Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/829

CYBTOCERAS. 717 CYRUS THE GREAT. A genus of curved tetrabraiK-liiate eephalopods, of wiiich fossil s[)ecies arc found in rocks of De- vonian age. Tlicy have large laterally com- pressed or triangular curved shells, with sub- triangular or T-shaped openings. The camersE or cluimbers are very sh.urt, so that the septa are clo-se together, and the siphuncle is large, ventral, or sub-ventral, and restricted at each septum so that in a longitudinal section of the shell it gives the appearance of a string of elongated beads. The genus Cyrtoceras former- ly included a great variety of curved shells, most of which have been proved by Hyatt to belong to other genera and even other families from that which includes the tj'pe species. Con- sult: Hyatt, "The Genera of Fossil Cephalopods," ProcccdiiKjs Boston Kocicly of Natural History, vol. xxii. (Boston, 1884) ; von Zittel and East- man, Textbook of Palwontology, vol. i. (London and New York, 1900). See also Cephalopoda; Okthoceras; Nautilus; Nautiloidea. For il- lustration see Plate of Cephalopoda. CY'RTJS. River in Transcaucasia. See KuB. CYRUS THE GREAT, or Cyrus the Elder ( c. GOO-529 B.C. ) . The founder of the Persian Empire and conqueror of Babylon, whom Isaiah called the anointed of the Lord and his shepherd (Isa. xliv. 28; xlv. 1). The name of this mon- arch appears in Old Persian as KuruH, in the Babylonian inscriptions as Kuras, in Hebrew as Korei, and in Greek as KCpos, whence Latin Cyrus. According to Herodotus, the name signi- fies sun; but there is some possibility, judging from the Neo-Elamitie, that its signification may have been shepherd, with which the Isaiah passage' might be compared. The lineage of this great King we have on his own authority on a famous cuneiform cylinder discovered some years ago. (Consult Journal Asiatic Society, London, 1880). This was written in the Babylo- nian language, and is now among the treasures of the Britisli Museum. In this Cyrus traces his royal claim through his father, Cambyses, and his grandfather, Cyrus, back to Teispes; the latter was the son of Achicmenes (q.v. ), founder of the Achtemenian line. The ancestral home wa.s Anshan, or Anzan, which is believed to have been a city or district of Elam (q.v.). However that may be, there can be no doubt that Cyrus was a Persian, and he is righth' so called in the Old Testament. According to the cuneiform records of Naboni- dus (yiabt'i-na'id) , Cyrus was a vassal of Asty- agps {Istui'eciu) , who is spoken of as King of the Medes, or again of the Scythians. There is good ground for believing that Cyrus was di- rectly connected with this ruler by the ties of blood. Herodotus (i. lOTff) expressly states that Cyrus was the grandson of Astyages, whose daughter IMandane had been married to Cam- byses, a Persian noble. The Greek historian has a number of interesting and highly colored leg- ends to narrate regarding the fear of Astyages for ihc infant as his future vanquisher, with popular stories also regarding the fortunes of the youthful prince and his rapid elevation to power. Whatever value is to be placed on these pic- tiiresque accounts, there is no question that Cyrus's triumphant career began with his ovei'- throw of Astyages and his final mastery of !Media before the year B.C. 5.50. The conquest of the Median Empire opened the way for further success, and Cyris turned his victorious arms against Cncsus of Lydia, whom he van- quislied B.C. 54G. Asia Alinur was thus brought practically under this ambitious ruler's sway. The time had now arrived to strike a mighty blow against Babylon. Nabonidus, the King of that ancient capital, seems to have estranged himself from his subjects, and to have lost the favor of the priestly class. By preference he lived at Tenia, or Teva, and when the condition of afl'airs within Babylon itself became such as to call him back it was too late. The account of the fall of the city we can gather by combin- ing the testimony of the cimeifcn-rn records with the biblical narrative and Herodotus. Internal factions seem to have been numerous; the .Jews, wlo were in captivity in the city, apparently played a part. Babylon is slated to have fallen without fiyUtinc] before the victorious hosts of Cyrus, and Nabonidus was utterly overthrowii. Belshazzar of the Old Testament maj' have been Bel-sar-u.nir, the son of Nabonidus, who, accord- ing to the inscriptions, offered resistance to the advance of Cyrus's forces. The fall of the city itself occurred at the moment of the great Tam- muz festival, July, 530, and it was actually ac- complislied l)y Cyrus's satrap Gobryas (Gubaru or Ugbaru of the in.scriptions), who was in com- mand of the advance army. Cyrus himself made his triumphal entry into the city in October, 539, and became King of Babylon. The famous cylinder above referred to records the inaugura- tion of his rule. We know in general that his jiolicy toward the conquei'ed people was a most liberal one, and even though it may have fallen somewhat short, perhaps, of the enthusiastic hopes of a prophetic Isaiah, its ultimate influ- ence and effects are undoubted as having contrib- uted toward the restoration of the Jews from captivity. See Babtlon. The ambition of Cyrus, growing with advanc- ing years, led finally, it seems, to his own destruc- tion. The vision which Herodotus tells us Asty.iges beheld in a dream of the figure of the youthful Cyrus adorned with wings that overshadowed all Asia seemed now on the eve of fulfillment. The great conqueror's dominions actually extended almost from the Hellespont to the Indus. But disaster was at hand. Cyrus engaged in an in- vading expedition against the Scythian hordes of the north ( Herod, i. 204 ; Ammianus Marcel- linus, 20, 6, 7, 40). In a battle against their Queen, Tomyris, Cyrus is said to have been slain. Ctesias I'ers. (i-8 ) , however, states that Cyrus fell in battle against the Derbica>, a tribe bor- dering on India. The year of his death was B.C. 530-529, and his age is given as seventy-one years. His body is said to have received a final resting-place at Pasargada?. A tomb, now empty, still stands ther(! surmounting a .series of rising stone steps. Near by is a huge monolitli slab that once bore his naine; but this is broken and tumbled dowii, a monument, like the empty and lonely mausoleum, silently recording the fall of greatness. In estimating the character of Cyrus, after we have considered all the accounts of him. we may judge him to have been not only a man of great ])ersonal power, but an ideal king. The Persians called him father (Herod, iii. 89, 100) : the Jews looked upon him as their liberator; the Greeks admired his qualities as a niler and legislator (^Eschj'lus, Pers. 764-68) ; and Xenophon chose