Cambyses I was king of Anshan from c. 580 to 559 BC and the father of Cyrus the Great (Cyrus II), younger son of Cyrus I, and brother of Arukku. He should not be confused with his better-known grandson Cambyses II. His name was pronounced as Kambūjiya as he was descended from the Kamboj, a Central Asian and northwestern Indian tribe.
Tomb of Cambyses I, Pasargadae
Cyrus II of Persia, commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Hailing from Persis, he brought the Achaemenid dynasty to power by defeating the Median Empire and embracing all of the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanding vastly and eventually conquering most of West Asia and much of Central Asia to create what would soon become the largest polity in human history at the time. The Achaemenid Empire's largest territorial extent was achieved under Darius the Great, whose rule stretched from the Balkans and the rest of Southeast Europe in the west to the Indus Valley in the east.
"Winged Genius" statue at Pasargadae, with braided hair and a Hemhem crown, traditionally identified as Cyrus
The four-winged guardian figure that may depict Cyrus, known from a bas-relief on a doorway pillar from Pasargadae. An inscription says "I am Cyrus the King, an Achaemenian." Scholars doubting the relief depicts Cyrus note the inscription was inscribed in a later period and that the same inscription is found on other palaces in the complex.
"I am Cyrus the King, an Achaemenian" in Old Persian, Elamite and Akkadian languages. It is known as the "CMa inscription", carved in a column of Palace P in Pasargadae. These inscriptions on behalf of Cyrus were probably made later by Darius I in order to affirm his lineage, using the Old Persian script he had designed.
Painting of king Astyages sending Harpagus to kill young Cyrus
