Monday, November 30, 2015
Israel 2015, The Cyrus Declaration, 8.30
Israel stamp 2015
The Cyrus Declaration, 8.30
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The Cyrus Cylinder is an ancient clay cylinder, now broken into several fragments.
The text on the Cylinder praises Cyrus, sets out his genealogy and portrays him as a king from a line of kings. The Babylonian king Nabonidus, who was defeated and deposed by Cyrus, is denounced as a wicked oppressor of the people of Babylonia and his low-born origins are contrasted to Cyrus's kingly heritage.
The Cylinder's text has traditionally been seen by biblical scholars as corroborative evidence of Cyrus' policy of the repatriation of the Jewish people following their Babylonian captivity (an act that the Book of Ezra attributes to Cyrus).