Media , ancient country in the northwest of the Iran , which generally corresponds to the modern regions of Azerbaijan, Kurdistan and parts of Kermanshah. Mediums appear first in the texts of the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III (858–824 v . Ch. ) recording peoples of the land "Mada". The inhabitants became known as the Medes.
Britannica Quiz The Middle East:Fact or Fiction? Is the literacy rate very high in Afghanistan? Does Yemen take its name from the Arabic word "northern"? Sort the facts in this quiz about Syria, Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries. Although Herodotus credits "Deioces son of Phraortes" (probably um 715) with the creation of the Median kingdom and the founding of its capital at Ecbatana (modern Hamadan), it probably wasn't before 625 bc that Cyaxares , grandson of Deioces , managed to unite the many Iranian-speaking Median tribes into one kingdom. 614 he conquered Ashur, and in 612 his forces in alliance with Nabopolassar stormed from Babylon Nineveh and put an end to it Assyrian Rich. The victors divided the Assyrian provinces among themselves, with the Median king taking over much of Iran, northern Assyria and parts of Armenia.
In many respects the internal organization of the Median Empire probably resembled that of Assyria, but little is actually known. Few identifiable "median" objects have been found, but the Medes apparently preferred rich ornamentation and also received strong artistic influence from Assyria. Since no median written documents have ever been uncovered, their intellectual and economic life is also a matter of conjecture.
By the victory of the Persian chief Cyrus II Des Capital in the year 550 about his supreme commander Astyages of Media, the Medes were subjugated to the Persians. They retained a prominent position in the new Achaemenian Empire; in honor and in war they stood alongside the Persians, and their judgment ceremony was commemorated by the new rulers accepted who resided in Ecbatana during the summer months.
Alexander the Great occupied the Media in 330, and in the division of his empire the southern Media were given to the Macedonian commander Peithon and finally given to the Seleucids, but the north was left Atropates, a former general of Darius III. who managed to found an independent kingdom named Atropatene with its capital Gazaca . In later times, Atropatene came under the control of Parthia, Armenia and Rome.
Southern Media remained a province of the Seleucid Empire for a century and a half, and Hellenism was introduced everywhere. Around 152 v. Chr . However, the media were taken over by the Parthian king Mithradates I , and it remained under the Arsacids until about Display 226 when it surrendered, along with Atropatene, to the Sassanids. By this point the Medes had lost their distinctiveness and had merged into one nation of Iranians.