ever heard of The Cyrus Cylinder?

[ensho]

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/middle-east/2010/09/11/cyrus-cylinder-wikipedia-and-iran-conspiracies


The British Museum has finally lived up to its promise to lend the Cyrus Cylinder to Iran for display.

An artifact documenting the conquest of Babylon by the Persian king Cyrus the Great in 539 BCE, the cylinder has been in the possession of the British Museum since its discovery in 1879.

Presumably because they feared another Elgin Marbles scenario, the museum board last year reneged on the promise of a loan, even though Iran made no demands for permanent ownership of the piece. It seems those worries have now been laid to rest.

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For many years the Cyrus Cylinder has been referred to as "the world's first human rights charter". The British Museum describes the relic thus:

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Wikipedia's current entry tells an entirely different story.

Now we see a strenuous attempt to portray the cylinder as nothing more than the propaganda tool of an aggressive invader, and a complete dismissal of the suggestion that the cylinder, or Cyrus' actions, represent concern for human rights or any kind of enlightened intent.

Gone also are the eariler references to Cyrus' immense reputation throughout the ancient world, as documented in the Old Testament and by the people of Babylon themselves.

And if you take a look at the page detailing the history of edits made to the page, you'll see a large number of re-writes during 2009/2010.
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hope we can hear some more on this

[davidinalameda]

1. have the Brits keep this Cyrus

and send Billy Ray to Iran