"I am Cyrus, King of the Universe, The Great King, King of Babylon, Sumer, Akkad, and the Four Quarters of the World."
On October 29, 539 BCE, Cyrus the Great entered Babylon, establishing the Achaemenid Persian Empire as the world’s undisputed superpower. Choosing tolerance over vengeance, he respected local cultures and commissioned the Cyrus Cylinder, widely hailed as humanity’s first declaration of human rights.
Following the 7th-century Arab conquest, a systematic cultural erasure obscured his legacy. For over a millennium, his final resting place was misidentified as Mashhad-e Madar-e Soleyman (The Tomb of the Mother of Solomon). It wasn't until 1812 that British diplomat James Justinian Morier cross-referenced the site with ancient Greek accounts, sparking a historical revival that transformed the local shrine back into a national icon.
The ultimate architect of Cyrus’s modern revival was Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran (reigned 1941–1979). Dedicated to celebrating Iran's pre-Islamic heritage, he championed the Persian language and reshaped national education around ancient history.
This cultural renaissance culminated in the spectacular 2,500th Anniversary of the Persian Monarchy in 1971. Standing before the ancient tomb, the Shah immortalized their enduring connection to the emperor with his famous declaration:
“O Cyrus, great King, King of Kings, Achaemenian King, King of the Land of Iran. I, the Shahanshah of Iran, offer thee salutations from myself and from my nation. Rest in peace, for we are awake, and we will always stay awake.”
even bigger issue with the i'm Persian not Muslim ones is almost half of them barely can even speak Persian
BTW i have a friend who is secular Persian and he was shock to know that kamarband was garment that predated Islam by thousand plus year
think about what this means the " proud Persian " friend of mine possibly never saw a single photo of Cyrus the great
HISTORY TIME:
It is widely recorded among many Roman historians that of the 37 elephants Hannibal took across the Alps, 36 of them were North African forest elephants. The lone exception was a single Syrian elephant (Elephas maximus asurus), a giant subspecies of the Asian elephant that Carthage likely acquired by capturing it from the Ptolemaic Egyptians. His name was Surus, which directly translates to "The Syrian." He was Hannibal's favorite elephant and personal mount, and it is said that Surus was quite possibly the very last of his species.