Found some better info. Here’s a good description. When Cyrus and the Persians conquered the Middle East, they were still quite primitive. Their social institutions, including slavery, were not well defined. They quickly got over that and imitated the customs of their new subjects in Babylon and elsewhere.
http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/barda-i
Moe critically, much of the meme that the Persians were abolitionists is based on the Cyrus Cylinder. Found a translation. Pretty tough to extract the 13th Amendment from it, IMO.
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/articles/c/cyrus_cylinder_-_translation.aspx
IOW, I think people read into the Cyrus Cylinder and the other very limited documentation from that period what they want to believe. Most of these are probably anti-Western leftists. Some perhaps are Iranian nationalists, though they’re faced with the dilemma that if they claim pre-Muslim Iran was slave-free they have to admit Islam brought the institution in.
None of this should be construed as making the Greeks or Romans look better. Both societies, especially Rome, were much more heavily based on slavery than any of the pre-Muslim Iranian societies.
“Most of these are probably anti-Western leftists. Some perhaps are Iranian nationalists, though they’re faced with the dilemma that if they claim pre-Muslim Iran was slave-free they have to admit Islam brought the institution in.”
Actually, a lot of anti-Cyrus propaganda started to be spread after mullahs regime took over in iran & continues to date. They called Cyrus a despot, a thug and a homosexual. Because the mullahs detest the monarchs in iran, particularly pre-islamic ones. Or those such as the Pahlavis who tried to diminish the influence of mullahs & islamic rule in iran. The mullahs even attacked Cyrus’ tomb in iran, wanting to destroy it. People there formed a human chain around the tomb and eventually the islamic thugs after much stone throwing & persuasion left. This was back in 1980s.
Sadly, some westerners have simply picked up mullahs propaganda, without understanding much about iran’s pre-islamic culture, how it changed post-islam and regurgitate mullahs propaganda. This is combined with those who have pro republic and anti-monarchy beliefs.
In more recent yrs the mullahs regime has learned to capitalize on pre-islamic heritage of iran WHEN IT SUITS THEM. Yet they still despise the Kings.
I absolutely agree with those who say slavery was a well established practice by Babylonians, Medians and basically carried over culturally and socially with Mohamad & his islamic gangs.
It’s a real shame that alexander, muslim arabs & the monghols destroyed libraries & much written documentation in iran after their invasion. Hence now we’ve few reliable documentation & must look to other sources to draw an accurate, balanced conclusion.
You’re right, Cryus largely left the provinces alone to self-rule. Kinda like a federation style system. But the fact that he was against slavery & pro religious freedom is already established. He paid ‘ransom’ to not only free the jews but also decreed that jews go back and rebuild their temple. His successor Darius implemented that decree & actually helped finance it too. Deeds in this case speak louder than words.
Thank you for the links. I’ve seen most of them. I’ll look into others later.