This cylinder records the conquest of Babylon (mid-6th century B.C.) by Cyrus, King of the Persians. Cyrus not only united Mesopotamia but also gave us this rather unique use of hardened clay -- an official history all around!

It was this same Cyrus who would re-establish the Kingdom of the Jews. That revived Jewish Kingdom built the Second Temple within about a century of beginning that trek from Mesopotamian enslavement back to the Israel. (British Museum, Photo by M.Markowski)