Photo courtesy of British Museum/ © Trustees of the British Museum
Modest in scale and appearance, the Cyrus Cylinder is one of the most famous icons to have survived from the ancient world. The origins of this baked-clay object, which was buried as a foundation deposit, can be traced to the Persian king Cyrus the Great (reigned c. 559–530 BC) and his victory over the last Babylonian ruler, Nabonidus, in 539 BCE.
The Cylinder was not discovered until 1879, but Cyrus's tolerance has inspired generations of philosophers, rulers and statesmen — from ancient Greece to the Renaissance, and from the U.S. founding fathers to leaders in the modern-day Near East — and has made the Cyrus Cylinder a powerful symbol of religious tolerance and multiculturalism.
This talk, presented by Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum, traces 2,600 years of Middle Eastern history through this single object. A reception follows the lecture.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
1001 Bissonnet St.
Houston, TX 77005
https://www.mfah.org/calendar/many-meanings-cyrus-cylinder/7650/
Free with museum admission.
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