The set-up for what many consider to be the first declaration of human rights is conquest in the city of Babylon by Cyrus the Great in 538 BC. Nabonidus ruled over the Babylonian empire with terror. He stripped religious freedom from his people, brought violence down on them, and forced them to work. He enslaved and brutalized minorites and dissenters. When some of the population tried to revolt, they were put down, but at that time the people were so miserable, they welcomed Cyrus and his army, the story goes, in a bloodless triumph.
Upon taking the title of King of Babylon, Cyrus gave a proclamation of his benvolence. He returned all the images of the gods of the people taken by the former ruler, and released all the slaves, including 50,000 Jewish third-generation slaves. He even financed the return of the Jews to their homeland and the rebuilding of their temple. For this, the Bible proclaimed him God's shepherd and His annointed one. This proclamation was chisled onto a 9-inch cynliner in Babylonian cuneiform.
Cyrus would enshrined freedom of religion, the right to not be governed by those you do not wish, freedom from violence, property rights, the abolision of slavery, and the equality of all people.
Now that I put the crown of kingdom of Iran, Babylon, and the nations of the four directions on the head with the help of (Ahura) Mazda, I announce that I will respect the traditions, customs and religions of the nations of my empire and never let any of my governors and subordinates look down on or insult them until I am alive. From now on, till (Ahura) Mazda grants me the kingdom favor, I will impose my monarchy on no nation. Each is free to accept it, and if any one of them rejects it, I never resolve on war to reign. Until I am the king of Iran, Babylon, and the nations of the four directions, I never let anyone oppress any others, and if it occurs, I will take his or her right back and penalize the oppressor.
And until I am the monarch, I will never let anyone take possession of movable and landed properties of the others by force or without compensation. Until I am alive, I prevent unpaid, forced labor. To day, I announce that everyone is free to choose a religion. People are free to live in all regions and take up a job provided that they never violate other's rights.
No one could be penalized for his or her relatives' faults. I prevent slavery and my governors and subordinates are obliged to prohibit exchanging men and women as slaves within their own ruling domains. Such a traditions should be exterminated the world over.
I implore to (Ahura) Mazda to make me succeed in fulfilling my obligations to the nations of Iran, Babylon, and the ones of the four directions.
With such a high point in the history of a people, you would think that it would be universally celebrated. But leave it to the ruling Iranian clerics to find negativity in such an achievement.
Since the Cyrus cylinder was found in 1879, it has been in the British Museam. However, plans to loan the artifact to Iran have recently been announced. They are hoping that it will show up in Iran's Bustan Museam in 2006 and stay there for two years.
The hard-line conservatives in the country have denounced it, calling it a throwback to paganisn and monarchy.
An editorial in the hardline Jomhuri-ye Eslami daily insisted the spiritual father of the modern nation, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, would not have approved of the loan. [...]
"The late leader Ruhollah Khomeini believed monarchy was corrupt and the kings were traitors," the editorial read.
"So this move by the National Museum of Iran contradicts the political line of the founder of the Islamic system and is an attempt to revive the decayed bones of kings," it continued.