Cyrus the Great - Information Sources

Cyrus the Great & Cyrus Cylinder Series:
» Cyrus the Great (at Zoroastrian Heritage)
» Cyrus the Great - His Religion & Inspiration
» Cyrus the Great - Pasargadae, Capital (at Zoroastrian Heritage)
» Cyrus the Great - Information Sources
» Cyrus the Great - Xenophon's Cyropaedia (at Zoroastrian Heritage)
» Cyrus the Great - Hebrew Bible Quotes
» Cyrus Cylinder
» Cyrus Cylinder & its Discoverer Hormuzd Rassam
» Cyrus Cylinder - its Remarkable Discovery
» Cyrus Cylinder - Contents (Eduljee)
» Cyrus Cylinder - Translation (Rogers)
» Cyrus Cylinder - Translation (Finkel)
» Cyrus' Edict & the Chinese Cuneiform Bones
» Cyrus Cylinder - Talk by Neil MacGregor

Available Information on King Cyrus II
The information available to develop an understanding of the historical Cyrus (559-530 BCE) can be divided into four groups:

1. The oldest extant texts in their original languages;
2. Translations of the extant texts;
3. Nineteenth and twentieth centuries compilations of the translated sources that attempt to construct a holistic history, and
4. Recent writings of authors including highly opinionated constructs. There are very few modern attempts at a comprehensive compilation of all sources, accompanied, where needed, by an objective critical analysis (rather than opinions).

Extant Source Texts
We can group the source texts in the following manner:




The Nabonidus cylinder.
Image credit: Wikipedia

1. Babylonian, Persian and other inscriptions and artifacts such as:
1. Cyrus Cylinder (after conquest of Babylon in 539 BCE),
2. Nabonidus (556-539 BCE; Babylonian king deposed by Cyrus) and Babylonian Chronicles, and
3. Achaemenid inscriptions (6th-5th cent. BCE);



Hebrew Bible 11th century parchment fragment at Cambridge University found at Fostat, Egypt
Image credit: Byzantine Judaism Project.

2. Hebrew scriptures otherwise called the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament such as the records attributed to:
1. Isaiah (8th – 6th cent. BCE?) at 44.28; 45.1,
2. Ezra (5th – 4th cent. BCE?) at 1.1-11; 4.3; 5.13; 6.3,14,
3. Chronicles (4th – 3rd cent. BCE?) at (2) 36.22,23 and
4. Daniel (contemporary of Cyrus – 6th century BCE though the date of writing could be the 2nd cent. BCE?) at 5.28; 6.9-29; 10.1;
3. Classical Greek and Roman texts such as:



Greek codex parchment. Details unknown.

1. Herodotus’ (c. 485-420 BCE; born in Halicarnassus, Caria, modern Bodrum, Turkey) Histories at 1.46-95; 1.108-1.130; 1.141-1.214,
2. Xenophon’s (c. 430-354 BCE; born in Athens) Cyropaedia,
3. Strabo’s (c. 64 BCE-24 CE; born in Amaseia, Pontus, modern Amasya Turkey) Geography at 15.3.2,7,8,24
4. Ctesias’ (5th cent. BCE; contemporary of Xenophon) Persica at 7-11, and
4. Miscellaneous or related information.

English Translations:

• Herodotus, Histories, translated by George Rawlinson (New York, 1875); George Macaulay, (London, New York, 1890) & Alfred Godley (Cambridge, 1920).
• Xenophon, Cyropaedia, translated by J. S. Watson & Henry Dale (London, 1855); Henry Dakyns (London, 1897) & Walter Miller (London, 1914).
• Strabo, Geography, translated by H. C. Hamilton & W. Falconer (London, 1854)
• Ctesias, Fragments, translated by Andrew Nichols (Florida, 2008).

Credibility & Bias
Sources are only useful if they provide factual or credible information. Further, if the information is objective and not opinionated based by an author’s bias, the reader can make an informed and considered decision. This holds true for the information on Cyrus. Our questions relate to the life, character, accomplishments of King Cyrus. Who was he? Was he a historical figure? What were his accomplishments? What was his style of governance? Does he deserve the title ‘great’? Was he a Zoroastrian?

While a study of the sources listed above is essential to answering these questions – such a study is not by itself sufficient. It is also necessary to have a complete familiarity with ancient Iranian (Persian) history and Zoroastrianism in order to be able to give the information depth and context. Authors such as Mary Boyce and A. W. Jackson have demonstrated this depth of understanding. It is only then that an analysis can have credibility. Almost every author has a bias that skews the information she or he presents in order to confirm that bias. The issue is a matter of degree. With some authors, the bias is extreme and obliterates whatever substantive information their writings may contain. True scholarship requires tremendous discipline to remain objective and balanced, and, when dealing with someone else’s culture, to accord due respect for that culture’s heritage – unless the objective is to disparage that culture. While we may disagree with some of her conclusions, Professor Mary Boyce’s work is one such example. Her book, A History of Zoroastrianism: Volume II: Under the Achaemenians (Brill, 1982) contains chapters (pp. 40-69) on the life and religion of Cyrus.

In discussing how bias shapes the presentation of information – in this case on Cyrus – we note that there is amongst classical Greek authors a clear divide between those such as Xenophon and Herodotus. Greeks like Xenophon held the Persian system of governance in high regard and even served the Persians. For this, they were labelled derogatorily as medized Greeks. Nationalists like Herodotus held the Greeks to be the most cultured of people – Persians were barbarians – and the nationalists were stingy in giving the Persians any credit. Xenophon’s book highlights Cyrus’ noble qualities and wisdom while Herodotus makes little mention of these qualities. Today, those who are Euro-centric or biased against Iranians gravitate towards the less flattering sources and are quick to quote them as proof. They will diminish Cyrus’ nobility, superior leadership and humanity; impinge on Xenophon’s credibility and, arbitrarily dismiss his account of Cyrus as fiction.

Since Xenophon and Herodotus are our principle sources on Cyrus, Jacob Abbott in his Histories of Cyrus the Great and Alexander the Great (New York, 1880, pp. 13-36) undertook a keen examination of their personal histories in order to get a sense of the credibility of their work. While Abbott does not venture a judgment, he clearly "doubts very seriously whether his (Herodotus’) journeys were really as extended as he pretends. As his (Herodotus’) object was to read what he was intending to write at great public assemblies in Greece, he was, of course, under every possible inducement to make his narrative as interesting as possible." Xenophon on the other hand was a military commander who in Abbott’s opinion presented a more authentic (and therefore more reliable) account. In classical antiquity, Polybius, Cicero, Tacitus, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Quintilian, Aulus Gellius and Longinus ranked Xenophon among philosophers and historians of the highest calibre, considering his Cyropaedia as the masterpiece of a very widely respected and studied author. Other classical Greek writers also criticize Herodotus quite severely. Photius in his Bibliotheca (at 72) cites Ctesias’ Persica as stating, "In nearly every instance he (Ctesias) gives an opposing account to Herodotus, going so far as to expose him as a liar and label him an inventor of fables (other translators have ‘spinner of yarns’)." Those opposed to Ctesias make a similar charge against him.

In our opinion, the writings of both Herodotus and Xenophon (and others) are remarkable achievements and stores of invaluable information.

Artist Jacob Van Loo (1614-70) concept of Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, presenting
King Cyrus the Great with the plans for the rebuilding of Jerusalem.

The references to Cyrus in the Hebrew Bible are unambiguous, repeated and consistent. In those references, Cyrus was a just, magnanimous king and was given the Bible’s highest titular honour – the anointed, the Messiah, of the Lord. The Bible’s Septuagint Greek version has God saying, “Τῷ χριστῷ μου Κύρῳ (To Cyrus my Christ)”. The title is no small honour. The Hebrew Bible rarely ascribes such a pronouncement of anointment directly to God. It is the Bible’s way of saying Cyrus was doing God’s work.

What is remarkable and unique about the writings of Xenophon and the Bible, is that they are respectively, the words of the citizen of a nation that considered the Persians as enemies, and those of a people about a foreign king whose rule they welcomed. Both texts are entirely consistent with the message of the Cyrus Cylinder.

To determine objectively Cyrus’ place in history we need ask and answer the following question: Is there is another monarch in antiquity who can claim there is anything similar written about her or him, and if so, what are the reference sources to any such claim and how do they compare quoted side-by-side to the sources we have listed above?

Cyrus the Great & Cyrus Cylinder Series:
» Cyrus the Great (at Zoroastrian Heritage)
» Cyrus the Great - His Religion & Inspiration
» Cyrus the Great - Pasargadae, Capital (at Zoroastrian Heritage)
» Cyrus the Great - Information Sources
» Cyrus the Great - Xenophon's Cyropaedia (at Zoroastrian Heritage)
» Cyrus the Great - Hebrew Bible Quotes
» Cyrus Cylinder
» Cyrus Cylinder & its Discoverer Hormuzd Rassam
» Cyrus Cylinder - its Remarkable Discovery
» Cyrus Cylinder - Contents (Eduljee)
» Cyrus Cylinder - Translation (Rogers)
» Cyrus Cylinder - Translation (Finkel)
» Cyrus' Edict & the Chinese Cuneiform Bones
» Cyrus Cylinder - Talk by Neil MacGregor