I finally broke down and went all junior-high with my research — different colored pens for the different accounts of Cyrus’ taking Babylon. The most ancient records are notoriously problematic. Each one has a either a bone to pick or a bridge to sell, and they simply don’t agree on the facts. Did or did not Cyrus engage in a military encounter? When he arrived at the gates, were the Babylonians settling in for a seige, were they partying their brains out oblivious to this Persian from the north, or did they throw open the gates to welcome this beloved new ruler? Though both Herodotus and Xenophon have lots of great things to say about Cyrus, the Greeks finally aim to portray the Persians as corrupt, depraved, or at best weak. They figure that Cyrus took Babylon by force. One (Berossus, a Babylonian nationalist writing for the Greeks) claims that Cyrus flat out destroyed Babylon’s magnificent walls. The Persian side presents Cyrus as a liberator, excelling all others in moral standing, magnanimity, and grace, setting to right the wrongs of the wayward Babylonian king and beloved of the gods. The Babylonians ushered him in with joy. It’s tough to keep track of these different voices and to winnow for a grain of what really happened. In the meantime, it occurred to me that since junior high, computers have really come a long way. So, I put away the colored pens and have begun a file recording the different accounts in different fonts. Among them, Herodotus gets “Algerian,” Berossus is in “Bradley Hand ITC,” and the Nabonidus Chronicle is in “Arial.” Hopefully, this will help. If nothing else, it sure is pretty.
