To date, the exhibition’s weekly average attendance places it among the top exhibitions ever shown at the Getty Villa. Extending the run of the exhibition provides an additional week for visitors to see this iconic document on loan from the British Museum, which concludes its highly successful United States tour in Los Angeles. Previous venues have included the Smithsonian’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco.
On November 23 at 6pm, Timothy Potts, director of the J. Paul Getty Museum, and Neil McGregor, director of the British Museum, will discuss the Cyrus Cylinder and cultural diplomacy. The conversation will take place in the Auditorium at the Getty Villa and is supported by U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management. Tickets are free, but a reservation is required.
About the Exhibition
Inscribed on the orders of the Persian king Cyrus II (ruled 559–530 B.C.), the Cyrus Cylinder recounts how he conquered the city of Babylon in 539 B.C. and instituted reforms throughout the region, restoring sanctuaries that had become dilapidated and permitting exiled peoples to return home. Often seen as a historic declaration of religious and political tolerance, the inscription in Babylonian cuneiform writing on a clay cylinder provides critical contemporary confirmation of Cyrus’s reputation as a benevolent ruler in ancient Greek and biblical texts, and bears witness to the multi-ethnic nature of the expanding Achaemenid Empire, which introduced innovative forms of writing, religion, and luxury goods to the Near East.
In addition to the Cyrus Cylinder, the exhibition includes a number of related objects that highlight the artistic, cultural, and historical achievements of the Achaemenid Empire of Iran, including spectacular jewelry, vessels, and other gold objects from the Oxus Treasure, as well as architectural fragments and finely carved cylinder seals used to ‘sign’ clay documents.
Admission to the Getty Villa and The Cyrus Cylinder And Ancient Persia: A New Beginning is free, but advance timed tickets are required. Parking is $15; $10 after 5pm on Saturdays. With the Getty’s “Pay Once, Park Twice” program, visitors to both the Getty Center and the Getty Villa on the same day pay only one parking fee, using a special coupon obtained at the Information Desk of the first museum visited.
The Los Angeles presentation of The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia: A New Beginning was made possible by the generous support of Farhang Foundation, the Getty’s sponsor and community partner. This exhibition was organized by the British Museum in partnership with the Iran Heritage Foundation and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, in collaboration with the J. Paul Getty Museum. This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and Humanities.
The exhibition at the Getty Villa is curated by Timothy Potts, director of the J. Paul Getty Museum, and David Saunders, assistant curator of antiquities at the J. Paul Getty Museum.