The Cyrus Cylinder is one of the most important discoveries in biblical archaeology. She was aroused from her 2,400-year sleep in the ruins of Babylon in 1879 by Hormuzd Rassam.
The Significance
Although broken and incomplete, there were some 36 lines of text still preserved on the Old Lady. She proved to be a foundation text commemorating Cyrus the Great’s capture of Babylon and his subsequent restoration of the city. The date of writing is sometime after the capture of Babylon in 539 BC and Cyrus’ death in ca. 531 BC. And what a story she had to tell!
The most important section of her text, from a biblical perspective, is lines 28–35:
At his {Marduk’s} exalted command, all kings who sit on thrones, from every quarter, from the Upper Sea {Mediterranean} to the Lower Sea {Persian Gulf}, those who inhabit [remote distric]ts (and) the kings of the land of Amurru {Syria-Palestine} who live in tents, all of them, brought their weighty tribute into Shuanna {Babylon} 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 Guti {mountainous area to the north and east}—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 peoples and returned them to their settlements, and the gods of the land of Sumer {southeast Mesopotamia} and Akkad {central Mesopotamia} which Nabonidus {Babylonian king defeated by Cyrus}—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 Bel and Nabu, ask for a long life for me, and mention my good deeds (Finkel 2010).
When Cyrus took Babylon, there were many Jewish captives there from Nebuchadnezzar’s conquests of Judah in 605, 597 and 587 BC. According to Isaiah’s prophecy, Cyrus was to be God’s instrument to judge the Babylonians, free the Jews, and rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple:
[I am the Lord] who says of Cyrus, “He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, ‘Let it be rebuilt,’ and of the temple, ‘Let its foundations be laid.’…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” (Is 44:28; 45:13).
The Cyrus Cylinder establishes beyond doubt that it was Cyrus’ policy to return “them [exiles] to their settlements,” and make “permanent sanctuaries” for the gods of the exiled peoples. Moreover, he returned captured idols “unharmed to their cells, in the sanctuaries that make them happy.” In the case of the Jews, however, since they had no idols, the gold and silver articles taken from the Temple were returned. The specific proclamation pertaining to the Jews is documented in Ezra 6:3–5 (cf. I Chronicles 36:22–23 [= Ezra 1:1–3]):
