The Cyrus Cylinder, a cuneiform document historians consider to have been written for publication in Babylon, is strongly religious, and in it Cyrus is represented as ascribing the credit for his victory to Marduk, the chief god of Babylon, saying: “He [Marduk] scanned and looked (through) all the countries, searching for a righteous ruler willing to lead him . . . (in the annual procession). (Then) he pronounced the name of Cyrus (Ku-ra-as), king of Anshan, declared him (lit.: pronounced [his] name) to be(come) the ruler of all the world. . . . Marduk, the great lord, a protector of his people/​worshipers, beheld with pleasure his (i.e. Cyrus’) good deeds and his upright mind (lit.: heart) (and therefore) ordered him to march against his city Babylon (Ká.dingir.ra). He made him set out on the road to Babylon (DIN.TIR^ki) going at his side like a real friend. His widespread troops​—their number, like that of the water of a river, could not be established—​strolled along, their weapons packed away. Without any battle, he made him enter his town Babylon (Su.an.na), sparing Babylon (Kádingir.ra^ki) any calamity.”​—Ancient Near Eastern Texts, p. 315.

Why does the Cyrus Cylinder explain Babylon’s fall in a manner different from the Bible?

Despite this pagan interpretation of events, the Bible shows that, on making his proclamation authorizing the exiled Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple there, Cyrus acknowledged: “All the kingdoms of the earth Jehovah the God of the heavens has given me, and he himself has commissioned me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.” (Ezr 1:1, 2) This, of course, does not mean that Cyrus became a Jewish convert but simply that he knew the Biblical facts regarding his victory. In view of the high administrative position in which Daniel was placed, both before and after the fall of Babylon (Da 5:29; 6:1-3, 28), it would be most unusual if Cyrus were not informed of the prophecies that Jehovah’s prophets had recorded and spoken, including Isaiah’s prophecy containing Cyrus’ very name. As regards the Cyrus Cylinder, already quoted, it is acknowledged that others aside from the king may have had a hand in the preparation of this cuneiform document. The book Biblical Archaeology by G. Ernest Wright (1962, p. 203) speaks of “the king, or the bureau which framed the document” (compare the similar case with Darius at Da 6:6-9), while Dr. Emil G. Kraeling (Rand McNally Bible Atlas, 1966, p. 328) calls the Cyrus Cylinder “a propaganda document composed by the Babylonian priests.” It may, indeed, have been drawn up under the influence of the Babylonian clergy (Ancient Near Eastern Texts, p. 315, ftn. 1), thereby serving their purpose of explaining away the utter failure of Marduk (also known as Bel) and the other Babylonian gods to save the city, going even to the extent of attributing to Marduk the very things that Jehovah had done.​—Compare Isa 46:1, 2; 47:11-15.

According to the Cyrus Cylinder (PICTURE, Vol. 2, p. 332), the Persian ruler followed a generally humane and tolerant policy toward the conquered peoples of his domain. The inscription quotes him as saying: “I returned to [certain previously named] sacred cities on the other side of the Tigris, the sanctuaries of which have been ruins for a long time, the images which (used) to live therein and established for them permanent sanctuaries. I (also) gathered all their (former) inhabitants and returned (to them) their habitations.”​—Ancient Near Eastern Texts, p. 316.