October
16
/ 2025
Peter Edwell /The Conversation With both parties agreeing to terms, the first stages of a peace plan in Gaza are in motion. US President Donald Trump is credited (especially in Israel and the US) with having played a vital role in this development. But why have banners appeared in Israel depicting Trump with the caption “Cyrus the Great is alive”? Who was Cyrus and what is he renowned for? Founder of the Achaemenid Persian Empire Cyrus the Great was the founder of the Achaemenid Persian empire (550 BC to 330 BC). Under Cyrus and his successors, the Persian empire stretched across a vast array of territories, including Iran, Mesopotamia (which includes parts of modern-day Turkey, Syria and Iraq), Egypt, Asia
