Cyrus (atau Iskandar Zulkarnain) terkenal sebagai penakluk yang hebat, yang pada satu ketika dikawal salah satu Empires terbesar yang pernah dilihat, dia diingati kerana toleransi pernah berlaku sebelum ini dan sikap murah hati terhadap orang-orang dia dikalahkan. Dia menunjukkan kesabaran yang besar dan menghormati kepercayaan agama dan tradisi budaya kaum lain.
As Prof. Richard Frye of Harvard said (in The Heritage of Persia, p10-151):
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"In the victories of the
Persians... what was different was the new policy of reconciliation and
together with this was the prime aim of Cyrus to establish a
paxAchaemenica..... If one were to assess the achievements of the Achaemenid
Persians, surely the concept of One World, .... the fusion of peoples and
cultures in one 'Oecumen' was one of their important legacies"
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Cyrus mengeluarkan perintah pada matlamat dan dasar, kemudian dinobatkan sebagai piagam beliau mengenai hak-hak bangsa-bangsa. Tertulis pada silinder tanah liat, ini dikenali sebagai perisytiharan pertama Hak Asasi Manusia, dan kini disimpan di Muzium British. Sebuah replika ini juga di Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu di New York.
Seldom does one come across an ancient Cyrus cylinder while
delving through a second-hand goods sale.
The one discovered among the myriad items at the annual
Regent Anything But Books Sale yesterday was a replica, but Neil Copeland
bought it because of his interest in ancient languages.
"I'm just curious to see what it says,'' he said.
The original Cyrus Cylinder is an ancient clay cylinder,
containing Akkadian cuneiform script which praises Persia's Achaemenid king
Cyrus the Great, sets out his genealogy and portrays him as a king from a line
of kings.
It is also considered to be the oldest known declarations of
human rights.
It dates from the 6th century BC and was discovered in the
ruins of Babylon in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) in 1879.
The cylinder is now broken into several fragments and is in
the possession of the British Museum.
Regent Anything But Books Sale co-ordinator Hannah Molloy
said the replica was so detailed, it had identical cracks and chips.
"It's a very good replica. It looks like it's been done
quite carefully. The cracks and the chip are all true to life - it's the right
size.''
While the original cylinder is not for sale at any price, Mr
Copeland was prepared to pay up to $200 for the replica.
He was delighted to find it priced at $5.
"Five dollars is a stunning bargain.''
It was one of thousands of items at the sale, which included
DVDs, LPs, CDs, jigsaws, random household goods, toys, music, magazines and art
works.
Ms Molloy said the sale was the "baby sister'' of the
Regent Theatre's annual 24 Hour Book Sale, which will be held in June this
year.
"It was born out of all the amazing stuff that people
were donating, other than books. We just didn't have room for it all at the
book sale, so we decided to split them out and have two sales.
"The Anything But Books Sale has proven to be quite
popular with people. It's a glorified op-shop or garage sale.''
Ms Molloy said it was hoped up to $10,000 could be made from
the sale, to pay for capital projects at the Regent Theatre.
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