First Declaration of Human Rights, 538BC, a photo from California, West

Photographer's Note

First Declaration of Human Rights by Cyrus the Great, inscribed in cuneiform on a clay cylinder discovered in 1879, now on display in the British Museum.
Cyrus the Great (585-529 BC), the Iranian emperor, defined the First Declaration of Human Rights on this cylinder. Cyrus is admired more as liberator than a conqueror of his vast empire because of his respect for human rights and the humane treatment of those he ruled. He is "anointed" in the Bible (Is. 45:4) as a liberator of God's people (Is.45:15) and the chosen one (Is. 48:15-15). Professor Richard Frye of Harvard University said; "Surely the concept of One World, the fusion of Peoples and Cultures into oneness was one of his important legacies".
The following from this ancient cylinder are a rendition of the spirit of his message in modern English:
1. I declare that I will respect the tradition, customs and religion of the nations of my empire and never let any of my governors to look down or insult the inhabitants of my nations.
2. I hereby abolish slavery; my governors are ordered to prohibit exchanging men and women as slaves within their ruling domains. Such a tradition should be exterminated the world over.
3. If anyone opresses others, should it happen, I will take his/her right back and penalize the oppressors.
4. Today I declare Freedom of Religion. All are free to choose any religion, live in all regions and take up any job provided that they never violate other's rights.

These proclamations ring true today in our times as they did in 583 BC. House Of Iran.

This little monument is placed in front of the House of Iran, in Balboa Park, San Diego California. The above words are just a copy of the plaque.

saamb, edal, plimrn, riclopes, vagabondtravels, Kevin3727, Mirco, Amaz, dale54, kohdarmiansali has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

saamb (1008) 2007-02-23 12:02

Francisco,
Thanks for informatory photo. this valuable document is in British Museum now, but i like it be in my country. anyway this cylinder prove real iranians culture and civilization from 2500 years ago.
SAAM

edal (6804) 2007-02-24 2:33

Hola Francisco!
It's nice that you remind us that human rights issues have not been risen just last century, nor that someone may think of himself as the only holder of those ideas...
Gracias, my amigo!
Anton

plimrn (21344) 2007-02-24 12:47

Ola Francisco,
I am ashamed, I never knew this was in the House of Iran in Balboa Park. It is a very moving document. I think the British Museum should send it back to Iran; it makes me recognize why countries demand thatgroups demand the return of their priceless history from whereever it currently being stored. I understand that in many cases the artifacts might not exist without the museum's care. On the other hand, they've had it for over 100 years and I think now would be a particularly good time to share this document.

And I'd better get to the museum before GWB blows it uyp as a threat to peace. Of course I understand his threats have single-handedly stabalized the inflation problems in Iran by jacking up oil prices. SAA, pt

riclopes (35577) 2007-02-26 2:34

Impressionante! Mais uma vez se vк que os antigos jб tinham inventado tudo. Pensar-se em Direitos Humanos 500 anos a.c. й uma surpresa para mim. Muito interessante.
Agora que o Bush estб a pensar noutro bode espiatуrio para distrair o pessoal da catбstrofe do Iraque...й difнcil acreditar na humanidade e no cumprimento desta declaraзгo...
Ricardo

vagabondtravels (6511) 2007-03-01 6:14

Hi Francisco

Nice TE shot. Very informative. Well done.
Ben

Leo71538 (555) 2007-03-05 5:50

Great but what if you've depicted the pedstall completely.

rafid76 (0) 2007-03-06 3:54

very educational and thought full shot! allot of lessons like these come from the anceints of countries in the middle east. in iraq we have simmilar laws called qanoun hamurabi. thanks for sharing

ruisc_pt (11594) 2007-03-07 5:25

OLб Francisco.
Presto-te uma homenagem por prestares esta homengaem a Ciro o Grande Rei Persa.

jmdias (115156) 2009-10-27 16:26

chico

belo monumento, e muito curioso.o homem era mesmo sбbio, sinal de grande inteligкncia, sabia manejar o poder, mover-se no rio do poder sem levantar o lodo do fundo. belo registro

abraзos

jorge

Amaz (11475) 2010-03-18 2:57

Estas leis seriam um sonho para a maioria do povo iraniano hoje, amigo Francisco!!

Polнcia tira a matar aos manifestantes desarmados nas ruas e fizeram vбrias execuзхes dos adversбrios.

Entгo, parece-me indigno que aqui eu nгo vi nenhum sinal de solidariedade com os iranianos. Nossos chamados "pacifistas" realmente sгo grandes hipуcritas, cheios de demagogia e уdio contra os americanos.

Como neste caso de uma ditadura assassina com os planos de genocнdio, ninguйm escandaliza-se.

Assim, somos verdadeiramente pobres mentirosos...

Um abraзo,

Kevin3727 (3) 2015-10-06 13:05

..........

kohdarmiansali (432) 2016-01-11 20:41

hi Francisco
Peace be upon you
Thank you for sharing this good work
Unfortunately, today the world is against Iranian culture
Iranian people with thousands of years of culture - hospitable - and ....
have a good day
ghasem

درود بر شما
تشکر از اینکه این کار خوب را به اشتراک گذاشتید
متاسفانه امروز جهان بر ضد فرهنگ ایرانیان میباشند
ایرانیان مردمانی با فرهنگ چند هزار ساله - مهمان دوست - و ....
روز خوبی داشته باشید

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