This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses some material from the wikipedia article "History of Iran”,and  “Cyrus cylinder”

The modern country we call Iran has a long history. It once covered an area from the Euphrates in the west to the Indus valley in the east and in the north  from the Caspian sea and the Caucasus south to the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. It covered an area that now included Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Afganistan, Uzbekistan, parts of eastern Turkey, Pakistan, and Iraq. Known as Persia, it was in its day the great superpower of the region, and one of the greatest empires that has ever existed.

A map of Iran can found on the right. This Iranian map shows the area of Iran in the first century BC.

This great empire founded by Cyrus the Great unified many smaller tribes in the region including the previous overlords of the region, the Medes. He conquered Lydia, and Babylon. He was not humble. On the Cyrus Cylinder, a declaration he had made when he conquered babylon, he wrote “I am Cyrus, king of the world, great king, legitimate king, king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four riims (of the earth)”, etc., etc.

He added, “ When I entered Babylon as a friend, and I established the seat of government in the palace of the ruler under jubilation and rejoicing, Marduk, the great lord [induced] the magnanimous inhabitants of Babylon [to love me].... My numerous troops walked around in Babylon in peace, I did not allow anybody to terrorize (any place) of the [country of Sumer] and Akkad. I strove for peace in Babylon and in all his (other) sacred cities. As to the inhabitants of Babylon, [.... I brought relief to their dilapidated housing, putting (thus) an end to their (main) complaints. Marduk, the great lord, was well pleased with my deeds and sent friendly blessings to myself”

From BC 522 to 486 Persia was ruled by Darius the great. He built great roads, the city of Persepolis, and a canal from the Nile to the Red Sea, the predecessor of the Suez Canal.

The Persian Empire was conquered by Alexander the great in 333BC and much Persian culture, (Iranian culture) was replaced by Greek culture, the Greek language being used in diplomacy and literature.

Babylon is only 55 miles south of Bagdad.

Another more recent conquer might print his own cylinder.

It might go something like:

When I, George The Great, entered Babylon as a friend, and I established the seat of government in the palace of the ruler, in the lovely Green Zone,  under jubilation and rejoicing, Jesus, the great lord [induced] the magnanimous inhabitants of Babylon [to love me] (Well, for a while anyway,).... My numerous troops walked around in Babylon in peace,(as long as they stayed in the Green Zone), I did not allow anybody to terrorize (any place) (Except for a few suicide bombers here and there). I strove for peace in Babylon and in all his (other) sacred cities. As to the inhabitants of Babylon, [.... I brought relief to their dilapidated housing (mostly by blowing them up), putting (thus) an end to their (main) complaints (dead men can’t complain.”). Jesus, the great lord, was well pleased with my deeds and sent friendly blessings to myself, and lots of money to my friends in the oil and PMC’s, private military companies.