Our knowledge regarding the migration of the Medes and the early stages of their kingdom is very limited.  For instance there did not exist a tribal group before the Medes in Iran in which would play such an influential role in history so that we may recall them today.  In ancient times, societies primarily existed along the banks of rivers and seas.  In the southwestern part of Iran we recall a non-Iranian group known as the Elamites in present day Khuzistan.  The civilizations that inhabited the eastern, northern and central part of Iran were separated far away from each other and there existed very weak lines of communication.  Therefore one tribe played little to no influence on a far neighboring tribe.  Since the region of Mesopotamia was the first to establish the skill of writing, the Aryan tribes closet to that region went into the records of history however those far from that region were lost in history without a trace.  Prior to written records our history was preserved through mythologies and stories told from generation to generation.  For a typical tribe of ancient times we will focus on a tribe that existed on the bank of the Helmand River in Zaranj.  Archeological discoveries point to a well-established civilization of its time, around the 2^nd millennium BCE, however similar to other tribes we know nothing more than simply their existence in that region in that particular time frame.  Our knowledge of Iranian history before the Medes is entirely based on theories and predictions with the source of mythologies.

The Gutis and the Lullubis

An opportunity did not exist for a civilization to evolve within the Iranian plateau, because people and tribes were spread apart throughout a massive land.  Their contacts and communications with the evolved civilizations of Mesopotamia helped the native Iranians advance.

We read in Assyrian and Akkadian sourcea of a native group known as the Gutis, which existed in the lands of Azarbaijan, Ecbatana, Kurdistan, and the Zagros Mountains some time after 2,300 BCE.  The Guti were a strong political force throughout the 3^rd and 2^nd millennium.  In 2,230 BCE, the Guti swept through Babylonia, overthrowing the Akkadian Empire, and traditionally took control of the region.  Up to 2,110 BCE the Guti were the powerful dominion but somehow fell into general political turmoil and cultural stagnation.  Their dynasty traditionally ended when Utu-Khegal of Uruk defeated Tirigan, the last king of the Gutian dynasty.

Many scholars believe the Guti to be the ancestors of the Kurds.  The Guti were an Aryan tribe in which branched into three separate groups prior to the great Aryan migration, the migration of Aryans whom referred to themselves as Iranians, into the Iranian plateau.  One branch travel westward into Europe and became known as the Gothic people.  One branch travel southward towards India and became known as the Jats.  The branch that migrated into the Iranian plateau became known as the Guti.  The name Kurdi alone is believed to be a product of the name Guti.

The Lullubis inhabited the Sherizor plain in the Zagros Mountains of today’s province of Kermanshah, and they led a fairly uncivilized and unorganized rule.  We do not have any evidence to prove the Lullubis to be of Aryan race.  The Lullubi, known as hostile mountain people, were recorded into history during the reign of Naram-Sin, the fourth king of the Semite dynasty of Akkad, and at the end of the Akkadian dynasty.  The Lullubi came under enemy control of Naram-Sin around 2,230 BCE, who commemorated his triumph on a masterpiece of Mesopotamian sculpture, the Naram-Sin stele.  In this historic artifact, Naram-Sin is depicted as climbing the mountain at the head of his troops.  The Lullubi shortly after regained their independence and continued aggravation of the southern Mesopotamia region, serving the overthrow of the Akkadian Empire.

The Kassites

They inhabited a mountainous region from Qazvin and Kashan to the outer skirts of Loristan.  Qazvin may have picked up its name from the Kassites, a land to be known as Kashvin.  Deioces, the founder of the Median kingdom, believed the Kassites to be of the same lineage of the Elamites.  However, many scholarly works are drawing to the conclusion that the Kassites were indeed of Aryan race.  The Kassites worshipped their god, Buriash or Suriash, which happened to be a prominent Aryan tribe and its name closely resembles Sroasha, a key immortal in Iranian mythology.  Furthermore, the Rig Veda had acknowledged a tribe known as Kassiapa that existed in eastern Iran prior to the great migration.  Unlike to Semitic and similar to the Aryan custom, the Kassites too did not build any idols or statues associated to their god or religion.

The Kassites entered the books of history in the one of the most chaotic periods in the Middle East.  In the middle of the second millennium BCE, Indo-European people began vast and chaotic migrations out of Europe and towards Persia and India.  This migration was powered by the military use of horses and chariots.  These invasions displaced many people who began to migrate in many directions, and some headed towards Mesopotamia and Palestine.  These were the Asian people who had adopted the Indo-European authority and military structures and many of them were invaders who set up miniature kingdoms dotting the landscape of the Middle East and Asia Minor.  The Hittites were the most successful of these new invaders, but they didn't control the center of Mesopotamia, the city of Babylon, for very long before another Indo-European people, the Kassites, invaded and conquered a greater part of Mesopotamia.  The Hittite empire continued for several hundred years, but the Kassites would dominate the center of Mesopotamia both militarily and economically.

After attacking Babylon, they renamed the city to Karanduniash and made Dur Kurigalzu, a city they built from ground zero, as their new capital.  In this respect we can see in the dim dust of history an attempt to do something new culturally in Mesopotamia.  But the Kassites vanished shortly after, as wave after wave of migrations put pressure on their fragile hold on power.  By 1,200 BCE all the great Indo-European kingdoms were weakened by relentless wars with the angered Semitic people, in particularly the Assyrians, and Mesopotamia would return to Semitic control.  Under the Assyrian King Ashur-Dan, the last Kassite king was defeated and driven from the Babylonian throne in the twelfth century BCE.

The Elamites

In the inscription of Darius the Great, Hujiya (Khuvja) was the name for Elam as Elamites were referred to as Hujis (Khuvjis).  This land was officially recognized as Khuzistan, the land of the Khuzis, during the Sassanid dynasty.  These Khuzi tribes inhabited the land of Khuzistan until the near 11^th century CE.  There is much debate regarding the origin of the Elamites.  One thing that is certain is that they had an independent civilization during the early civilization of Sumer.  From then until the 7^th century BCE, Elam had a fully recognized and established kingdom in the region.  They spoke an agglutinative non-Semitic language still not well understood to this day.

History provides that as the Guti invaded Babylonia and overpowered the Babylonians, the Elamites sieved this opportunity to capture Susa and establish it as the capital of their own kingdom.  Elam developed into a civilization that could be compared with that of Sumer, and during the 13^th and 12^th centuries BCE, it successfully defeated Assyria and Babylonia.  Susa was always the pride and joy of the Elamites and later the Persians, a city that stood for 5,000 years until totally sacked and raised to the ground by the Mongols in 13^th CE.

The Median Kingdom

According to the classical history, during the 1^st millennium BCE a large band of Iranians migrated into the Iranian plateau, and by the 7^th century BCE they were divided into three major groups.  The Parthians settled in northeastern Iran.  The Medians settled in a vast area spreading from Azarbaijan and Ecbatana to Rhagae and Espahan.  The Persians settled in lands of Pars and Bakhtiari.  This theory indeed is entirely based on theory and analysis, and falls short of absolute written facts.  Nevertheless, despite the lack of actual evidence most historians agree to this theory.  We read in many books of history that non-Iranians existed in western Iran prior to the 1^st millennium BCE, we through analysis of culture and linguistics we understand that the Kassites and the Gutis were indeed of Aryan race and entered into the records of history between the 2^nd and 1^st millennium BCE.  Furthermore, it is manifested that the Hittites, the Urartus, and Phoenicians were of Aryan lineage and inhabited Asia Minor where they established well-known civilizations.  Therefore we may conclude that Iranians lived the western and northwestern lands of Iran prior to the end of the 1^st millennium BCE.  In addition, it is a well-known fact that Indra is an Aryan god much worshipped amongst the Daeva clan.  Assyrian text provides a city known as Indra Patyanu, which accordingly was located near today’s Qazvin.  This city, pronounced Indra Patik (Protectors of Indra) demonstrates to existence of Aryan Daevas in which later mixed with their Aryan counterparts of the Asura clan.  Perhaps when we read of the Deevs on the outskirts of Mazandaran and Gilan, we are referring to the people of Indra Patik.  Its name is also quite relevant to the city name of Aturpatik or Atropatene (Azarbaijan), and of course Atur or Azar was an Aryan god.  Perhaps we may conclude this group later became known as the Magi, who were the priests in which played a heavy influence in the Mazdayasna religion.

Nevertheless, history provides that an eminent mass of Iranians migrated from Central Asia and divided into three distinct groups known as Media, Pars, and Parthia.  According to writings, the Medes were the first amongst Iranian tribes to establish the institution of monarchy over a vast land with inconsistently tribes scattered throughout, living in small and independent tribal unions.  However, according linguistic, mythological, and to some degree, archaeological evidence, we read that established Iranian kingdoms such as the kingdom of Vishtaspa did exist prior to the Median kingdom in eastern Iran.

During the 9^th century BCE, the neighboring Assyrians inaugurated a ruthless campaign of expansion, which pushed their borders to Lake Urmia.  They took women as booty and captured men as slaves.  From 860 BCE and during the rule of the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III, Assyrian texts hints of a land known as Parsua, located in today’s province of Kermanshah.  Here Shalmaneser III acknowledges the Medes inhabiting this region.  In the inscription of the renowned Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III, it is written:

            (110-26) In the twenty-fourth year of my reign

... I received the gifts of 27 kings of the land of Parsua. I departed from Parsua. I descended to the lands of Messi and the Medes, the lands of Araziash and Harhâr. I captured the cities of Kuakinda, Tarzanabi, Esamul, Kinablila, together with the towns of their regions. I slew their warriors; I carried off their spoil. I destroyed, devastated, and burned their cities with fire. I set up my royal image in the land of Harhâr. I carried off and brought to Assyria Ianzű, son of Haban, together with his great wealth, his gods, his sons, his daughters, and his many soldiers.

As we read throughout the 9^th century BCE, we read of a ruthless campaign of invasion led by Assyrian kings into the Median land while burning villages and taking booty and slaves back to Assyria.  In contrast, we find no evidence of these victims taking the offensive against the Assyrian invaders.  This account provided by Assyrian text illustrates a fable history of Assyrian domination over the Medes.  Shamsi-Adad V continues this fable of terror and pride with his account of the Assyrian invasion into the outskirts of the Alborz Mountains, leaving 6,000 inhabitants killed and 1,200 prisoners of war.  In another war, the account claims 2,300 inhabitants killed and 1,200 villages burnt, displacing Medians into the cold and snowing Alborz Mountains.

Around 820 BCE, faced with constant attacks similar to the Medians by the Assyrians, the Urartians (Armenians) made a military pact with the kings of Mannai and Parsua in alliance against the Assyrians.  This led to an all-out war between the Assyrians and Urartians.  Consequently, the devastated Medians seize this opportunity to formulate a strong internal coalition against foreign invaders.

Around 700 BCE, the Median Union elected Diaioku, Deioces in Greek, as leader of the Median Union.  Ecbatana was consequently seen as the capital of the Median kingdom.  According to one Assyrian account, Deioces is mentioned near 20 years prior to taking the throne as a rebellious leader who organized revolts against the Assyrian authority.  Falling against continuous attacks from the Assyrians and Babylonian forces, the Medes became fiercer of tribes and saw the need to form a union or kingdom against foreign invaders.

Deioces

Deioces is recalled in Assyrian records and in the writings of Herodotus.  The Assyrian texts pronounce this name as Diaioku, however it is unclear how this name was originated.  Perhaps the name Diaioku may be a byproduct of the words Daeva and Âkâsh (or Âsemân, meaning sky), thus we create Daevâkâsh.  If this theory is to be true, then we may conclude Deioces to be of an Aryan-Daeva tribe in which possessed the Daeva title.  Herodotus writes Deioces to be the son of Fravartish, chieftain of the Medians.  The Medians initiated a rebellious movement against the Assyrian system of slavery, which ruled over the Medians for 520 years.  In 747 BCE, the Median Union elected Deioces as leader of the rebellious Medes.  According to one Assyrian account, Deioces is recalled as leader of the Mannaeans as well, and further explains this action by Deioces as a political move to gain strength and independence from the Assyrian exploiters.

In 744 BCE, the Urartus suffered a devastating defeat against the Assyrian army.  In a turn of events, Mannai betrayed Urartu by breaking their accord and signing an alliance pact with the Assyrians.  Mannai, under the leadership of King Iranzu, thus gained a greater portion of Azarbaijan.  In the same year, the Assyrians attacked Parsua.  As the people of Parsua failed to resist the mighty Assyrian invaders, they fled their villages and took refuge in the mountainous regions.  The Assyrians gave no mercy and destroyed Parsua, and annexed it as part of their ever-expanding empire.

Despite being in an alliance pact with Mannai, who in turn became united with Assyria, Media once came under attack by the Assyrian army in 740 BCE.  This time, the ambition behind the war was to destroy the mere economic security Media was in attempt to establish.  In this year, the Assyrians demanded outrageous brides from Media, which included 9 tons of cobalt blue stones and 15 tons of metallic manufactured goods, in exchange for security.  Presumably the Medes rejected the demands of the Assyrians as only three years later the Assyrian army attacked and looted Media once more, and later torched villages and took 5,000 horses as booty.

After the death of Iranzu, around 716 BCE Mannai eventually lost her peace and security.  Aza, son of Iranzu, failed to maintain the throne and menace broke out in fight for power.  Bagadata succeeded in defeating Aza and capturing the throne of Mannai.  It is noteworthy to mention, the name Bagadata is a pure Iranian name as it is the product of two words, Baga (God) and Data (Law).  This name was later in history translated to Baghdad, the Laws of God.  This fact perhaps provides the best evidence of origin of the Mannaean people.  The Assyrian king, Sargon II, ordered the invasion of Mannai.  Bagadata was consequently captured and by orders of Sargon II in public his live flesh was ripped, layer-by-layer until death.  Sargon II later took a great deal booty as well as annexing key territories from Mannai.

In observation to the Assyrian violent rampage in the region, Deioces was quite to make a wedlock alliance with Urartu.  Meanwhile, Urartu was full of vengeance as they swore to regain Urartu territories lost to Assyria.  In 716 BCE, Urartu declared war on Assyria.  In the beginning Urartu seemed confident of victory as they managed to capture key strategic Assyrian territories, however Sargon II yet prevailed successful in regaining these territories and defeating the Urartian army.

After only a few months, in 715 BCE Sargon II attacked Media.  Badly beaten in her war with Assyria, Urartu failed to defend her ally, Media.  The invading Assyrians thus defeated Deioces.  By order of Sargon II, many Median villages were ruined.  Despite the victory Assyria failed to annex any Median territories as the Median determination for independence continued to flame.  According to Assyrian sources, the Assyrian army voluntarily withdrew from Media however this is highly contradictory to their campaign at the time.  Furthermore, Assyrian texts vengefully refer to the Medes as the “Mighty Medes.”  This was perhaps the first sign of hope for the Medes who had long strived to defeat the invading Assyrians.

The following year, while Sargon II was preoccupied in a war versus the Urartians, the Medes invaded lands west of Media, which were under the rule of Sargon II.  According to Assyrian sources Sargon II quickly torched the contested land into ashes, however these sources ironically fail to mention the conqueror in this battle.  Inflamed with vengeance, Sargon II and the Assyrian army attacked Media.  In 705 BCE An Iranian killed Sargon II in this battle and the Assyrian army was forced to retreat.  Sargon II was the first Assyrian king in history to be killed in battle.  This consequently initiated an absolute ferocious hate by the Assyrian as they interpreted each war as a war in favor of Ashur, the Assyrian god.  The Assyrian priests warned the preceding kings not to bury the corpse of Sargon II.

Senneacherib, son and successor to Sargon II, took the throne of Assyria.  His reign was tested several times by revolts, and he greatly feared confrontation with the Medes.  From this point onward, the Medes were recognized as a dangerous force and a dominant power in the region.  The Assyrian army retreated from foreign land and mainly focused their activities in within their borders.

In 680 BCE, Senneacherib was overthrown in a coup, and in a battle between eligible heirs to the throne, Esarhaddon succeeded as King of Assyria.  Esarhaddon proved to be weak in comparison to his predecessors.  Though we managed to stop the invading Scythian-Aryan tribes from the north such as the Cimmerians, we failed to expand the Assyrian army into foreign territories.  He was forced to sign peace treaties with rival tribes as well as arch foes such as Urartu and Elam in order to secure the stretched borders of Assyria.  The Pharaoh of Egypt supported uprisings in Syria and Palestine, which led to a war with Esarhaddon.  Esarhaddon managed to pull of a victory and in 671 BCE captured Memphis, the capital of Egypt.  The Egyptians were by forced to submit to Ashur, the Assyrian god, and practice the Assyrian religion.

In the beginning of the 7^th century BCE, there was no evident invasion by the Assyrians into Media, and thus the Medes managed to establish an independent sovereignty under the leadership of Deioces.

Fravartish

According to Herodotus, Deioces ruled Media for 52 years.  His throne was then granted to his son, Fravartish, who ruled Media for the next 22 years and managed to bring all Aryan tribes including the Persians under his influence.  He later entered a war against Assyria, however regretfully died in battle while a great deal of his army was annihilated.

In contradiction to Herodotus, there is no evidence of the death of Fravartish in Assyrian sources.  Furthermore his rule over Persia seems highly contradictory as these evidences provide that the Persians came under the influence of Media during the rule of Hovakhshatra, Cyaxeres in Greek.  During the rule of Fravartish the Persians were under the influence of the Elamites, while the Medes were yet to penetrate southward.  After the collapse of the Elamite rule the Persian kings ruled independently for some time.  Evidently, Herodotus has intertwined Assyrian and Median sources, however it may be true that Fravartish was indeed killed in battle.  Since his death is not mentioned in Assyrian sources, it may be that Fravartish was killed in an expedition to expand his borders from the western frontier down along the Zagros Mountains.

The beginning of Fravartish’s rule is not clear, however we do know that the death of Deioces was a big blow to the Medes and years were undertaken to restore the Median Union.  In contradiction to Herodotus’ account, Fravartish could not have been the son of Deioces.  Nevertheless, we may agree he was of the same clan as when Fravartish turned to exile he remained on the outskirts of the region.  Furthermore, the Assyrian sources describe the name Deioces as less of a person but rather more of a clan, thus in this accordance Fravartish may be the son of Deioces, the clan.  We surely lack evidences regarding the rule of Fravartish, however we are led to believe he was successful in ruling over a vast land stretching from Azarbaijan and Ecbatana to Rhagae and Esfahan.

Phraortes

We know fact after Fravartish, Phraortes (Khshatrita) took the throne of Media.  According to Assyrian sources, during the Spring of 673 BCE while Egyptian-supported uprisings against Assyrian rule was taking place in Palestine and Shem, Phraortes formed a union with two major tribes of Azarbaijan and signing security pacts with Mannai, forming a greater coalition to be led into war against Assyria.  According to these sources, Phraortes spent his first five years of king in effort to bring all tribes under his rule; thereafter he signed a pact with Mannai.  Phraortes was faced with head tribesmen submitting to Esarhaddon.  Esarhaddon led his forced into Iran, but rather than supporting his subjects inside Iran he raided and looted villages.  These sources do not provide reason of the Assyrian retreat but it may be assumed that Median forces expelled the Assyrian invaders.

Phraortes was quite to form a military alliance with Mannai in response to the Assyrian invasion into Iran.  He liberated tribes west of Azarbaijan from Assyrian rule.  He then blockaded key Assyrian transports via Mesopotamia to the Zagros Mountains.  By the end of 673 BCE, Assyria declared war against Phraortes.  Phraortes was forced to retreat to Ecbatana where he suffered a defeat.  Eventually Esarhaddon was once again confronted with uprisings in Palestine and Shem, thus he negotiated a peace treaty with Phraortes, granting Assyria territory once surrendered west of Azarbaijan.  From this point on this Assyrian sources Media is recognized as an independent entity.  As Esarhaddon became pre-occupied with war against Palestine and Egypt, Phraortes seized this opportunity to build his army and strengthen his rule.

In a campaign against Egypt Esarhaddon died and the throne of Assyria was turned over to his son, Ashurbanipal.  Ashurbanipal was one of the most powerful kings of ancient history.  He has provided the greatest part of our knowledge of Assyrian history, art, and civilization.  Ashurbanipal led a massive army to suppress the anti-Assyrian uprisings in Egypt and Shem, penetrating as far as Memphis and Thebes.  During this time, the Chaldaeans and the Sumerians rioted against Assyria.  The brother of Ashurbanipal, King Shamash-shum-ukin of Babylonia, formed an alliance with Elam to overthrow his brother’s rule.  Ashurbanipal suppressed his brother but consequently was drawn into a war with Elam.  These series of wars between Assyria and Elam eventually led to the continual downfall of Elam, until 640 BCE when the Elamite kingdom was officially destroyed.  Meanwhile, the Egyptian uprisings successfully ousted Assyrian authority from the region.  These complications faced by Assyria granted Phraortes more time to reorganize military forces and develop an innovative cavalry.

Cyaxares, Founder of the Median Kingdom

Phraortes died around 625 BCE, and thus his son, Cyaxares (Hovakhshatra), took the throne of Media.  His name translated means “King of Good Character”.  Herodotus identifies him as the son of Fravartish, however by Assyrian sources we know for fact Phraortes took the throne after Fravartish.  Furthermore, from the rule of Deioces to Cyaxares there is a 90-year span, however Herodotus only accounts for 22 years.

One of the greatest achievements, which made Cyaxares a founder of a vast empire, was his victory over Assyria.  His military intelligence and strategic political alliances provides the founding steps towards the defeat of Ashurbanipal and the fall of the Assyrian Empire, the largest empire known to mankind at the time.

Equipped with best cavalry and military force, Cyaxares turned to Babylon to form a military alliance against Assyria.  Devastated by Assyrian violence, King Nabopolassar of Babylonia accepted Cyaxares treaty, which entailed a marriage between Nebuchadnezzar II, prince of Babylonia, and the princess of Media.  At the head of a powerful army, Cyaxares and Nabopolassar marched against Nineveh and for two years laid siege to it.  After a series of bloody wars Nineveh finally surrendered.

The Fall of Assyria

The peak of Cyaxares’ historic peak coincided with the gradual weakening of Assyrian influence in the Middle East as well as Babylonian struggle for independent sovereignty.  In 633 BCE Ashurbanipal died and after family rivalries his throne was turned over to his son Ashur-etil-ilani (627 – 623 BCE).  Ashur-etil-ilani failed to keep his post and merely four years later the Babylonian-favorite Sin-shom-lishir took the throne of Assyria.  In a rivalry between families Sin-shom-lishir, supported by the Chaldaean General Nabopolassar, was killed and Sin-shar-ishkun (623 – 612 BCE) seized the throne.  Fueled with rage, Nabopolassar turned against Assyria and sided with Media to defeat Assyria and establish an independent Babylonia.  In their negotiation, Nabopolassar and Cyaxares inked a treaty of friendship between Media and Babylonia.

When the king of Assyria demanded taxation from Babylonia, the Medians, Chaldaeans, and majority of Mesopotamia supported Nabopolassar.  Therefore, war was declared against an Assyria who already was drawn into corruption and family rivalries.  The Medians attacked from the East and the Babylonians attacked from the South, while oppressed tribes under Assyrian rule revolted.  Cyaxares led his troops along the Zagros Mountains and liberated and annexed villages under Assyrian rule.  In 614 BCE the mighty Median army marched forth and blockaded Ashur, the former capital of Assyria.  Nabopolassar finally reached Ashur when the city had already surrendered to Cyaxares.  Impressed and contented, Nabopolassar solidified his treaty of friendship with Cyaxares by requesting wedlock between Prince Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylonia and the Princess Amytis of Media.  Queen Amytis is widely known in history when King Nebuchadnezzar II had built a majestic garden for his wife.

In 613 BCE the king of Assyria retreated to Nineveh, the Assyrian capital, where he was determined at all cost to defend Nineveh against the invading opposition army.  It did not take too long when the Median and Babylonian army defeated the Assyrian army.  In the final stages of defeat, in the summer of 612 BCE King Sin-shar-ishkun and members of the royal family enflamed their palace and burnt themselves to death.  Given full by the Median king, Nabopolassar torched Nineveh to ruins and destroyed the remnants of the Assyrian Empire.

In the desparate attempt to maintain Assyria, Ashur-uballit II, a member of the royal family, rebuilt an Assyrian army in Haran and signed a military alliance with the Pharaoh of Egypt.  In the summer of 610 BCE, the Median and Babylonian army united and attacked Haran.  Ashur-iballit and the Egyptian army failed to resist the invading opposition army and were thus forced to take refuge near the Euphrates in the city of Carchemish.  Following the collapse of Haran, the king of Media and king of Babylonia reached an agreement on the conquered lands.  Babylonia would take the gold and treasures while Media would annex the land.  It is believed that in ancient times when two united armies conquer a foreign land, one army would seize the treasures while the other seizes the land.  Furthermore, according to this agreement Nineveh and Ashur also came under the possession of Media.  In result, the Median Empire stretched as far as west of the Euphrates.

Ashur-uballit II managed to maintain his Egyptian army.  Meanwhile he held negotiations and acquired an army from Urartu in his ongoing war versus Media and Babylonia.  Urartu and Media were thus drawn into war.  Cyaxares prevailed victorious, and thus the land of Urartu came under possession of Median rule.  From that point forward, the land of Urartu was known as Armenia and consequently became a province of Iran.

In 605 BCE, the Babylonian army led by Commander Nebuchadnezzar II, Prince of Babylonia, invaded the Assyrian-Egyptian camp in Carchemish and seized the land.  The Babylonian army then invaded Shem, and in a series of costly battles in 601 BCE the Babylonians succeeded in driving the Egyptians out of Palestine and Syria.  It was around this time frame that Nabopolassar died and his throne was turned over to Nebuchadnezzar II, the son-in-law of Cyaxares.

As mentioned before, the Cimmerians were a Scythian-Aryan tribe in which was confronted but halted by the defending Assyrians in the early 7^th century BCE.  The Cimmerians were amongst the many Scythian-Aryan tribes to migrate from Caucasus north of the Caspian Sea southward to near the land of Asia Minor.  This tribe like many other Scythian tribes rooted from the Saka line, which roots from the Aryan race.  When Media acquired the land of Urartu and consequently their borders stretched to the Lake Sevan.  Therefore, Cimmerians migrated westward to the land known as Lydia.  Herodotus recalls them as savages who attacked and raided Lydia, and after assassinating Gyges, founder of the Mermnad dynasty of Lydian Kings, for a brief time occupied the capital, Sardis.  In effort to stop the bloodshed, Lydia signed a peace treaty with the Cimmerians, and thus the Cimmerians stood ground behind the Halys River.  Since the Cimmerians originated from the Aryan race, Cyaxares sought to form an alliance with them so that the Aryans may be recognized as the predominant force in the region.  This of course caused great tensions between Iran and Lydia, an effect that remained throughout history until Cyrus the Great seized the independent Lydian kingdom.  Therefore, after acquiring the land of the Cimmerians, Cyaxares targeted his attack against Lydia.  By the predictions of the Greek philosopher, Thales the Milesian, on May 28 of 585 BCE in the battle on the Halys (Red River) when Lydia seemed to be triumphant a solar eclipse struck.  In result, King Alyattes II of Lydia and Cyaxares finally called truce.  The borders of Media and Lydia would remain on the Halys River and become officially recognized.  This peace treaty was solidified by a marriage between Prince Astyages of Media and Princess Aryana of Lydia.

By the beginning of the 6^th century BCE, the ancient world included of two dominant powers.  The Babylonians descended from an ancient civilization with prominent discoveries in science, technology, art, and literature.  The world’s advancements and center of science and culture rested in the city of Babylon.  This period was the peak of Babylonia’s golden area, with innovations in astronomy, accounting, geometry, civil engineering, architecture, philosophy, and art.  Majestic palaces and temples were built.  The Babylonian kingdom was by far the wealthiest during this era.  Eventually Nebuchadnezzar II was to become arrogant and evil in the midst of all his treasures.

The Medians, on the other hand, strived with years of oppression to having a massive empire with glamorous wealth.  Cyaxares took advantage of the various Assyrian artists, architects, engineers, and craftsmen granted to him after the fall of the Assyrian empire.  By this he devised the constructions of palaces, streets, gardens, and attractions.  By this, Ecbatana had evolved into an alluring city.  The Assyrian masterminds of war helped revolutionize the Median army into the most sophisticated army of the world with uniformed armor, deadly weapons, and soldiers trained in the arts of combat.  From mud-covered homes to unbreakable palaces, Cyaxares continued his campaign of strength and glory by expanding his borders towards the East.  Cyaxares successfully conquered and united lands from the Oxus River to Pars and Kerman.

The Persian Tribes and the Median Kingdom

As the Medians were struggling to assemble their multi-tribal union, the Persians too aimed at establishing a union of Persian tribes.  As mentioned in Assyrian sources, in 834 BCE Shalmaneser III invaded Parsua and took 27 indigenous leaders as prisoners, and thus Parsua fell under Assyrian rule.  Perhaps it is to be believed that Parsua may be the famous Persians in history, however it is quite unclear whether the people of Parsua were ancestors to the Persians located in the land of Pars, surrounded by the Bakhtiari Mountains.  To claim the people of Parsua were the ancestors of the famous Persians would be based entirely on the name occurrence of Pars.  Could it be possible that the Persians migrated through the northern borders of Iran to settle in southern Azarbaijan, and thus after Assyrian repression flee their homelands and travel over a mountainous terrain to settle in southern Iranian plateau?  If so, would it seem rational for this nomadic group to abandon a flourishing terrain of various herbs and to settle in a dry and arid land?  It is only logical to agree that the Persians were not fresh nomads but an established and indigenous group of people in their respective region.  From what evidence has provided, we have knowledge that the Medians and Persians spoke the same language with the same linguistic accent and shared a similar culture.  Furthermore, in 737 BCE the journal of King Tiglath-pileser III of Assyria distinctly mentions the land of Parsumash, just south of Parsua located in today’s Kermanshah, was indeed inhabited by Medes.  Therefore, the significance of the name Parsua of Parsumash, inhabited by Medes, would essentially suggest the common language barrier between the Medes and Persians.  According to this, we may perhaps predict that near the end of the 2^nd millennium BCE the Medians and Persians were united in northeastern Iran and later split their migration routes, and each established their respective civilization in their new homeland.

From historic research we are certain that near the end of the 8^th century BCE the Persians were established in Pars and paid tax to the stronger Elamite kingdom.  One Assyrian source, which pertains to the early 7^th century BCE, claims that Persian soldiers were used in the Elamite army in the Assyria-Elam war.

The most prominent and established leader of the Persian Union during the mid-7^th century BCE was surely Teispes, who led the council up to 640 BCE.  According the Behistan inscription by Darius the Great, Darius was the ninth king of his family, which would have made Teispes the fifth king of his family's dynasty.