Meanwhile, in 550. BC e. Persian king Cyrus conquered Media. Preparing for the fight, Babylonia, according to some reports, entered into an alliance with Egypt and Lydia (in Asia Minor). But Cyrus managed in 546 to conquer all of Asia Minor, including Lydia, and his troops marched along the Babylonian border. After the conquest of Lydia, the Persians began to clearly prepare a campaign against Babylon. Nabonidus and Belshazzar apparently hoped to sit out behind the powerful fortifications built by Nebuchadnezzar. However, it turned out that by the time of the Persian offensive in 538 they had lost all support in the country.

The trading and usurious elite of the slave owners and the priesthood did not see any benefit for themselves from the reign of Nabonidus; they imagined the vast markets of the state of Cyrus, and they did not see anything wrong with the fact that the mountainous “barbarian” would eventually become the Babylonian king, as the Babylonian kings were before him such as the Kassites and Chaldeans. The Babylonian army, probably half hired, half recruited by force, while being inactive for a long time, had neither the necessary combat training nor the desire to fight the army that had conquered the two largest powers in a few years. The broad masses of the people were indifferent to the fate of the slave-owning state, which brought them nothing but unbearable hardships, ruinous duties and incessant exactions.

In 538, the offensive of the Persians and the Medes began down the valley of the Diyala River. After the battle of Opis, at the confluence of this river with the Tigris, the Persians passed the Median wall of Nebuchadnezzar without a fight and occupied Sippar.

There is a well-known legend told in the “Book of Daniel” in the Bible that Belshazzar was feasting in the palace when letters appeared on the wall, inscribed with a fiery hand and foreshadowing the fall of Babylon that same night. The image of the despot, feasting in the palace and unable to understand the signs foreshadowing his imminent death, entered the democratic and revolutionary poetry of the 19th and 20th centuries. n. e.

Babylon was taken under the following circumstances: Nabonidus returned to Babylon and, together with Belshazzar, locked himself in the citadel. But when the Persian troops were under the walls of Babylon, the gates were opened before them without a fight. They fought only in the courtyards of the citadel palace; Nabonidus was captured and later sent into honorable exile in Carmania, in eastern Iran; Belshazzar was killed. Characteristically, the Persians took the Babylonian sanctuaries under guard, and the cult went on all the time without hindrance. When, after some time, Cyrus personally appeared in Babylon, an inscription-manifesto was compiled, in which Cyrus appropriated the traditional title of the Babylonian kings and expressed condemnation of the “godless” rule of Nabonidus. The statues of the gods, brought by Nabonidus to Babylon before the siege, were returned to their original places. The Persians provided all kinds of protection to the priesthood of Babylonia.

Formally Babylonian kingdom existed for some time after that, since the kings of the Persians continued to be simultaneously called “kings of Babylon”. But the hopes of the Babylonian nobility for a leading role in the Persian state did not come true. Tribute was imposed on Babylonia, which around 500 BC. e.- was more than 30 tons of silver per year; even Egypt paid less - 20 tons . Otherwise, the economic and internal political life of Babylonia has changed little, but, ethnic composition the population became much more colorful: Asia Minor, Egyptian and Iranian warriors and merchants appeared; many Persians settled here, joining the ranks of the Babylonian landowners and slave owners. The position of the masses of the people worsened more and more under the double yoke of their own ruling class and the Persian despotism.

In 550g. BC e. Persian king Cyrus conquered Media. Preparing for the fight, Babylonia, according to some reports, entered into an alliance with Egypt and Lydia (in Asia Minor). In 546, Cyrus managed to conquer all of Asia Minor, including Lydia, and his troops marched along the Babylonian border. After the conquest of Lydia, the Persians began to clearly prepare a campaign against Babylon. Nabonidus and Belshazzar probably hoped to sit out behind the powerful fortifications built by Nebuchadnezzar. On the contrary, it turned out to be decisive that by the time of the Persian offensive in 538 they had lost all support in the country.

The trading and usurious elite of the slave owners and the priesthood did not see any benefit from the reign of Nabonidus, because they imagined the vast markets of the state of Cyrus, and they did not see anything wrong with the fact that the mountain “barbarian” would eventually become the Babylonian king, as they were before him Babylonian kings, such as the Kassites and the Chaldeans. The Babylonian army, probably half hired, half recruited by force, while being inactive for a long time, had neither the necessary combat training nor the desire to fight the army that had conquered the two largest powers in a few years. The broad masses of the people were indifferent to the fate of the slave-owning state, which brought them nothing but unbearable hardships, ruinous duties and incessant exactions.

In 538, the offensive of the Persians and the Medes began down the valley of the Diyala River. After the battle of Opis, at the confluence of this river with the Tigris, the Persians passed the Median wall of Nebuchadnezzar without a fight and occupied Sippar.

Many of us are familiar with the legend told in the “Book of Daniel” in the Bible that Belshazzar was feasting in the palace when letters inscribed with a fiery hand appeared on the wall and foreshadowed the fall of Babylon that same night. The image of the despot, feasting in the palace and unable to understand the signs foreshadowing his imminent death, entered the democratic and revolutionary poetry of the 19th and 20th centuries. n. e.

Rice. 33. Gypsum figurines from the temple of Inanna in Nippur//http://confliktcultur.ucoz.ru/index/0-18

Babylon was taken under the following circumstances: Nabonidus returned to Babylon and, together with Belshazzar, locked himself in the citadel. But when the Persian troops were under the walls of Babylon, the gates were opened before them without a fight. They fought only in the courtyards of the citadel palace. Nabonidus was captured and later sent into honorable exile in Carmania, in eastern Iran, and Belshazzar was killed. Characteristically, the Persians took the Babylonian sanctuaries under guard, and the cult went on all the time without hindrance. When, after some time, Cyrus personally appeared in Babylon, an inscription-manifesto was compiled in which Cyrus appropriated the traditional title of the Babylonian kings and expressed condemnation of the “godless” rule of Nabonidus. The statues of the gods, brought by Nabonidus to Babylon before the siege, were returned to their original places. The Persians, no doubt, provided all sorts of patronage to the priesthood of Babylonia.

Formally, the Babylonian kingdom existed for some time after that, as the kings of the Persians continued to be simultaneously called “kings of Babylon”. But the hopes of the Babylonian nobility for a leading role in the Persian state did not come true. Tribute was imposed on Babylonia, which around 500 BC. e.- was more than 30 tons of silver per year; even Egypt paid less - 20 tons. Otherwise, the economic and internal political life of Babylonia changed little. The ethnic composition of the population became much more diverse: Asia Minor, Egyptian and Iranian warriors and merchants appeared; many Persians settled here, joining the ranks of the Babylonian landowners and slave owners. The position of the masses of the people worsened more and more under the double yoke of their own ruling class and the Persian despotism.

The capture of Babylon by Cyrus was such a significant event that it was reflected in the Greek, Babylonian, Hebrew literature and in the cuneiform texts of the time of Cyrus.

The first to be attacked after Sardis was Cyrus Babylon, an old rival of Media, greatest city peace. Babylon was the capital of the Neo-Babylonian state, which included almost all of Mesopotamia, Syria, Phoenicia, Palestine, and part of the Arabian Peninsula. For more than ten years, Cyrus prepared for war with Babylonia, training warriors and entering into an agreement with all who had reason to be dissatisfied with the dominion of the Babylonians.

In the spring, the Persian army moved south along the valley of the Gind River, which flows in the mountains and is therefore very fast. When the king tried to cross this river, one of his sacred white horses jumped from the bank to swim across the river. But the river swallowed him up and carried him away. Seeing this event as a bad omen, Cyrus stopped and set up camp on the river bank.

Declaring to the soldiers that he was angry with the river and wanted to punish it, the king ordered that channels be dug on both sides of the river in different directions to drain water. When Gind became shallow by autumn, the campaign resumed.

All this time, the Babylonian king Nabonidus was preparing to repel the attack. He erected a wall across the plain of the two rivers, north of Babylon, stored food in case of a long siege, but when the army of Cyrus approached the city of Opis and crossed the Tigris, the local population rebelled and joined the Persians. In the battle at Opis, the Babylonians were defeated, and Nabonidus fled under the protection of the walls of Babylon.

From the flat plain, which were the Persians, Babylon was seen as a mountain. Its outer wall rose eight meters. The inner wall, twelve meters from the outer wall, was even higher, rising to a height of fourteen meters. The wall was crowned with formidable towers, giving the possibility of shelling in all directions, in front of the outer wall stretched a deep ditch filled with water.

Cyrus looked at the fortifications of Babylon for a long time, shifting his gaze from wall to wall, from tower to tower. Having come to the conclusion that an assault was impossible, he divided the army into four parts and placed each of them on both banks of the Euphrates, at the entrance to the city and at the exit from it. Appointing commanders over each group, he ordered them to dig around the city, along the wall, two bypass channels, partially using a protective moat for this. After that, he left.

The work went quickly. The ground was soft as fluff. The experience gained on the Ginda also helped. The Babylonians from the height of the walls watched how the canals, like two giant snakes, compress the city into a ring, but did not make sorties. The shelling from the walls did almost no damage to the workers.

And then, unexpectedly for the Babylonians, shields were raised to cover the dug channels, and water gushed along two new channels. And immediately, along the old shallow channel, the Persians entered the city. Babylon was so great that the inhabitants of the outskirts did not even know about it and danced, celebrating one of the countless holidays in honor of their gods.

Killing all they met, the Persians went to the royal palace, which towered over a square bulk. In its main hall at that time there was a feast by the mountain. The king, lounging on a bed at the table laid with dishes, was saying something to the guests. But his speech suddenly stopped. From the wall opposite him, a fiery hand appeared, tracing an inscription in wedges. “Me. Tekel. Perez,” read the king. While he was pondering what these words could mean, the Persians burst into the hall, having interrupted the drunken guards.

Immediately after this, the Persian guards occupied the exits from the palace, preventing anyone from taking anything out of there. All eight city gates were placed under protection. Heralds sent to all parts of the city in several languages ​​called on the population to calmness, promising them on behalf of the king the safety and inviolability of temple and personal property.

The next day, Cyrus entered the city on a chariot harnessed by sacred white horses, accompanied by nobles and selected soldiers. The paved street leading to the Gate of the goddess Ishtar was strewn with myrtle branches. Flowers flew under the hooves of the horses and under the feet of the retinue. With special jubilation, the king was greeted by those whom Nabonidus and his predecessors forcibly moved to Babylon, tearing them away from their native soil, from their father's temples. Cyrus promised these exiles a return to their native places.

At the gates of the goddess Ishtar, the king of kings dismounted from his chariot and bowed his head. The people froze, taking this as recognition by the Persian supreme power Lady of the city. When a procession of priests in white robes came out of the temple to meet Cyrus, greeting the son of Ishtar with chants, the jubilant roar of the crowd was like thunder. The pigeons nestling on the roof of the temple soared up in fright, so that it seemed that Cyrus was being greeted by the Lady herself.

The biography of Cyrus is known mainly from the "History" of Herodotus. some useful information can also be gleaned from the ancient Greek historian Ctesias, who lived at the Persian court in the 5th century. BC e., and in the books of the Old Testament. Original sources are few. Apart from the cylinder with Cyrus's invocation "to the Babylonians", only a few private Babylonian documents have survived that help to keep the chronology of events.

Ancestors of Cyrus

Cyrus was the son of Cambyses I of the Achaemenid dynasty, founded by the legendary Achaemenes, a leading clan in the Persian Pasargadae tribe. Even Nabonidus titled Cyrus the king of Anshan, that is, one of the regions in the southeast of Elam, the same was done by the Babylonian priests, who compiled the so-called chronicle of Nabonidus and Cyrus. In his appeal to the Babylonians, Cyrus himself called his ancestors "kings of Anshan": "I am Cyrus ... the son of Cambyses, the great king, the king of the city of Anshan, the grandson of Cyrus, the great king, the king of the city of Anshan, the descendant of Teisp, the great king, the king of the city of Anshan" . This proclamation of Cyrus as king of the Elamite region of Anshan, mentioned in Babylonian texts from ancient times, gives reason to think that Cyrus was an Elamite. Contemporary Cyru art monuments indicate the influence of the Elamite statehood and art in the most ancient time of the Persian kingdom. However, it is definitely proved that Cyrus was an Aryan. His connection with Anshan is not entirely clear, the only explanation, perhaps, is that Cyrus came from the east, from the state that replaced Elam, therefore, in the official solemn inscription, he is called the king of Anshan. And he himself seized on this term, consecrated by antiquity, which gave him more respect in the eyes of the Babylonians, and, in addition, carried the program of an offensive to the west - after all, once the kings of Elam owned Babylon. Bearing the title of King Anshan, the lord of the newly-minted monarchy became the heir of the ancient Elamite kings with all the traditions and other beneficial consequences of this inheritance. However, the matter is complicated by the fact that it is difficult to prove the use of understanding Anshan in a general sense, as well as to precisely localize it in general, as well as the fact that in the chronicle of Nabonid Cyrus, after the conquest of Media, he is already titled the king of Persia (Parsa). This circumstance gives reason to directly identify Anshan with Persia, considering these terms to be equally used, or, on the contrary, indicates their difference, considering the mention of Anshan in the titles of the Persian kings as a reflection of an older stage of their power, and the title of the king of Persia - his next step. Be that as it may, it is known for certain that the Pasargadian kings of Anshan were vassals of the Median Empire until the rebellion of Cyrus.

Cyrus' childhood and youth

The exact year of the birth of Cyrus is unknown, it is believed that he was born in the time interval from 600 to 590 BC. e., most likely in 593 BC. e. About his childhood and youth is known only from legends, which often contradict each other. The Greek historian Xenophon also writes that already in the 5th century BC. e. the life of Cyrus the Great was told in different ways.

According to Herodotus, the mother of Cyrus was the daughter of the Median king Astyages (Ishtuvegu) Mandana, who was predicted that she would give birth to a son who would become the ruler of the world. Fearing that his grandson would become king instead of him, the Median king Astyages summoned the pregnant Mandana from Persia and after a while, when her son was born, decided to kill him. He entrusted this task to his dignitary Harpag. In turn, Harpagus gave the child to the shepherd, one of the slaves of Astyages, and ordered him to be left in the mountains, where there were many wild animals. But when this shepherd brought the baby to his hut, he learned that his wife had just given birth to a dead child. The parents decided to raise the king's son as their own, and left the dead child in a secluded place in the mountains, dressing him in the luxurious clothes of Astyages' grandson. After that, the shepherd reported to Harpagu that he had carried out his order. Harpagus, having sent faithful people to examine the corpse of the baby and bury him, was convinced that this was indeed the case. Thus, Cyrus's childhood passed among the royal slaves. When the boy was ten years old, he once, while playing with children, was elected king. But the son of a noble Mede refused to obey him, and Cyrus punished him with beatings. The father of this boy complained to Astyages that his slave was beating the children of royal dignitaries. Cyrus was brought for punishment to Astyages, who immediately had suspicions that his grandson was in front of him, since he noticed in him features of family resemblance. Indeed, having interrogated the shepherd under the threat of torture, Astyages learned the truth. Then he severely punished Harpag: he invited him to dinner and secretly treated his own son, the same age as Cyrus, with meat. Then Astyages again turned to the magicians with the question of whether he was still in danger from his grandson. They replied that the prediction had already come true, since Cyrus was elected king while playing with children, and therefore there was no need to be afraid of him anymore. Then Astyages calmed down and sent his grandson to Persia to his parents.

But Herodotus himself did not pass off his version as the only one - he said that there were four others. His version was indeed not only not the only one, but also not the original one - he admitted rationalism. For example, he has a dog that, according to Justin and in similar stories, fed Cyrus, when he was left to be eaten by wild animals, turned into a shepherd's wife, who in Greek was called Kino, and in Median Spako (“dog” in Median spaco).

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Another version recorded by Ctesias is very interesting, it has come down to us through Nicholas of Damascus and, revealing undoubted signs of greater originality, is one of the few valuable pages in Ctesias. It says that Cyrus was the son of the impoverished Mardian robber Atradata (the Mards were a nomadic Persian tribe), who later rose to prominence by entering the service of Astyages. The prediction of future greatness, uttered by the Babylonian magicians, prompted Cyrus to flee to Persia and start a rebellion.

Rebellion against Media

According to Herodotus, who claimed that the reign of Cyrus lasted 29 years, in 559 BC. e. Cyrus became the leader of the Persian settled tribes, among which the Pasargadas played the leading role. In addition to them, the union also included marathii and maspii. All of them were dependent on the Median king. The center of the then Persian state was located around the city of Pasargada, the intensive construction of which dates back to the initial period of the reign of Cyrus and which became the first capital of the Persian state. The Kirtians, Mards, Sagartians, and some other nomadic tribes living in the cities and steppes of Persia, as well as the settled tribes of Karmanii, Panphialei, and Derushi, were conquered by Cyrus later, apparently, after the war with Media.

The beginning of the uprising against Media

In 553 B.C. e., according to the inscription of Nabonidus (3rd year of the reign of Nabonidus), Cyrus opposed the Median king Astyages. Herodotus and Ctesias call the war of the Persians with the Medes an uprising, the success of which (especially according to Herodotus) was largely due to the existence of a party in Media dissatisfied with Astyages, and treason. According to Herodotus, the cause of the war between these two kingdoms was the conspiracy of the noble Mede Harpagus, whom, as mentioned above, Astyages inflicted a cruel insult. He managed to attract to his side many noble Medes who were dissatisfied with the harsh rule of Astyages, and then persuaded Cyrus to revolt. The fall of Media, in addition to discontent and betrayal, was also facilitated by a dynastic crisis: according to both sources available to us, Astyages did not have a son-heir. Ctesias names his son-in-law Spitama as his heir, on whom, apparently, the discontented party relied and against whom the Median adherents of Cyrus seemed to act. Media did not fall without a struggle; Ctesias even speaks of Astyages' advances and victories. Herodotus, in any case, recognizes his courage, which reached the armament of the old men.

The victory of the rebels

Greek and Babylonian sources agree that the revolt of Cyrus against Media lasted three years. The chronicle of Nabonidus under the 6th year (550 BC) reports:

“He (Astyages) gathered his army and went against Cyrus, king of Anshan, in order to defeat him. But his army rebelled against Ishtuvegu (Astyages) and, taking him prisoner, betrayed Cyrus. Cyrus went to Ecbatana, his capital. Silver, gold, treasures of every kind of the country of Ecbatana they plundered, and he took it to Anshan ...

Thus, it is clear that the war between Astyages and Cyrus lasted three years and ended in favor of the Persians only due to treason, and Astyages was on the offensive. Where the last battle broke out, and whether Ctesias is right in placing it at the very Pasargads, we are not aware. At the same time, Ctesias refers to the Persian tradition, which traces back to Cyrus and to this war the establishment that each king, on each visit to Pasargad, should give all the women of the city a gold coin, allegedly in eternal gratitude for the fact that thanks to their intervention a victory was won that decided the outcome of the campaign. and the fate of Persia. Allegedly, the Persians, shamed by their wives and mothers, began to fight more decisively. Such a custom seems to have actually existed, and Alexander the Great is said to have followed it. But it could also have a different origin: among many peoples, customs, the origin of which was forgotten, came up with an explanation associated with famous historical or mythological characters.

Cyrus - king of Media

Cyrus captured the Median capital of Ecbatana and declared himself king of both Persia and Media, while assuming the official title of the Median kings. Cyrus treated the captured Astyages mercifully and even, according to Ctesias, appointed him governor of Parkania (possibly Hyrcania) and married his daughter (here, Cyrus, it turns out, was not the son of Astyages' daughter, but her husband). Of those close to Astyages, according to the same Ctesias, only Spitama suffered, as the legitimate heir and dangerous competitor of Cyrus, in all other respects the coup was only a change in dynasty. Media and the Medes were not humiliated even under the Achaemenids and were considered equal with the Persians. Ecbatana continued to maintain the importance of the capital, sharing this role with Persepolis, Pasargadae and Susa. Here the king spent his summer time. All this determined in the eyes of the surrounding peoples a view of Persia as a continuation of Media. It should be noted that the legitimacy of the reign of Cyrus in Media was confirmed by his blood ties with Astyages, which, besides Herodotus, are also mentioned by other historians (Justin, Elian). From the Medes, the Persians borrowed the system government controlled, in many respects dating back to the Assyrian.

Having conquered Media, Cyrus over the next two years (550 - 548 BC) captured the countries that were previously part of the former Median state: Parthia and, probably, Armenia. Hyrcania submitted to the Persians voluntarily. In the same years, the Persians captured the entire territory of Elam.

Conquest of Lydia

In 547 B.C. e. Cilicia voluntarily went over to the side of Cyrus and provided him with military assistance. For this, Cyrus never sent satraps to her, but left local rulers in power, who had to pay tribute to him and, if necessary, put up an army.

Thus, Cyrus came close to the borders of the Lydian kingdom - one of the most powerful states in the Middle East, which also claimed hegemony in Asia Minor. According to Herodotus, the initiative of the war belonged to the Lydian king Croesus. In 547 B.C. e. the Lydians invaded Cappadocia, which was previously under the rule of the Medes, and after the victory of the Persians over the latter, it fell into their zone of influence. Cyrus went there, replenishing his army along the way from representatives of those peoples through whose territory he passed. Ambassadors were sent to the cities of Ionia and Aeolis with a call to secede from Croesus and take the side of Cyrus. However, the Greeks of Asia Minor preferred to take a wait-and-see attitude.

A bloody battle took place near the city of Pteria, on the eastern side of the Galis River, but it ended in vain and neither side dared to enter into a new battle. Croesus retreated to his capital - Sardis and decided to thoroughly prepare for the war and try to get more effective help from his allies: Egypt, Sparta and Babylon. However, Cyrus, who knew about the actions and intentions of his opponent, decided to take him by surprise and quickly moved towards Sardis. The inhabitants of Sardis did not expect such an attack at all and learned about it only when the Persian troops appeared at the walls of the city. Croesus led his army, consisting of cavalry armed with spears, to the plain in front of Sardis. Cyrus, on the advice of his commander, the Median Harpag, placed all the camels following in the wagon train ahead of the troops, having previously placed archers on them (a military trick, which many other commanders subsequently resorted to). The horses in the Lydian army, smelling the unfamiliar smell of camels and seeing them, took to flight. However, the Lydian horsemen jumped off their horses and began to fight on foot, but under the pressure of Cyrus's troops, they were forced to retreat to Sardis and lock themselves in the acropolis. After a 14-day siege, the Persians took the acropolis, making their way there from an impregnable and therefore almost unguarded side, and Croesus was captured and delivered to Cyrus.

According to the unanimous statement of the Greek authors, Cyrus spared Croesus, saving his life. This is quite plausible, if we keep in mind that Cyrus was merciful to other captured kings. According to Herodotus, Sardis was taken by the Persians sometime between October and December 547 BC. e. After the victory over Croesus, the coastal cities of the Ionians and Aeolians sent ambassadors to Sardis to Cyrus. They ordered to announce to him that they wished to submit to the Persians on the same terms as they had previously submitted to Croesus. However, Cyrus reminded them that at one time he offered them to join him, but they refused, and now that the fate of Lydia has already been decided, he himself will consider it necessary to indicate to them on what conditions they should submit to him. Upon learning of this, the Greeks of Asia Minor began to fortify their cities and decided to send messengers to Sparta asking for help. Only Miletus voluntarily submitted to the Persians, and Cyrus made an alliance with him on the same terms as the Lydian king.

Conquest of Ionia, Caria and Lycia

Taking advantage of the fact that Cyrus departed for the eastern borders of his state, the Lydian Paktius, whom Cyrus instructed to keep the treasures of Croesus, in 546 BC. e. rebelled against the Persians. With the help of gold, he managed to recruit mercenaries and convince the inhabitants of the Greek coastal cities to join the uprising. After that, he moved to Sardis and besieged the acropolis, where the governor of Lydia, the Persian Tabal, took refuge. The rebels were opposed by the commander Cyrus, the Median Mazar. Upon learning of the approach of the Persian army, Paktius fled with his main adherents, first to the seaside city of Kimu, then to Mytilene on the island of Lesbos, and finally to the island of Chios, but was handed over by the inhabitants of the island to the Persians in exchange for a small piece of land on the mainland.

Having suppressed the rebellion in Lydia, Mazar began the conquest of the Greek cities of Asia Minor, which joined the uprising of Paktia. He subjugated the region of the princes and the valley of the river Meander, allowing the army to plunder it. The same fate befell the city of Magnesia. Shortly thereafter, Mazar died, and the Median Harpagus was appointed in his place.

Harpagus began to erect high mounds near the walled Greek cities, and then take them by storm. Inhabitants of Phocaea, the largest after Miletus Greek city in Asia Minor, they did not want to submit to the Persians and fled on ships first to the island of Kirn, and then to Italy to the city of Rhegium, where they founded a colony. The example of the Phocians was followed by the inhabitants of the city of Teos, who moved to Abdera in Thrace. The rest of the cities of Ionia (except for Miletus, which had previously concluded an alliance with Cyrus) tried to resist Harpagus, but were defeated, subdued and subjected to tribute. After the conquest of the mainland Ionians by Harpagus, the island Ionians, fearing a similar fate, voluntarily submitted to Cyrus. Needing the Greeks (as sailors), Cyrus did not worsen the conditions in which they were under the rule of Croesus.

Having conquered Ionia, Harpagus went to war against the Carians, Cavnians and Lycians, taking with him the Ionians and Aeolians. The population of Caria submitted to the Persians without a fight, as Herodotus says, "without covering themselves with glory" and "without having accomplished any feats." True, the inhabitants of Knidos, located on the peninsula, tried to dig a narrow (5 stages wide, about 900 m) isthmus separating them from the mainland, in order to make their land an island, but having stumbled upon solid granite, they stopped work and surrendered without a fight. Only one of the tribes of the Carians, the Pedasians, resisted for some time. They fortified themselves on a mountain called Lida and gave Harpag a lot of trouble, but, in the end, they, too, were subdued.

Only the Lycians and Cavnias (the non-Greek autochthonous population of Asia Minor) offered desperate resistance to the large Persian army, meeting him in open battle. The Lycians were driven back to the city of Xanthus, where they set fire to the acropolis, having gathered their wives, children, slaves there in advance, and they themselves died in battle. Just as stubborn was the resistance of the Caunians. But, of course, they could not stop the advance of a large and well-armed Persian army. Now all of Asia Minor fell under the rule of the Persians. For his devotion, Harpagus received Lydia into hereditary administration.

Subjugation of Babylonia

In the spring of 539 BC. e. The Persian army marched on Babylon. At this critical moment, Ugbaru, the governor of the Gutium region (a Babylonian province east of the middle reaches of the Tigris), betrayed King Nabonidus and went over to the side of Cyrus. According to Herodotus, while crossing the Gind (modern Diyala), one of the sacred white horses drowned in it. Cyrus in anger ordered to punish the river. During the summer, the Persian army dug 360 canals and diverted water from the river. It can be seen that Cyrus was detained by the hydraulic structures of Nebuchadnezzar, which were set in motion and flooded the entire space from Opis and Sippar to the south, thus cutting off Babylon from the enemy army. What Herodotus presents as tyranny was apparently a well-thought-out enterprise - to again drain the water from the flooded area and make it passable. Only after that Cyrus continued the campaign. The Babylonian army camped near the city of Opis, covering the crossings over the Tigris. But Cyrus in the 20th of September unexpectedly bypassed the Median wall from the west. The corps sent by Cyrus to Ugbaru laid siege to Babylon, in which there was a strong garrison led by the son of Nabonid Belshazzar. Cyrus himself struck at the army of Nabonidus, standing at Opis, from the rear. In the battle of Opis, which took place at the very end of September, the Babylonian army suffered a severe defeat and fled. Nabonidus with a few close associates wanted to retreat to Babylon, but the path there was cut off by the troops of Ugbar, and Nabonidus took refuge in Borsippa. On October 10, Sippar was captured without a fight, and on October 12, according to Babylonian sources, Ugbaru entered Babylon. (According to Herodotus, Cyrus ordered the river to be diverted and entered the city along its course, while the inhabitants were celebrating some kind of holiday, but the Babylonian chronicle contemporary to the events does not say anything about this, and therefore many historians consider Herodotus' message unreliable.) Belshazzar, who tried to resist the Persians in the city center, was killed. Ugbaru, the governor of Gutium, who commanded the Persian troops that entered Babylon, immediately took measures to prevent massacres and robberies in the city. The chronicle says: “Until the end of the month (tashritu, that is, until October 26, 539 BC), the shields of the Gutium country surrounded the gates of Esagila. No weapons were laid in Esagila and the shrines, and the ritual was not disturbed." Nabonidus, having learned about the fall of Babylon and the death of Belshazzar, left Borsippa, returned to Babylon and voluntarily surrendered. October 29, 539 B.C. e. Cyrus himself entered Babylon, for whom a solemn meeting was arranged. “3 Arachsamnu (October 29),” continues the chronicle, “Cyrus entered Babylon. (The streets) in front of him were strewn with branches. Peace in the city was established. Cyrus declared peace to all Babylon. The captive Nabonidus was quietly sent to an honorable exile in remote Carmania in eastern Iran, where he ended his days.

Cyrus' attitude towards the Babylonians and other conquered peoples

In official Babylonian historiography, the matter was portrayed as if there had been no war with Cyrus at all, and if there were separate incidents, such as the battle of Opis, then only Nabonidus was guilty of them, and not Babylon at all. Cyrus willingly accepted this version of the Babylonian oligarchy, for it fully met his interests, and tried to back it up with deeds. The inhabitants of the Babylonian cities were promised peace and inviolability. First, Cyrus appointed his eldest son and heir Cambyses king of Babylon, but a few months later, apparently for political reasons, Cyrus removed his son and was crowned himself.

Having captured Mesopotamia, Cyrus formally retained the Babylonian kingdom and did not change anything in social structure country. Babylon became one of the royal residences, the Babylonians continued to occupy a predominant position in the state apparatus, and the priesthood got the opportunity to revive the ancient cults, which Cyrus patronized in every possible way. In the inscriptions on the bricks, Cyrus acts both as an admirer of the Babylonian gods, and as an adornment of Esagila and Ezida. Moreover, Cyrus' power in Babylon was not seen as foreign domination, since he received the kingdom "from the hands of the god Marduk" by performing ancient sacred ceremonies. Cyrus took the title "king of Babylon, king of countries". However, in fact, Babylonia turned from an independent kingdom into a satrapy of the Achaemenid Power and lost all independence during foreign policy, and even within the country, the highest military and administrative power now belonged to the Persian governor (in Babylonian bel-pahati - “regional leader”) of Babylon and the District, that is, the entire Neo-Babylonian Empire. Cyrus appointed Ugbara (or Gubara), whom the Greeks called Gobrius, as this "regional chief".

After the capture of Babylonia, all the western countries up to the borders of Egypt - Syria, Palestine and Phoenicia - submitted to the Persians voluntarily. The trading cities of Phoenicia, just like the Babylonian and Asia Minor merchants, were interested in creating a large state with safe roads.

The peoples who were forcibly settled in Mesopotamia by the Babylonian kings, Cyrus allowed to return to their countries. The return to Palestine of the Jews, who had once been taken captive by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, was a special case of these general measures of Cyrus. The book of Ezra has preserved for us the original decree of Cyrus, given at Ecbatana in the first year of his Babylonian reign in 538 BC. e. In this decree, the Jews are allowed to build the Jerusalem temple according to the prescribed dimensions and are commanded to return the temple vessels stolen by Nebuchadnezzar. Together with the temple and vessels, Jerusalem also received its ruler, a descendant of the Davidic dynasty of Sheshbazzar, who, however, was not given the full royal title, but only a princely one, and who was subordinate to the governor of the “Zarechnaya region”.

Probably, Cyrus also rehabilitated the Phoenician Sidon, which was destroyed by Esarhaddon and has since lost its significance. At least now the kings appear in it again. Attracting Jews and Phoenicians to his side, Cyrus prepared for himself the devoted population of the western regions, which were of paramount importance, as a base for operations against the only remaining large state - Egypt, as well as for creating a fleet that could only stand in Phoenicia and be replenished with Phoenician sailors.

"Manifesto Cyrus"

At this time, a document appeared, written in Babylonian and for the Babylonians, the “Manifesto of Cyrus”. It was compiled by pro-Persian oligarchs. The rather lengthy preface of the Manifesto depicts the "ugliness" of Nabonidus and the insults that he inflicted on the god Marduk, the temple of Esagila and Babylon. When the patience of the god Marduk ran out, he found Cyrus, the king of Anshan, handed him power over the peoples, and finally entrusted him to the cares of Babylon, whose people met him with great joy as a deliverer from the impious king Nabonidus. At the end of the "Manifesto" there is a prayer to the Babylonian gods for the blessing of well-being to Cyrus and his son and heir Cambyses. This frame contains the actual text of the manifesto, written on behalf of Cyrus.

It opens with the full title of Cyrus, composed in the Babylonian style: “I am Cyrus, the king of multitudes, the great king, the mighty king, the king of Babylon, the king of Sumer and Akkad, the king of the four countries of the world, the son of Cambyses, the great king, the king of Anshan, a descendant of Teisp, the great king, the king of Anshan, the eternal royal seed, whose reign is loved by the gods Bel and Nabu, whose dominion is pleasing to their heart's joy. Then in the "Manifesto" on behalf of Cyrus, it is said how his numerous troops peacefully entered Babylon. This is followed by a listing of the activities carried out by Cyrus, which are fully confirmed by other sources. Cyrus laid claim to the role of king-liberator, and he fulfilled his promises to the peoples who had submitted to his rule. The case in history is exceptional, but quite understandable. Striving for world domination, Cyrus well understood that with the help of one Persian army, he could not achieve this goal only by violence. He also understood that the ancient civilization, who became the object of Persian conquests, are stricken with a deadly disease and are ready to see in him their savior and healer. Cyrus skillfully used this circumstance, which explains both his amazing military successes and the reputation of the “father” and “liberator”, which was fixed for him in the memory of not only the Persians, but also the peoples he conquered, including the Babylonians, Greeks and Jews. .

Cyrus in the Manifesto said: “From [……] to Ashur and Susa, Agade, Eshnunna, Zamban, Meturnu, to the borders of the country of Kuti, cities [on the other side] of the Tigris, whose dwellings were founded in ancient times, the gods who lived in them, I restored them to their places and made their eternal dwellings. I gathered all their people and brought them back to their villages. And the gods of Sumer and Akkad, whom Nabonidus, in the wrath of the lord of the gods, transferred to Babylon, by order of the god Marduk, the great lord, I safely placed in their halls, the dwelling of the joy of the heart. The implementation of this measure, which was of paramount importance for the fate of the Persian Empire he was creating, Cyrus began immediately after the conquest of Babylon. “From Kislim to Addar-month (from November 25, 539 to March 23, 538 BC), the gods of the country of Akkad, whom Nabonidus brought to Babylon, returned to their residences,” the Babylonian chronicle reports. This move met with the general approval of the Babylonians. It symbolized a return to the world and the usual order.

Campaign against the Massagetae. Death of Cyrus

Cyrus obviously considered the war with Egypt under the energetic Amasis premature and turned against the nomadic tribes of Iran and Central Asia. It is not known whether those areas that are listed in the lists of Darius (Parthia, Drangiana, Aria, Horasmia, Bactria, Sogdiana, Gaidar, Saki, Sattagid, Arachosia and Maka) then became part of the Persian state, or they were annexed even before the conquest of Babylon. From Herodotus it seems to follow that the Bactrians and Saks followed Babylon in the order of accession ("... Babylon, the Bactrian people, Saks and Egyptians were an obstacle to Cyrus"). The historians of Alexander the Great (Arrian, Strabo) also mention the campaign of Cyrus through Gedrosia, in which he lost the entire army, with the exception of only seven soldiers, as well as the foundation on the banks of the Jaxartes ( ancient name Syr Darya) of the city of Kiropolis.

One of Cyrus' campaigns Central Asia became fatal for him. In July 530 B.C. e., according to Herodotus, in the battle against the Massagetae on the eastern side of the Jaxartes River, Cyrus was completely defeated and died. According to Herodotus, the “queen” (that is, the female leader) of the Massagetae Tomiris, taking revenge on Cyrus for the death of her son, ordered the body of Cyrus to be found and dipped his head in a waterskin filled with blood, thus offering him to quench his insatiable thirst for blood. However, since it is known for certain that Cyrus was buried in Pasargadae (where Alexander the Great saw his remains), this episode is considered unreliable. Berossus says that Cyrus fell in battle with the Dahi after a nine-year reign in Babylon. Ctesias reports a war with the Derbics (it seems that on the borders of India) and, again, does not do without legends that are completely different from those given by Herodotus. In any case, the place of Cyrus' death is everywhere indicated on the extreme limits of the state, which probably required special supervision and put the aged king before the need to personally wage war.

Cyrus reigned for 29 years and was buried in Pasargada, where a monument is still preserved, which is considered to be his tomb and reminiscent of Asia Minor mausoleums in style. Near this tomb, a short and modest cuneiform Pesidian-Elamo-Babylonian text is carved - “I am Kurush, king, Achaemenid”, and a winged creature guarding the palace that was here in the Elamite royal outfit and with the headdress of Egyptian gods is also depicted. The belonging of this tomb to Cyrus can hardly be doubted, if only because of the complete correspondence of the structure with the description, for example, of Aristobulus, who was instructed by Alexander to take care of its safety. During the anarchy that occurred during Alexander's campaign in India, the tomb was plundered, but the Macedonian conqueror returned and executed the robbers. However, they found almost no value in it, and Alexander was surprised at the modesty with which such a great conqueror was buried.

Memories of Kira

The image of Cyrus left a deep mark on the ancient Eastern and ancient literature. In a short time, the leader of a small, little-known tribe founded a powerful empire that stretched from the Indus and Jaxartes to the Aegean Sea and the borders of Egypt. Cyrus was a great warrior and statesman, not only distinguished by a great political mind and diplomatic foresight, but enjoyed the luck that gave Media and Babylonia into his hands, torn apart by internal strife and seeing in him not so much an alien conqueror as a liberator. His universally recognized humanity, rooted both in personal character, and in a purer religion, surrounded his personality with a halo and caused a bright period in the history of Western Asia between Assyrian atrocities and later Persian despotism. He was desired by the peoples and left, renewing Asia and starting a new period in its history. In the memory of the Persians, he remained as the "father of the people", the Jews called him the anointed of Jehovah. The popularity of the personality of Cyrus in ancient times was so great that phenomenal abilities were attributed to him (for example, that he knew his warriors by name). Opponents also recognized his greatness, which is confirmed by the Hellenic tradition. Despite the fact that the powerful state created by Cyrus posed a source of threat to Greece over the next two centuries, later Greeks spoke of him as a wise and just ruler. Xenophon's Cyropaedia contains a largely fictitious description of Cyrus as the ideal king.