The Cyrus Cylinder is an ancient clay artifact from the 6th century BCE, associated with Cyrus the Great, founder of the Achaemenid Empire. It is considered one of the most significant inscriptions from the ancient Near East and is often regarded as a declaration of enlightened rule. The language is Akkadian. The script is Cuneiform. Akkadian was the diplomatic and administrative language of the region, even though Cyrus himself was Persian. The use of Akkadian ensured the text would be understood across Babylon and other parts of Mesopotamia. The Cyrus Cylinder was created after Cyrus’s conquest of Babylon in 539...