Cyrus Cylinder
Translation by Irving Finkel, Assistant Keeper, Department of
the Middle East
[When …] … [… wor]ld quarters […] … a low person was put in
charge of his country, but he set [a (…) counter]feit over them. He
ma[de] a counterfeit of Esagil [and …] … for Ur and the rest of the
cult-cities. Rites inappropriate to them, [impure] fo[od- offerings
…] [dis]respectful […] were daily gabbled, and, intolerably, he
brought the daily offerings to a halt; he inter[fered with the
rites and] instituted […] within the sanctuaries. In his mind,
reverential fear of Marduk, king of the gods, ca[me to an e]nd. He
did yet more evil to his city every day; … his [people…], he
brought ruin on them all by a yoke without relief.
Enlil-of-the-gods became extremely angry at their complaints, and
[…] their territory. The gods who lived within them left their
shrines, angry that he had made them enter into Babylon (Shuanna).
Ex[alted Marduk, Enlil-of-the-Go]ds, relented. He changed his mind
about all the settlements whose sanctuaries were in ruins and the
population of the land of Sumer and Akkad who had become like
corpses, and took pity on them. He inspected and checked all the
countries, seeking for the upright king of his choice. He took
under his hand Cyrus, king of the city of Anshan, and called him by
his name, proclaiming him aloud for the kingship over all of
everything. He made the land of the Qutu and all the Medean troops
prostrate themselves at his feet, while he looked out in justice
and righteousness for the black-headed people whom he had put under
his care. Marduk, the great lord, who nurtures his people, saw with
pleasure his fine deeds and true heart and ordered that he should
go to his city, Babylon. He had him take the road to Tintir, and,
like a friend and companion, he walked at his side. His vast troops
whose number, like the water in a river, could not be counted,
marched fully-armed at his side. He had him enter without fighting
or battle right into Shuanna; he saved his city Babylon from
hardship. He handed over to him Nabonidus, the king who did not
fear him. All the people of Tintir, of all Sumer and Akkad, nobles
and governors, bowed down before him and kissed his feet, rejoicing
over his kingship and their faces shone. The lord through whose
trust all were rescued from death and who saved them all from
distress and hardship, they blessed him sweetly and praised his
name.
I am Cyrus, king of the universe, the great king, the powerful
king, king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four
quarters of the world, son of Cambyses, the great king,, king of
the city of Anshan, grandson of Cyrus, the great king, ki[ng of the
ci]ty of Anshan, descendant of Teispes, the great king, king of
Anshan, the perpetual seed of kingship, whose reign Bel and Nabu
love, and with whose kingship, to their joy, they concern
themselves.
When I went as harbinger of peace i[nt]o Babylon I founded my
sovereign residence within the royal palace amid celebration and
rejoicing. Marduk, the great lord, bestowed on me as my destiny the
great magnanimity of one who loves Babylon, and I every day sought
him out in awe. My vast troops marched peaceably in Babylon, and
the whole of [Sumer] and Akkad had nothing to fear. I sought the
welfare of the city of Babylon and all its sanctuaries. As for the
population of Babylon […, w]ho as if without div[ine intention] had
endured a yoke not decreed for them, I soothed their weariness, I
freed them from their bonds(?). Marduk, the great lord, rejoiced at
[my good] deeds, and he pronounced a sweet blessing over me, Cyrus,
the king who fears him, and over Cambyses, the son [my] issue, [and
over] my all my troops, that we might proceed further at his
exalted [command]. All kings who sit on thrones, from every
quarter, from the Upper Sea to the Lower Sea, those who inhabit
[remote distric]ts (and) the kings of the land of Amurru who live
in tents, all of them, brought their weighty tribute into Shuanna,
and kissed my feet. From [Shuanna] I sent back to their places to
the city of Ashur and Susa, Akkad, the land of Eshnunna, the city
of Zamban, the city of Meturnu, Der, as far as the border of the
land of Qutu - the sanctuaries across the river Tigris - whose
shrines had earlier become dilapidated, the gods who lived therein,
and made permanent sanctuaries for them. I collected together all
of their people and returned them to their settlements, and the
gods of the land of Sumer and Akkad which Nabonidus – to the fury
of the lord of the gods – had brought into Shuanna, at the command
of Marduk, the great lord, I returned them unharmed to their cells,
in the sanctuaries that make them happy. May all the gods that I
returned to their sanctuaries, every day before Marduk and Nabu,
ask for a long life for me, and mention my good deeds, and say to
Marduk, my lord, this: "Cyrus, the king who fears you, and Cambyses
his son, may their … […] […….]." The population of Babylon call
blessings on my kingship, and I have enabled all the lands to live
in peace. Every day I copiously supplied [… ge]ese, two ducks and
ten pigeons more than the geese, ducks and pigeons […]. I sought
out to strengthen the guard on the wall Imgur-Enlil, the great wall
of Babylon, and […] the quay of baked brick on the bank of the moat
which an earlier king had bu[ilt but not com]pleted, [I …] its
work. [… which did not surround the city] outside, which no earlier
king had built, his troops, the levee from [his land, in/to]
Shuanna. [… with bitume]n and baked brick I built anew, and
[completed its wor]k. […] great [doors of cedarwood] with copper
cladding. [I installed all] their doors, threshold sla[bs and door
fittings with copper par]ts. […] I s[aw within it] an inscription
of Ashurbanipal, a king who preceded me, […] … […] … [… for]
ever.