Person530 BC

Cyrus the Great

Also called: Cyrus II

Founder of the Achaemenid Persian Empire (r. 559–530 BC), who conquered Media, Lydia and the Neo-Babylonian Empire in turn

Starting as king of Anshan in Persia, a vassal of Media, he overthrew the Median king Astyages, said to be his maternal grandfather. He defeated Croesus of Lydia at Sardis and entered Babylon almost without a fight, claiming to come at the bidding of the god Marduk. He restored the temples of conquered lands and sent deported peoples home, so that the Old Testament calls him the Lord’s anointed. He died on campaign in Central Asia and was buried at Pasargadae.

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2 related events

1
550 BCFounding of the Achaemenid Persian Empiremonarch
Cyrus II of Persia overthrew Media and conquered Lydia and Neo-Babylonia; when his son Cambyses II took Egypt, the Near East was united once more.
2
539 BC – 516 BCThe Edict of Cyrus and the Return of the Jewsmonarch
Having conquered Babylon in 539 BCE, Cyrus II of Persia allowed the exiled Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their temple. The Babylonian captivity ended and the Second Temple period began.

Themes this person appears in

Early Civilizations and Empires3500 BC – 486 BC
From the first civilizations in the great river valleys to the first empires of the Near East, India and China — comparing their writing, law, religion and rule