Shafaq News – Baghdad / Paris

Iraq has successfully added the Cyrus Cylinder to the UNESCO World Heritage List, the country’s Permanent Delegate to UNESCO Asaad Turki Suwari announced on Sunday.

The World Heritage List recognizes cultural and natural sites of exceptional universal value.

In a statement, Suwari said that Iraq secured the inscription during the 43rd session of the UNESCO General Conference, noting that member states unanimously approved the file during two weeks of meetings in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

He pointed out that the cylinder, written in the Iraqi Sumerian language and discovered in Babylon, is regarded as one of the earliest texts associated with human rights.

Iraq now has six sites on the World Heritage List, ranking ninth among Arab states, while additional locations such as Nineveh, Nimrud, and the Old City of Mosul remain on UNESCO’s Tentative List.