Medes - Wikipedia Medes From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search Ancient iranian people This article is about the ancient Iranian people. For other uses, see Medes (disambiguation). For Medians, see Median (disambiguation). This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in French. (February 2020) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the French article. Machine translation like DeepL or Google Translate is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary Content in this edit is translated from the existing French Wikipedia article at [[:fr:Mèdes]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template {{Translated|fr|Mèdes}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation. Median Dynasty Mādai c. 678 BC–c. 549 BC A map of the Median Empire at its greatest extent (6th century BC), according to Herodotus Capital Ecbatana Common languages Median Religion Ancient Iranian religion (related to Mithraism, early Zoroastrianism) King   Historical era Iron Age • Established c. 678 BC • Conquered by Cyrus the Great c. 549 BC Area 585 BC[1][2] 2,800,000 km2 (1,100,000 sq mi) Preceded by Succeeded by Neo-Assyrian Empire Urartu Achaemenid Empire Part of a series on the History of Iran Mythological history Pishdadian dynasty Kayanian dynasty Ancient period BC Prehistory of Iran Ancient Times–4000 Kura–Araxes culture 3400–2000 Proto-Elamite 3200–2700 Jiroft culture c. 3100 – c. 2200 Elam 2700–539 Akkadian Empire 2400–2150 Lullubi culture c. 2300-700 Kassites c. 1500 – c. 1155 Neo-Assyrian Empire 911–609 Urartu 860–590 Mannaeans 850–616 Imperial period Median Empire 678–550 BC (Scythian Kingdom) 652–625 BC Anshanite Kingdom 635 BC–550 BC Neo-Babylonian Empire 626 BC–539 BC Achaemenid Empire 550 BC–330 BC Kingdom of Armenia 331 BC–428 AD Atropatene c. 323 BC–226 AD Kingdom of Cappadocia 320s BC–17 AD Seleucid Empire 312 BC–63 BC Kingdom of Pontus 281 BC–62 BC Fratarakas 3rd-century BC–132 BC Parthian Empire 247 BC–224 AD Elymais 147 BC–224 AD Characene 141 BC–222 AD Kings of Persis 132 BC–224 AD Indo-Parthian Kingdom 19 AD–224/5 Paratarajas 125–300 Sasanian Empire 224–651 Zarmihrids 6th century–785 Qarinvandids 550s–11th century Medieval period Rashidun Caliphate 632-661 Umayyad Caliphate 661–750 Abbasid Caliphate 750–1258 Dabuyids 642–760 Bavandids 651–1349 Masmughans of Damavand 651–760 Baduspanids 665–1598 Justanids 791 – 11th century Alid dynasties 864 – 14th century Tahirid dynasty 821–873 Samanid Empire 819–999 Saffarid dynasty 861–1003 Ghurid dynasty pre-879 – 1215 Sajid dynasty 889–929 Sallarid dynasty 919–1062 Ziyarid dynasty 930–1090 Ilyasids 932–968 Buyid dynasty 934–1062 Ghaznavid dynasty 977–1186 Kakuyids 1008–1141 Nasrid dynasty 1029–1236 Shabankara 1030–1355 Seljuk Empire 1037–1194 Khwarazmian dynasty 1077–1231 Eldiguzids 1135–1225 Atabegs of Yazd 1141–1319 Salghurids 1148–1282 Hazaraspids 1155–1424 Pishkinid dynasty 1155–1231 Khorshidi dynasty 1184-1597 Qutlugh-Khanids 1223-1306 Mihrabanids 1236–1537 Kurt dynasty 1244–1396 Ilkhanate Empire 1256–1335 Chobanid dynasty 1335–1357 Muzaffarid dynasty 1335–1393 Jalayirid Sultanate 1337–1376 Sarbadars 1337–1376 Injuids 1335–1357 Afrasiyab dynasty 1349–1504 Mar'ashis 1359–1596 Timurid Empire 1370–1507 Kar-Kiya dynasty 1370s–1592 Kara Koyunlu 1406–1468 Aq Qoyunlu 1468–1508 Early modern period Safavid Iran 1501–1736 (Hotak dynasty) 1722–1729 Afsharid dynasty 1736–1796 Talysh Khanate 1747–1826 Zand dynasty 1751–1794 Qajar Iran 1789–1925 Modern period Pahlavi dynasty 1925–1979 Iranian Revolution, Interim Government 1979 Islamic Republic 1979–present Related articles Name Monarchs Heads of state Economic history Military history Wars Timeline  Iran portal v t e The Apadana Palace, 5th century BC Achaemenid bas-relief shows a Mede soldier behind a Persian soldier, in Persepolis, Iran The Medes /ˈmiːdz/[N 1] (Old Persian Māda-, Ancient Greek: Μῆδοι) were an ancient Iranian people[N 2] who spoke the Median language and who inhabited an area known as Media between western and northern Iran. Around the 11th century BC, they occupied the mountainous region of northwestern Iran and the northeastern and eastern region of Mesopotamia located in the region of Hamadan (Ecbatana). Their emergence in Iran is believed to have occurred during the 8th century BC. In the 7th century BC, all of western Iran and some other territories were under Median rule, but their precise geographic extent remains unknown.[5] Although they are generally recognized as having an important place in the history of the ancient Near East, the Medes have left no written source to reconstruct their history, which is known only from foreign sources such as the Assyrians, Babylonians and Greeks, as well as a few Iranian archaeological sites, which are believed to have been occupied by Medes. The accounts relating to the Medes reported by Herodotus have left the image of a powerful people, who would have formed an empire at the beginning of the 7th century BC that lasted until the 550s BC, played a determining role in the fall of the Assyrian Empire and competed with the powerful kingdoms of Lydia and Babylonia. However, a recent reassessment of contemporary sources from the Mede period has altered scholars' perceptions of the Median state. The state remains difficult to perceive in the documentation, which leaves many doubts about it, some specialists even suggesting that there never was a powerful Median kingdom. In any case, it appears that after the fall of the last Median king against Cyrus the Great of the Persian Empire, Media became an important province and prized by the empires which successively dominated it (Achaemenids, Seleucids, Parthians and Sasanids). Contents 1 Tribes 2 Etymology 3 Mythology 4 Archaeology 5 Geography 6 History 6.1 Prehistory 6.2 Rise and fall 6.3 Median dynasty 7 Culture and society 7.1 Language 7.2 Religion 8 Kurds and Medes 9 See also 10 Notes 11 References 12 Sources 13 Further reading 14 External links Tribes[edit] According to the Histories of Herodotus, there were six Median tribes:[6] 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. The six Median tribes resided in Media proper, the triangular area between Rhagae, Aspadana and Ecbatana.[7] In present-day Iran,[8] that is the area between Tehran, Isfahan and Hamadan, respectively. Of the Median tribes, the Magi resided in Rhagae,[9] modern Tehran.[10] They were of a sacred caste which ministered to the spiritual needs of the Medes.[11] The Paretaceni tribe resided in and around Aspadana, modern Isfahan,[7][12][13] the Arizanti lived in and around Kashan (Isfahan Province),[7] and the Busae tribe lived in and around the future Median capital of Ecbatana, near modern Hamadan.[7] The Struchates and the Budii lived in villages in the Median triangle.[14] Etymology[edit] The original source for their name and homeland is a directly transmitted Old Iranian geographical name which is attested as the Old Persian "Māda-" (singular masculine).[15] The meaning of this word is not precisely known.[16] However, the linguist W. Skalmowski proposes a relation with the proto-Indo European word "med(h)-", meaning "central, suited in the middle", by referring to the Old Indic "madhya-" and Old Iranian "maidiia-" which both carry the same meaning.[15] The Latin medium, Greek méso, Armenian mej, and English mid are similarly derived from it. Greek scholars during antiquity would base ethnological conclusions on Greek legends and the similarity of names. According to the Histories of Herodotus (440 BC):[17] The Medes were formerly called by everyone Arians, but when the Colchian woman Medea came from Athens to the Arians, they changed their name, like the Persians [did after Perses, son of Perseus and Andromeda].[18] This is the Medes' own account of themselves. Mythology[edit] In the Greek myth of Jason and the Argonauts, Medea is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis and a paternal granddaughter of the sun-god Helios.[19] Following her failed marriage to Jason while in Corinth, for one of several reasons depending on the version,[20] she marries King Aegeus of Athens and bears a son Medus. After failing to make Aegeus kill his older son Theseus, she and her son fled to Aria, where the Medes take their name from her, according to several Greek and later Roman accounts, including in Pausanias' Description of Greece (1st-century AD).[21] According to other versions, such as in Strabo's Geographica (1st-century AD) and Justin's Epitoma Historiarum Philippicarum (2nd or 3rd century AD), she returned home to conquer neighboring lands with her husband Jason, one of which was named after her; while another version related by Diodorus Siculus in Bibliotheca Historica (1st-century BC) states that after being exiled she married an Asian king and bore Medus, who was greatly admired for his courage, after whom they took their name.[22] Archaeology[edit] Excavation from ancient Ecbatana, Hamadan, Iran The discoveries of Median sites in Iran happened only after the 1960s.[23] Prior to the 1960s, the search for Median archeological sources has mostly focused in an area known as the "Median triangle", defined roughly as the region bounded by Hamadān and Malāyer (in Hamadan Province) and Kangāvar (in Kermanshah Province).[23] Three major sites from central western Iran in the Iron Age III period (i.e. 850–500 BC) are:[24] Tepe Nush-i Jan (a primarily religious site of Median period), The site is located 14 km west of Malāyer in Hamadan province.[23] The excavations started in 1967 with David Stronach as the director.[25] The remains of four main buildings in the site are "the central temple, the western temple, the fort, and the columned hall" which according to Stronach were likely to have been built in the order named and predate the latter occupation of the first half of the 6th century BC.[26] According to Stronach, the central temple, with its stark design, "provides a notable, if mute, expression of religious belief and practice".[26] A number of ceramics from the Median levels at Tepe Nush-i Jan have been found which are associated with a period (the second half of the 7th century BC) of power consolidation in the Hamadān areas. These findings show four different wares known as "common ware" (buff, cream, or light red in colour and with gold or silver mica temper) including jars in various size the largest of which is a form of ribbed pithoi. Smaller and more elaborate vessels were in "grey ware", (these display smoothed and burnished surface). The "cooking ware" and "crumbly ware" are also recognized each in single handmade products.[26] Godin Tepe (its period II: a fortified palace of a Median king or tribal chief), The site is located 13 km east of Kangāvar city on the left bank of the river Gamas Āb". The excavations, started in 1965, were led by T. C. Young, Jr. which according to David Stronach, evidently shows an important Bronze Age construction that was reoccupied sometime before the beginning of the Iron III period. The excavations of Young indicate the remains of part of a single residence of a local ruler which later became quite substantial.[23] This is similar to those mentioned often in Assyrian sources.[24] Babajan (probably the seat of a lesser tribal ruler of Media). The site is located in northeastern Lorestan with a distance of roughly 10 km from Nūrābād in Lorestan province. The excavations were conducted by C. Goff in 1966–69. The second level of this site probably dates to the 7th century BC.[27] These sources have both similarities (in cultural characteristics) and differences (due to functional differences and diversity among the Median tribes).[24] The architecture of these archaeological findings, which can probably be dated to the Median period, show a link between the tradition of columned audience halls often seen in the Achaemenid Empire (for example in Persepolis) and Safavid Iran (for example in Chehel Sotoun from the 17th century AD) and what is seen in Median architecture.[24] The materials found at Tepe Nush-i Jan, Godin Tepe, and other sites located in Media together with the Assyrian reliefs show the existence of urban settlements in Media in the first half of the 1st millennium BC which had functioned as centres for the production of handicrafts and also of an agricultural and cattle-breeding economy of a secondary type.[28] For other historical documentation, the archaeological evidence, though rare, together with cuneiform records by Assyrian make it possible, regardless of Herodotus' accounts, to establish some of the early history of Medians.[29] Geography[edit] An early description of Media from the end of the 9th century BC to the beginning of the 7th century BC comes from the Assyrians. The southern border of Media, in that period, is named as the Elamite region of Simaški in present-day Lorestan Province. To the west and northwest, Media was bounded by the Zagros Mountains and from the east by the Dasht-e Kavir desert. This region of Media was ruled by the Assyrians and for them the region fell "along the Great Khorasan Road from just east of Harhar to Alwand, and probably beyond."[30] The location of Harhar is suggested to be "the central or eastern" Mahidasht District in Kermanshah Province.[31] Its borders were limited in the north by the non-Iranian states of Gizilbunda and Mannea, and to its south by Ellipi and Elam.[30][5] Gizilbunda was located in the Qaflankuh Mountains, and Ellipi was located in the south of modern Lorestan Province.[5] On the east and southeast of Media, as described by the Assyrians, another land with the name of "Patušarra" appears. This land was located near a mountain range which the Assyrians call "Bikni" and describe as "Lapis Lazuli Mountain". There are differing opinions on the location of this mountain. Mount Damavand of Tehran and Alvand of Hamadan are two proposed sites. This location is the most remote eastern area that the Assyrians knew of or reached during their expansion until the beginning of the 7th century BC.[32] In Achaemenid sources, specifically from the Behistun Inscription (2.76, 77–78), the capital of Media is Ecbatana, called "Hamgmatāna-" in Old Persian (Elamite:Agmadana-; Babylonian: Agamtanu-) corresponding to modern-day Hamadan.[33] The other cities existing in Media were Laodicea (modern Nahavand)[34] and the mound that was the largest city of the Medes, Rhages (present-day Rey). The fourth city of Media was Apamea, near Ecbatana, whose precise location is now unknown. In later periods, Medes and especially Mede soldiers are identified and portrayed prominently in ancient archaeological sites such as Persepolis, where they are shown to have a major role and presence in the military of the Achaemenid Empire. History[edit] Prehistory[edit] Timeline of Pre-Achaemenid era. At the end of the 2nd millennium BC, the Iranian tribes emerged in the region of northwest Iran. These tribes expanded their control over larger areas. Subsequently, the boundaries of Media changed over a period of several hundred years.[35] Iranian tribes were present in western and northwestern Iran from at least the 12th or 11th centuries BC. But the significance of Iranian elements in these regions were established from the beginning of the second half of the 8th century BC.[36] By this time the Iranian tribes were the majority in what later become the territory of the Median Kingdom and also the west of Media proper.[36] A study of textual sources from the region shows that in the Neo-Assyrian period, the regions of Media, and further to the west and the northwest, had a population with Iranian speaking people as the majority.[37] This period of migration coincided with a power vacuum in the Near East with the Middle Assyrian Empire (1365–1020 BC), which had dominated northwestern Iran and eastern Anatolia and the Caucasus, going into a comparative decline. This allowed new peoples to pass through and settle. In addition Elam, the dominant power in Iran, was suffering a period of severe weakness, as was Babylonia to the west. In western and northwestern Iran and in areas further west prior to Median rule, there is evidence of the earlier political activity of the powerful societies of Elam, Mannaea, Assyria and Urartu .[36] There are various and up-dated opinions on the positions and activities of Iranian tribes in these societies and prior to the "major Iranian state formations" in the late 7th century BC.[36] One opinion (of Herzfeld, et al.) is that the ruling class were "Iranian migrants" but the society was "autonomous" while another opinion (of Grantovsky, et al.) holds that both the ruling class and basic elements of the population were Iranian.[38] Rhyton in the shape of a ram's head, gold – western Iran – Median, late 7th–early 6th century BC The neighboring Neo-Babylonian Empire at its greatest extent after the destruction of the Neo-Assyrian Empire Protoma in the form of a bull's head, 8th century BC, gold and filigree, National Museum, Warsaw Rise and fall[edit] From the 10th to the late 7th centuries BC, the western parts of Media fell under the domination of the vast Neo-Assyrian Empire based in northern Mesopotamia, which stretched from Cyprus in the west, to parts of western Iran in the east, and Egypt and the north of the Arabian Peninsula. Assyrian kings such as Tiglath-Pileser III, Sargon II, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, Ashurbanipal and Ashur-etil-ilani imposed Vassal Treaties upon the Median rulers, and also protected them from predatory raids by marauding Scythians and Cimmerians.[39] During the reign of Sinsharishkun (622–612 BC), the Assyrian empire, which had been in a state of constant civil war since 626 BC, began to unravel. Subject peoples, such as the Medes, Babylonians, Chaldeans, Egyptians, Scythians, Cimmerians, Lydians and Arameans quietly ceased to pay tribute to Assyria. Neo-Assyrian dominance over the Medians came to an end during the reign of Median King Cyaxares, who, in alliance with King Nabopolassar of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, attacked and destroyed the strife-riven Neo-Assyrian empire between 616 and 609 BC.[40] The newfound alliance helped the Medes to capture Nineveh in 612 BC, which resulted in the eventual collapse of the Neo-Assyrian Empire by 609 BC. The Medes were subsequently able to establish their Median Kingdom (with Ecbatana as their royal capital) beyond their original homeland and had eventually a territory stretching roughly from northeastern Iran to the Kızılırmak River in Anatolia. After the fall of Assyria between 616 BC and 609 BC, a unified Median state was formed, which together with Babylonia, Lydia, and ancient Egypt became one of the four major powers of the ancient Near East. Cyaxares was succeeded by his son King Astyages. In 553 BC, his maternal grandson Cyrus the Great, the King of Anshan/Persia, a Median vassal, revolted against Astyages. In 550 BC, Cyrus finally won a decisive victory resulting in Astyages' capture by his own dissatisfied nobles, who promptly turned him over to the triumphant Cyrus.[41] After Cyrus's victory against Astyages, the Medes were subjected to their close kin, the Persians.[42] In the new empire they retained a prominent position; in honour 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. Median dynasty[edit] The list of Median rulers and their period of reign is compiled according to two sources. Firstly, Herodotus who calls them "kings" and associates them with the same family. Secondly, the Babylonian Chronicle which in "Gadd's Chronicle on the Fall of Nineveh" gives its own list. A combined list stretching over 150 years is thus: Deioces (700–647 BC) Phraortes (647–625 BC) Scythian rule (624–597 BC) Cyaxares (624–585 BC) Astyages (585–549 BC)[43] However, not all of these dates and personalities given by Herodotus match the other near eastern sources.[43] In Herodotus (book 1, chapters 95–130), Deioces is introduced as the founder of a centralised Median state. He had been known to the Median people as "a just and incorruptible man" and when asked by the Median people to solve their possible disputes he agreed and put forward the condition that they make him "king" and build a great city at Ecbatana as the capital of the Median state.[44] Judging from the contemporary sources of the region and disregarding[45] the account of Herodotus puts the formation of a unified Median state during the reign of Cyaxares or later.[46] Culture and society[edit] Greek references to "Median" people make no clear distinction between the "Persians" and the "Medians"; in fact for a Greek to become "too closely associated with Iranian culture" was "to become Medianized, not Persianized".[24] The Median Kingdom was a short-lived Iranian state and the textual and archaeological sources of that period are rare and little could be known from the Median culture which nevertheless made a "profound, and lasting, contribution to the greater world of Iranian culture".[47] Language[edit] Main article: Median language Median people spoke the Median language, which was an Old Iranian language. Strabo's Geographica (finished in the early first century) mentions the affinity of Median 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, but with slight variations".[48] No original deciphered text has been proven to have been written in the Median language. It is suggested that similar to the later Iranian practice of keeping archives of written documents in Achaemenid Iran, there was also a maintenance of archives by the Median government in their capital Ecbatana. There are examples of "Median literature" found in later records. One is according to Herodotus that the Median king Deioces, appearing as a judge, made judgement on causes submitted in writing. There is also a report by Dinon on the existence of "Median court poets".[49] Median literature is part of the "Old Iranian literature" (including also Saka, Old Persian, Avestan) as this Iranian affiliation of them is explicit also in ancient texts, such as Herodotus's account[17] that many peoples including Medes were "universally called Iranian".[50] Words of Median origin appear in various other Iranian dialects, including Old Persian. A feature of Old Persian inscriptions is the large number of words and names from other languages and the Median language takes in this regard a special place for historical reasons.[51] The Median words in Old Persian texts, whose Median origin can be established by "phonetic criteria",[51] appear "more frequently among royal titles and among terms of the chancellery, military, and judicial affairs".[51] Words of Median origin include: The Ganj Nameh ("treasure epistle") in Ecbatana. The inscriptions are by Darius I and his son Xerxes I. *čiθra-: "origin".[52] The word appears in *čiθrabṛzana- (med.) "exalting his linage", *čiθramiθra- (med.) "having mithraic origin", *čiθraspāta- (med.) "having a brilliant army", etc.[53] Farnah: Divine glory (Avestan: khvarənah‎) Paridaiza: Paradise Spaka- : The word is Median and means "dog".[54] Herodotus identifies "Spaka-" (Gk. "σπάχα" – female dog) as Median rather than Persian.[55] The word is still used in modern Iranian languages including Talyshi, also suggested as a source to the Russian word for dog sobaka.[56][57][58] vazṛka-: "great" (as Western Persian bozorg)[51] vispa-: "all"[59] (as in Avestan). The component appears in such words as vispafryā (Med. fem.) "dear to all", vispatarva- (med.) "vanquishing all", vispavada- (Median-Old Persian) "leader of all", etc.[60] xšayaθiya- (king)[citation needed] xšaθra- (realm; kingship): This Median word (attested in *xšaθra-pā- and continued by Middle Persian šahr "land, country; city") is an example of words whose Greek form (known as romanized "satrap" from Gk. σατράπης satrápēs) mirrors, as opposed to the tradition,[N 3] a Median rather than an Old Persian form (also attested, as xšaça- and xšaçapāvā) of an Old Iranian word.[61] zūra-: "evil" and zūrakara-: "evil-doer".[51] Religion[edit] Apadana Hall, 5th century BC Achaemenid-era carving of Persian and Median soldiers in traditional costume (Medians are wearing rounded hats and boots), in Persepolis, Iran There are very limited sources concerning the religion of Median people. Primary sources pointing to religious affiliations of Medes found so far include the archaeological discoveries in Tepe Nush-e Jan, personal names of Median individuals, and the Histories of Herodotus. The archaeological source gives the earliest of the temple structures in Iran and the "stepped fire altar" discovered there is linked to the common Iranian legacy of the "cult of fire". Herodotus mentions Median Magi as a Median tribe providing priests for both the Medes and the Persians. They had a "priestly caste" which passed their functions from father to son. They played a significant role in the court of the Median king Astyages who had in his court certain Medians as "advisers, dream interpreters, and soothsayers". Classical historians "unanimously" regarded the Magi as priests of the Zoroastrian faith. From the personal names of Medes as recorded by Assyrians (in 8th and 9th centuries BC) there are examples of the use of the Indo-Iranian word arta- (lit. "truth") which is familiar from both Avestan and Old Persian and also examples of theophoric names containing Maždakku and also the name "Ahura Mazdā".[62] Scholars disagree whether these are indications of Zoroastrian religion amongst the Medes. Diakonoff believes that "Astyages and perhaps even Cyaxares had already embraced a religion derived from the teachings of Zoroaster" and Mary Boyce believes that "the existence of the Magi in Media with their own traditions and forms of worship was an obstacle to Zoroastrian proselytizing there".[62] Boyce wrote that the Zoroastrian traditions in the Median city of Ray probably goes back to the 8th century BC.[63] It is suggested that from the 8th century BC, a form of "Mazdaism with common Iranian traditions" existed in Media and the strict reforms of Zarathustra began to spread in western Iran during the reign of the last Median kings in the 6th century BC.[62] It has also been suggested[by whom?] that Mithra is a Median name and Medes may have practised Mithraism and had Mithra as their supreme deity.[64] Kurds and Medes[edit] Main article: Origin of the Kurds Russian historian and linguist Vladimir Minorsky suggested that the Medes, who widely inhabited the land where currently the Kurds form a majority, might have been forefathers of the modern Kurds. He also states that the Medes who invaded the region in the eighth century BC, linguistically resembled the Kurds. This view was accepted by many Kurdish nationalists in the twentieth century. However, Martin van Bruinessen, a Dutch scholar, argues against the attempt to take the Medes as ancestors of the Kurds.[65] "Though some Kurdish intellectuals claim that their people are descended from the Medes, there is no evidence to permit such a connection across the considerable gap in time between the political dominance of the Medes and the first attestation of the Kurds" - van Bruinessen Contemporary linguistic evidence has challenged the previously suggested view that the Kurds are descendants of the Medes.[66][67] Gernot Windfuhr, professor of Iranian Studies, identified the Kurdish languages as Parthian, albeit with a Median substratum.[68] David Neil MacKenzie, an authority on the Kurdish language, said Kurdish was closer to Persian and questioned the "traditional" view holding that Kurdish, because of its differences from Persian, should be regarded as a Northwestern Iranian language.[69] The Kurdologist and Iranologist Garnik Asatrian stated that "The Central Iranian dialects, and primarily those of the Kashan area in the first place, as well as the Azari dialects (otherwise called Southern Tati) are probably the only Iranian dialects, which can pretend to be the direct offshoots of Median... In general, the relationship between Kurdish and Median is not closer than the affinities between the latter and other North Western dialects – Baluchi, Talishi, South Caspian, Zaza, Gurani, Kurdish(Soranî, Kurmancî, Kelhorî)[70][71] Asatrian also stated that "there is no serious ground to suggest a special genetic affinity within North-Western Iranian between this ancient language [Median] and Kurdish. The latter does not share even the generally ephemeric peculiarity of Median."[72] See also[edit] Asia portal Greater Iran Iranian Plateau Linear Elamite – a script possibly used to write Median language List of monarchs of Persia List of rulers of the pre-Achaemenid kingdoms of Iran Madai Qanat – water management system Notes[edit] ^ According to the OED entry "Mede", the word is from Classical Latin Mēdus (usually as plural, Mēdī) from ancient Greek (Attic and Ionic) Μῆδος Mê̄dos [mɛ̂ːdos] (Cypriot Μᾶδοι Mâdœ [mâdoi̯], plural) from Old Persian Māda.[3] ^ A) "Archaeological evidence for the religion of the Iranian-speaking Medes of the ..." (Diakonoff 1985, p. 140). B) "...and the Medes (Iranians of what is now north-west Iran)..." EIEC (1997:30). C) "... succeeded in uniting into a kingdom the many Median tribes" (from Encyclopædia Britannica[4]). D) "Proto-Iranian split into Western (Median, and others) and Eastern (Scythian, Ossetic, Saka, Pamir and others)..." (Kuz'mina, Elena E. (2007), The origin of the Indo-Iranians, J. P. Mallory (ed.), BRILL, p. 303, ISBN 978-90-04-16054-5) ^ "..a great many Old Persian lexemes...are preserved in a borrowed form in non-Persian languages – the so-called "collateral" tradition of Old Persian (within or outside the Achaemenid Empire).... not every purported Old Iranian form attested in this manner is an actual lexeme of Old Persian."[61] References[edit] ^ Turchin, Peter; Adams, Jonathan M.; Hall, Thomas D (December 2006). "East-West Orientation of Historical Empires". Journal of World-Systems Research. 12 (2): 223. ISSN 1076-156X. Retrieved 16 September 2016. ^ Taagepera, Rein (1979). "Size and Duration of Empires: Growth-Decline Curves, 600 B.C. to 600 A.D.". Social Science History. 3 (3/4): 121. doi:10.2307/1170959. JSTOR 1170959. ^ OED Online "entry Mede, n.": ^ Encyclopædia Britannica Online Media (ancient region, Iran) ^ a b c "MEDIA". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 17 August 2017. ^ Herodotus 1.101 ^ a b c d Gershevitch, I. (1985). The Cambridge History of Iran. Cambridge University Press. p. 75. ISBN 978-0-521-20091-2. ^ (Diaconus), Leo (2005). The History of Leo the Deacon: Byzantine Military Expansion in the Tenth Century. Dumbarton Oaks. p. 204. ISBN 9780884023241. ^ Boyce, Mary (1982). A History of Zoroastrianism: Volume II: Under the Achaemenians. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-06506-2. ^ Zumerchik, John; Danver, Steven Laurence (2010). Seas and Waterways of the World: An Encyclopedia of History, Uses, and Issues. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-85109-711-1. ^ Sabourin, Leopold (1973). Priesthood. Brill Archive. GGKEY:ZRNUJJQ6GG2. ^ Travels in Luristan and Arabistan. J. Madden and Company. 1845. p. 312. ^ Christensen, Peter (1993). The Decline of Iranshahr: Irrigation and Environments in the History of the Middle East, 500 B.C. to A.D. 1500. Museum Tusculanum Press. p. 131. ISBN 978-87-7289-259-7. ^ Thomson, James Oliver (1948). History of Ancient Geography. Biblo & Tannen Publishers. p. 292. ISBN 978-0-8196-0143-8. ^ a b (Tavernier 2007, p. 27) ^ (Diakonoff 1985, p. 57) ^ a b Herodotus 7.62 ^ Herodotus 7.61 ^ Hesiod, 700 BC: Theogony, pp. 993–1002 ^ Ketevan Nadareishvili (2010–2011). "Madea in the Context of East/West Relationships". ^ "PAUSANIAS, DESCRIPTION OF GREECE 2.1-14 - Theoi Classical Texts Library". ^ "DIODORUS SICULUS, LIBRARY OF HISTORY BOOK 4.40-58 - Theoi Classical Texts Library". ^ a b c d (Stronach1982, p. 288) ^ a b c d e (Young 1997, p. 449) ^ (Stronach 1968, p. 179) ^ a b c (Stronach 1982, p. 290) ^ (Henrickson 1988, p. ?) ^ (Dandamayev & Medvedskaya 2006, p. ?) ^ (Young 1997, p. 448) ^ a b (Levine 1974, p. 119) ^ (Levine 1974, p. 117) ^ (Levine 1974, pp. 118–119) ^ (Levine 1974, p. 118) ^ Ayatollahi, Habibollah (2003). The Book of Iran: The History of Iranian Art. Alhoda UK. ISBN 978-964-94491-4-2., page 93 ^ (Diakonoff 1985, pp. 36–41) ^ a b c d (Dandamaev et al. 2004, pp. 2–3) ^ (Zadok 2002, p. 140) ^ (Dandamaev et al. 2004, p. 3) ^ Georges Roux, Ancient Iraq, 1992[full citation needed] ^ Encyclopaedia Britannica "The last great Assyrian ruler was Ashurbanipal, but his last years and the period following his death, in 627 BCE, are obscure. The state was finally destroyed by a Chaldean-Median coalition in 612–609 bce." ^ Briant, Pierre (2006). From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire. Eisenbrauns. p. 31. ^ Herodotus, The Histories, p. 93.[full citation needed] ^ a b (Diakonoff 1985, p. 112) ^ (Young 1988, p. 16) ^ (Young 1988, p. 19) ^ (Young 1988, p. 21) ^ (Young 1997, p. 450) ^ Geography, Strab. 15.2.8 ^ (Gershevitch 1968, p. 2) ^ (Gershevitch 1968, p. 1) ^ a b c d e (Schmitt 2008, p. 98) ^ (Tavernier 2007, p. 619) ^ (Tavernier 2007, pp. 157–8) ^ (Tavernier 2007, p. 312) ^ (Hawkins 2010, "Greek and the Languages of Asia Minor to the Classical Period", p. 226) ^ (Gamkrelidze - Ivanov , 1995, "Indo-European and the Indo-Europeans: A Reconstruction and Historical..", p. 505) ^ (Fortson, IV 2009, "Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction", p. 419) ^ (YarShater 2007, "Encyclopaedia Iranica", p. 96) ^ (Tavernier 2007, p. 627) ^ (Tavernier 2007, pp. 352–3) ^ a b (Schmitt 2008, p. 99) ^ a b c (Dandamayev & Medvedskaya 2006, Median Religion) ^ (Boyce & Grenet 1991, p. 81) ^ (Soudavar 2003, p. 84) ^ Hakan Özoğlu, Kurdish notables and the Ottoman state: Evolving Identities, Competing Loyalties, and Shifting Boundaries, SUNY Press, 2004, p. 25. ^ Turkey Foreign Policy and Government Guide. April 2003. ISBN 9780739762820. ^ Division, Federal Research (2004). Turkey. ISBN 9781419191268. ^ Windfuhr, Gernot (1975), "Isoglosses: A Sketch on Persians and Parthians, Kurds and Medes", Monumentum H.S. Nyberg II (Acta Iranica-5), Leiden: 457–471 ^ Paul, Ludwig. "KURDISH LANGUAGE i. HISTORY OF THE KURDISH LANGUAGE". Encyclopædia Iranica. Retrieved 31 October 2016. ^ Schmitt, Rüdiger (1989). Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum. Wiesbaden: Reichert. ^ G. Asatrian, Prolegomena to the Study of the Kurds, Iran and the Caucasus, Vol. 13, pp. 1–58, 2009. (p. 21 [1]) ^ Asatrian, Garnik. "Prolegomena to the Study of the Kurds." Iran & the Caucasus 13, no. 1 (2009): 1-57. Accessed September 2, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25597392. Sources[edit] Boyce, Mary; Grenet, Frantz (1991), Zoroastrianism under Macedonian and Roman rule, BRILL, ISBN 978-90-04-09271-6 Bryce, Trevor (2009), The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia. From the Early Bronze Age to the Fall of the Persian Empire, Taylor & Francis Dandamaev, M. A.; Lukonin, V. G.; Kohl, P. L.; Dadson, D. J. (2004), The Culture and Social Institutions of Ancient Iran, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-61191-6 Dandamayev, M.; Medvedskaya, I. (2006), "Media", Encyclopaedia Iranica Online Edition, archived from the original on 30 August 2017 Diakonoff, I. M. (1985), "Media", in Ilya Gershevitch (ed.), The Cambridge History of Iran, 2, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, pp. 36–148, ISBN 978-0-521-20091-2 Gershevitch, I. (1968), "Old Iranian Literature", Iranian Studies, Hanbuch Der Orientalistik – Abeteilung – Der Nahe Und Der Mittlere Osten, 1, Brill, pp. 1–30, ISBN 978-90-04-00857-1 Henrickson, R. C. (1988), "Baba Jan Teppe", Encyclopaedia Iranica, 2, Routledge & Kegan Paul, ISBN 978-0-933273-67-2 Levine, Louis D. (1 January 1973), "Geographical Studies in the Neo-Assyrian Zagros: I", Iran, 11: 1–27, doi:10.2307/4300482, ISSN 0578-6967, JSTOR 4300482 Levine, Louis D. (1 January 1974), "Geographical Studies in the Neo-Assyrian Zagros-II", Iran, 12: 99–124, doi:10.2307/4300506, ISSN 0578-6967, JSTOR 4300506 Schmitt, Rüdiger (2008), "Old Persian", in Woodard, Roger D. (ed.), The Ancient Languages of Asia and the Americas, Cambridge University Press, pp. 76–100, ISBN 978-0-521-68494-1 Soudavar, Abolala (2003), The aura of kings: legitimacy and divine sanction in Iranian kingship, Mazda Publishers, ISBN 978-1-56859-109-4 Stronach, David (1968), "Tepe Nush-i Jan: A Mound in Media", The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New Series, 27 (3): 177–186, doi:10.2307/3258384, ISSN 0026-1521, JSTOR 3258384 Stronach, David (1982), "Archeology ii. Median and Achaemenid", in Yarshater, E. (ed.), Encyclopædia Iranica, 2, Routledge & Kegan Paul, pp. 288–296, ISBN 978-0-933273-67-2 Tavernier, Jan (2007), Iranica in the Achaemenid Period (ca. 550-330 B.C.): Linguistic Study of Old Iranian Proper Names and Loanwords, Attested in Non-Iranian Texts, Peeters Publishers, ISBN 978-90-429-1833-7 Van De Mieroop, Marc (2015), A History of the Ancient Near East, ca. 3000-323 BC, Wiley Blackwell Windfuhr, Gernot L. (1991), "Central dialects", in Yarshater, E. (ed.), Encyclopædia Iranica, pp. 242–251, ISBN 978-0-939214-79-2 Young, T. Cuyler, Jr. (1988), "The early history of the Medes and the Persians and the Achaemenid empire to the death of Cambyses", in Boardman, John; Hammond, N. G. L.; Lewis, D. M.; Ostwald, M. (eds.), The Cambridge Ancient History, 4, Cambridge University Press, pp. 1–52, doi:10.1017/CHOL9780521228046.002, ISBN 9781139054317 Young, T. Cuyler (1997), "Medes", in Meyers, Eric M. (ed.), The Oxford encyclopedia of archaeology in the Near East, 3, Oxford University Press, pp. 448–450, ISBN 978-0-19-511217-7 Zadok, Ran (2002), "The Ethno-Linguistic Character of Northwestern Iran and Kurdistan in the Neo-Assyrian Period", Iran, 40: 89–151, doi:10.2307/4300620, ISSN 0578-6967, JSTOR 4300620 Further reading[edit] "Mede." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 16 January 2008. Gershevitch, Ilya (1985), The Cambridge History of Iran, 2, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-20091-2 External links[edit] Wikimedia Commons has media related to Median Empire. Median Empire at Iran Chamber Society website. v t e Ancient Mesopotamia Geography Modern Euphrates Upper Mesopotamia Mesopotamian Marshes Persian Gulf Syrian Desert Taurus Mountains Tigris Zagros Mountains Ancient Akkad Assyria Babylonia Chaldea Elam Hittites Media Mitanni Sumer Urartu Cities History Pre- / Protohistory Acheulean Mousterian Trialetian Zarzian Natufian Nemrikian Khiamian Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) Hassuna/Samarra Halaf Ubaid Uruk Jemdet Nasr Kish civilization History Early Dynastic Akkadian Gutians Simurrum Ur III Isin-Larsa Old Babylonian Kassite Middle Babylonian Neo-Assyrian Neo-Babylonian Achaemenid Seleucid Parthian Roman Sasanian Muslim conquest Timeline of the Assyrian Empire Hakkari Languages Akkadian Amorite Aramaic Eblaite Elamite Gutian Hittite Hurrian Luwian Middle Persian Old Persian Parthian Proto-Armenian Sumerian Urartian Culture / Society Architecture Art Cuneiform Akkadian literature Sumerian literature Music Religion Indus-Mesopotamia relations Egypt-Mesopotamia relations Royal titles Archaeology Looting Destruction by ISIL Tell v t e Median topics Language Median language, Iranian language Cities Ecbatana (Hamadan) Rhagae (Shahre Rey, Tehran) Laodicea (Nahavand) Battles involving Lydia Eclipse of Thales Battles involving Persia Persian Revolt Battle of Hyrba Battle of the Persian Border Siege of Pasargadae Hill Battle of Pasargadae Fall of Ecbatana Kings/Satraps Deioces Phraortes Madius Cyaxares Astyages Cyaxares II Darius the Mede Other Medians Amytis of Media Artembares Datis Gubaru Mazares Harpagus Aryenis Mandane v t e Median and Achaemenid kings Family tree Median (728–550 BC) Deioces Phraortes Madius Cyaxares Astyages Achaemenid (550–330 BC) Achaemenes Ariaramnes Arsames Teispes Cyrus I Cambyses I Cyrus the Great (Cyrus II) Cambyses II Smerdis Gaumata Darius the Great (Darius I) Xerxes the Great (Xerxes I) Artaxerxes I Xerxes II Sogdianus Darius II Nothus Artaxerxes II Mnemon Artaxerxes III Ochus Artaxerxes IV Arses Darius III Codomannus Artaxerxes V Bessus Italics indicate kings not directly attested and so possibly legendary. v t e Empires Ancient (Colonies) Akkadian Neo-Sumerian Assyrian Old Assyrian Middle Assyrian Neo-Assyrian Babylonian Old Babylonian Kassite Neo-Babylonian Egyptian Old Kingdom Middle Kingdom New Kingdom Phoenician Carthaginian Chinese Shang Qin Han Three Kingdoms Jin North and South Hellenistic Macedonian Seleucid Hittite Indian Nanda Maurya Satavahana Shunga Gupta Harsha Iranian Median Achaemenid Parthian Sasanian Kushan Mongol Xianbei Roman Western Eastern Teotihuacan Post-classical Aksum Arab Rashidun Umayyad Abbasid Fatimid Aragonese Angevin Ayyubid Aztec Benin Bornu Bruneian Bulgarian First Second Byzantine Nicaea Thessalonica Trebizond Calakmul Chinese Sui Tang Liao Song Jīn Yuan Uyghur Ethiopian Zagwe Solomonic Genoese Georgian Holy-Roman Carolingian Huetar Hunnic Hephthalite Inca Indian Chola Gurjara-Pratihara Pala Eastern Ganga dynasty Delhi Vijayanagara Iranian Samanid Saffarid Kanem Khmer Latin Majapahit Malaccan Mali Egyptian Mamluk Mongol Yuan Golden Horde Chagatai Khanate Ilkhanate Moroccan Idrisid Almoravid Almohad Marinid North Sea Oyo Serbian Singhasari Somali Ajuran Ifatite Adalite Mogadishan Songhai Srivijaya Tibetan Tikal Timurid Tiwanku Toltec Turco-Persian Ghaznavid Great Seljuk Khwarezmian Venetian Vietnamese Dai Viet Wagadou Wari Modern Afghan Ashanti Austrian Austro-Hungarian Brazilian Central African Chinese Ming Qing China Manchukuo Ethiopian Haitian First Second French First Second German First/Old Reich Second Reich Third Reich Indian Mughal Mysorean Sikh Maratha British Raj Iranian Safavid Afsharid Qajar Pahlavi Japanese Johor Korean Mexican First Second Moroccan Saadi Alaouite Russian Somali Gobroon Majeerteen Hobyo Swedish Tongan Ottoman Vietnamese Dainam Vietnam Colonial American Belgian British English Scottish Danish Dutch French German Italian Japanese Omani Polish–Lithuanian Couronian Portuguese Sovereign Military Order of Malta Spanish Swedish Lists Empires largest in India Ancient great powers Medieval great powers Modern great powers European colonialism African empires Miscellaneous The empire on which the sun never sets "Empire" as a description of foreign policy American empire Soviet Empire v t e Provinces of the Achaemenid Empire (Behistun / Persepolis / Naqsh-e Rustam / Susa / Daiva inscriptions) Akaufaka (Quhistan?) 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