cyrus' armies, under the command of Gubaru, the governor of Gutium, attacked Opis on the Tigris river and defeated the Babylonians after a minor uprising. With Opis subjugated, the Persians took control of the vast canal system of Babylonia.

On October 10, the city of Sippar was seized without a battle, with little to no resistance from the populace. It is probable that Cyrus engaged in negotiations with the Babylonian generals to obtain a compromise on their part and therefore avoid an armed confrontation.[18] Nabonidus was staying in the city at the time, and soon fled to the capital, Babylon, which he had not visited in years.

Two days later, on October 12, Gubaru's troops entered Babylon, again without any resistance from the Babylonian armies. Herodotus explains that to accomplish this feat, the Persians diverted the Euphrates river into a canal so that the water level dropped "to the height of the middle of a man's thigh," which allowed the invading forces to march directly through the river bed to enter at night.[19] On October 29, Cyrus himself entered the city of Babylon and arrested Nabonidus. He then assumed the titles of "king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four sides of the world."

Prior to Cyrus' invasion of Babylon, the Babylonian Empire had conquered many kingdoms. In addition to Babylonia itself, Cyrus incorporated its subnational entities into his Empire, including Syria and Palestine.

Before leaving Babylon, Cyrus also freed the Israelites by allowing them to return to their native land, effectively ending the Babylonian captivity. The return of the exiles reinforced the Jewish population in their homeland, which had been waning since the start of the Babylonian rule.[20]

According to the Behistun Inscription of Darius the Great, Cyrus' dominions must have comprised the largest empire the world had ever seen. At the end of Cyrus' rule, the Achaemenid Empire stretched from Asia Minor and Judah in the west to the Indus River in the east.

[edit]
Death
Ctesias reports only that Cyrus met his death in the year 529 BC, while warring against tribes north-east of the headwaters of the Tigris. In Herodotus' account, Cyrus met his fate in a fierce battle with the Massagetae, a tribe from the southern deserts of Kharesm and Kizilhoum in the southernmost portion of the steppe region, after ignoring advice from his advisor, Croesus, to not continue forward.[21] The Massagetae were related to the Scythians in their dress and mode of living; they fought on horseback and on foot.

Cyrus' tomb lies in the ruins of Pasargadae, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.The queen of the Massagetae, Tomyris, who had assumed control after Cyrus had defeated Tomyris' son Spargapises, led the attack. The Persian forces suffered heavy casualties, including Cyrus himself. After the battle, Tomyris ordered the body of Cyrus to be found, and then dipped his head in blood to avenge the death of her son at his hands.[22]

Cyrus was buried in the city of Pasargadae, where his tomb remains today. Both Strabo and Arrian give descriptions of his tomb, based on eyewitness reports from the time of Alexander the Great's invasion. Though the city itself is now in ruins, the burial place of Cyrus the Great has remained largely intact; and the tomb has been partially restored to counter its natural deterioration over the years.

After Cyrus' death, his eldest son, Cambyses II, succeeded him as king of Persia. His younger son, Smerdis, died before Cambyses left to invade the eastern front. From Herodotus' account, Cambyses killed his brother to avoid a rebellion in his absence. Cambyses continued his father's policy of expansion, and managed to capture Egypt for the Empire, but soon died, after only seven years of rule. An imposter named Gaumata, claiming to be Smerdis, became the sole ruler of Persia for seven months, until he was killed by Darius the Great, the grandson of Arsames, who ruled Persia before Cyrus' rise.

[edit]
Herodotus
Herodotus wrote a century after Cyrus, in Athens and in Sicily. We have no idea what his sources on Persia were. He has a great deal of Persian court gossip, mostly from Xerxes's time; he has also a list of the satrapies, which he ascribes to Darius, and a roster of Xerxes' army. These last may be based on Persian documents, although they are slightly inconsistent with each other.

He tells several vivid stories about Cyrus, some of which have been told about other kings before and after him.

[edit]
Legacy
Cyrus the Great allowed the exiled Hebrew pilgrims to resettle and rebuild Jerusalem, earning him an honored place in Judaism.Cyrus was distinguished equally as a statesman and as a soldier. By pursuing a policy of generosity instead of repression, and by favoring local religions, he was able to make his newly conquered subjects into enthusiastic supporters.[23] Due in part to the political infrastructure he created, the Achaemenid empire endured long after his demise.

[edit]
Religion
Main articles: Cyrus in the Judeo-Christian tradition and Cyrus the Great in the Qur'an
A good example of his religious policy is his treatment of the Jews in Babylon. The Bible records that a remnant of the Jewish population returned to the Promised Land from Babylon, following an edict from Cyrus to rebuild the temple. This edict is fully reproduced in the Book of Ezra. As a result of Cyrus' policies, the Jews honored him as a dignified and righteous king. He is the only Gentile to be designated as a messiah, a divinely-appointed king, in the Tanakh.

[edit]
Politics and philosophy
During his reign, Cyrus maintained control over a vast region of kingdoms by organizing the empire into provinces called satrapies. The provincial administrators, vassal kings called satraps, enjoyed considerable autonomy. Cyrus demanded only tribute and conscripts from many parts of the realm.

Cyrus' conquests began a new era in the age of empire building where a large superstate, comprising many dozens of countries, races, and languages, were ruled under a single administration headed by a central government.[24] This system of satrapies lasted for centuries, and was retained both by the Greek Seleucid dynasty during their control of Iran and later by the Persian Parthians and Sassanids.

The Cyropaedia of Xenophon, a novel about the Great King's life, forms a treatise on politics, much read through the Renaissance, and indeed through the eighteenth century.[25] The book influenced Sir Thomas Browne, who named his hermetic 1658 discourse, entitled The Garden of Cyrus, after the ruler. With its abundant use of metaphors, Browne characterizes many ancients as "vegetables", with Cyrus as "the splendid and regular planter".[26]

Even today, Cyrus is still cited as an important figure. In 1992, he was ranked #87 on Michael H. Hart's list of the most influential figures in history. On December 10, 2003, in her acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize, Shirin Ebadi evoked Cyrus, saying:

I am an Iranian, a descendant of Cyrus the Great. This emperor proclaimed at the pinnacle of power 2,500 years ago that he 'would not reign over the people if they did not wish it.' He promised not to force any person to change his religion and faith and guaranteed freedom for all. The Charter of Cyrus the Great should be studied in the history of human rights.[27]
[edit]
Cyrus Cylinder
The Cyrus Cylinder artifact was inscribed in Babylonian cuneiform at Cyrus' command after his conquest of Babylon.Main article: Cyrus Cylinder
Upon taking Babylon, Cyrus issued a declaration inscribed on a clay barrel, known today as the Cyrus Cylinder. It recounts his victories and merciful acts, and documents his royal lineage. It was discovered in 1879 in Babylon, and today is kept in the British Museum.

The cylinder reflects a long tradition in Mesopotamia where, as early as the third millennium BC, kings such as Urukagina began their reigns with declarations of reforms, the cylinder of Cyrus has been referred to, as above, as the "first charter of human rights"; though such a concept would have been alien to Cyrus and his contemporaries.[28] In 1971, the United Nations translated and published it into all of its official languages.[29] The cylinder decrees the normal themes of Persian rule: respect for the gods of all peoples, just and peaceful rule, and the power and glory of the empire.

Achaemenid dynasty
Born: c. 576 or 590; Died: 529
Preceded by:
Cambyses I King of Persia
559–529 Succeeded by:
Cambyses II
Preceded by:
Astyages King of Media
550–529
[edit]
Notes
^ a b Jona Lendering, Cyrus (Old Persian Kuruš; Hebrew Kores): founder of the Achaemenid empire.
^ a b The Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies: Cyrus the Great; Plutarch, Artaxerxes 1. 3 [1]; Photius, Epitome of Ctesias' Persica 52 [2]
^ Schmitt, Rüdiger, Encyclopædia Iranica. Cyrus; The Name, p. 515–516 (PDF).
^ Shahbazi, A. Sh., Encyclopædia Iranica. Arsama, p. 546 (PDF).
^ "It seems inevitable to assume that Astyages had another wife. [...] According to Ctesias of Cnidus, their son Cyrus married to a daughter of Astyages. That would be his aunt, which is most unusual." [3]
^ Artystone: Queen of Persia, married to Darius I the Great.
^ Atossa: Daughter of the Persian king Cyrus the Great.
^ Most sources give either 576 BC or 590 BC as Cyrus' birth year; a conclusive answer is not fully clear.
^ a b c Harpagus: Median general, 'kingmaker' of the Persian king Cyrus the Great.
^ Stories of the East From Herodotus, Chapter V: The Birth and Bringing Up of Cyrus, p. 66–72.
^ Stories of the East From Herodotus, p. 79–80
^ Stories of the East From Herodotus, Chapter VI: Cyrus Overthroweth Astyages and Taketh the Kingdom to Himself, p. 84.
^ It refers to the Babylonian year, that begins in March [4].
^ M. Dandamayev: "Cyrus the Great", in Encyclopædia Iranica[5].
^ Rollinger, Robert, The Median "Empire", the End of Urartu and Cyrus' the Great Campaign in 547 B.C., p. 6. (PDF)
^ a b Herodotus, The Histories, Book I, 440 BC. Translated by George Rawlinson.
^ Croesus: Fifth and last king of the Mermnad dynasty.
^ Tolini, Gauthier, Quelques éléments concernant la prise de Babylone par Cyrus, Paris. "Il est probable que des négociations s’engagèrent alors entre Cyrus et les chefs de l’armée babylonienne pour obtenir une reddition sans recourir à l’affrontement armé." p. 10 (PDF)
^ Missler, Chuck, The Fall of Babylon Versus The Destruction of Babylon, p. 2 (PDF)
^ Ancient History Sourcebook: Cyrus the Great: The Decree of Return for the Jews, The Kurash Prism.
^ Livius: "Herodotus describes Cyrus' campaign against the Massagetes, a nomadic tribe in modern Kazakhstan and/or Uzbekistan. Although Cyrus' adviser Croesus tries to dissuade the Persian king from attacking his enemy, his advise is ignored, and the Massagetian queen Tomyris defeats and kills Cyrus."
^ Tomyris, Queen of the Massagetae, Defeats Cyrus the Great in Battle Herodotus, The Histories
^ Schaff, Philip, The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, Vol. III, Cyrus the Great
^ Mesopotamia, The Persians by Richard Hooker
^ Christopher Nadon, Bryn Mawr Classical Review: Xenophon's Prince, Republic and Empire in the Cyropaedia
^ Browne, Thomas, The Garden of Cyrus: Chapter I, ISBN 0-19871-064-X. While many of the Ancients do poorly live in the single names of Vegetables; All stories do look upon Cyrus, as the splendid and regular planter.
^ Nobel acceptance speech by Shirin Ebadi, "All Human Beings Are To Uphold Justice" (translated); accessed 24 August 2006.
^ Forgotten Empire, Cyrus Cylinder at the British Museum
^ The Cyrus Cylinder, The First Charter of Human Rights at the Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies; translation
[edit]
References
Ancient sources

The Cyrus Cylinder
The Nabonidus Chronicle of the Babylonian Chronicles
Herodotus (The Histories)
Ctesias (Persica)
The biblical books of Isaiah, Daniel, Ezra and Nehemiah
Flavius Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews)
The Prayer of Nabonidus (one of the Dead Sea scrolls)
Modern sources

Moorey, P.R.S., The Biblical Lands, VI. Peter Bedrick Books, New York (1991). ISBN 0-87226-247-2
Frye, Richard N., The Heritage of Persia. Weidenfeld and Nicolson (1962), 40, 43-4, 46-7, 70, 75, 78-90, 93, 104, 108, 122, 127, 206-7. ISBN 1-56859-008-3
Olmstead, A. T., History of the Persian Empire [Achaemenid Period]. University of Chicago Press (1948). ISBN 0-22662-777-2
Palou, Christine; Palou, Jean, La Perse Antique. Presses Universitaires de France (1962).
Herodotus; Church, Alfred J., Stories of the East From Herodotus (1891). ISBN 0-76618-928-7
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Cyrus 2 the Great

Persian: korosh or khorvash

(600?- 530 BCE) Persian king (550- 530 BCE) and part of the Achaemenid Dynasty. We do not know whether Cyrus was a title or a personal name.
Cyrus was undoubtedly a clever leader and a great military leader. He appears also to have been a mild leader. Greek historians present him as a good ruler, generous, tolerant and in many cases mild. On the cylinder on the photo he has recorded the first declaration of human rights. In the Bible he is mentioned as the king that allowed the Jews living in Babylonia to return to Israel.
Cyrus chose to respected the culture and religion of the people he conquered. He also had several capitals; Ectabana, Pasargadae and Babylon as winter capital. As he conquered new lands, he did not call these Persia (or Anshan) or provinces of Persia but he added them to the list of lands he ruled as a king.
Cyrus gave the different lands of the empire status as provinces, called satrapies. The satraps enjoyed great independence, and many of them were guilty of nothing more than paying part of their tax income and contributing with soldiers to the army.
Cyrus is often ranked as the first great king of Persia, and the one who made it into an empire though his great conquests. The kingdom he inherited was Anshan, corresponding to southwestern Iran.
BIOGRAPHY

600 BCE?: Born as son of King Cambyses 1, and according to legends, grandson of King Astyages of Medes. Other suggestions to his birth year go as late as 580.
558: Cyrus becomes king over Anshan.
550: Leads a rebellion against the Medes and his alleged grandfather King Astyages, adding Medes to his own kingdom.
— Becomes ruler over the Persian Empire.
546: Defeats Lydia and its king, Croesus after a surprise attack on the capital, Sardis.
539 October Takes control over the territories of the Babylonian Empire (including Mesopotamia, Syria and Palestine), after defeating King Nabonidus at Otis. The victory is recorded on a cylinder (see photo) with cuneiform writing, which has survived into modern times.
530's: Leads several campaigns to east, the lands that represent important parts of modern Iran.
530: Makes his son Cambyses 2 co-regent and embarks on a campaign against Queen Massangtae in the east.
528: Cyrus dies and is buried at Pasargadae.

{geni:occupation} founding EMPEROR of the Persian Empire; `astonishing empire builder'; released Israelites from bondage; prob. not aka Bahman ibn ISFENDIYAR, persisk kung 640-580 f.Kr

{geni:about_me} Cyrus II, The Great, King of Persia, was born circa 600 BC, Anshan, Persia; died circa December, 530 BC, along the Syr Darya.

--------------------

ID: I62237

Name: Cyrus of Persia

Prefix: King

Given Name: Cyrus

Surname: of Persia

Nickname: The Great

Sex: M

_UID: 8C608E106BA59547B3FE782448B03DDFD7F7

Change Date: 26 Nov 2005

Note:

Cyrus the Great ( 600?-530 bc), king of Persia (550-530 bc). He was the son of Cambyses I, a descendant of Achaemenes (Hakhamanish) (flourished 7th century bc), and a member of the Achaemenid dynasty. When Cyrus became (in about 558 bc) ruler of the Persian district of Anshan, the district was subject to the Medes; five years later he led a rebellion against the Medes that resulted in the capture of King Astyages (reigned about 584 to about 550 bc) and the overthrow (550 bc) of the Median Empire. Thereafter Cyrus called himself king of Persia and ruled a territory extending from the Halys River in Asia Minor, eastern border of Lydia, to the Babylonian Empire on the south and east. Babylon, Egypt, Lydia, and the city-state of Sparta in Greece combined to curb the power of Cyrus, but in about 546 bc the Persians added Lydia to their realm, and in 539 bc the kingdom of Babylon fell to Cyrus.

The Persian Empire was the most powerful state in the world until its conquest two centuries later by Alexander the Great. Cyrus was an able and merciful ruler. Significant among his deeds was his granting of permission to the Jews to return from their exile in Babylon to their native Israel to rebuild the Temple of Solomon. Cyrus died while leading an expedition against the eastern tribe, the Massagetae, and was succeeded by his son, who became Cambyses II.

© 1993-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Birth: ABT 600 BC

Death: 530 BC

Father: Cambyses I of Persia

Mother: of Medes

Marriage 1 Spouse Unknown

Children

Atossa of Persia

Cambyses II of Persia

Smerdis of Persia

Forrás / Source:

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jdp-fam&id=I62237

--------------------

Birth: 600 B.C.

Death: 529 B.C.

General Notes

King of Anzan 558-546, Great King of Persia 546-529, and in 539 King of Babylon, Summer, and Akkad by conquest.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrus_the_Great

Cyrus the Great (Old Persian:, IPA: [kʰuːruʃ], Kūruš[4], Persian: کوروش بزرگ, Kūrosh-e-Bozorg) (c. 600 BC or 576 BC – December] 530 BC), also known as Cyrus II or Cyrus of Persia, was the first Zoroastrian Persian emperor. He was the founder of the Persian Empire under the Achaemenid dynasty.

As a military leader, Cyrus left a legacy on the art of leadership and decision making, and he attributed his success to "Diversity in counsel, unity in command."

It was under his own rule that the empire embraced all previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanded vastly and eventually conquered most of Southwest Asia and much of Central Asia, from Egypt and the Hellespont in the west to the Indus River in the east, to create the largest empire the world had yet seen.

The reign of Cyrus lasted 29 to 31 years. Cyrus built his empire by fighting and conquering first the Median Empire, then the Lydian Empire and the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Either before or after Babylon, he led an expedition into central Asia, which resulted in major campaigns that brought "into subjection every nation without exception." Cyrus did not venture into Egypt, as he himself died in battle, fighting the Massagetae along the Syr Darya in December 530 BC. He was succeeded by his son, Cambyses II, who managed to add to the empire by conquering Egypt, Nubia, and Cyrenaica during his short rule.

As a military leader, Cyrus left a legacy on the art of leadership and decision making, and he attributed his success to "Diversity in counsel, unity in command." Cyrus the Great respected the customs and religions of the lands he conquered. It is said that in universal history, the role of the Achaemenid empire founded by Cyrus lies in its very successful model for centralized administration and establishing a government working to the advantage and profit of its subjects. In fact, the administration of the empire through satraps and the vital principle of forming a government at Pasargadae were the work of Cyrus.[15] Aside from his own nation, Iran, Cyrus also left a lasting legacy on Jewish religion (through his Edict of Restoration), human rights, politics, and military strategy, as well as on both Eastern and Western civilizations.

The word Cyrus is derived, via Latin, from Ancient Greek, from Old Persian likely originally from Elamite Kurash meaning to bestow care.

The name has been recorded in ancient inscriptions in many different languages. The ancient Greek historians Ctesias and Plutarch noted that Cyrus was named from Kuros, the Sun, a concept which has been interpreted as meaning "like the Sun" by noting its relation to the Persian noun for sun, khor, while using -vash as a suffix of likeness. However, Karl Hoffmann and Rüdiger Schmitt of the Encyclopædia Iranica have suggested the translation "humiliator of the enemy in verbal contest."

In Iran, Cyrus is always referred to as "Kūrošé Bozorg" and/or "Kūrošé Kabīr" — meaning "Cyrus the Great". In the Bible, he is known as simply Koresh (Hebrew: כורש‎).

The four winged guardian figure, a bas-relief found at Pasargadae on top of which was once inscribed in three languages the sentence "I am Cyrus the king an Achaemenian."[20]

The Persian domination and kingdom in the Iranian plateau started by an extension of the Achaemenid dynasty, who expanded their earlier domination possibly from the 9th century BC onward. The eponymous founder of this dynasty was Achaemenes (from Old Persian Haxāmaniš). Achaemenids are "descendants of Achaemenes" as Darius the Great, the ninth king of the dynasty, traces his genealogy to him and declares "for this reason we are called Achaemenids". Achaemenes built the state Parsumash in the southwest of Iran and was succeeded by Teispes, who took the title "King of Anshan" after seizing Anshan city and enlarging his kingdom further to include Pars proper.[8] Ancient documents[21] mention that Teispes had a son called Cyrus I, who also succeeded his father as "king of Anshan". Cyrus I had a full brother whose name is recorded as Ariaramnes.

In 600 BC, Cyrus I was succeeded by his son Cambyses I who reigned until 559 BC. Cyrus the Great was a son of Cambyses I, who named his son after his father, Cyrus I. There are several inscriptions of Cyrus the Great and later kings that refer to Cambyses I as "great king" and "king of Anshan". Among these are some passages in the Cyrus cylinder where Cyrus calls himself "son of Cambyses, great king, king of Anshan". Another inscription (from CM's) mentions Cambyses I as "mighty king" and "an Achaemenian", which according to bulk of scholarly opinion was engraved under Darius and considered as a later forgery by Darius.

However "Cambyses II"'s maternal grandfather Pharnaspes is named by Herodotus as "an Achaemenian" too. Xenophon's account in Cyropædia further names Cambyses's wife as Mandane and mentions Cambyses as king of Persia. These agree with Cyrus's own inscriptions, as Anshan and Parsa were different names of the same land. These also agree with other non-Iranian accounts, except at one point from Herodotus that Cambyses was not a king but a "Persian of good family".[26] However, in some other passages, his account is wrong also on the name of the son of Chishpish, which he mentions as Cambyses but, according to modern scholars, should be Cyrus I.[27]

The traditional view which based on archaeological research and the genealogy given in the Behistun Inscription and Herodotus[8] held that Cyrus was an Achaemenian. However it has been suggested by M. Waters and that Cyrus is unrelated to Achaemenes or Darius the Great and that his family was of Teispid and Anshanite origin instead of Achaemenid,[28] though this view is not universally accepted.

Early life

The best-known date for the birth of Cyrus is either 600-599 BC or 576-575 BC.[29] Little is known of his early years, as there are only a few sources known to detail that part of his life, and they have been damaged or lost.

Herodotus' story of Cyrus's early life belongs to a genre of legends in which abandoned children of noble birth, such as Oedipus and Romulus and Remus, return to claim their royal positions. Similar to other culture heroes and founders of great empires, folk traditions abound regarding his family background. According to Herodotus, he was the grandson of the Median king Astyages and was brought up by humble herding folk. In another version, he was presented as the son of poor parents who worked in the Median court. These folk stories are, however, contradicted by his own testimony, according to which he was preceded as king of Persia by his father, grandfather and great-grandfather[30].

After the birth of Cyrus, Astyages had a dream that his Magi interpreted as a sign that his grandson would eventually overthrow him. He then ordered his steward Harpagus to kill the infant. Harpagus, morally unable to kill a newborn, summoned the Mardian Mitradates (which the historian Nicolaus of Damascus calls Atradates), a royal bandit herdsman from the mountainous region bordering the Saspires,[31] and ordered him to leave the baby to die in the mountains. Luckily, the herdsman and his wife (whom Herodotus calls Cyno in Greek, and Spaca-o in Median) took pity and raised the child as their own, passing off their recently stillbirth infant as the murdered Cyrus.[32][33] For the origin of Cyrus's mother, Herodotus says Mandane of Media and Ctesias insist that she is full Persian but give no name, while Nicolaus gives the name Argoste as Atradates' wife, whether this figure represents Cyno or Cambyses' unnamed Persian queen has yet to be determined. It is also known that Strabo says that Cyrus was originally named Agradates by his stepparents; therefore, it is probable that, when reuniting with his original family, in custom Cambyses names him (or had named him before the separation) Cyrus after his own father, who was Cyrus I.

Herodotus claims that when Cyrus was ten years old, it was obvious that Cyrus was not a herdsman's son, stating that his behavior was too noble. Astyages interviewed the boy and noticed that they resembled each other. Astyages ordered Harpagus to explain what he had done with the baby, and, after confessing that he had not killed the boy, the king tricked him into eating his own broiled and chopped up son.[34] Astyages was more lenient with Cyrus and allowed him to return to his biological parents, Cambyses and Mandane.[35] While Herodotus's description may be a legend, it does give insight into the figures surrounding Cyrus the Great's early life.

Cyrus had a wife named Cassandane. She was an Achaemenian and daughter of Pharnaspes. From this marriage, Cyrus had four children: Cambyses II, Bardiya, Atossa, and another daughter whose name is not attested in ancient sources. Also, Cyrus had a fifth child named Artystone, the sister or half-sister of Atossa, who may not have been the daughter of Cassandane. Cyrus had a special dearly love for Cassandane, and, according to the chronicle of Nabonidus, when she died, all the nations of Cyrus's empire observed "a great mourning", and, particularly in Babylonia, there was probably even a public mourning lasting for six days (identified from 21–26 March 538 BC). Her tomb is suggested to be at Cyrus's capital, Pasargadae.[36] There are other accounts suggesting that Cyrus the Great also married a daughter of the Median king Astyages, named Amytis. This name may not be the correct one, however. Cyrus probably had once and after the death of Cassandane a Median woman in his royal family.[37] Cyrus' sons Cambyses II and Smerdis both later became kings of Persia, respectively, and his daughter Atossa married Darius the Great and bore him Xerxes I.

Though his father died in 551 BC, Cyrus had already succeeded to the throne in 559 BC. However, Cyrus was not yet an independent ruler. Like his predecessors, Cyrus had to recognize Median overlordship. During Astyages's reign, the Median Empire may have ruled over the majority of the Ancient Near East, from the Lydian frontier in the west to the Parthians and Persians in the east.

In Herodotus's version, Harpagus, seeking vengeance, convinced Cyrus to rally the Persian people to revolt against their feudal lords, the Medes. However, it is likely that both Harpagus and Cyrus rebelled due to their dissatisfaction with Astyages's policies.[32] From the start of the revolt in summer 553 BC, with his first battles taking place from early 552 BC, Harpagus, with Cyrus, led his armies against the Medes until the capture of Ecbatana in 549 BC, effectively conquering the Median Empire.

While Cyrus seems to have accepted the crown of Media, by 546 BC, he officially assumed the title "King of Persia" instead. With Astyages out of power, all of his vassals (including many of Cyrus's relatives) were now under his command. His uncle Arsames, who had been the king of the city-state of Parsa under the Medes, therefore would have had to give up his throne. However, this transfer of power within the family seems to have been smooth, and it is likely that Arsames was still the nominal governor of Parsa, under Cyrus's authority—more of a Prince or a Grand Duke than a King.[citation needed] His son, Hystaspes, who was also Cyrus' second cousin, was then made satrap of Parthia and Phrygia. Cyrus thus united the twin Achamenid kingdoms of Parsa and Anshan into Persia proper. Arsames would live to see his grandson become Darius the Great, Shahanshah of Persia, after the deaths of both of Cyrus' sons.[39]

Cyrus's conquest of Media was merely the start of his wars. Astyages had been allied with his brother-in-law Croesus of Lydia (son of Alyattes II), Nabonidus of Babylon, and Amasis II of Egypt, who reportedly intended to join forces against Cyrus.

The exact dates of the Lydian conquest are unknown, but it must have taken place between Cyrus's overthrow of the Mede kingdom (550 BC) and his conquest of Babylon (539 BC). It was common in the past to give 547 BC as the year of the conquest due to some interpretations of the Nabonidus Chronicle, but this position is currently not much held.[40] The Lydians first attacked the Achaemenid Empire's city of Pteria in Cappadocia. Croesus besieged and captured the city enslaving its inhabitants. Meanwhile, the Persians invited the citizens of Ionia who were part of the Lydian kingdom to revolt against their ruler. The offer was rebuffed, and thus Cyrus levied an army and marched against the Lydians, increasing his numbers while passing through nations in his way. The Battle of Pteria was effectively a stalemate, with both sides suffering heavy casualties by nightfall. Croesus retreated to Sardis the following morning.[41]

While in Sardis, Croesus sent out requests for his allies to send aid to Lydia. However, near the end of winter, before the allies could unite, Cyrus pushed the war into Lydian territory and besieged Croesus in his capital, Sardis. Shortly before the final Battle of Thymbra between the two rulers, Harpagus advised Cyrus to place his dromedaries in front of his warriors; the Lydian horses, not used to the dromedaries' smell, would be very afraid. The strategy worked; the Lydian cavalry was routed. Cyrus defeated and captured Croesus. Cyrus occupied the capital at Sardis, conquering the Lydian kingdom in 546 BC.[41] According to Herodotus, Cyrus spared Croesus' life and kept him as an advisor, but this account conflicts with some translations of the contemporary Nabonidus Chronicle, which interpret that the king of Lydia was slain.[42]

Before returning to the capital, a Lydian named Pactyes was entrusted by Cyrus to send Croesus' treasury to Persia. However, soon after Cyrus's departure, Pactyes hired mercenaries and caused an uprising in Sardis, revolting against the Persian satrap of Lydia, Tabalus. With recommendations from Croesus that he should turn the minds of the Lydian people to luxury, Cyrus sent Mazares, one of his commanders, to subdue the insurrection but demanded that Pactyas be returned alive. Upon Mazares's arrival, Pactyas fled to Ionia, where he had hired more mercenaries. Mazares marched his troops into the Greek country and subdued the cities of Magnesia and Priene, where Pactyas was captured and sent back to Persia for punishment.

Mazares continued the conquest of Asia Minor but died of unknown causes during his campaign in Ionia. Cyrus sent Harpagus to complete Mazares's conquest of Asia Minor. Harpagus captured Lycia, Cilicia and Phoenicia, using the technique of building earthworks to breach the walls of besieged cities, a method unknown to the Greeks. He ended his conquest of the area in 542 BC and returned to Persia.[32]

Superimposed on modern borders, the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus's rule extended approximately from Turkey, Israel, Georgia and Arabia in the west to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Indus River and Oman in the east. Persia became the largest empire the world had ever seen.

By the year 540 BC, Cyrus captured Elam (Susiana) and its capital, Susa.[43] The Nabonidus Chronicle records that, prior to the battle(s), Nabonidus had ordered cult statues from outlying Babylonian cities to be brought into the capital, suggesting that the conflict had begun possibly in the winter of 540 BC.[44] Near the beginning of October, Cyrus fought the Battle of Opis in or near the strategic riverside city of Opis on the Tigris, north of Babylon. The Babylonian army was routed, and on October 10, Sippar was seized without a battle, with little to no resistance from the populace.[45] It is probable that Cyrus engaged in negotiations with the Babylonian generals to obtain a compromise on their part and therefore avoid an armed confrontation.[46] Nabonidus was staying in the city at the time and soon fled to the capital, Babylon, which he had not visited in years.[47]

Two days later, on October 7 (proleptic Gregorian calendar), Gubaru's troops entered Babylon, again without any resistance from the Babylonian armies, and detained Nabonidus.[48] Herodotus explains that to accomplish this feat, the Persians diverted the Euphrates river into a canal so that the water level dropped "to the height of the middle of a man's thigh", which allowed the invading forces to march directly through the river bed to enter at night.[49] On October 29, Cyrus himself entered the city of Babylon and detained Nabonidus.[50]

Prior to Cyrus's invasion of Babylon, the Neo-Babylonian Empire had conquered many kingdoms. In addition to Babylonia itself, Cyrus probably incorporated its subnational entities into his Empire, including Syria, Judea, and Arabia Petraea, although there is no direct evidence of this fact.

After taking Babylon, Cyrus proclaimed himself "king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four corners of the world" in the famous Cyrus cylinder, an inscription deposited in the foundations of the Esagila temple dedicated to the chief Babylonian god, Marduk. The text of the cylinder denounces Nabonidus as impious and portrays the victorious Cyrus as pleasing to Marduk. It goes on to describe how Cyrus had improved the lives of the citizens of Babylonia, repatriated displaced peoples and restored temples and cult sanctuaries. Although some have asserted that the cylinder represents a form of human rights charter, historians generally portray it in the context of a long-standing Mesopotamian tradition of new rulers beginning their reigns with declarations of reforms.[52]

Cyrus's dominions comprised the largest empire the world had ever seen.[9] At the end of Cyrus's rule, the Achaemenid Empire stretched from Asia Minor in the west to the northwestern areas of India in the east.[53]

The details of Cyrus's death can vary by account. The account of Herodotus from his Histories provides the second-longest detail, in which Cyrus met his fate in a fierce battle with the Massagetae, a tribe from the southern deserts of Khwarezm and Kyzyl Kum in the southernmost portion of the steppe regions of modern-day Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, following the advice of Croesus to attack them in their own territory.[54] The Massagetae were related to the Scythians in their dress and mode of living; they fought on horseback and on foot. In order to acquire her realm, Cyrus first sent an offer of marriage to their ruler, Tomyris, a proposal she rejected. He then commenced his attempt to take Massagetae territory by force, beginning by building bridges and towered war boats along his side of the river Jaxartes, or Syr Darya, which separated them. Sending him a warning to cease his encroachment in which she stated she expected he would disregard anyway, Tomyris challenged him to meet her forces in honorable warfare, inviting him to a location in her country a day's march from the river, where their two armies would formally engage each other. He accepted her offer, but, learning that the Massagetae were unfamiliar with wine and its intoxicating effects, he set up and then left camp with plenty of it behind, taking his best soldiers with him and leaving the least capable ones. The general of Tomyris's army, who was also her son Spargapises, and a third of the Massagetian troops killed the group Cyrus had left there and, finding the camp well stocked with food and the wine, unwittingly drank themselves into inebriation, diminishing their capability to defend themselves, when they were then overtaken by a surprise attack. They were successfully defeated, and, although he was taken prisoner, Spargapises committed suicide once he regained sobriety. Upon learning of what had transpired, Tomyris denounced Cyrus's tactics as underhanded and swore vengeance, leading a second wave of troops into battle herself. Cyrus was ultimately killed, and his forces suffered massive casualties in what Herodotus referred to as the fiercest battle of his career and the ancient world. When it was over, Tomyris ordered the body of Cyrus brought to her, then decapitated him and dipped his head in a vessel of blood in a symbolic gesture of revenge for his bloodlust and the death of her son.[55][56] However, some scholars question this version, mostly because Herodotus admits this event was one of many versions of Cyrus's death that he heard from a supposedly reliable source who told him no one was there to see the aftermath. Nevertheless, others suggest the Persian troops may have later recovered the body after it was crucified, which was also after his beheading, or that Tomyris beheaded and then crucified a man other than Cyrus, or Cyrus's double.[citation needed]Ctesias, in his Persica, has the longest account, which says Cyrus met his death while putting down resistance from the Derbices infantry, aided by other Scythian archers and cavalry, plus Indians and their elephants. According to him, this event took place northeast of the headwaters of the Syr Darya.

An alternative account from Xenophon's Cyropaedia contradicts the others, claiming that Cyrus died peaceably at his capital.

The final version of Cyrus's death comes from Berossus, who only reports Cyrus met his death while warring against the Dahae archers northwest of the headwaters of the Syr Darya.

Cyrus' remains were interred in his capital city of Pasargadae, where today a tomb still exists which many believe to be his. Both Strabo and Arrian give nearly equal descriptions of the tomb, based on the eyewitness report of Aristobulus of Cassandreia, who at the instigation of Alexander the Great visited the tomb two times.[58] Though the city itself is now in ruins, the burial place of Cyrus the Great has remained largely intact; and the tomb has been partially restored to counter its natural deterioration over the years. According to Plutarch, his epitaph said,

“O man, whoever you are and wherever you come from, for I know you will come, I am Cyrus who won the Persians their empire. Do not therefore begrudge me this bit of earth that covers my bones.”

Cuneiform evidence from Babylon proves that Cyrus died around December 530 BC,[12] and that his son Cambyses II had become king. Cambyses continued his father's policy of expansion, and managed to capture Egypt for the Empire, but soon died after only seven years of rule. He was succeeded either by Cyrus' other son Bardiya or an impostor posing as Bardiya, who became the sole ruler of Persia for seven months, until he was killed by Darius the Great.

Cyrus was praised in the Tanakh (Isaiah 45:1-6) and (Ezra 1:1-11) for the freeing of slaves, humanitarian equality and costly reparations he makes. However he has been criticized for believing the false report of the Cuthites, who wanted to halt the rebuilding of the Temple. They accused the Jews of conspiring to rebel, so "the king of Persia" in turn stopped the construction of the Temple, which would not be completed until 516BC,[citation needed] during the reign of Darius the Great. According to the Bible, it was King Artaxerxes who was convinced to stop the construction of the second temple in Jerusalem.

Cyrus the Great liberated the Hebrew exiles to resettle and rebuild Jerusalem, earning him an honored place in Judaism.

In scope and extent his achievements ranked far above that of the Macedonian king,

Alexander who was to demolish the empire in the 320's but fail to provide any stable alternative.

—Charles Freeman in 'The Greek Achievement'[61]

The achievements of Cyrus the Great throughout antiquity is well reflected in the way he is remembered today. His own nation, the Iranians, regarded him as "The Father" and the Babylonians as "The Liberator".[62] After this liberation of Babylonians, followed Cyrus' liberal help for the return of Jews. For this, Cyrus is addressed in the Jewish Tanakh as the "Lord's Messiah". Glorified by Ezra, and by Isaiah, Cyrus is the one to whom "Yahweh, the god of heaven" has given "all the Kingdoms of the earth".

Cyrus was distinguished equally as a statesman and as a soldier. By pursuing a policy of generosity instead of repression, and by favoring local religions, he was able to make his newly conquered subjects into enthusiastic supporters.[63] Due in part to the political infrastructure he created, the Achaemenid empire endured long after his death.

The rise of Persia under Cyrus's rule had a profound impact on the course of world history. Iranian philosophy, literature and religion all played dominant roles in world events for the next millennia. Despite the Islamic conquest of Persia in the 7th century CE by the Islamic Caliphate, Persia continued to exercise enormous influence in the Middle East during the Islamic Golden Age, and was particularly instrumental in the growth and expansion of Islam.

Many of the Iranian dynasties following the Achaemenid empire and their kings saw themselves as the heirs to Cyrus the Great and have claimed to continue the line begun by Cyrus.[citation needed] However there are different opinions among scholars whether this is also the case for the Sassanid Dynasty.[64] Mohammad Reza Shah of Pahlavi dynasty celebrated the 2500th anniversary of the Iranian monarchy in 1971, though it ended with the 1979 revolution. Even today many consider Cyrus greater than Alexander the Great in his accomplishment.

According to Professor Richard Nelson Frye:

“It is a testimony to the capability of the founder of the Achaemenian empire that it continued to expand after his death and lasted for more than two centuries. But Cyrus was not only a great conqueror and administrator; he held a place in the minds of the Persian people similar to that of Romulus and Remus in Rome or Moses for the Israelites. His saga follows in many details the stories of hero and conquerors from elsewhere in the ancient world. The manner in which the baby Cyrus was given to a shepherd to raise is reminiscent of Moses in the bulrushes in Egypt, and the overthrow of his tyrannical grandfather has echoes in other myths and legends. There is no doubt that the Cyrus saga arose early among the Persians and was known to the Greeks. The sentiments of esteem or even awe in which Persians held him were transmitted to the Greeks, and it was no accident that Xenophon chose Cyrus to be the model of a ruler for the lessons he wished to impart to his fellow Greeks.

In short, the figure of Cyrus has survived throughout history as more than a great man who founded an empire. He became the epitome of the great qualities expected of a ruler in antiquity, and he assumed heroic features as a conqueror who was tolerant and magnanimous as well as brave and daring. His personality as seen by the Greeks influenced them and Alexander the Great, and, as the tradition was transmitted by the Romans, may be considered to influence our thinking even now. In the year 1971, Iran celebrated the 2,500th anniversary of the founding of the monarchy by Cyrus."

On another account, Prof. Patrick Hunt states:

“If you are looking at the greatest personages in History who have affected the World, 'Cyrus the Great' is one of the few who deserves that epithet, the one who deserves to be called 'the Great'. The empire over which Cyrus ruled was the largest the Ancient World had ever seen and may be to this day the largest empire ever.

Religious policy of Cyrus is well documented in Babylonian texts as well as Jewish sources. Cyrus initiated a general policy that can be described as a policy of permitting religious freedom throughout his vast empire. He brought peace to the Babylonians and is said to have kept his army away from the temples and restored the statues of the Babylonian gods to their sanctuaries.[14] Another example of his religious policies, as evidenced by the Cyrus cylinder (see below), was his treatment of the Jews during their exile in Babylon after Nebuchadnezzar II destroyed Jerusalem. The Jewish Bible's Ketuvim ends in Second Chronicles with the decree of Cyrus, which returned the exiles to the Promised Land from Babylon along with a commission to rebuild the temple.

'Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth hath Yahweh, the god of heaven, given me; and He hath charged me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whosoever there is among you of all His people -- may Yahweh, his god, be with him -- let him go there.' (2 Chronicles 36:23)

This edict is also fully reproduced in the Book of Ezra.

"In the first year of King Cyrus, Cyrus the king issued a decree: ‘Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the temple, the place where sacrifices are offered, be rebuilt and let its foundations be retained, its height being 60 cubits and its width 60 cubits; with three layers of huge stones and one layer of timbers. And let the cost be paid from the royal treasury. ‘Also let the gold and silver utensils of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be returned and brought to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; and you shall put them in the house of God.’ (Ezra 6:3-5)

As a result of Cyrus' policies, the Jews honored him as a dignified and righteous king. He is the only Gentile to be designated as Messiah, a divinely appointed leader, in the Tanakh (Isaiah 45:1-6). Isaiah 45:13: "I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness: I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price or reward, says Yahweh Almighty." As the text suggests, Cyrus did ultimately release the nation of Israel from its exile without compensation or tribute. Traditionally, the entire book of Isaiah is believed to pre-date the rule of Cyrus by about 120 years. These particular passages (Isaiah 40-55, often referred to as Deutero-Isaiah) are believed by most modern critical scholars to have been added by another author toward the end of the Babylonian exile(ca. 536 BC).[67] Whereas Isaiah 1-39 (referred to as Proto-Isaiah) saw the destruction of Israel as imminent, and the restoration in the future, Deutero-Isaiah speaks of the destruction in the past (Isa 42:24-25), and the restoration as imminent (Isa 42:1-9). Notice, for example, the change in temporal perspective from (Isa 39:6-7), where the Babylonian Captivity is cast far in the future, to (Isa 43:14), where the Israelites are spoken of as already in Babylon.[68].

There was Jewish criticism of him after he was lied to by the Cuthites, who wanted to halt the building of the Second Temple. They accused the Jews of conspiring to rebel, so Cyrus in turn stopped the construction, which would not be completed until 515 BC, during the reign of Darius I.[69][70] According to the Bible it was King Artaxerxes who was convinced to stop the construction of the temple in Jerusalem. (Ezra 4:7-24)

Some contemporary Muslim scholars have suggested that the Qur'anic figure of Dhul-Qarnayn is Cyrus the Great. This theory was proposed by Sunni scholar Abul Kalam Azad and endorsed by Shi'a scholars Allameh Tabatabaei, in his Tafsir al-Mizan and Makarem Shirazi.

Politics and philosophy

During his reign, Cyrus maintained control over a vast region of conquered kingdoms, achieved partly through retaining and expanding Median satrapies. Further organization of newly conquered territories into provinces ruled by vassal kings called satraps, was continued by Cyrus's successor Darius the Great. Cyrus's empire was based on tribute and conscripts from the many parts of his realm.[citation needed]

Cyrus's conquests began a new era in the age of empire building, where a vast superstate, comprising many dozens of countries, races, religions, and languages, were ruled under a single administration headed by a central government. This system lasted for centuries, and was retained both by the invading Seleucid dynasty during their control of Persia, and later Iranian dynasties including the Persian Parthians and Sassanids.[71]

On December 10, 2003, in her acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize, Shirin Ebadi evoked Cyrus, saying:

“I am an Iranian, a descendant of Cyrus the Great. This emperor proclaimed at the pinnacle of power 2,500 years ago that he 'would not reign over the people if they did not wish it.' He promised not to force any person to change his religion and faith and guaranteed freedom for all. The Charter of Cyrus the Great should be studied in the history of human rights.[72]”

Cyrus's legacy has been felt even as far away as Iceland[73] and colonial America. Many of the forefathers of the United States of America sought inspiration from Cyrus the Great through works such as Cyropaedia. Thomas Jefferson, for example, had two personal copies of the book, "which was a mandatory read for statesmen alongside Machiavelli's The Prince."

One of the few surviving sources of information that can be dated directly to Cyrus's time is the Cyrus cylinder, a document in the form of a clay cylinder inscribed in Akkadian cuneiform. It had been placed in the foundations of the Esagila (the temple of Marduk in Babylon) as a foundation deposit following the Persian conquest in 539 BC. It was discovered in 1879 and is kept today in the British Museum in London.

The text of the cylinder denounces the deposed Babylonian king Nabonidus as impious and portrays Cyrus as pleasing to the chief god Marduk. It goes on to describe how Cyrus had improved the lives of the citizens of Babylonia, repatriated displaced peoples and restored temples and cult sanctuaries.[76] Although not mentioned in the text, the repatriation of the Jews from their "Babylonian captivity" was part of this policy.[77]

The British Museum describes the cylinder as "an instrument of ancient Mesopotamian propaganda" that "reflects a long tradition in Mesopotamia where, from as early as the third millennium BC, kings began their reigns with declarations of reforms."[52] The cylinder emphasizes Cyrus's continuity with previous Babylonian rulers, asserting his virtue as a traditional Babylonian king while denigrating his predecessor.

The Cyrus cylinder, a contemporary cuneiform script proclaiming Cyrus as legitimate king of Babylon.

In the 1970s the Shah of Iran adopted it as a political symbol, using it in his own propaganda celebrating 2,500 years of the Iranian monarchy[79] and asserting that it was "the first human rights charter in history".[80] This view has been disputed by some as "rather anachronistic" and tendentious,[81] as the modern concept of human rights would have been quite alien to Cyrus's contemporaries and is not mentioned by the cylinder.[82][83] The cylinder has, nonetheless, become seen as part of Iran's cultural identity.

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Källa: This lineage contains several unsubstianted links---submitted by Leo van de Pas)http://worldroots.com/~brigitte/famous/k/khshayarshaline.htm

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Cyrus I (Old Persian Koroush), was King of Anshan from c. 600 to 580 BC or, according to others, from c. 652 to 600 BC. His name in Modern Persian is کوروش, while in Greek he was called Κύρος.

Cyrus was an early member of the Achaemenid dynasty. He was apparently a grandson of its founder Achaemenes and son of Teispes of Anshan. Teispes' sons reportedly divided the kingdom among them after his death. Cyrus reigned as King of Anshan while his brother was King Ariaramnes of Persia.

The chronological placement of this event is uncertain. This is due to his suggested but still debated identification with the monarch known as "Kuras of Parsumas". Kuras is first mentioned c. 652 BC. At that year Shamash-shum-ukin, King of Babylon (668 - 648 BC) revolted against his older brother and overlord Ashurbanipal, King of Assyria (668 - 627 BC). Kuras is mentioned being in a military alliance with the former. The war between the two brothers ended in 648 BC with the defeat and reported suicide of Shamash-shum-ukin.

Kuras is mentioned again in 639 BC. At that year Ashurbanibal managed to defeat Elam and became overlord to several of its former allies. Kuras was apparently among them. His elder son "Arukku" was reportedly sent to Assyria to pay tribute to its King. Kuras then seems to vanish from historical record. His suggested identification with Cyrus would help connect the Achaemenid dynasty to the major events of the 7th century BC.

Ashurbanipal died in 627 BC. Cyrus presumably continued paying tribute to his sons and successors Ashur-etil-ilani (627 - 623 BC) and Sin-shar-ishkun (623 BC - 612 BC). They were both opposed by an alliance led by Cyaxares of the Medes (633 - 584 BC) and Nabopolassar of Babylon (626 - 605 BC). In 612 BC the two managed to capture the Assyrian capital Nineveh. This was effectively the end of the Assyrian Empire though remnants of the Assyrian army under Ashur-uballit II (612 - 609 BC) continued to resist from Harran.

Media and Babylonia soon shared the lands previously controlled by the Assyrians. Anshan apparently fell under the control of the former. Cyrus is considered to have ended his days under the overlordship of either Cyaxares or his son Astyages (584 BC - 550 BC). Cyrus was succeeded by his son Cambyses I of Anshan. His grandson would come to be known as Cyrus the Great, creator of the Persian Empire.

It has been noted that this account of his life and reign would place his early activities more than a century before those of his grandson. This would place his fathering of Cambyses very late in life and his death at an advanced age. It has been argued that Kuras and Cyrus I were separate figures of uncertain relation to each other. The later would have then reigned in the early 6th century BC and his reign would seem rather uneventful. Due to the current lack of sufficient records for this historical period it remains uncertain which theory is closer to the facts.

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Kyros II är inte bara grundaren av det oersiska riket utan för judarna också befriaren från det babyloniska slaveriet. Varför? Kyros var själv en monotheist - Zoroastian- som tror på ett evigt, gott tillstånd. I Kyroscylindern på Brittiskt Museum skriver han: "Jag, Cyros, kung av världen...Jag samlade allt folk och ledde dem tillbaka till sina boningar...och gudarna...på order av Marduk, den store guden,lät jag med glädje installera i deras helgedomar."

I Esras bok 1: 1-4 citerar den skriftlärde Kyro säga de samma gudfruktiga orden:

"Herren Gud i himmelen har givit mig alla kungadömen på jorden och han har givit mig i uppdrag att bygga honom ett hus i Jerusalem."

Cyrus the Great (circa 600-529 bc), king of Persia (550-529 bc). He was
the son of Cambyses I, a descendant of Achaemenes (Hakhamanish)
(flourished 7th century bc), and a member of the Achaemenid dynasty. When
Cyrus became (558 bc) ruler of the Persian district of Anshan, the
district was subject to the Medes; five years later he led a rebellion
against the Medes that resulted in the capture of King Astyages (reigned
about 584-c. 550 bc) and the overthrow (550 bc) of the Median Empire.
Thereafter Cyrus called himself king of Persia and ruled a territory
extending from the Halys River in Asia Minor, eastern border of Lydia, to
the Babylonian Empire on the south and east. Babylon, Egypt, Lydia, and
the city-state of Sparta in Greece combined to curb the power of Cyrus,
but in 546 bc the Persians added Lydia to their realm, and in 539 bc the
kingdom of Babylon fell to Cyrus.

The Persian Empire was the most powerful state in the world until its
conquest two centuries later by Alexander the Great. Cyrus was an able and
merciful ruler. Significant among his deeds was his granting of permission
to the Jews to return from their exile in Babylon to their native Israel
to rebuild the Temple of Solomon. Cyrus died while leading an expedition
against the eastern tribe, the Massagetae, and was succeeded by his son,
who became Cambyses II.

SOURCE NOTES:
http://www.american-pictures.com/genealogy/persons/per00539.htm#0

RESEARCH NOTES:
"the Great" King of Persia. Not definite that mother was Mandane
3 wives: Princesses Neithiyti of Egypt, Cassandane of Persia, Amytis of Media

OR "CYRUS II"; KNOWN AS "THE GREAT"; GREAT KING; KING OF PARSA 559-530 BC;
CONQUERED BABYLON 539 BC; "KING OF THE WORLD""LEGITIMATE KING""KING OF
BABYLON""KING OF SUMER AND AKKAD""KING OF THE FOUR RIMS (OF THE WORLD)"; b. 570
BC-d. 530 BC

He overthrew Astages an the Mede rule in Persia about 550 b.c.

He overthrew Astages an the Mede rule in Persia about 550 b.c.

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