Cyrus the Great

Cyrus the Great (c. 600-529 bc), King of Persia (550-529 bc). He was the son of Cambyses I, a descendant of Achaemenes (Hakhamanish) (fl. 7th century bc), and a member of the Achaemenid dynasty. When Cyrus became (559 bc) ruler of the Persian district of Anshan, the district was subject to Media; five years later he led a rebellion against the Medes that resulted in the capture of King Astyages (reigned c. 584-c. 550 bc) and the overthrow (550 bc) of the Median Empire. Thereafter Cyrus called himself king of Persia and ruled a territory extending from the Halys River on the west, to the Babylonian Empire on the south and east. Babylonia, Egypt, Lydia, and the city-state of Sparta in Greece combined to curb the power of Cyrus, but in 546 bc Cyrus defeated Croesus, king of Lydia, to take control of Asia Minor. In 539 bc Babylonia also fell to Cyrus.

The Persian Empire was the most powerful state in the world until its conquest in 331 bc by Alexander the Great. Cyrus was an enlightened and tolerant ruler. Significant among his deeds was the freeing of the Jews from their exile in Babylon, allowing them to return to their native Israel and rebuild the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem. Generally, he refrained from interfering with native customs and religions. Cyrus died while leading an expedition against the eastern tribe, the Massagetae, and was buried at Pasargadae, where his tomb can still be seen—in 2004 Pasargadae was named a World Heritage Site. Cyrus was succeeded by his son, who became Cambyses II.