TEHRAN: A Babylonian artifact sometimes described as the world’s first human-rights charter went on display in Iran after the government threatened to cut ties with the British Museum if it did not loan the object.

The Cyrus Cylinder is a sixth century BC clay object inscribed with an account in cuneiform of the conquest of Babylon by the Persian King Cyrus the Great. It arrived in Iran Friday and was unveiled Sunday by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the National Museum. It will remain on display for four months.

Iran said it had been in a dispute with the British Museum for months over its request for a loan of the object and threatened to cut ties with the institution. At one point, a senior Iranian cultural official accused the museum of turning a cultural issue into a political issue.

The loan discussions, which began in October, took place amid tensions between the two countries. Tehran is under pressure from the West over its nuclear program, and it has accused Britain and other foreign governments of interfering in its domestic policies.

The British Museum has said it acted in good faith throughout the negotiations and has a policy of cultural exchanges with other nations that are independent of political considerations.

In a statement released Friday, the British Museum said that “although political relations between Iran and the UK are at the moment difficult … it is all the more important to maintain the cultural links which have been so carefully built up over a period of years and which could in themselves lead to a better relationship.”

The object’s inscription describes how Cyrus conquered Babylon in 539 BC and captured the last Babylonian king.

It also tells of how he then freed many people held captive by the Babylonians and arranged for them to return to their homelands.