iran
On Monday, over 10,000 Iranians protested outside the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. World News reports the disruption occurred due to the anniversary of the 1979 seizure of the building, which permanently severed ties with the country and the U.S. Fifty-two hostages were taken captive in Iranian hostage crisis that lasted 444 days.
Soft on the outside, hard on the inside. That may be the best way to describe the often startling contrast between Iran's current foreign and domestic policies. Since taking office in August, President Hassan Rohani has won widespread praise for showing greater flexibility in nuclear talks with the international community.
This week at CPD, we hosted Dr. Timothy Potts, the director of the J. Paul Getty Museum, who discussed the Cyrus Cylinder as a cultural icon and museums as vehicles for promoting global dialogue. Potts shared with us the history and meaning of the Cylinder; a clay foundation deposit no larger than a loaf of bread inscribed following Cyrus the Great’s incorporation of Babylon into the Persian Empire in 539 BCE.
This week at CPD, we hosted Dr. Timothy Potts, the director of the J. Paul Getty Museum, who discussed the Cyrus Cylinder as a cultural icon and museums as vehicles for promoting global dialogue.
Saudi Arabia dealt a high-profile snub to the international community and the United States on Friday when it turned down a rotating seat on the United Nations Security Council. The unprecedented move was a culmination of months of public derision directed toward the U.S. for its halfhearted approach to intervention in Syria, its tacit support of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and, most recently, its overtures to Iran.
The Cyrus Cylinder, a 2,500-year-old object discovered in ancient Babylon, is considered by many to be the first declaration of human rights. This unique artifact, part of the British Museum collection, continues to excite the imagination of different peoples from around the world.
Gil J. Stein, the Director of the Oriental Institute and Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology in the department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago, who is in Iran now has called on Abdolmajid Arfayee, the translator of the Cyrus Cylinder, to translate the Achaemenid tablets which have been confiscated by a court in the US.
The Cyrus Cylinder, a small clay object dated from the sixth century B.C.E. and covered in Babylonian cuneiform script of an imperial decree by King Cyrus of Persia, is considered by many to be a powerful symbol of cultural and religious tolerance. Its international touring exhibition, spearheaded by the British Museum, has drawn broad global attention and is, by most measures, a resounding success.