Recently, the well-known German magazine, Spiegel, followed by the English Daily Telegraph, didn't offer a single shred of historical evidence when they launched their unbridled barrage of attacks on the legacy of the benevolent king Cyrus the Great who is universally regarded as one of the most tolerant historical figures to ever rule.

Spiegel Magazine repeatedly claims that the notion of Cyrus having been a defender of Human Rights is a "hoax that the UN had fallen for." Spiegel Magazine's deception and misleading accusations is reminiscent of another formidable enemy of Cyrus the Great, the Islamic Republic of Iran.

In 1906, a formal English translation of Xenophon's story about Cyrus the Great's military campaigns was published. Xenophon, along with many other ancient sources regarded Cyrus the Great as a wise and benevolent leader who founded the Persian Empire, conquered Babylon; freed over 100,000 Jews from captivity; wrote mankind's first human rights charter; and ruled over his subjects with fairness and with justice.

According to historian Will Durant, Cyrus the Great's military enemies knew that he was lenient, and they did not fight him with that desperate courage which men show when their only choice is "to kill or die." As a result the Iranians regarded him as their "Father," the Babylonians as their "Liberator," the Greeks as a "Law-Giver," and the Jews as their "Messiah."

The Hebrew Bible mentions Cyrus the Great 23 times. In the Book of Isaiah, God calls Cyrus his "anointed one," messiah in Hebrew. "I call you by name," the text says. "I hail you by title." Cyrus is the only gentile in the Hebrew Bible to have earned such a distinction.

The Cyrus cylinder was discovered in 1879 by the Assyro-British archaeologist Hormuzd Rassam in the foundations of the Esagila (i.e., the Marduk temple of Babylon) and is kept today in the British Museum in London. The cylinder describes the Great King not as a conqueror, but as a liberator and the legitimate successor to the crown of Mesopotamia. Cyrus seems to have had no desire to force his new subjects into a single Persian identity, and had the wisdom to leave intact the functioning institutions of each kingdom he attached to the Imperial Crown.

Iranians worldwide are deeply offended by the baseless desecration of the founding father of Iran. We demand of Spiegel and English Daily Telegraph, in the strongest possible terms, an immediate apology, and an immediate retraction or a follow-up article based on real scholarship, real science and real experts in the field of Near Eastern history. We hope that this notice will suffice and obviate the need for further discussion.

References:
[1] Response to Spiegel Magazine's Attack on the Legacy of Cyrus the Great By Greek Scholar Professor Kaveh Farokh
http://www.savepasargad.com/~New-050508/01.General-News/Newss-Pages/kaveh\%20farrokh.htm
[2] The Truth Behind Spiegels Article By American Documentary Film Maker and Expert Cyrus Kar
http://activistchat.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=8812
[3] Spenta Productions Documentary Film Preview- In Search of Cyrus the Great
http://www.spentaproductions.com/help_cyrus.htm
[4] English Translation Of The Cyrus Cylinder:
http://www.kchanson.com/ANCDOCS/meso/cyrus.html
[5] German Translation: Kommentar: Prof. Dr. Kaveh Farrokh antwortet Spiegel
http://www.savepasargad.com/~New-050508/03.Pasargad/Pasargad-Pages/Dr.\%20Kaveh\%20Farrokh\%20antwortet\%20Spiegel.htm