What was the Medo-Persian Empire?

Part 1: The Medes

The events in the book of Daniel span two empires, the Neo-Babylonian Empire and the Persian Empire. However, in Daniel, the Persian Empire is referred to as the kings of “Media and Persia.” A great deal is known and has been written about the Persian Empire, but very little has been written about the Medes.

The reason we hear very little about the Medes is because we know very little about the Medes. Currently there is very little extant archeological evidence and what written references we have are from the records of other kingdoms, such as Assyria and Babylon. Complicating the picture is much of the information we have is from Herodotus, a Greek historian who lived under Persian rule. Herodotus lived in the fifth century BC in what is now modern-day Turkey, but the Medes were absorbed into the Persian Empire during the reign of Cyrus the Great, about 100 years before Herodotus wrote. Herodotus seemed to include a great deal of legend and oral tales in his histories and numerous errors have been documented.

The Medes, like the Persians, lived in the Iranian plateau. They were contemporaneous with the Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian Empires and were known for their horse breeding. However, beyond that point, Herodotus and the historical record diverge.

Herodotus

Herodotus wrote the Medes were originally unified by a ruler names Deiokes who ruled from the city of Ectabana. Deiokes ruled for 53 years and was succeeded by his son, Phraortes. During his reign, Pharoartes defeated the Persians and made them a vassal state. Herodotus also wrote that Phraortes besieged the Assyrian city of Nineva but was ultimately unable to defeat the Assyrians. Phraortes was succeeded by Cyarxes, who ruled from 624-585 BC. Cyaxares spent most of his reign fighting the Scythians, who invaded from the north, but Cyaxares ultimately defeated the Scythians after 28 years of conflict. He successfully besieged and sacked Ninevah together with the Neo-Bablyonians in 612 BC, marking the destruction of the Assyrian empire. Cyaxares ruled for 40 years and was succeeded by his son, Astyages. Astyages was the last king of the Media.

Historical Record

Outside of Herodotus, only the reign of Cyaxares can be verified with the available historical record. A ruler names Daiukky is mentioned in Assyrian records, but he was the governor of a province, not the king of the Medes. Phraortes has been identified with a ruler known as Kashtaritu, but Kashtaritu appears to have been the leader of another people group in the Zagros mountains, west of the Iranian plateau.

Cyaxeres

Cyaxares is the first king of the Medes who is verifiable from the historical record. While he was named Cyaxares in the Greek writings of Herodotus, he was known as Umakishtar in Assyrian documents. Cyaxares/Umakishtar was king of the Medes and, together with the army of Babylon, successfully defeated Assyrian forces and brought Assyrian domination to an end.

The Medes were mentioned in Assyrian texts as early as 843 BC, usually as the target of raiding parties or in lists of tribute given to the Assyrians. Horses were often listed as either spoils of raids or as tribute, which established the reputation of the Medes as prominent horse breeders and horsemen.

For the subjugation of the land of the Medes, I strengthened Dur-Sharrukin […] of 22 city rulers of the mighty Medes [I received] tribute […] the city of Kimirra of the land Bit-Hamban 2530? People, together with their possessions, I carried off […]. Annals of Sargon II (715/4)

The tribute of Ullusunu, the Mannean, of Dalta of Ellipi, of Bel-apal-iddina of Allabria, or 45-city-rulers of the Mighty Medes, 4609 horses, mules, cattle, sheep in countless numbers, I received’ Annals of Sargon II, 713.

The rise of the Medes as a formidable military power appears to have begun after the death of Ashurbanipal, the last strong Assyrian king in 631BC. After the death of Ashurbanipal, the Assyrian succession devolved into civil war and neighboring nations took this opportunity to free themselves from Assyrian domination. Nabopolassar declared himself king of Babylon in 626 BC and Cyaxares followed the Babylonian example and declared himself king of the Medes in 625 BC.

The Medes, under the leadership of Cyaxares, went on the offensive and in 614 BC they sacked Assur, the historical home city of the Assyrians. Cyaxares then allied with Nabopolassar of Babylon, and the combined forces of the Babylonians and Medes sacked Nineveh, the Assyrian capital city in 612 BC. While Assyria did exist as a nation for a few more years, the destruction of Ninevah marked the effective end of the Assyrian Empire.

Berossus, a 3^rd century Hellenistic historian, wrote that Nabopolassar and Cyaxares sealed their alliance by marrying Amytis, the daughter of Cyaxares, to Nebuchadnezzar, the son of Nabopolassar, although there is no confirmation of this marriage in the Babylonian records.

After the fall of Assyria, there is little mention of the Medes until the Nabonidus chronicles which notes that Astyages, the son of Cyaxeres, was defeated by the Persian Kurash, King of Anshan (Cyrus II),in 550 BC. Kurash is the Persian name for the ruler the Greeks names Cyrus II, known to modern audiences as Cyrus the Great.

Nabonidus was the last ruler of the Neo-Babylonian Empire and was the father of Balshazzar. The entry for 550 BC of the Nabonidus chronicle reads,

“Ishtumegu [Astyages] mustered (his army) and marched against Kurash, king of Anshan, [Cyrus the Great] for conquest. The army rebelled against Ishtumegu and he was taken prisoner. They handed him over to Kurash. Kurash marched to Ecbatana, the royal city. Silver, gold, goods, property… which he carried off as booty (from) Ecbatana, he took to Anshan.

ABC 7 (Nabonidus Chronicle)

The Nabonidus chronicle does not elaborate on the rebellion of the Median army and defection to Cyrus. According to Herodotus, Cyrus II was the grandson of Astyages. Herodotus reports Astyages had married his daughter, Mandane, to the King of Anshan, Cambyses I. Astyages had dreamt that the son of Mandane would defeat the Median kingdom and conquer the east. In order to subvert this prophecy, Astyages married her to a politically inferior nobleman.

The only information we have from the Persian records is Cyrus referred to himself as the king of Anshan, the heir to the previous Elamite kingdom. His father is recorded as Cambyses I (Elamite Kambujiya), king of Anshan, and his grandfather is recorded as Teispes (Elamite Shishpish), also the king of Anshan. Anshan was one of the historical fortresses of the Elamite kingdom, which had been a powerful force in the area, an ally of Babylon, and a foe of the Assyrian Empire. Elam, and its major cities, was finally destroyed by the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal in 646 BC. While Cyrus used the title of King of Anshan, he was from the tribe of Pasargadae, one of the leading tribes of the Persians, so his relationship to the previous kingdom of Elam is unclear.

Regardless of the familial relations ship between Cyrus and Astyages, after the Persian defeat of the Medes in 550 BC, the Medes became junior partners in the Medo-Persian kingdom. When Cyrus conquered Babylon in 539 BC, he did so with a combined Mede and Persian army. Median noblemen continued to play important roles within the early Persian kingdom, and early Greek historians often referred to the Persian kingdom as the Medes.

Media also plays an important role in the Bible. The Medes are mentioned in 2 Kings, Esther, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah and are prominently featured in Daniel. In Daniel, Chapter 5, Daniel prophesized the “Medes and the Persians” would conquer Babylon. After the conquest, Daniel names Darius the Mede as the initial ruler of Babylon. While there is currently no historical record of Darius the Mede ruling Babylon under Persian authority, Daniel does seem to suggest that Darius was in charge for only short time before Cyrus took over direct rule of Babylon.

Many scholars believe the character of Darius the Mede was a fictional construct and point to the character as an historical error, evidence that Daniel was written during the Hellenistic Period (the late date view of authorship) and not during the events described. While there is currently no conclusive evidence, some scholars have proposed Darius the Mede was an important official in the combined Medo-Persian kingdom and was placed as King of Babylon by Cyrus as a temporary ruler.

Next: What was the Medo-Persian Empire? Part 2 Cyrus and the Rise of the Persians