As you pore over the curious, wedge-shaped marks on a clay cylinder at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), know that you’re taking in what is often believed to be the first declaration of human rights. The Cyrus Cylinder was inscribed in 539 BC after the Achaemenid king, Cyrus the Great, conquered Babylon that year. It carries inscriptions in Babylonian cuneiform (a cuneiform script is one of the oldest known systems of writing). The CMVS showcases a most absorbing exhibition, The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia -- A New Beginning, which has been organised by The British Museum. Apart from the Cyrus Cylinder, the exhibition will also display 30 other historically significant artefacts.

The Cyrus Cylinder