Human Rights Law and the Proclamation of King Cyrus
Original sketch by Hirad Abtahi
The Cyrus Cylinder - excerpts from the article entitled, "Reflections on the Ambiguous Universality of Human Rights: Cyrus the Great’s Proclamation as a Challenge to the Athenian Democracy’s Perceived Monopoly on Human Rights".
In commemoration of his conquest of Babylon, in which he deposed the Babylonian king Nabunidus, the Iranian king Cyrus issued a proclamation on a cylinder in 538 B.C.E., thirty years prior to the Athenian Democracy's birth. This 23 cm clay cylinder has over 45 lines in the cuneiform alphabet, which is now in the British Museum, and was discovered in 1879 in Babylon.
The Proclamation has a pragmatic purpose and a number of concrete dispositions. It does not contain any traces of theory. However, in the third part of the Proclamation, it is possible to identify theoretical principles which foreshadow the core principles of present day human rights, that is: freedom of thought, conscience and religion; the protection of civilians; and the protection of private property and cultural heritage.
There is ample historical evidence emanating from the Hebrew Bible, which tends to corroborate directly the Proclamation, by referring to King Cyrus' liberation of the exiled Jews, facilitation of their return to Jerusalem, and order to rebuild the temple of Solomon, that had been destroyed by the Assyrians and Babylonians. As regards Greek sources, they corroborate, if not directly the Proclamation, at least the spirit that shaped it in order to suggest that the Proclamation constitutes an early form of human rights declaration.
Articles
(Links in titles open in a new window)
1. Reflections on the Ambiguous Universality of Human Rights: Cyrus the Great’s Proclamation as a Challenge to the Athenian Democracy’s Perceived Monopoly on Human Rights
Article featured in the Denver Journal of International Law and Policy, XXXVI/1, 2007
Presentations and Speeches
1. Cyrus the Great’s 538 B.C. Proclamation: a Precursor to Human Rights Declarations
Academic Presentation, University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California; University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA, October 2013
2. Speech on the occasion of the presentation of my book on the Proclamation of King Cyrus (In English)
Los Angeles, California, USA, October 2013
Panel Discussion and Interviews
1. Light from the Ancient Past: Does the Cyrus Cylinder Still Speak to Us Today?
Panel discussion with Dr Timothy Potts, Director of the Getty Museum and US Ambassador Douglas Kmiec, moderated by Dennis Prager, World Affairs Council, Orange County, California, USA, October 2013
Interview after panel discussion, World Affairs Council, Orange County, California, USA, October 2013 (4:57-6:23)
2. Human Rights Principles Contained in the Proclamation of King Cyrus
Interview (in Persian) on Andisheh TV, Los Angeles, California, USA, October 2013
Interview (in Persian), Lost Angeles, California, USA, October 2013
