UNESCO honors Iran’s ancient beacon of justice and tolerance

Adopted by unanimous consensus of all member states, the resolution designates the 2,500-year-old artifact as a foundational text of human civilization, embodying the earliest recorded principles of freedom, justice, tolerance, and respect for cultural diversity, Press TV reports.

This recognition by the United Nations’ cultural agency marks a significant milestone for Iran’s cultural diplomacy, reaffirming the nation’s civilizational legacy on the global stage.

President Masoud Pezeshkian hailed the move, calling it a testament to Iran’s enduring presence in humanity’s collective conscience and its key role as a beacon of dialogue, tolerance, and justice.

The formal acknowledgment mandates UNESCO to incorporate the Cyrus Cylinder’s teachings into its educational, cultural, and human rights initiatives, ensuring its message of “humanity, justice, and cultural coexistence” continues to inspire future generations worldwide.

The artifact and its historical context

The Cyrus Cylinder is a small, barrel-shaped object made of baked clay, measuring just over 22 centimeters in length, inscribed with a proclamation in Akkadian cuneiform script.

Discovered in 1879 during a British Museum excavation at the site of the Marduk temple in Babylon (modern-day Iraq), the Cylinder dates back to 539 BCE, following the Persian conquest of Babylon by Cyrus the Great, founder of the Achaemenid Empire.

In keeping with Mesopotamian customs, it was created as a foundation deposit, buried within the city walls to commemorate the new ruler’s restoration projects and secure the gods’ favor.

The text, composed from a Babylonian perspective by the priests of Marduk, narrates Cyrus’s victory over the last Babylonian king, Nabonidus, who is portrayed as an impious ruler who disrupted the gods’ cults and imposed forced labor on the populace.

According to the narrative, the supreme god Marduk, angered by Nabonidus’s misdeeds, sought a righteous leader and chose Cyrus, king of Anshan, to restore order and justice.

A revolutionary proclamation for its time

The profound significance of the Cyrus Cylinder lies in its proclaimed policies, which marked a radical departure from the brutal norms of ancient conquest.

Written partly in the first person from Cyrus’s perspective, the text outlines a new model of governance based on clemency and restoration rather than subjugation.

It declares that Cyrus entered Babylon peacefully, spared the city from destruction, and improved the welfare of its citizens. Most notably, it records his decision to end the practice of mass deportations, a common tool of terror used by prior Assyrian and Babylonian rulers.

The Cylinder states that Cyrus returned statues of various gods to their home cities throughout Mesopotamia and allowed displaced peoples to return to their homelands.

This policy, corroborated by the biblical Book of Ezra, extended to the Jewish population, permitting them to end their Babylonian Captivity.

While the Cylinder does not explicitly mention “human rights,” its essence, a declaration against oppression and for freedom of worship and identity, has led scholars and international bodies to regard it as an early charter of these principles.

A legacy co-opted and contested

The modern symbolism of the Cyrus Cylinder has been a source of intense political contestation, especially during the 1970s when Iran’s last West-backed monarch, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, co-opted the artifact to legitimize his rule.

For the lavish 2,500th anniversary celebration in 1971, he secured the Cylinder on loan from the British Museum, making it the centerpiece of the festivities.

Pahlavi portrayed the artifact as proof that his regime was the heir to a glorious and tolerant tradition of kingship stretching back to Cyrus.

This narrative was a calculated piece of his regime’s propaganda, designed to cloak his autocratic and oppressive rule in the guise of ancient imperial legitimacy.

The politicization deepened with a persistent misinformation campaign, largely circulated online among Iranian monarchists in the Diaspora.

A fabricated translation of the Cylinder has been widely disseminated, deliberately altering its original meaning to fit a secular, pro-Western agenda.

This false version replaces the Babylonian god Marduk with the Zoroastrian deity Ahura Mazda and inserts lines absent from the authentic text, including promises never to impose monarchy by force and to respect all customs and religions forever.

Such falsification attempts to reshape Cyrus’s legacy as a tool for contemporary political struggles, severing the artifact from its true historical and religious context in service of a particular ideology.

While the authentic Cylinder remains a powerful symbol, its history serves as a cautionary tale of how ancient artifacts can be weaponized in modern political and identity conflicts.

An enduring symbol for humanity

Despite these political manipulations, the core message of the Cyrus Cylinder has transcended its origins to become a universal symbol of just governance.

Its recognition by UNESCO in 2025 marks a reclaiming of its authentic spirit, free from any kind of propaganda and disinformation.

While the Cylinder does not express human rights in the modern legalistic sense, it embodies their foundational principles: rejecting tyranny, opposing oppression, and respecting cultural and religious diversity – the same values that define the Islamic Republic of Iran.

It stands as a testament to a pivotal moment when a conqueror chose magnanimity over brutality and restoration over destruction.

Now embraced within UNESCO’s global mission for peace and sustainable development, the Cyrus Cylinder endures as a timeless challenge to all who hold power – to govern with wisdom, compassion, and respect for humanity’s rich cultural tapestry.

MNA/