What famous clay document records Cyrus the Great’s conquest of Babylon in 539 BCE?

The Cyrus Cylinder is the famous clay document associated with Cyrus the Great’s conquest of Babylon in 539 BCE.

Written in Babylonian cuneiform, the cylinder presents Cyrus as a legitimate ruler chosen by the Babylonian god Marduk. It describes his entry into Babylon and his restoration of temples and cult images. The text belongs to the traditional genre of Mesopotamian royal foundation inscriptions.

The cylinder is often called the world’s first human-rights charter, but that modern description is misleading. Its language follows established Babylonian royal conventions and does not set out universal rights in the modern sense. It nevertheless remains an important primary source for understanding Persian rule in Babylon.

The object was discovered in Babylon in 1879 and is now associated chiefly with the British Museum. A fragment discovered later helped complete the text.