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Secondary sourceBook1873

Records of the Past, Volume 5

Samuel Birch · 1873

An 1873 scholarly collection of English translations of ancient Babylonian and Egyptian inscriptions, including texts relevant to Cyrus's reign.

This volume contains English translations of ancient inscriptions, including texts related to Cyrus's reign, useful for comparing historical sources.

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Records of the Past, Volume 5PDF · 202 pages
Records of the Past, Vol. 5, ed. A. H. Sayce, trans. Samuel Birch and others, 1873.

About this source

What it is

This is Volume 5 of Records of the Past, a series of English translations of ancient Near Eastern inscriptions published in 1873 under the Society of Biblical Archaeology, edited by A. H. Sayce with contributions including Samuel Birch. It contains translations of cuneiform texts.

Why it matters

Nineteenth-century scholars worked to translate ancient inscriptions, including documents connected to Cyrus the Great's reign such as the Cyrus Cylinder. This volume shows how modern historians have relied on translated ancient texts to reconstruct the history of the Achaemenid Empire and figures like Cyrus.

Look closer

  • Why is it important to compare translations like this with the original ancient inscriptions?
  • What challenges might scholars face when translating texts thousands of years old?
  • How does this kind of source differ from a firsthand account written during Cyrus's own lifetime?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Cyrus the Great on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Photograph of the Cyrus Cylinder, a barrel-shaped clay object covered in rows of cuneiform writing, with a visible crack and a broken section at the lower right. It rests on a clear acrylic stand on a dark display base.Document

Primary source

Cyrus Cylinder

Cyrus the Great · 539 BC

Photo of the Tomb of Cyrus the Great at Pasargadae, Iran: a stepped limestone base of several tiers supporting a small stone chamber with a gabled roof and a narrow doorway, set on gravel behind a low glass barrier, under a clear blue sky.Artifact

Secondary source

Tomb of Cyrus the Great

c. 529 BCE

Photograph of a brown papyrus fragment with black Greek uncial-style handwriting in about twelve lines, with a measuring ruler along the right edge marked in centimetres. The fragment has ragged edges and visible fibres.Book

Secondary source

Histories

Herodotus · c. 440 BCE

Title page of an 1803 London edition of Cyropaedia, reading 'Cyropaedia; or, The Institution of Cyrus, by Xenophon, translated from the Greek by the Honourable Maurice Ashley.' Includes a decorative emblem and printer credits. A library stamp is faintly visible on the right.Book

Secondary source

Cyropaedia

Xenophon · c. 370 BC

Dark blue cloth book cover with a gold ornamental oval emblem containing the letters G, S and a stylized monogram. A white library label at the upper left reads University of Toronto with a barcode and number 3 1761 01515886 8.Book

Secondary source

The Persians

Aeschylus · 472 BC

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