Medes

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Median Empire ← 728 BC – 549 BC → Median Empire, ca. 600 BC Capital Ecbatana Religion Zoroastrianism, possibly also Proto-Indo-Iranian religion Government Monarchy Historical era Iron Age  - Deioces 728 BC  - Cyrus the Great 549 BC

The Medes were an ancient Iranian people^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]} who lived in the northwestern portions of present-day Iran, roughly the areas of present day Kurdistan, Hamedan, Tehran, Lorestan, Azerbaijan, Esfahan and Zanjan. This area was known in Greek as Media or Medea (Μηδία, Old Persian Māda;^[7][8] adjective Median, antiquated also Medean). Under Assyrian rule, the Medes were known as Mādāyu.^[9] They entered this region with the first wave of Iranian tribes, in the late second millennium BC (the Bronze Age collapse).^[10]

By the 6th century BC, after having together with the Chaldeans defeated the Neo-Assyrian Empire, the Medes were able to establish their own empire,^[7] that stretched from southern shore of the Black Sea and Aran province (the modern-day Republic of Azerbaijan) to north and Central Asia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, and which included many tributary states, including the Persians, who eventually supplanted and absorbed the Median empire in the Achaemenid Persian Empire.^[7]

The Medes are credited with the foundation of the first Iranian empire, the largest of its day until Cyrus the Great established a unified Iranian empire of the Medes and Persians, often referred to as the Achaemenid Persian Empire, by defeating his grandfather and overlord, Astyages the king of Media.

Contents 1 Origins 2 Early historical references to Medes 2.1 The historical record 3 Median Empire 3.1 Median Kings 4 Persian dominance 5 Under the Seleucids 6 Under the Arsacids 7 Under the Sassanids 8 Median language 9 References and Notes 10 See also

[edit] Origins

The Medes are presumed to have migrated from Eurasian steppes southward to the Zagros mountains during the second millennium BC.^[11]

[edit] Early historical references to Medes

The origin and history of the Medes is quite obscure, as we possess almost no contemporary information, and not a single monument or inscription from Media itself. The story that Ctesias gave (a list of nine kings, beginning with Arbaces, who is said to have destroyed Nineveh in 880s BC, preserved in Diodorus ii. 32 sqq. and copied by many later authors) has no historical value whatsoever; though some of his names may be derived from local traditions.

Herodotus, i. 101, lists the names of six Median tribes: "Thus Deioces collected the Medes into a nation, and ruled over them alone. Now these are the tribes of which they consist: the Busae, the Paretaceni, the Struchates, the Arizanti, the Budii, and the Magi." He further notes that "the Medes had exactly the same equipment as the Persians; and indeed the dress common to both is not so much Persian as Median." (7.62)

According to Herodotus, "the Medes were called anciently by all people Aryans; but when Media, the Colchian, came to them from Athens, they changed their name. Such is the account which they themselves give." --- the Medes, History of Herodotus (7.7). (Medea is the Colchian-Thracian witch of Jason and the Argonauts, in Greek myth.)

Josephus relates the Medes (OT Heb. Madai) to the biblical character, Madai, son of Japheth. "Now as to Javan and Madai, the sons of Japhet; from Madai came the Madeans, who are called Medes, by the Greeks" Antiquities of the Jews, I:6.

According to the Book of Jubilees (10:35-36), Madai had married a daughter of Shem, and preferred to live among Shem's descendants, rather than dwell in Japheth's allotted inheritance beyond the Black Sea; so he begged his brothers-in-law, Elam, Asshur and Arphaxad, until he finally received from them the land that was named after him, Media.

We can see how the Persian element gradually became dominant; princes with Persian names occasionally occur as rulers of other tribes. But the Gelae, Tapuri, Cadusii, Amardi, Utii and other tribes in northern Media and on the shores of the Caspian may not have been Persian stock. Polybius (V. 44, 9), Strabo (xi. 507, 508, 514), and Pliny (vi. 46), considered the Anariaci to be among these tribes; but this name, meaning the "non-Arians", is probably a comprehensive designation for a number of smaller indigenous tribes.

[edit] The historical record

The Medes, people of the Mada, (the Greek form Μῆδοι is Ionic for Μᾶδοι), appear in history first in 836 BC. Earliest records show that Assyrian conqueror Shalmaneser III received tribute from the "Amadai" in connection with wars against the tribes of the Zagros. His successors undertook many expeditions against the Medes (Madai).

At this early stage, the Medes were usually mentioned together with another steppe tribe, the Scythians, who seem to have been the dominant group. They were divided into many districts and towns, under petty local chieftains; from the names in the Assyrian inscriptions, it appears they had already adopted the religion of Zoroaster^[12]

In 715 BC and 713 BC, Sargon II of Assyria subjected them up to "the far mountain Bikni", i.e. the Elbruz (Damavand) and the borders of the desert. If the account of Herodotus is to be trusted, the Median dynasty descends from Deioces (Daiukku), a Median chieftain in the Zagros, who, along with his kinsmen, was transported by Sargon to Hamath (Haniah) in Syria in 715 BC. This Daiukku seems to have originally been a governor of Mannae, subject to Sargon prior to his exile.

In spite of repeated rebellions by the early chieftains against Assyrian rule, the Medes paid tribute to Assyria under Sargon's successors, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon and Ashur-bani-pal whenever these kings marched against them. Assyrian forts located in Median territory at the time of Esarhaddon's campaign (ca. 676) included Bit-Parnakki, Bit-kari and Harhar (Kar-Sharrukin).

[edit] Median Empire

In the second 8th century BC, the Medes gained their independence and were united by a dynasty. Traditionally, the creator of the Median kingdom was one Deioces, who, according to Herodotus, reigned from 728 to 675 BC and founded the Median capital Ecbatana (modern Hamadan, Iran).^[13]

According to Herodotus, the conquests of Cyaxares the Medes were preceded by a Scythian invasion and domination lasting twenty-eight years (under Madius the Scythian, 653-625 BC). The Medes tribes seem to have come into immediate conflict with a settled state to the West known as Mannae, allied with Assyria. Assyrian inscriptions state that the early Medes rulers, who had attempted rebellions against the Assyrians in the time of Esarhaddon and Ashur-bani-pal, were allied with chieftains of the Ashguza (Scythians) and other tribes - who had come from the northern shore of the Black Sea and invaded Asia Minor. The state of Mannae was finally conquered and assimilated by the Medes in the year 616 BC.

In 612 BC, Cyaxares conquered Urartu, and in alliance with Nabopolassar (who created the Neo-Babylonian Empire), succeeded in destroying the Assyrian capital, Nineveh, and by 606 BC, the remaining vestiges of Assyrian control. From this point, the Medes king ruled over much of northern Mesopotamia, eastern Anatolia and Cappadocia. His power was a threat to his neighbors, and the exiled Jews expected the destruction of Babylonia by the Medes (Isaiah 13, 14m 21; Jerem. 1, 51.).

When Cyaxares attacked Lydia in the Battle of Halys, the kings of Cilicia and Babylon intervened and negotiated a peace in 585 BC, whereby the Halys river was established as the Medes' frontier with Lydia. Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon married a daughter of Cyaxares, and an equilibrium of the great powers was maintained until the rise of the Persians under Cyrus the Great.

[edit] Median Kings

• Deioces (Old Iranian *Dahyu-ka) 727-675 B.C.^[14]
• Phraortes (Old Iranian *Fravarti) 674-653
• Madius (Scythian Rule) 652-625
• Cyaxares (Old Iranian *Uvaxštra) 624-585 ^[15]
• Astyages (Old Iranian *Ršti-vêga) 589-549 ^[16]

Modern research by a professor of Assyriology, Robert Rollinger, has questioned the extent of the Median empire and its sphere of influence, proposing for example that it did not control the Assyrian heartland.^[17]

[edit] Persian dominance

Further information: Persian Mesopotamia

In 553 BC, Cyrus the Great, King of Persia, rebelled against his grandfather, the Mede King Astyages, son of Cyaxares; he finally won a decisive victory in 550 BC resulting in Astyages' capture by his own dissatisfied nobles, who promptly turned him over to the triumphant Cyrus. Thus were the Medes subjected to their close kin, the Persians. In the new empire they retained a prominent position; in honor and war, they stood next to the Persians; their court ceremony was adopted by the new sovereigns, who in the summer months resided in Ecbatana; and many noble Medes were employed as officials, satraps and generals. Interestingly, at the beginning the Greek historians referred to the Achaemenid Empire as a Median empire.

After the assassination of the usurper Smerdis, a Mede Fravartish (Phraortes), claiming to be a scion of Cyaxares, tried to restore the Mede kingdom, but was defeated by the Persian generals and executed in Ecbatana (Darius in the Behistun inscr.). Another rebellion, in 409 BC, against Darius II (Xenophon, Hellen. ~. 2, 19) was of short duration. But the non-Aryan tribes to the north, especially the Cadusii, were always troublesome; many abortive expeditions of the later kings against them are mentioned^{[citation needed]}.

Under Persian rule, the country was divided into two satrapies: the south, with Ecbatana and Rhagae (Rey near modern Tehran), Media proper, or Greater Media, as it is often called, formed in Darius' organization the eleventh satrapy (Herodotus iii. 92), together with the Paricanians and Orthocorybantians; the north, the district of Matiane (see above), together with the mountainous districts of the Zagros and Assyria proper (east of the Tigris) was united with the Alarodians and Saspirians in eastern Armenia, and formed the eighteenth satrapy (Herod. iii. 94; cf. v. 49, 52, VII. 72).

When the Persian empire decayed and the Cadusii and other mountainous tribes made themselves independent, eastern Armenia became a special satrapy, while Assyria seems to have been united with Media; therefore Xenophon in the Anabasis always designates Assyria by the name of "Media".^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Under the Seleucids

Main article: Atropatene

Alexander the Great occupied the satrapy of Media in the summer of 330 BC. In 328 he appointed as satrap a former general of Darius called Atropates (Atrupat), whose daughter was married to Perdiccas in 324, according to Arrian. In the partition of his empire, southern Media was given to the Macedonian Peithon; but the north, far off and of little importance to the generals squabbling over Alexander's inheritance, was left to Atropates.

While southern Media, with Ecbatana, passed to the rule of Antigonus, and afterwards (about 310 BC) to Seleucus I, Atropates maintained himself in his own satrapy and succeeded in founding an independent kingdom. Thus the partition of the country, that Persia had introduced, became lasting; the north was named Atropatene (in Pliny, Atrapatene; in Ptolemy, Tropatene), after the founder of the dynasty, a name still said to be preserved in the modern form 'Azerbaijan'.

The capital of Atropatene was Gazaca in the central plain, and the castle Phraaspa, discovered on the Araz river by archaeologists in April 2005. The kings had a strong and warlike army, especially cavalry (Polyb. v. 55; Strabo xi. 253). Nevertheless, King Artabazanes was forced by Antiochus the Great in 220 BC to conclude a disadvantageous treaty (Polyb. v. 55), and in later times, the rulers became dependent in turn upon the Parthians, upon Tigranes of Armenia, and in the time of Pompey who defeated their king Darius (Appian, Mithr. 108), upon Antonius (who invaded Atropatene) and upon Augustus of Rome. In the time of Strabo (AD 17), the dynasty still existed; later, the country seems to have become a Parthian province.

Atropatene is that country of western Asia which was least of all other countries influenced by Hellenism; there exists not even a single coin of its rulers. Southern Media remained a province of the Seleucid Empire for a century and a half, and Hellenism was introduced everywhere. Media was surrounded everywhere by Greek towns, in pursuance of Alexander's plan to protect it from neighboring barbarians, according to Polybius (x. 27). Only Ecbatana retained its old character. But Rhagae became the Greek town Europus; and with it Strabo (xi. 524) names Laodicea, Apamea Heraclea or Achais. Most of them were founded by Seleucus I and his son Antiochus I.

[edit] Under the Arsacids

In 221 BC, the satrap Molon tried to make himself independent (there exist bronze coins with his name and the royal title), together with his brother Alexander, satrap of Persis, but they were defeated and killed by Antiochus the Great. In the same way, the Mede satrap Timarchus took the diadem and conquered Babylonia; on his coins he calls himself the great king Timarchus; but again the legitimate king, Demetrius I, succeeded in subduing the rebellion, and Timarchus was slain. But with Demetrius I, the dissolution of the Seleucid Empire began, brought about chiefly by the intrigues of the Romans, and shortly afterwards, in about 150, the Parthian king Mithradates I conquered Media (Justin xli. 6).

From this time Media remained subject to the Arsacids or Parthians, who changed the name of Rhagae, or Europus, into Arsacia (Strabo xi. 524), and divided the country into five small provinces (Isidorus Charac.). From the Parthians, it passed in 226 to the Sassanids, together with Atropatene.

[edit] Under the Sassanids

By this time the older tribes of Aryan Iran had lost their distinct character and had been amalgamated into one people, the Iranians. The revival of Zoroastrianism, enforced everywhere by the Sassanids, completed this development. Atropatene, already center of the fire cult during Parthian times (see Takht-i-Suleiman) now became the site of one of the legendary Great Fires. Under the patronage of Kartir, the 'priest of priests' of the early Sassanid kings, Arsacia/Rhagae advanced to become one of the two (the other being Ishtakhr, ancestral seat of the Sassanid priest-kings) centers of the Zoroastrian priesthood.

[edit] Median language

Main article: Median language

Strabo, in his "Geography", mentions the affinity of Mede with other Iranian languages:

The name of Ariana is further extended to a part of Persia and of Media, as also to the Bactrians and Sogdians on the north; for these speak approximately the same language, with but slight variations.

– Geography, 15.8

Words probably of Mede origin appear in various other Iranian dialects, including Old Persian. For example, Herodotus mentions the word Spaka (dog), still found in Iranic languages such as Talyshi. Other words also thought to be of Mede origin (I.M Diakonoff, Medes) include

• Farnah: Divine glory; (Avestan: khvarɘnah),
• Paridaiza: Paradise, (as in Pardis پردیس)
• Vazraka: Great, (as Modern Persian Bozorg بزرگ),
• Vispa: All, (as in Avestan),
• Xshayathiya (royal, royalty).

[edit] References and Notes

History of Greater Iran
Empires of Persia · Kings of Persia
Pre-modern
Before Islam  BCE Zayandeh River Civilization prehistoric–? Sialk civilization 7500–1000 Jiroft civilization (Aratta) 3000–? Proto-Elamite civilization 3200–2800 Bactria-Margiana Complex 2200–1700 Elamite dynasties 2800–550 Kingdom of Mannai 10th–7th cent. Median Empire 728–550 Achaemenid Empire 550–330 Seleucid Empire 330–150 Greco-Bactrian Kingdom 250-125 Parthian Empire 248–CE 224 CE Kushan Empire 30–275 Sassanid Empire 224–651 Hephthalite Empire 425–557 Kabul-Shahi dynasty 565–670
After Islamic Conquest  Patriarchal Caliphate 637–651 Umayyad Caliphate 661–750 Abbasid Caliphate 750–1258 Tahirid dynasty 821–873 Alavid dynasty 864–928 Saffarid dynasty 861–1003 Samanid dynasty 819–999 Ziyarid dynasty 928–1043 Buyid Dynasty 934–1055 Ghaznavid Empire 975–1187 Ghori dynasty 1149–1212 Seljuk Empire 1037–1194 Khwarezmid dynasty 1077–1231 Kartids dynasty 1231-1389 Ilkhanate 1256–1353 Muzaffarid dynasty 1314–1393 Chupanid dynasty 1337–1357 Jalayerid dynasty 1339–1432 Timurid Empire 1370–1506 Qara Qoyunlu Turcomans 1407–1468 Aq Qoyunlu Turcomans 1378–1508 Safavid Empire 1501–1722* Mughal Empire 1526–1857 Hotaki dynasty 1722–1729 Afsharid dynasty 1736–1802 * or 1736
Modern SSR = Soviet Socialist Republic
Afghanistan  Durrani Empire 1748–1823 British and Russian influence 1826–1919 Independence and civil war 1919–1929 Mohammedzai rule 1929–1973 Republic of Afghanistan 1973–1978 Communist rule 1978–1992 Recent history of Afghanistan since 1992 Timeline
Azerbaijan  Khanates of the Caucasus 1722–1828 Russian Rule 1828–1917 Democratic Republic 1918–1920 Azerbaijan SSR 1920–1991 Republic of Azerbaijan since 1991
Bahrain  Portuguese rule 1521–1602 British Treaty 1820–1971 Kingdom of Bahrain since 1971
Iran  Zand dynasty 1750–1794 Qajar dynasty 1781–1925 Pahlavi dynasty 1925–1979 Iranian Revolution 1979 Provisional Government 1979 Islamic Republic of Iran since 1979
Iraq  Ottoman Empire 1632–1919 Hashimite monarchy 1920–1958 Coup and Republic 1958–2003 Republic of Iraq since 2004
Tajikistan  Emirate of Bukhara 1785–1920 Bukharan / Uzbek SSR 1920–1929 Tajik Autonomous SSR 1929 Tajik SSR 1929–1991 Republic of Tajikistan since 1991
Uzbekistan  Emirate of Bukhara 1785–1920 Uzbek SSR 1924–1991 Independence 1991 Republic of Uzbekistan since 1991

[edit] See also

• List of Kings of the Medes
• Full list of Iranian kingdoms

v • d • e Provinces of the Achaemenid Empire (Behistun and Daiva inscriptions) Persia · Elam · Babylonia · Media · Sacae · Yauna · Macedon · Pamphylia · Paphlagonia · Cappadocia · Caria · Lydia · Thrace · Armenia · Assyria · Cilicia · Taxila · Egypt · Gandara · Sattagydia · Gedrosia · Carmania · Maka · Drangiana · Arachosia · Bactria · Parthia · Aria · Chorasmia · Sogdia · Kush · Arabia · Hyrcania · Margu · Dahae · Libya By district (Herodotus) District I · II · III · IV · V · VI · VII · VIII · IX · X · XI · XII · XIII · XIV · XV · XVI · XVII · XVIII · XIX · XX

v • d • e Provinces of the Sassanid Empire Abarshahr · Adiabene · Albania · Arabistan · Aria · Armenia · Asuristan · Atropatene · Balasagan · Carmania · Hyrcania · Iberia · India · Kushanshahr · Machelonia · Maishan · Margiana · Mazun · Media · Mokran · Paratan · Parthia · Patishkhwagar · Persis · Sakastan · Susiana · Turan