On Tuesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo commemorated a moment more than 2,500 years ago. “Today in 539 BC, Cyrus the Great entered Babylon and freed the Jewish people from captivity,” Pompeo tweeted. “His respect for human rights and religious freedom inspired America’s founding fathers. The U.S. stands with the Iranian people, who are blocked by the regime from celebrating his legacy.”
Pompeo was referring to a rather famous event in history. According to sources including biblical scripture, Cyrus allowed the Judeans deported and exiled following the ravages of Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II to return to their homeland. His conquest of Babylon cemented his dominion over much of the lands we now consider to be the Middle East, an empire that stretched from the Indus River basin to the Mediterranean Sea. Like any other ancient warrior king, he presided over massacres and pillage, including a notorious incident immortalized by the ancient Greek chronicler Herodotus where Cyrus burned a vanquished foe and 14 young boys alive on a funeral pyre.
View the complete October 31 article by Ishaan Tharoor on The Washington Post website here.