Cyrus the Great
Cyrus the Great (590-529 BC), King of Persia. By usurping the Median king’s leadership of Iran (549), he founded the Persian Empire, which he enlarged until it extended from the Aegean Sea to Afghanistan. Under his humane and tolerant rule, the exiled Jews in Babylonia were restored to Palestine (537). Cyrus died fighting in central Asia; his tomb is still visible near Pasargadae in Iran.
