8/23/2019 The Cyrus Cilinder 07

1/2

The British Museum lends

The Cyrus Cylinder

to the National Museum of Iran

The British Museum is lend--

ing the Cyrus Cylinder to the

National Museum of Iran for

an exhibition that will open

for four months in Tehran on12 September. Together with

two fragments of contempo--

rary cuneiform tablets, it will

be the centrepiece of an exhibi--

tion that celebrates a great mo--

ment in the history of the Mid--

dle East. The loan reciprocates

the generous loans made by the

National Museum of Iran to

the Forgotten Empire and Shah

Abbas exhibitions in 2005 and

2009 at the British Museum.

The Cylinder was foundduring a British Museum ex--

cavation at Babylon in Iraq in

1879, and has been in the Brit--

ish Museum since that time. It

was originally inscribed and

buried in the foundations of a

wall after Cyrus the Great, the

Persian Emperor, captured Ba--

bylon in 539 BC. The Cylinder

is written in Babylonian cunei--

form by a Babylonian scribe. It

records that aided by the god

Marduk Cyrus captured Baby--

lon without a struggle, restoredshrines dedicated to different

gods, and repatriated deported

peoples who had been brought

to Babylon. It was this decree

that allowed the Jews to return

to Jerusalem and rebuild The

Temple. Because of these en--

lightened acts, which were rare

in antiquity, the Cylinder has

Irano-British Quarterly Magazine No.36Report18

8/23/2019 The Cyrus Cilinder 07

2/2

acquired a special resonance,

and is valued by people all

around the world as a symbol of

tolerance and respect for differ--

ent peoples and different faiths.These are the qualities for

which Cyrus is revered in the

Hebrew Bible. The two frag--

ments of tablet were also found

in nineteenth century British

Museum excavations in or near

Babylon. These fragments were

identied by experts at the Mu--

seum earlier this year as being

inscribed with parts of the sametext as the Cylinder but do not

belong to it. They show that the

text of the Cylinder was prob--

ably a proclamation that was

widely distributed across the

Persian Empire.

As Neil Macgregor, Direc--

tor of the British Museum has

said:You could almost say that

the Cyrus Cylinder is A His--

tory of the Middle East in one

object and it is a link to a past

which we all share and to a

key moment in history that

has shaped the world around

us. Objects are uniquely able

to speak across time and space

and this object must be shared

as widely as possible.

In recognition of the fact that

the Cyrus Cylinder is truly a

part of the worlds cultural her--

itage, the Trustees of the British

Museum are eager that as many

people as possible should have

an opportunity to see it, partic--

ularly in Iran where Cyrus the

Great is held in special rever--

ence. Although political rela--

tions between Iran and the UK

are at the moment difcult, theTrustees take the view that it is

all the more important to main--

tain the cultural links which

have been so carefully built

up over a period of years and

which could in themselves lead

to a better relationship based on

dialogue, tolerance and under--

standing. Colleagues in Irans

museums are part of a world-wide scholarly community

in which the British Museum

plays a

leading role.

Niall Fitzgerald, Chairman of

the British Museum, said:

The British Museum has a

long standing policy of lend--

ing its unparalleled collectionas widely as possible across

the world to benet the great--

est number of world publics.

This cultural exchange is a vi--

tal part of the Museum>s com--

mitment to being a Museum for

the world. The British Museum

has a positive and ongoing ex--

change of skills and objects

with colleagues at the Nation--

al Museum of Iran which has

played a key part in recent ex--

hibitions. The Trustees have

reafrmed their view that ex--

changes of this sort are an es--

sential part of the Museum>s

international role, allowing

valuable dialogues to develop

independently of political con--

siderations.

Baroness Helen Kennedy

QC, human rights lawyer andTrustee of the British Museum,

said:

The Cyrus Cylinder is an

ancient artefact of great sym--

bolism and it is absolutely right

that the British Museum fulls

its promise to loan it to the Mu--

seum in Tehran. This is part of

the reciprocity from which we

in Britain have also beneted.Art and culture can sustain re--

lationships between the people

of nations even when diploma--

cy is strained. To present this

particular temporary gift to the

people of Iran at this particular

time is an act of faith which

will have profound meaning

and value.

One of the chief tasks of ourgeneration is to build a global

community, where peoples of

differing ideologies can live to--

gether in respect and harmony,

said Karen Armstrong, author

and commentator on religious

affairs and a British Museum

Trustee. At a time of political

tension, it is essential to keep

as many doors of communica--

tion open as possible. We all

have much work to do to build

a peaceful world. This cultural

exchange may make a small

but timely contribution towards

the creation of better relations

between the West and Iran.

Irano-British Quarterly Magazine No.36 Report 19