Mohsen Jaafarnia (2021). The First Declaration of Human Rights. The People Museum Journal , Volume 7, Issue 1,  ISSN 2588-6517

The First Declaration of Human Rights

 Mohsen Jaafarnia
Associate Professor, School of Design, Hunan University, China.

Pasargadae is one of the highly recommended sites that each traveler goes to visit Cyrus the Great’s tomb. It attracts hundreds of tourists every year. What’s all the fuss about? He was a great king. Yes. But there were other great kings in Iran, too. Did he do something hugely different? Yes. He established the first Human Rights Declaration. Something that was unprecedented and remained unique for tens of centuries later. This article talks about the first Human Rights Declaration. It is also known as the Cyrus Cylinder. Around the year 1879-1882, while excavating in Babylon (Mesopotamia), the Iranian archaeologist Hormuzd Rassam found a small cylinder made of baked clay (23 cm). It contained an inscription from Cyrus the Great. It was the first Human Rights Declaration.

Figure 1. The Cyrus Cylinder

Cyrus the Great is one of the most outstanding figures in history. His success in creating and maintaining the Achaemenian Persian Empire was the result of an intelligent blending of diplomatic and military skills and his rule was tempered with wisdom and tact. He respected the culture, language and religion of subdued nations and did not assimilate nations in similar methods. He considered all nations equal in terms of their rights. Cyrus was relatively liberal and he was the first king who put an end to slavery. While he himself ruled according to Zoroastrian beliefs, he made no attempt to impose Zoroastrianism on the people of his subject territories. He was a very down to earth person. His ideals were high, as he laid down that no man was fit to rule unless, he was more capable than all of his subjects. As an administrator Cyrus’ insight was great, and he showed himself both intelligent and reasonable. His humanity was equaled by his freedom from pride, which induced him to meet people on the same level, instead of affecting the remoteness and aloofness, which characterized the great monarchs who preceded and followed him.

We know before the Achaemenians no political unit of comparable size had ever been established or had lasted for such a length of time. No other world conqueror had been so concerned with maintaining the cultural identity and distinctive characteristics of conquered peoples or had tried to such an extent to reduce the gap between the conqueror and the conquered. The Achaemenians originated the idea that it was possible to bring under one flag all the peoples of the world, whatever their race and religions, and assist each of them to advance according to its capabilities while preserving its own national identity. From the beginning of history until today no other nation has come as close as the Iranians of the Achaemenian period to accomplish this end (Nasr, 1974).

The military genius of the Achaemenians was one of the essential elements in the creation and maintenance of this world-wide empire. Another essential factor was the combination of the moral characteris­tics, religious beliefs and political principles of the Achaemenians as well as the laws and institutions which they devised to administer the Empire and make it prosperous.

The Achaemenians considered and organized all their possession as parts of a whole instead of trying to exploit one area in favor of ano­ther. Only the Persians were apparently exempt of imperial taxes and vassal used to send tribute. They did not act as conquerors but, on the contrary, as we see in Babylon and Egypt, they placed themselves in the line of the local rulers, followed the local protocol and practices and championed the cause of oppressed masses. A number of governor of provinces (Satrapies) were selected from among non-Iranians. Many local officials were kept at their jobs, and a number of defeated kings and commanders, such as Croesos the king of Lydia and Astyages the king of Media, were forgiven by Cyrus and kept among his councilors with kingly titles and prerogatives. The concern, almost one can say the obsession, of the Achaemenians for justice was proverbial in the ancient world. Darius the Great established a code of law known as the ‘Ordinance of Good Regulations’ which were ’carried into all distant lands’, as is recorded in the Bahistun inscription. In fact, the Persians seem to have been the first nation to use the term ‘law’, (in Persian ‘date’）(Olmstead, 1963).

In the sixth century BCE., the known world was limited more or less to the Middle East, and almost all of the civilized nations of the day were concentrated along the Indus, Jaxartes, Oxus, Arvand (Karun), Tigris, Euphrates and Nile Rivers and the Asiatic shores of the Mediterranean. Outside of these areas, only along the Yellow River in China and the regions inhabited by the Greeks in Europe were civilized or near-civilized peoples to be found. The Achaemenians established their control over all of the civilized nations of the Middle East, and for the first time in the history of man they created a new political entity composed of approximately thirty different peoples. By this feat the Achaeme­nian Iranians rank among the greatest world-conquerors of history. How­ever, from the view point of human progress in general what is more important than the Achaemenian conquest is the Achaemenian concept of a world government. The Achaemenians did not aim to attack, pillage and plunder or to base their own grandeur upon the pitiful help­lessness of others. Nor was it their objective to eradicate the arts and cultures and suppress the distinctive identity of the nations of western Asia and the Middle East or to force them to conform to one common pattern, whether composite or purely Iranian. On the contrary the vastness of the Iranian Empire, the unprecedented ease and security of communications between its inhabitants and the stimulus of changes that resulted from the establishment of a new world order provided new possibilities for the progress of each one of the conquered nations that had not yet lost its dynamism. Awareness of the differences among the cultures, arts, religions, beliefs and customs of various nations in­creased man’s opportunity to choose on the basis of a critical assessment, and in this choice, to use standards and values in harmony with the world wide outlook of the Iranians. What had been accomplished in separate localities by the various nations of the world during the 2500 years that has elapsed from the beginning of civilization, became interrelated in the Achaemenian world, and from this inter-relation­ship new forms and concepts came into being. It was as if all of the previous 2500 years had been a preparation for the establishment of the Iranian Monarchy. Probably for this same reason, Hegel, as will be pointed out afterwards, considered the establishment of the Achae­menian Empire the beginning of world history (Nasr, 1974). Also Gustave le Bon says "For two centuries they (the Iranians) took possession of, and condensed the supreme result of, the efforts of mankind over five or six thousand years - all that the human soul had dreamed of, all that the intellect had produced, all that the imagination had brought forth since the beginning of the world, was seized on by this newly arrived race which knew how to enjoy it with an ease and a noble calm which was not lacking grandeur.” (Gobineau, 1971).

The magnitude of the Achaemenian revolution becomes clearer when the conduct and practices of the Iranians are compared with those of the conquerors before and many of those after them, not only such men as Alexander, Chingiz Khan, Tamerlane and Attila but also some of the victors in contemporary wars. Almost a century before the establishment of the Achaemenian Empire, Ashurbanipal, the king of Assyria, conquered Elam, and to commemorate his victory had the following inscription prepared:

“For a distance of one month and twenty-five days' march I de­vastated the districts of Elam. I spread salt and thorn-bush there. Sons of the kings, sisters of the kings, members of Elam's royal family young and old, prefects, governors, knights, artisans, as many as there were, inhabitants male and female, big and little, horses, mules, asses, flocks and herds more numerous than a swarm of locusts - I carried them off as booty to Assyria. The dust of Susa, of A1adaktu, of Haltemash and of their other cities, I carried it off to Assyria. In a month of days I subdued Elam in its whole extent. The voice of man, the steps of flocks and herds, the happy shouts of mirth - I put an end to them in its fields, which I left for the asses, the gazelles, and all manner of wild beasts to people.” (Durant, 1728).

This was the common practice as may be seen on many similar records of atrocities left by other conquerors from Mesopotamia. In contrast when Cyrus the Great conquered Babylonia in 538 BCE., he issued a proclamation which in reality is the first declaration of the rights of nations. If this declaration had not survived it would have been impossible to believe that a king, at the height of his power when no other force stood in his way and at a period in history when neither conquered nations nor their gods had any other expectation from a conqueror than what Asurrbanipal had wreaked upon the Elamites, would turn his complete military victory to the advantage of setting in motion revolutionary measures in favor of the conquered nations (Nasr, 1974).

The text of Cyrus' proclamation is as follows:

 “I am Cyrus, King of the World, The Great King, The Just King, King of Babylon, King of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four quar­ters. Son of Cambyses, the Great King, king of Anshan, grandson of Cyrus, great king, king of Anshan, descendant of Teispes, great king, king of Anshan, progeny of an unending royal line, whose rule Bel and Nabu cherish, whose kingship they desire for their hearts' pleasure.  When I entered Babylon without war and struggle, all the people accepted my steps with joy. On the throne of the kings of Babylon, I sat. I sat on the throne of Marduk, the Marduk (Babylonian God), turned the pure hearts of the people of Babylon to me because I honored him. My numerous troops slowly entered Babylon. I did not allow the suffering of the people of this city and this land. I abolished slavery, ending their misery. … I commanded no one to overthrow the inhabitants of the city. I commanded that all people should be free to worship their god and that no one would need them. The Great God was pleased with my deeds … He blessed us with his kindness. We all praised his high position in a joyful and peaceful way … I rebuilt all the cities that had been destroyed. I commanded to open all the shrines that had been closed. I returned all the people who were scattered and displaced to their homeland and built their ruined homes so that their hearts would rejoice and that I would be long-living in their prayers every day … I provided a peaceful community for all people, and I gave peace to all people. I respect all the traditions and religions of Babylon, Akkad, and other countries under my command. All people in the lands under my command are free to choose their religion, work, and place of residence. As long as I am alive, no one will be allowed to take over other property by force. I am not going to let anyone else do the work without getting paid. No one should be punished for a crime committed by his relatives. I will stop slavery of men and women, and I command my government to do so until this ugly tradition is removed from the earth. I will build the ruined cities beyond the Tigris and their places of worship so that their inhabitants, who were previously brought to Babylon as slaves, may return to their homes.”

Even if this declaration had been only an empty gesture for poli­tical purposes it would indicate a fundamental difference between the moral and intellectual standards of the Iranians and those who took pride in massacre and destruction. But this difference gains revolu­tionary proportions when it is realized that this declaration represented a true expression of the beliefs and policies of the founder of the 《Shahanshahiye Iran》and was faithfully incorporated into Darius' laws and institutions. In one of his famous inscriptions Darius the Great says:

“When Ahura Mazda saw that these lands were hostile, and against one another they fought afterwards he gave it to me. I am king, in the protection of Ahura Mazda. I established them in their place ... Which had been made ill I made good. There were lands which to one another were hostile, their men killed one another. This I did, in the protection of Ahura Mazda, so that these should not kill one another ... The strong man should not kill and should not injure the serf.”

For the people of the west the best proof of the reality of Cyrus' declaration can be found in the survival not only of the Jewish reli­gion but also of the Jewish people themselves, as testified to by the Jewish prophets and holy book (Nasr, 1974).

Not only Cyrus but Darius also went so far as to pay all of the costs of the religious rites of the Jews from his treasury (Davar, 1962). Before Darius, the term ‘judgments’ was in common use and the famous Code of Hammurabi, the king of Babylonia, for instance was composed of judgments so ancient that the “memory of man runneth not to the contrary”. Plato praises code of Darius by saying that it had preserved the Persian Empire. References to the application of the code are still found under the Seleucid and Parthian Dynasties.

It is not only in Jewish reli­gion, but in Islam mentions about Dhu1-Qarnayn (Cyrus) in the Holy Quran “We established him in the land. and we gave him a way to everything.” in Sura of the Cave (XVIII, 83 Asherry translation) Maulana Abul-Kalam Azad in his commentary on the Quran states that "Dhul-Qarnayn” very probably refers to Cyrus.

The fundamental principles of the Zoroastrian religion and the basic concepts of the Achaemenians in arts and architecture corres­ponded fully with their world view and their respect for the subjugated nations.

References

1- Davar, Firoz C. (1962). Tran and Its Culture，PP. 31 & 32, Bombay.

2- Durant, Will (1728). The Story of Civilization. Vol. 1. Simon & Schuster.

3- Gobineau, De J.A. (1971). The World of The Persians. Minerva; 1ST edition.

4- Nasr, Taghi (1974). The Eternity of Iran. Tehran: The Ministry of Culture and Arts publication.

5- Olmstead, A.T. (1963). History of the Persian Empire (Achaemenid Period), Page 151, The University of Chicago Press.

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