Iran lays claim to British Museum's Cyrus Cylinder

Conservative Iranian newspaper raises concern that rare 6th century BC Babylonian artefact may not be returned

 

The Cyrus Cylinder, sometimes called the world's first human rights charter,

was excavated in Babylon, Iraq in 1879.

 

It was not an easy decision for the British Museum to lend one of its most treasured artefacts to a country which has a notoriously prickly relationship with the UK. So curators in London are paying close attention to an Iranian threat not to return the famous Cyrus Cylinder — now embroiled in political intrigue in the Islamic Republic.

The 6th century BC Babylonian object, sometimes described as the world's first human rights charter, arrived in Iran at the weekend and is due to be displayed for four months at the national museum.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/15/iran-cyrus-cylinderbritish-museum