ALIEN INTERVIEW - THE NEW EARTH - Earth Changes and The ...

Empire under the Achaemenid dynasty. The empire expanded under his rule, eventually
conquering most of Southwest Asia and much of Central Asia, from Egypt and the
Hellespont in the west to the Indus River in the east, to create the largest state the world
had yet seen.
During his twenty-nine year reign, Cyrus fought against some of the greatest states of his
time, including the Median Empire, the Lydian Empire, and the Neo-Babylonian Empire.
Cyrus did not venture into Egypt, as he himself died in battle, fighting the Massagetae along
the Syr Darya in August 530 BC. He was succeeded by his son, Cambyses II, who
managed to conquer Egypt during his short rule.
Beyond his nation, Cyrus left a lasting legacy on Jewish religion (through his Edict of
Restoration), politics, and military strategy, as well as on both Eastern and Western
civilization.
The only known example of his religious policy is his treatment of the Jews in Babylon. The
Bible records that a remnant of the Jewish population returned to the Promised Land from
Babylon, following an edict from Cyrus to rebuild the temple. This edict is fully reproduced in
the Book of Ezra. As a result of Cyrus' policies, the Jews honored him as a dignified
and righteous king. He is the only Gentile to be designated as a messiah, a divinelyappointed
king, in the Tanakh (Isaiah 45:1-6).
Some contemporary Muslim scholars have suggested that the Qur'anic figure of Dhul-
Qarnayn is Cyrus the Great. This theory was proposed by Sunni scholar Abul Kalam Azad
and endorsed by Shi'a scholars Allameh Tabatabaei, in his Tafsir al-Mizan and Makarem
Shirazi and Sunni scholar Abul Ala Maududi.
During his reign, Cyrus maintained control over a vast region of conquered kingdoms,
achieved partly through retaining and expanding Median satrapies. Cyrus' conquests
began a new era in the age of empire building, where a vast superstate, comprising
many dozens of countries, races, religions, and languages, were ruled under a single
administration headed by a central government.
In 1992, he was ranked #87 on Michael H. Hart's list of the most influential figures in history.
On December 10, 2003, in her acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize, Shirin Ebadi evoked
Cyrus, saying:
"I am an Iranian, a descendant of Cyrus the Great. This emperor proclaimed at the
pinnacle of power 2,500 years ago that he 'would not reign over the people if they did
not wish it.' He promised not to force any person to change his religion and faith and
guaranteed freedom for all. The Charter of Cyrus the Great should be studied in the
history of human rights."
Many of the forefathers of the United States of America sought inspiration from Cyrus the
Great through works such as Cyropaedia. Thomas Jefferson, for example, had two personal
copies of the book, "which was a mandatory read for statesmen alongside Machiavelli's The
Prince."
In a recent segment of ABC's Nightline with Ted Koppel, Ted Koppel mentioned Cyrus the
Great, when he was talking about the new documentary film being made in his honor, and
had this to say of him:
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