Cyrus the Great: An Ancient Iranian King Paperback – August 1, 2013

I was looking for a book that told the story of Cyrus the great and this one seemed, by the title at least, to fill the bill. While the book was OK, I was disappointed in that it is actually a book of essays, only one of which is specifically about Cyrus, and that it was only 15 pages long. The other essays did deal with aspects of Cyrus’s life, such as his religion, and his capital at Pasargade, but I was hoping for more. It is as if you bought a book entitled George Washington, only to find that a mere 15 pages was devoted to him, with the rest of the book devoted to Washington’s religion (mostly speculation with few actual details), Washington DC, and a discussion of an inscription on a building that discusses him. The book is small (4.5x7 inches) and has only 89 pages of text (five of which are in Persian and 8 others are devoted to the bibliography for each chapter). There are black and white photographs and some line drawings. The photographs are murky and indistinct. I would recommend this book only to someone who is interested in the topics mentioned below, but not to someone interested in the story of Cyrus the Great.What is in the book- the book is divided into 7 essays entailed as follows:1. Cyrus the Great – 15 pages2. Religion of Cyrus the Great – 12 pages3. Pilgrimage to Pasargadae – 12 pages4. The Form, Language and Contents of the Cyrus Cylinder – 13 pages5. Cyrus and Pasargadae – 25 pages6. English translation of the Cyrus Cylinder – 7 pages7. Persian Translation of the Cyrus Cylinder (in Persian) – 5 pages

I just finished reading the book today and decided to write a review on it. First, I should mention that this book might not be the best choice for the general audience who have no familiarity with the subject; the reason I say this is because the book contains a huge amount of brand-new material which I believe is a product of very recent studies. Authors introduce arguments that you rarely find in similar sources. In my opinion this book, unlike its size, is the beginning to a vast new research area about Cyrus the Great and the Achaemenians in general, especially in the first two chapters the author introduces interesting arguments about the religious aspects of Cyrus's era which I believe needs to be elaborated on in future work. Also the possibility that Iranians were not aware of Cyrus's achievements until about a hundred years ago!Any history reader who has a passion for ancient history will find this book amusing and unique.Thank you for the great work ...

The book “Cyrus the Great” edited by Professor Touraj Daryaee of UCI is a scholarly work comprising several well-written research papers by noted scholars on Cyrus the Great. The book contains Cyrus’s religion, the origin of his name, a history of his tomb, and a discussion of his cylinder. Cyrus is a biblical figure, the world’s first empire builder, the world’s first advocate and practitioner of human rights, and a person with exceptional leadership qualities. He is considered one of the most influential personalities in world history. Unfortunately, still a comprehensive and accurate biography of this world-class leader is not available due to the fact that Iranian civilization had been ravaged by destructive and ruthless invasions by various tribes and nations. Iran has to find its history because the books written by Greek and Arab historians could be biased, incomplete, and inaccurate. The above book is a good start in a more positive ad fruitful direction. A massive archeological and excavation work in Ecbatana, Susa, Rey, Pasargadae, and around Persepolis could furnish manuscripts and tablets that might be extremely beneficial in determining a more accurate history of the first great world empire built by Cyrus and expanded by Darius and Xerxes. Excavations in some parts of Iranian plateau have shown traces of human civilization dating back to even many millenniums BC. These historic sites are world treasures and had to be valued and preserved. There are books by Xenophon (Late 5th or early 4th Century BC), M. De Ramsay (1802), Jacob Abbott (1878), and Harold Lamb (1960) among others about Cyrus the Great but much more work is needed to illuminate the life and achievements of this great leader.

good but too many names

Well presented and well documented. Another great work by this meticulous scholar on a man who affected the course of mankind.

This book fills a huge gap in the available studies of the early Achaemenid history, particularly the life and work of Cyrus himself. While he is much talked about, we actually have very few works on Cyrus himself, and the usual translations of Cyropaedia or the Cyrus Cylinder suffer from a lack of context. Making this volume available to the interested public, and even the well-informed specialists, is a great step towards studying Cyrus away from the normal, prevalent nationalist trends which sadly surround him.The book contains several articles from renowned and experienced scholars of the field such as Pierre Briant, Matthew Stolper, and David Stronach, as well as Ali Mousavi, with a fresh and exciting new study of Achaemenid religion by the editor (Touraj Daryaee). The essays provide important context for understanding Cyrus, the foundation of the Achaemenid Empire, the issuing of his famous "edict" - the so called Cyrus Cylinder - as well as the archaeological works relating to Cyrus and the foundation of his empire. These essays, despite their sound scholarly and innovative basis, are quite readable and written with a general audience in mind, making them useful to a wide range of readers.Considering its limited pages, this book contains a remarkable amount of useful information, gathered together in a single accessible volume, which in fact does more to introduce Cyrus to the general and specialist readers than many larger, more conventional academic tomes.