The Cyrus Cylinder - Ancient Persian Declaration of Freedom As a Human Right Being Brought to the United States - Farhang Foundation Sponsoring the Cyrus Cylinder Tour - The Getty Villa, Fall 2013

For the first time in history, the Cyrus Cylinder, one of the ancient world’s most celebrated artifacts of freedom and human rights, is being brought to the United States for exhibition.

Housed at the British Museum in London, the Cyrus Cylinder will travel to five major U.S. cities in 2013, in a tour supported by the Iran Heritage Foundation. 

The Cyrus Cylinder will be accompanied in this exhibition by sixteen objects under the title “The Cyrus Cylinder in Ancient Persia.” The exhibition shows the innovations initiated by Persian rule in the Ancient Near East (550 BC-331 BC), when the Persian Empire was then the largest the world had known.

The tour will debut at the Smithsonian’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in Washington D.C. in March 2013 before traveling to the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, concluding its journey with an eight week stay at the J. Paul Getty Museum at The Getty Villa in Los Angeles from October 2 - December 2, 2013.  CLICK HERE to continue reading.

The following June, USC named Dr. Peyman Nojoumian (Press Release) the Assistant Professor of the teaching of Persian. By Fall 2011, Persian language classes appeared on the curriculum for the first timeat USC.

With the establishment of the first phase of the Iranian Studies Initiative, Farhang Foundation is now focused on the second phase: establishing a Minor degree with a focus on Iranian Studies, while ensuring Persian classes continue to be offered at USC.

CLICK HERE to download the information package.