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class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Assyrian_intervention_in_Median_territories"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.2</span> <span>Assyrian intervention in Median territories</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Assyrian_intervention_in_Median_territories-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Rise_and_fall" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Rise_and_fall"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.3</span> <span>Rise and fall</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Rise_and_fall-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Median_dynasty" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Median_dynasty"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.3.1</span> <span>Median dynasty</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Median_dynasty-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Later_history" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Later_history"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.4</span> <span>Later history</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Later_history-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Culture_and_society" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Culture_and_society"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4</span> <span>Culture and society</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Culture_and_society-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Culture and society subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Culture_and_society-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Society" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Society"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4.1</span> <span>Society</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Society-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Religion" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Religion"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4.2</span> <span>Religion</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Religion-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Language" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Language"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4.3</span> <span>Language</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Language-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Art_and_architecture" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Art_and_architecture"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4.4</span> <span>Art and architecture</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Art_and_architecture-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Economy" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Economy"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4.5</span> <span>Economy</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Economy-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Mythology" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Mythology"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5</span> <span>Mythology</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Mythology-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Kurds_and_Medes" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Kurds_and_Medes"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6</span> <span>Kurds and Medes</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Kurds_and_Medes-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-See_also" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#See_also"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7</span> <span>See also</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-See_also-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Notes" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Notes"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">8</span> <span>Notes</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Notes-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Citations" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Citations"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">9</span> <span>Citations</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Citations-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Bibliography" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Bibliography"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">10</span> <span>Bibliography</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Bibliography-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Further_reading" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Further_reading"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">11</span> <span>Further reading</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Further_reading-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-External_links" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#External_links"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">12</span> <span>External links</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-External_links-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-titlebar-toc vector-button-flush-left" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" > <label id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-label" for="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-listBullet mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-listBullet"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Toggle the table of contents</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Medes</span></h1> <div id="p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-lang" > <input type="checkbox" id="p-lang-btn-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox mw-interlanguage-selector" aria-label="Go to an article in another language. Available in 73 languages" > <label id="p-lang-btn-label" for="p-lang-btn-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive mw-portlet-lang-heading-73" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-language-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language-progressive"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">73 languages</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-af mw-list-item"><a href="https://af.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mede" title="Mede – Afrikaans" lang="af" hreflang="af" data-title="Mede" data-language-autonym="Afrikaans" data-language-local-name="Afrikaans" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Afrikaans</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-am mw-list-item"><a href="https://am.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%88%9C%E1%8B%B6%E1%8A%95" title="ሜዶን – Amharic" lang="am" hreflang="am" data-title="ሜዶን" data-language-autonym="አማርኛ" data-language-local-name="Amharic" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>አማርኛ</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ar mw-list-item"><a href="https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%88%D9%86" title="ميديون – Arabic" lang="ar" hreflang="ar" data-title="ميديون" data-language-autonym="العربية" data-language-local-name="Arabic" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>العربية</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-an mw-list-item"><a href="https://an.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medians" title="Medians – Aragonese" lang="an" hreflang="an" data-title="Medians" data-language-autonym="Aragonés" data-language-local-name="Aragonese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Aragonés</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ast mw-list-item"><a href="https://ast.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_(rexi%C3%B3n)" title="Media (rexión) – Asturian" lang="ast" hreflang="ast" data-title="Media (rexión)" data-language-autonym="Asturianu" data-language-local-name="Asturian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Asturianu</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-az mw-list-item"><a href="https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midiyal%C4%B1lar" title="Midiyalılar – Azerbaijani" lang="az" hreflang="az" data-title="Midiyalılar" data-language-autonym="Azərbaycanca" data-language-local-name="Azerbaijani" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Azərbaycanca</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-azb mw-list-item"><a href="https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%AF_%D8%A7%DB%8C%D9%85%D9%BE%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%84%D9%88%D8%BA%D9%88" title="ماد ایمپراتورلوغو – South Azerbaijani" lang="azb" hreflang="azb" data-title="ماد ایمپراتورلوغو" data-language-autonym="تۆرکجه" data-language-local-name="South Azerbaijani" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>تۆرکجه</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ba mw-list-item"><a href="https://ba.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B8%D1%8F%D0%BB%D1%8B%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%80" title="Мидиялылар – Bashkir" lang="ba" hreflang="ba" data-title="Мидиялылар" data-language-autonym="Башҡортса" data-language-local-name="Bashkir" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Башҡортса</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-bg mw-list-item"><a href="https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B8%D0%B9%D1%86%D0%B8" title="Мидийци – Bulgarian" lang="bg" hreflang="bg" data-title="Мидийци" data-language-autonym="Български" data-language-local-name="Bulgarian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Български</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-br mw-list-item"><a href="https://br.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meded" title="Meded – Breton" lang="br" hreflang="br" data-title="Meded" data-language-autonym="Brezhoneg" data-language-local-name="Breton" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Brezhoneg</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ca mw-list-item"><a href="https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medes" title="Medes – Catalan" lang="ca" hreflang="ca" data-title="Medes" data-language-autonym="Català" data-language-local-name="Catalan" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Català</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ceb mw-list-item"><a href="https://ceb.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mga_Medo" title="Mga Medo – Cebuano" lang="ceb" hreflang="ceb" data-title="Mga Medo" data-language-autonym="Cebuano" data-language-local-name="Cebuano" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Cebuano</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-cs mw-list-item"><a href="https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A9dov%C3%A9" title="Médové – Czech" lang="cs" hreflang="cs" data-title="Médové" data-language-autonym="Čeština" data-language-local-name="Czech" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Čeština</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-da mw-list-item"><a href="https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mederne" title="Mederne – Danish" lang="da" hreflang="da" data-title="Mederne" data-language-autonym="Dansk" data-language-local-name="Danish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Dansk</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-de mw-list-item"><a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meder_(Volk)" title="Meder (Volk) – German" lang="de" hreflang="de" data-title="Meder (Volk)" data-language-autonym="Deutsch" data-language-local-name="German" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Deutsch</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-el mw-list-item"><a href="https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%9C%CE%AE%CE%B4%CE%BF%CE%B9" title="Μήδοι – Greek" lang="el" hreflang="el" data-title="Μήδοι" data-language-autonym="Ελληνικά" data-language-local-name="Greek" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Ελληνικά</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-es mw-list-item"><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_(regi%C3%B3n)" title="Media (región) – Spanish" lang="es" hreflang="es" data-title="Media (región)" data-language-autonym="Español" data-language-local-name="Spanish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Español</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-eo mw-list-item"><a href="https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medoj" title="Medoj – Esperanto" lang="eo" hreflang="eo" data-title="Medoj" data-language-autonym="Esperanto" data-language-local-name="Esperanto" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Esperanto</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-eu mw-list-item"><a href="https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media" title="Media – Basque" lang="eu" hreflang="eu" data-title="Media" data-language-autonym="Euskara" data-language-local-name="Basque" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Euskara</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fa mw-list-item"><a href="https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%82%D9%88%D9%85_%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%AF" title="قوم ماد – Persian" lang="fa" hreflang="fa" data-title="قوم ماد" data-language-autonym="فارسی" data-language-local-name="Persian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>فارسی</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fr badge-Q17437798 badge-goodarticle mw-list-item" title="good article badge"><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A8des" title="Mèdes – French" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" data-title="Mèdes" data-language-autonym="Français" data-language-local-name="French" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Français</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fy mw-list-item"><a href="https://fy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meden" title="Meden – Western Frisian" lang="fy" hreflang="fy" data-title="Meden" data-language-autonym="Frysk" data-language-local-name="Western Frisian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Frysk</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ga mw-list-item"><a href="https://ga.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A9idigh" title="Méidigh – Irish" lang="ga" hreflang="ga" data-title="Méidigh" data-language-autonym="Gaeilge" data-language-local-name="Irish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Gaeilge</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ko mw-list-item"><a href="https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EB%A9%94%EB%94%94%EC%95%84" title="메디아 – Korean" lang="ko" hreflang="ko" data-title="메디아" data-language-autonym="한국어" data-language-local-name="Korean" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>한국어</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-hy mw-list-item"><a href="https://hy.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D5%84%D5%A1%D6%80%D5%A5%D6%80" title="Մարեր – Armenian" lang="hy" hreflang="hy" data-title="Մարեր" data-language-autonym="Հայերեն" data-language-local-name="Armenian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Հայերեն</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-hi mw-list-item"><a href="https://hi.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%80%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%BF_%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%9C%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF" title="मीदि साम्राज्य – Hindi" lang="hi" hreflang="hi" data-title="मीदि साम्राज्य" data-language-autonym="हिन्दी" data-language-local-name="Hindi" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>हिन्दी</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-hr mw-list-item"><a href="https://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medijci" title="Medijci – Croatian" lang="hr" hreflang="hr" data-title="Medijci" data-language-autonym="Hrvatski" data-language-local-name="Croatian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Hrvatski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-id mw-list-item"><a href="https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orang_Mede" title="Orang Mede – Indonesian" lang="id" hreflang="id" data-title="Orang Mede" data-language-autonym="Bahasa Indonesia" data-language-local-name="Indonesian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Bahasa Indonesia</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-is mw-list-item"><a href="https://is.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medar" title="Medar – Icelandic" lang="is" hreflang="is" data-title="Medar" data-language-autonym="Íslenska" data-language-local-name="Icelandic" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Íslenska</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-it mw-list-item"><a href="https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medi" title="Medi – Italian" lang="it" hreflang="it" data-title="Medi" data-language-autonym="Italiano" data-language-local-name="Italian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Italiano</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-he mw-list-item"><a href="https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%9E%D7%93%D7%99" title="מדי – Hebrew" lang="he" hreflang="he" data-title="מדי" data-language-autonym="עברית" data-language-local-name="Hebrew" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>עברית</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ka mw-list-item"><a href="https://ka.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%83%9B%E1%83%98%E1%83%93%E1%83%98%E1%83%90" title="მიდია – Georgian" lang="ka" hreflang="ka" data-title="მიდია" data-language-autonym="ქართული" data-language-local-name="Georgian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>ქართული</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sw mw-list-item"><a href="https://sw.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umedi" title="Umedi – Swahili" lang="sw" hreflang="sw" data-title="Umedi" data-language-autonym="Kiswahili" data-language-local-name="Swahili" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Kiswahili</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ku mw-list-item"><a href="https://ku.wikipedia.org/wiki/Med" title="Med – Kurdish" lang="ku" hreflang="ku" data-title="Med" data-language-autonym="Kurdî" data-language-local-name="Kurdish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Kurdî</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ky mw-list-item"><a href="https://ky.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B8%D1%8F%D0%BB%D1%8B%D0%BA%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%80" title="Мидиялыктар – Kyrgyz" lang="ky" hreflang="ky" data-title="Мидиялыктар" data-language-autonym="Кыргызча" data-language-local-name="Kyrgyz" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Кыргызча</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-la mw-list-item"><a href="https://la.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media" title="Media – Latin" lang="la" hreflang="la" data-title="Media" data-language-autonym="Latina" data-language-local-name="Latin" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Latina</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-lv mw-list-item"><a href="https://lv.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C4%ABdie%C5%A1i" title="Mīdieši – Latvian" lang="lv" hreflang="lv" data-title="Mīdieši" data-language-autonym="Latviešu" data-language-local-name="Latvian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Latviešu</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-lt mw-list-item"><a href="https://lt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medija" title="Medija – Lithuanian" lang="lt" hreflang="lt" data-title="Medija" data-language-autonym="Lietuvių" data-language-local-name="Lithuanian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Lietuvių</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-hu mw-list-item"><a href="https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A9dek" title="Médek – Hungarian" lang="hu" hreflang="hu" data-title="Médek" data-language-autonym="Magyar" data-language-local-name="Hungarian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Magyar</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-mg mw-list-item"><a href="https://mg.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediana_(vahoaka)" title="Mediana (vahoaka) – Malagasy" lang="mg" hreflang="mg" data-title="Mediana (vahoaka)" data-language-autonym="Malagasy" data-language-local-name="Malagasy" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Malagasy</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-xmf mw-list-item"><a href="https://xmf.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%83%9B%E1%83%98%E1%83%93%E1%83%98%E1%83%90" title="მიდია – Mingrelian" lang="xmf" hreflang="xmf" data-title="მიდია" data-language-autonym="მარგალური" data-language-local-name="Mingrelian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>მარგალური</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-arz mw-list-item"><a href="https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%8A%D9%86" title="الميديين – Egyptian Arabic" lang="arz" hreflang="arz" data-title="الميديين" data-language-autonym="مصرى" data-language-local-name="Egyptian Arabic" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>مصرى</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-mzn mw-list-item"><a href="https://mzn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%AF" title="ماد – Mazanderani" lang="mzn" hreflang="mzn" data-title="ماد" data-language-autonym="مازِرونی" data-language-local-name="Mazanderani" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>مازِرونی</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ms mw-list-item"><a href="https://ms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medes" title="Medes – Malay" lang="ms" hreflang="ms" data-title="Medes" data-language-autonym="Bahasa Melayu" data-language-local-name="Malay" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Bahasa Melayu</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-nl mw-list-item"><a href="https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meden" title="Meden – Dutch" lang="nl" hreflang="nl" data-title="Meden" data-language-autonym="Nederlands" data-language-local-name="Dutch" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Nederlands</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ja mw-list-item"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%A1%E3%83%87%E3%82%A3%E3%82%A2%E7%8E%8B%E5%9B%BD" title="メディア王国 – Japanese" lang="ja" hreflang="ja" data-title="メディア王国" data-language-autonym="日本語" data-language-local-name="Japanese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>日本語</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-no mw-list-item"><a href="https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medere" title="Medere – Norwegian Bokmål" lang="nb" hreflang="nb" data-title="Medere" data-language-autonym="Norsk bokmål" data-language-local-name="Norwegian Bokmål" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Norsk bokmål</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-nn mw-list-item"><a href="https://nn.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medarar" title="Medarar – Norwegian Nynorsk" lang="nn" hreflang="nn" data-title="Medarar" data-language-autonym="Norsk nynorsk" data-language-local-name="Norwegian Nynorsk" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Norsk nynorsk</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pnb mw-list-item"><a href="https://pnb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%AF" title="ماد – Western Punjabi" lang="pnb" hreflang="pnb" data-title="ماد" data-language-autonym="پنجابی" data-language-local-name="Western Punjabi" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>پنجابی</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ps mw-list-item"><a href="https://ps.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AF_%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%AF_%D9%88%D8%A7%DA%A9%D9%85%D9%86%D9%8A" title="د ماد واکمني – Pashto" lang="ps" hreflang="ps" data-title="د ماد واکمني" data-language-autonym="پښتو" data-language-local-name="Pashto" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>پښتو</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pl mw-list-item"><a href="https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medowie" title="Medowie – Polish" lang="pl" hreflang="pl" data-title="Medowie" data-language-autonym="Polski" data-language-local-name="Polish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Polski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pt mw-list-item"><a href="https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medos" title="Medos – Portuguese" lang="pt" hreflang="pt" data-title="Medos" data-language-autonym="Português" data-language-local-name="Portuguese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Português</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ro mw-list-item"><a href="https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mezi" title="Mezi – Romanian" lang="ro" hreflang="ro" data-title="Mezi" data-language-autonym="Română" data-language-local-name="Romanian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Română</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ru mw-list-item"><a href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B8%D0%B4%D1%8F%D0%BD%D0%B5" title="Мидяне – Russian" lang="ru" hreflang="ru" data-title="Мидяне" data-language-autonym="Русский" data-language-local-name="Russian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Русский</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sco mw-list-item"><a href="https://sco.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medes" title="Medes – Scots" lang="sco" hreflang="sco" data-title="Medes" data-language-autonym="Scots" data-language-local-name="Scots" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Scots</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-simple mw-list-item"><a href="https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medes" title="Medes – Simple English" lang="en-simple" hreflang="en-simple" data-title="Medes" data-language-autonym="Simple English" data-language-local-name="Simple English" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Simple English</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sk mw-list-item"><a href="https://sk.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A9di" title="Médi – Slovak" lang="sk" hreflang="sk" data-title="Médi" data-language-autonym="Slovenčina" data-language-local-name="Slovak" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Slovenčina</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sl mw-list-item"><a href="https://sl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medijci" title="Medijci – Slovenian" lang="sl" hreflang="sl" data-title="Medijci" data-language-autonym="Slovenščina" data-language-local-name="Slovenian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Slovenščina</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ckb mw-list-item"><a href="https://ckb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%AF" title="ماد – Central Kurdish" lang="ckb" hreflang="ckb" data-title="ماد" data-language-autonym="کوردی" data-language-local-name="Central Kurdish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>کوردی</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sr mw-list-item"><a href="https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%B8%D1%98%D1%86%D0%B8" title="Медијци – Serbian" lang="sr" hreflang="sr" data-title="Медијци" data-language-autonym="Српски / srpski" data-language-local-name="Serbian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Српски / srpski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sh mw-list-item"><a href="https://sh.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medijci" title="Medijci – Serbo-Croatian" lang="sh" hreflang="sh" data-title="Medijci" data-language-autonym="Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски" data-language-local-name="Serbo-Croatian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-tl mw-list-item"><a href="https://tl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mga_Medo" title="Mga Medo – Tagalog" lang="tl" hreflang="tl" data-title="Mga Medo" data-language-autonym="Tagalog" data-language-local-name="Tagalog" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Tagalog</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ta mw-list-item"><a href="https://ta.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%AE%AE%E0%AF%80%E0%AE%9F%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%AF%E0%AE%BE%E0%AE%AA%E0%AF%8D_%E0%AE%AA%E0%AF%87%E0%AE%B0%E0%AE%B0%E0%AE%9A%E0%AF%81" title="மீடியாப் பேரரசு – Tamil" lang="ta" hreflang="ta" data-title="மீடியாப் பேரரசு" data-language-autonym="தமிழ்" data-language-local-name="Tamil" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>தமிழ்</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-th mw-list-item"><a href="https://th.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B8%8A%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%A1%E0%B8%B5%E0%B8%94%E0%B8%8B%E0%B9%8C" title="ชาวมีดซ์ – Thai" lang="th" hreflang="th" data-title="ชาวมีดซ์" data-language-autonym="ไทย" data-language-local-name="Thai" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>ไทย</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-tg mw-list-item"><a href="https://tg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%BE%D0%B4%D1%88%D0%BE%D2%B3%D0%B8%D0%B8_%D0%9C%D0%BE%D0%B4" title="Подшоҳии Мод – Tajik" lang="tg" hreflang="tg" data-title="Подшоҳии Мод" data-language-autonym="Тоҷикӣ" data-language-local-name="Tajik" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Тоҷикӣ</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-tr mw-list-item"><a href="https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medler" title="Medler – Turkish" lang="tr" hreflang="tr" data-title="Medler" data-language-autonym="Türkçe" data-language-local-name="Turkish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Türkçe</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-uk mw-list-item"><a href="https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D1%96%D0%B4%D1%96%D0%B9%D1%86%D1%96_(%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B4)" title="Мідійці (народ) – Ukrainian" lang="uk" hreflang="uk" data-title="Мідійці (народ)" data-language-autonym="Українська" data-language-local-name="Ukrainian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Українська</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ur mw-list-item"><a href="https://ur.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%AF" title="ماد – Urdu" lang="ur" hreflang="ur" data-title="ماد" data-language-autonym="اردو" data-language-local-name="Urdu" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>اردو</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-vi mw-list-item"><a href="https://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ng%C6%B0%E1%BB%9Di_Media" title="Người Media – Vietnamese" lang="vi" hreflang="vi" data-title="Người Media" data-language-autonym="Tiếng Việt" data-language-local-name="Vietnamese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Tiếng Việt</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-war mw-list-item"><a href="https://war.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediahanon" title="Mediahanon – Waray" lang="war" hreflang="war" data-title="Mediahanon" data-language-autonym="Winaray" data-language-local-name="Waray" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Winaray</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-wuu mw-list-item"><a href="https://wuu.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%B1%B3%E5%BA%95%E7%8E%8B%E5%9B%BD" title="米底王国 – Wu" lang="wuu" hreflang="wuu" data-title="米底王国" data-language-autonym="吴语" data-language-local-name="Wu" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>吴语</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zh-yue mw-list-item"><a href="https://zh-yue.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%B1%B3%E5%BA%95%E4%BA%9E%E7%8E%8B%E5%9C%8B" title="米底亞王國 – Cantonese" lang="yue" hreflang="yue" data-title="米底亞王國" data-language-autonym="粵語" data-language-local-name="Cantonese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>粵語</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zh mw-list-item"><a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%B1%B3%E5%BA%95%E7%8E%8B%E5%9B%BD" title="米底王国 – Chinese" lang="zh" hreflang="zh" data-title="米底王国" data-language-autonym="中文" data-language-local-name="Chinese" 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article is about the ancient Iranian people. For other uses, see <a href="/wiki/Medes_(disambiguation)" class="mw-disambig" title="Medes (disambiguation)">Medes (disambiguation)</a>. For Medians, see <a href="/wiki/Median_(disambiguation)" class="mw-disambig" title="Median (disambiguation)">Median (disambiguation)</a>.</div> <p class="mw-empty-elt"> </p> <figure typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Hottenroth_I-021_-_28_-_Median_male.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/Hottenroth_I-021_-_28_-_Median_male.jpg/130px-Hottenroth_I-021_-_28_-_Median_male.jpg" decoding="async" width="130" height="241" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/Hottenroth_I-021_-_28_-_Median_male.jpg/196px-Hottenroth_I-021_-_28_-_Median_male.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/Hottenroth_I-021_-_28_-_Median_male.jpg/261px-Hottenroth_I-021_-_28_-_Median_male.jpg 2x" data-file-width="483" data-file-height="891" /></a><figcaption>Artistic representation of a Median man</figcaption></figure> <p>The <b>Medes</b><sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>N 1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> were an <a href="/wiki/Ancient_history" title="Ancient history">ancient</a> <a href="/wiki/Iranian_peoples" title="Iranian peoples">Iranian people</a> who spoke the <a href="/wiki/Median_language" title="Median language">Median language</a><sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>N 2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and who inhabited an area known as <a href="/wiki/Media_(region)" title="Media (region)">Media</a> between <a href="/wiki/Western_Iran" title="Western Iran">western</a> and <a href="/wiki/Northern_Iran" title="Northern Iran">northern Iran</a>. Around the 11th century BC, they occupied the mountainous region of northwestern Iran and the northeastern and eastern region of <a href="/wiki/Mesopotamia" title="Mesopotamia">Mesopotamia</a> in the vicinity of <a href="/wiki/Ecbatana" title="Ecbatana">Ecbatana</a> (present-day <a href="/wiki/Hamadan" title="Hamadan">Hamadan</a>). Their consolidation 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.<sup id="cite_ref-Iranica_5-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Iranica-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Although they are generally recognized as having an important place in the history of the <a href="/wiki/Ancient_Near_East" title="Ancient Near East">ancient Near East</a>, the Medes have left no written source to reconstruct their history, which is known only from foreign sources such as the <a href="/wiki/Assyria" title="Assyria">Assyrians</a>, <a href="/wiki/Babylonia" title="Babylonia">Babylonians</a>, <a href="/wiki/Armenians" title="Armenians">Armenians</a> and <a href="/wiki/Ancient_Greece" title="Ancient Greece">Greeks</a>, 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 <a href="/wiki/Herodotus" title="Herodotus">Herodotus</a> 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 <a href="/wiki/Lydia" title="Lydia">Lydia</a> and Babylonia. However, a recent reassessment of contemporary sources from the Median period has altered scholars' perceptions of the <a href="/wiki/Median_state" class="mw-redirect" title="Median state">Median state</a>. 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 the Persian king <a href="/wiki/Cyrus_the_Great" title="Cyrus the Great">Cyrus the Great</a>, Media became an important province and was prized by the empires which successively dominated it (<a href="/wiki/Achaemenid_Empire" title="Achaemenid Empire">Achaemenids</a>, <a href="/wiki/Seleucid_Empire" title="Seleucid Empire">Seleucids</a>, <a href="/wiki/Parthian_Empire" title="Parthian Empire">Parthians</a> and <a href="/wiki/Sasanian_Empire" title="Sasanian Empire">Sasanids</a>).<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Etymology">Etymology</h2></div> <p>The original source for their name and homeland is a directly transmitted <a href="/wiki/Old_Iranian" class="mw-redirect" title="Old Iranian">Old Iranian</a> geographical name which is attested as the <a href="/wiki/Old_Persian" title="Old Persian">Old Persian</a> "Māda-" (<span style="font-size:85%;">singular masculine</span>).<sup id="cite_ref-Tavernier_7-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Tavernier-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The meaning of this word is not precisely known.<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> However, the linguist <a href="/wiki/Wojciech_Skalmowski" title="Wojciech Skalmowski">W. Skalmowski</a> proposes a relation with the <a href="/wiki/Proto-Indo-European_language" title="Proto-Indo-European language">proto-Indo European</a> word "med(h)-", meaning "central, suited in the middle", by referring to the <a href="/wiki/Old_Indic" class="mw-redirect" title="Old Indic">Old Indic</a> "madhya-" and Old Iranian "maidiia-" which both carry the same meaning.<sup id="cite_ref-Tavernier_7-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Tavernier-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The Latin <i>medium</i>, Greek <i>méso</i>, Armenian <i>mej</i>, and English <i>mid</i> are similarly derived from it. </p><p>Greek scholars during antiquity would base <a href="/wiki/Ethnological" class="mw-redirect" title="Ethnological">ethnological</a> conclusions on Greek legends and the similarity of names.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (July 2024)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> According to the <a href="/wiki/Histories_(Herodotus)" title="Histories (Herodotus)"><i>Histories</i></a> of <a href="/wiki/Herodotus" title="Herodotus">Herodotus</a> (440 BC):<sup id="cite_ref-Herodotus-vii-62_9-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Herodotus-vii-62-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1244412712">.mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 32px}.mw-parser-output .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;margin-top:0}@media(min-width:500px){.mw-parser-output .templatequotecite{padding-left:1.6em}}</style><blockquote class="templatequote"><p>The Medes were formerly called by everyone <i>Arians</i>, but when the <a href="/wiki/Colchian" class="mw-redirect" title="Colchian">Colchian</a> woman <a href="/wiki/Medea" title="Medea">Medea</a> came from <a href="/wiki/Athens" title="Athens">Athens</a> to the Arians, they changed their name, like the Persians [did after <a href="/wiki/Perses_(son_of_Perseus)" title="Perses (son of Perseus)">Perses</a>, son of <a href="/wiki/Perseus" title="Perseus">Perseus</a> and <a href="/wiki/Andromeda_(mythology)" title="Andromeda (mythology)">Andromeda</a>].<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> This is the Medes' own account of themselves.</p></blockquote> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Archaeology">Archaeology</h2></div> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Ecbatane_-_excavated_house.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/Ecbatane_-_excavated_house.jpg/220px-Ecbatane_-_excavated_house.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="143" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/Ecbatane_-_excavated_house.jpg/330px-Ecbatane_-_excavated_house.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/Ecbatane_-_excavated_house.jpg/440px-Ecbatane_-_excavated_house.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1024" data-file-height="667" /></a><figcaption>Excavation from ancient Ecbatana, Hamadan, Iran</figcaption></figure> <p>The discoveries of Median sites in <a href="/wiki/Iran" title="Iran">Iran</a> happened only after the 1960s.<sup id="cite_ref-stronach-EIr-288_11-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-stronach-EIr-288-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> 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 <a href="/wiki/Hamadan" title="Hamadan">Hamadan</a> and <a href="/wiki/Malayer" title="Malayer">Malayer</a> (in <a href="/wiki/Hamadan_province" title="Hamadan province">Hamadan province</a>) and <a href="/wiki/Kangavar" title="Kangavar">Kangavar</a> (in <a href="/wiki/Kermanshah_province" title="Kermanshah province">Kermanshah province</a>).<sup id="cite_ref-stronach-EIr-288_11-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-stronach-EIr-288-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Three major sites from central western Iran in the <a href="/wiki/Three-age_system" title="Three-age system">Iron Age III period</a> (i.e. 850–500 BC) are:<sup id="cite_ref-Young-p449_12-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Young-p449-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Noushijan_Tappe" class="mw-redirect" title="Noushijan Tappe">Tepe Nush-i Jan</a> (a primarily religious site of Median period),</li></ul> <dl><dd>The site is located 14 km west of Malāyer in Hamadan province.<sup id="cite_ref-stronach-EIr-288_11-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-stronach-EIr-288-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The excavations started in 1967 with <a href="/wiki/David_Stronach" title="David Stronach">David Stronach</a> as the director.<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> 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.<sup id="cite_ref-stronach-EIr-290_14-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-stronach-EIr-290-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> According to Stronach, the central temple, with its stark design, "provides a notable, if mute, expression of religious belief and practice".<sup id="cite_ref-stronach-EIr-290_14-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-stronach-EIr-290-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> 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 <a href="/wiki/Pithos" title="Pithos">pithoi</a>. 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.<sup id="cite_ref-stronach-EIr-290_14-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-stronach-EIr-290-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></dd></dl> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Godin_Tepe" title="Godin Tepe">Godin Tepe</a> (<a href="/wiki/Godin_Tepe#Level_II" title="Godin Tepe">Godin Tepe's Level II</a>: a fortified palace of a Median king or tribal chief),</li></ul> <dl><dd>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. According to <a href="/wiki/David_Stronach" title="David Stronach">David Stronach</a>, the evidence shows an important <a href="/wiki/Bronze_Age" title="Bronze Age">Bronze Age</a> construction that was reoccupied sometime before the beginning of the <a href="/wiki/Iron_Age" title="Iron Age">Iron III</a> period. The excavations of Young indicate the remains of part of a single residence of a local ruler which later became quite substantial.<sup id="cite_ref-stronach-EIr-288_11-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-stronach-EIr-288-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> This is similar to those mentioned often in Assyrian sources.<sup id="cite_ref-Young-p449_12-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Young-p449-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></dd></dl> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Babajan,_Lorestan" title="Babajan, Lorestan">Babajan</a> (probably the seat of a lesser tribal ruler of Media).</li></ul> <dl><dd>The site is located in northeastern <a href="/wiki/Lorestan" class="mw-redirect" title="Lorestan">Lorestan</a> with a distance of roughly 10 km from <a href="/wiki/Nurabad,_Lorestan" title="Nurabad, Lorestan">Nūrābād</a> 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.<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></dd></dl> <p>These sources have both similarities (in cultural characteristics) and differences (due to functional differences and diversity among the Median tribes).<sup id="cite_ref-Young-p449_12-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Young-p449-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> 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 <a href="/wiki/Achaemenid_Empire" title="Achaemenid Empire">Achaemenid Empire</a> (for example in <a href="/wiki/Persepolis" title="Persepolis">Persepolis</a>) and <a href="/wiki/Safavid_Iran" title="Safavid Iran">Safavid Iran</a> (for example in <a href="/wiki/Chehel_Sotoun" title="Chehel Sotoun">Chehel Sotoun</a> from the 17th century AD) and what is seen in Median architecture.<sup id="cite_ref-Young-p449_12-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Young-p449-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>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.<sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-16"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>14<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> 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.<sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="History">History</h2></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Origins">Origins</h3></div> <p>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.<sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-18"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>16<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Iranian_peoples" title="Iranian peoples">Iranian</a> 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.<sup id="cite_ref-dandamaev-lukonin-2-3_19-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dandamaev-lukonin-2-3-19"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> By this time the Iranian tribes were the majority in what later become the territory of the Median Kingdom and also the west of <a href="/wiki/Media_(region)" title="Media (region)">Media proper</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-dandamaev-lukonin-2-3_19-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dandamaev-lukonin-2-3-19"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> 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.<sup id="cite_ref-20" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-20"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>18<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>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, <a href="/wiki/Assyria" title="Assyria">Assyria</a> and <a href="/wiki/Urartu" title="Urartu">Urartu</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-dandamaev-lukonin-2-3_19-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dandamaev-lukonin-2-3-19"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> 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.<sup id="cite_ref-dandamaev-lukonin-2-3_19-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dandamaev-lukonin-2-3-19"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> One opinion (of Herzfeld, <i>et al.</i>) is that the ruling class were "Iranian migrants" but the society was "autonomous" while another opinion (of Grantovsky, <i>et al.</i>) holds that both the ruling class and basic elements of the population were Iranian.<sup id="cite_ref-21" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>19<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The Medes first appear on the historical scene in the 9th century BCE, when they are mentioned in contemporary Assyrian texts. By this time, it is highly likely that Indo-Iranian-speaking peoples had already settled in Western Iran at least some 500 years — if not 1,000 years — prior to this period. Most scholars believe that the arrival of Indo-Iranian speaking populations into Western Iran was not the result of one mass migration, but instead small groups of nomadic pastoralists gradually infiltrated the region from the northeast over a long period of time, perhaps dating back to the early 2nd millennium BCE. These pastoralist groups gave rise to diverse cultural and linguistic groups, with one such group eventually coalescing into the people referred to by the Assyrians as the Medes.<sup id="cite_ref-:1_22-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-22"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>20<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> From the 9th century BCE onwards the Medes were well established in Western Iran and frequently clashed with the Assyrians, their powerful neighbors to the west. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Assyrian_intervention_in_Median_territories">Assyrian intervention in Median territories</h3></div> <p>The <a href="/wiki/Zagros_Mountains" title="Zagros Mountains">Zagros Mountains</a> and the <a href="/wiki/Iranian_Plateau" class="mw-redirect" title="Iranian Plateau">Iranian Plateau</a> were politically fragmented in the extreme. The Assyrian sources of the 8th and 7th centuries BCE tell of a bewildering number of kings and chieftains who ruled areas of different sizes, most of which seem to have been very small. In referring to the Median rulers, the Assyrian texts use the title <i>bēl āli</i> (meaning "city lord"), a term for petty rulers who were not important enough to be called kings. Since there's no very large settlements in Median territory, <i>bēl āli</i> is sometimes translated as "chief" or "chieftain". From the Assyrian perspective, the Medes were a strange people living beyond the eastern fringes of the civilized world. <a href="/wiki/Shalmaneser_III" title="Shalmaneser III">Shalmaneser III</a> (858-824 BC) was the first Assyrian king who made serious efforts to extend the power of his kingdom beyond the reaches of northern Mesopotamia, and he was the first Assyrian king to reach the Iranian Plateau. Although his army operated near Median territories in 843, 827, and 826 BCE, the Medes are not mentioned in the reports on these campaigns. Only once, in 834, did Shalmaneser sally forth from <a href="/wiki/Parsua" title="Parsua">Parsua</a> in order to attack four settlements in the regions of "Messi, Amadaya, Araziaš and Harhar." Among these, Amadaya can be identified as Media. Shalmaneser's attack was, however, a mere side show without any consequences since Media was not the focus of Shalmaneser's attention. </p><p>The Assyrian interest in the Iranian highlands probably stemmed from their need for horses to supply the chariots and cavalry of their armed forces. For most of the 9th century BCE, the Assyrians found what they needed in the Zagros Mountains, in areas closer to the Assyrian heartland and more accessible. However, the situation changed when the kingdom of <a href="/wiki/Urartu" title="Urartu">Urartu</a> expanded into the areas south of <a href="/wiki/Lake_Urmia" title="Lake Urmia">Lake Urmia</a>, thus cutting off Assyria's most convenient connection with central Iran. This prompted Assyria to seek new and more reliable access routes connecting Assyria with horse-breeding areas far from Urartian interference. This attracted Assyria's attention to the Medes, renowned for their wealth of horses. In a campaign in 819 or 818 BCE, <a href="/wiki/Shamshi-Adad_V" title="Shamshi-Adad V">Shamshi-Adad V</a> (823-811 BCE) led Assyrian forces deep into western Iran. Advancing through Mesa, Gilzilbunda, Mataya (Media), and Araziaš, he followed the path previously taken by Shalmaneser III in 834 BCE. During this expedition, Assyrian forces encountered and fought a ruler named Hanaşiruka in Media. According to Shamshi-Adad's inscriptions, they purportedly killed 2,300 of Hanaşiruka's warriors and 140 cavalrymen, and Hanaşiruka's royal city of Sagbita was destroyed, along with 1,200 other settlements. However, considering later campaigns in the region, these figures seem exaggerated. Hanaşiruka fared better than his neighboring rulers, the king of Gizilbunda and the ruler of Araziaš. Hanaşiruka not only survived the assault but also did not submit to the Assyrian king and apparently had no booty taken from his land. While only a fraction of the Median territories was affected by Shamshi-Adad's incursion, this marked the first of a series of Assyrian attempts to exert its power over the horse breeders of western Iran. Between 810 and 766 BCE, at least seven and possibly as many as nine Assyrian campaigns were directed against Media, climaxing in the years 793-787 BCE when <a href="/w/index.php?title=Nergal-ila%27i&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Nergal-ila'i (page does not exist)">Nergal-ila'i</a>, the commander-in-chief of <a href="/wiki/Adad-nirari_III" title="Adad-nirari III">Adad-nirari III</a> (810-783 BCE), led no fewer than five expeditions east-ward.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_23-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-23"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The earliest Assyrian incursions into the Zagros region seem to have focused mainly on plunder. It is only under the king <a href="/wiki/Tiglath-Pileser_III" title="Tiglath-Pileser III">Tiglath-Pileser III</a> (744-727 BCE) and his successors that the Assyrians attempted to take direct control of Median territory by founding new Assyrian provinces in the western Zagros. They also converted some Median towns to Assyrian centers, renaming them with the prefix <i>kār</i>, which meant "harbor" or "trading station".<sup id="cite_ref-:1_22-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-22"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>20<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Their new names highlight their central role in commerce.<sup id="cite_ref-waters_24-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-waters-24"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>22<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In the course of his campaigns, Tiglath-Pileser III established two new provinces, expanding the permanent Assyrian presence much further onto the Iranian Plateau. East of the existing Assyrian province of Zamua (established no later than 843 BCE), Tiglath-Pileser founded the province of Parsua. Additionally, the province of Namri, likely established in the 790s BCE, now shared a border with the newly created province of Bit-Hamban. The Assyrian overland route connecting the Median territories with the Mesopotamian lowlands now reached as far as the strategically significant city of <a href="/wiki/Harhar" class="mw-redirect" title="Harhar">Harhar</a> on the Iranian Plateau. In 738 BCE, Tiglath-Pileser sent an army detachment against "the mighty Medes in the east", likely in the region beyond <a href="/wiki/Mount_Alvand" class="mw-redirect" title="Mount Alvand">Mount Alvand</a>. The operation was successful, with the Assyrians capturing the settlement of Mulugani and capturing "5,000 horses, people, oxen, sheep and goats." </p><p><a href="/wiki/Sargon_II" title="Sargon II">Sargon II</a> (721-705 BCE) resumed efforts to strengthen the Assyrian Empire's grip on western Iran even further. This renewed advance was a highly concentrated affair, accomplished in just four years from 716 to 713 BCE, during which time the Median lands were invaded no fewer than three times. Most chiefs who paid tribute in 714 BCE, did not do so again in 713 BCE, which shows that even when the Assyrian Empire's involvement with the Median territories was at its absolute peak, only a small fraction of the Median chiefs in power established a lasting relationship with the Assyrian conqueror. The majority anticipated that Assyrian forces would eventually withdraw, as they had done in the past. However, the establishment of fortresses in Harhar and Kišesim in 716 BCE marked a turning point. From then on, the Assyrians maintained a permanent presence in western Iran. </p><p>However, the effectiveness of Assyrian rule was still limited and remained weak, especially in areas east of the Zagros mountain range. Since direct control over the Medes was challenging to keep, deals were made with those local rulers. In exchange for recognizing the Assyrian king's authority, providing a fixed quantity of horses as tribute, and fulfilling other obligations, cooperative chiefs received the protection of the Assyrian Empire and retained the freedom to govern their subjects as they deemed fit. This compromise usually suited both sides well.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_23-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-23"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Sargon II undertook another expedition to Media in 708 BCE but was unable to achieve his goal of conquering all Median lands or establishing stable control over them. Subsequently, the tribes on the Iranian plateau opposing Assyrian dominance consolidated their efforts against it. By the end of the 8th century BCE, the first major unions and states based on tribal confederations began to emerge in the western Iranian territory, led by local chiefs.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDandamayevMedvedskaya2006_25-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDandamayevMedvedskaya2006-25"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>23<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> While during Sargon II's reign, the Medes seemed contained through diplomacy and the strategic backing of competing factions, by the time of his grandson <a href="/wiki/Esarhaddon" title="Esarhaddon">Esarhaddon</a> (680-669 BCE), the Assyrians appeared to have lost ground in Media. Records from this period indicate unrest in the Median provinces. In inquiries directed to the god <a href="/wiki/Shamash" title="Shamash">Shamash</a>, the king seeks guidance on the power of the Medes and their allies, the <a href="/wiki/Cimmerians" title="Cimmerians">Cimmerians</a> and <a href="/wiki/Manneans" class="mw-redirect" title="Manneans">Manneans</a>. Notably, the <i>bēl-āli</i> of Karkaššî, <a href="/wiki/Kashtariti" class="mw-redirect" title="Kashtariti">Kashtariti</a>, becomes the focus of the king's concern. Even the once routine collection of horse tribute from the Medes now encounters unexpected difficulties. </p><p>The <i>adê</i> tablets record the oaths made by eight Zagros-dwelling <i>bēl-ālāni</i> who swore loyalty to Esarhaddon and his crown prince <a href="/wiki/Ashurbanipal" title="Ashurbanipal">Ashurbanipal</a> (668-631 BCE). The interpretation of these oaths has been a subject of debate, ranging from vassal treaties to the swearing in of a corps of Median bodyguards to the crown prince. The discovery of a very similar tablet from the Syrian site of <a href="/wiki/Tell_Tayinat" title="Tell Tayinat">Tell Tayinat</a> points to an empire-wide attempt at making all allies swear allegiance to the crown-prince before Esarhaddon's death. Six years prior one of these <i>bēl-ālāni</i>, Ramataya of Urakazabarna, had visited the Assyrian court. He brought tribute in the form of horses and lapis lazuli, seeking Esarhaddon's assistance against rival <i>bēl-ālāni</i>. However, it appears that the oaths and alliances eventually fell apart, leading to the tablets that documented them being taken from the temple storage room and crushed. While, by the mid-seventh century, the Median <i>bēl-ālāni</i> seemed poised to form alliances that could have united against the Assyrians, there is no indication that the fundamental political structure of the Medes as independent <i>bēl-ālāni</i> was undergoing significant changes as Herodotus's story of <a href="/wiki/Deioces" title="Deioces">Deioces</a>'s rise would suggest. The last mention of Median <i>bēl-ālāni</i> comes from an inscription of Ashurbanipal that recounts a campaign of 656 BCE, in which three Median <i>bēl-ālāni</i> rebelled and were captured and brought back to Nineveh. As it became conceivable for a united Media to defeat Assyria and assume her mantle of power in the region, the impetus to unite may have been stronger than the competitive forces dividing the <i>bēl-ālāni</i>.<sup id="cite_ref-:1_22-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-22"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>20<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>After 670 BCE, susceptible to Scythian and Cimmerian raids and facing the decline of trade along the <a href="/wiki/Great_Khorasan_Road" class="mw-redirect" title="Great Khorasan Road">Great Khorasan Road</a>, many Median chiefdoms probably collapsed leaving fewer chiefs to compete for power. The states of non-Iranian peoples like the <a href="/wiki/Manneans" class="mw-redirect" title="Manneans">Manneans</a>, <a href="/w/index.php?title=Elippians&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Elippians (page does not exist)">Elippians</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Kassites" title="Kassites">Kassites</a> probably collapsed as well, which allowed Median groups to take over their territory. With fewer chiefs remaining, one of them might have risen to the position of paramount chief, subjugating his former equals. <a href="/wiki/Cyaxares" title="Cyaxares">Cyaxares</a> probably rose to prominence in this context. He may indeed have fought the Scythians, as Herodotus claims, which may have earned him his reputation as a great warrior. Through his victories, Cyaxares gained more and more influence, eventually uniting the Medes and other peoples under his leadership.<sup id="cite_ref-26" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-26"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>24<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Rise_and_fall">Rise and fall</h3></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Median_kingdom" title="Median kingdom">Median kingdom</a></div> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Pre-Achaemenid_Era.gif" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/Pre-Achaemenid_Era.gif/220px-Pre-Achaemenid_Era.gif" decoding="async" width="220" height="168" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/Pre-Achaemenid_Era.gif/330px-Pre-Achaemenid_Era.gif 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/Pre-Achaemenid_Era.gif/440px-Pre-Achaemenid_Era.gif 2x" data-file-width="1359" data-file-height="1035" /></a><figcaption>Timeline of Pre-Achaemenid era.</figcaption></figure> <p>From the 10th to the late 7th centuries BCE, the western parts of Media fell under the domination of the vast <a href="/wiki/Neo-Assyrian_Empire" title="Neo-Assyrian Empire">Neo-Assyrian Empire</a>, which stretched from <a href="/wiki/Cyprus" title="Cyprus">Cyprus</a> in the west, to parts of western Iran in the east, and <a href="/wiki/Ancient_Egypt" title="Ancient Egypt">Egypt</a> and the north of the <a href="/wiki/Arabian_Peninsula" title="Arabian Peninsula">Arabian Peninsula</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-27" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-27"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>25<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> During the reign of <a href="/wiki/Sinsharishkun" title="Sinsharishkun">Sinsharishkun</a> (622–612 BCE), the Assyrian empire, which had been in a state of constant civil war since 626 BCE, began to unravel. Subject peoples, such as the Babylonians, Egyptians, Scythians, Cimmerians, and <a href="/wiki/Arameans" title="Arameans">Arameans</a> quietly ceased to pay tribute to Assyria. </p><p>Assyrian dominance over the Medes came to an end during the reign of Median king <a href="/wiki/Cyaxares" title="Cyaxares">Cyaxares</a>, who, in alliance with the Babylonian king <a href="/wiki/Nabopolassar" title="Nabopolassar">Nabopolassar</a>, attacked and destroyed the strife-riven Neo-Assyrian Empire between 616 and 609 BCE.<sup id="cite_ref-28" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-28"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>26<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> After the fall of Assyria, a unified <a href="/wiki/Median_state" class="mw-redirect" title="Median state">Median state</a> became one of the four major powers of the <a href="/wiki/Ancient_Near_East" title="Ancient Near East">ancient Near East</a> together with Babylonia, <a href="/wiki/Lydia" title="Lydia">Lydia</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Ancient_Egypt" title="Ancient Egypt">Egypt</a>. The Medes were subsequently able to expand beyond their original homeland and had eventually a territory stretching roughly from northeastern Iran to the <a href="/wiki/K%C4%B1z%C4%B1l%C4%B1rmak_River" title="Kızılırmak River">Kızılırmak River</a> in <a href="/wiki/Anatolia" title="Anatolia">Anatolia</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-:3_29-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:3-29"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>27<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Cyaxares was succeeded by his son <a href="/wiki/Astyages" title="Astyages">Astyages</a>. In 553 BCE, <a href="/wiki/Cyrus_the_Great" title="Cyrus the Great">Cyrus the Great</a>, the King of Persia, a Median vassal, <a href="/wiki/Medo-Persian_conflict" title="Medo-Persian conflict">revolted</a> against the Median king. In 550 BCE, Cyrus finally won a decisive victory resulting in Astyages' capture by his own dissatisfied nobles, who promptly turned him over to the triumphant Cyrus.<sup id="cite_ref-:3_29-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:3-29"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>27<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Median_dynasty">Median dynasty</h4></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Median_dynasty" title="Median dynasty">Median dynasty</a></div> <p>In Herodotus (I, 95–130), <a href="/wiki/Deioces" title="Deioces">Deioces</a> is introduced as the founder of a centralized 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.<sup id="cite_ref-30" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-30"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>28<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Judging from the contemporary sources of the region and disregarding<sup id="cite_ref-31" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-31"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>29<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> the account of Herodotus puts the formation of a unified Median state during the reign of <a href="/wiki/Cyaxares" title="Cyaxares">Cyaxares</a> or later.<sup id="cite_ref-32" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-32"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>30<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>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: </p> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Deioces" title="Deioces">Deioces</a> (700s–675 BC)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Phraortes" title="Phraortes">Phraortes</a> (675–653 BC)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Scythians" title="Scythians">Scythian</a> rule (652–624 BC)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cyaxares" title="Cyaxares">Cyaxares</a> (624–585 BC)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Astyages" title="Astyages">Astyages</a> (585–550 BC)<sup id="cite_ref-Diakonoff1985_33-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Diakonoff1985-33"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>31<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li></ul> <p>However, not all of these dates and personalities given by Herodotus match the other near eastern sources.<sup id="cite_ref-Diakonoff1985_33-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Diakonoff1985-33"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>31<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Later_history">Later history</h3></div> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Persepolis_Apadana_noerdliche_Treppe_Detail.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/29/Persepolis_Apadana_noerdliche_Treppe_Detail.jpg/180px-Persepolis_Apadana_noerdliche_Treppe_Detail.jpg" decoding="async" width="180" height="276" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/29/Persepolis_Apadana_noerdliche_Treppe_Detail.jpg/270px-Persepolis_Apadana_noerdliche_Treppe_Detail.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/29/Persepolis_Apadana_noerdliche_Treppe_Detail.jpg/360px-Persepolis_Apadana_noerdliche_Treppe_Detail.jpg 2x" data-file-width="418" data-file-height="640" /></a><figcaption>The Apadana Palace, 5th century BCE <a href="/wiki/Achaemenid_Empire" title="Achaemenid Empire">Achaemenid</a> <a href="/wiki/Relief" title="Relief">bas-relief</a> shows a Mede soldier behind a Persian soldier, in <a href="/wiki/Persepolis" title="Persepolis">Persepolis</a>, Iran</figcaption></figure> <p>After Cyrus's victory against Astyages, the Medes were subjected to their close kin, the Persians.<sup id="cite_ref-34" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-34"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>32<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> 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 <a href="/wiki/Ecbatana" title="Ecbatana">Ecbatana</a>; and many noble Medes were employed as officials, <a href="/wiki/Satrap" title="Satrap">satraps</a> and generals. </p><p>In later periods, Medes and especially Mede soldiers are identified and portrayed prominently in ancient archaeological sites such as <a href="/wiki/Persepolis" title="Persepolis">Persepolis</a>, where they are shown to have a major role and presence in the military of the <a href="/wiki/Achaemenid_Empire" title="Achaemenid Empire">Achaemenid Empire</a>. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Culture_and_society">Culture and society</h2></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Society">Society</h3></div> <figure class="mw-halign-left" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Mad-5223.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d7/Mad-5223.jpg/219px-Mad-5223.jpg" decoding="async" width="219" height="282" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d7/Mad-5223.jpg/328px-Mad-5223.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d7/Mad-5223.jpg/438px-Mad-5223.jpg 2x" data-file-width="2736" data-file-height="3526" /></a><figcaption>Stone relief of a Median man</figcaption></figure> <p>The almost complete lack of written material makes it difficult to know how the Medes conceived their society. According to Herodotus, Persian society during the reign of Cyrus the Great was composed of 'numerous tribes' (<i>génea</i>), and each tribe was divided into 'clans' (<i>phrātría</i>). This general outline by the Greek historian reflects the concept that the social groups individuals belonged to were family, clan, tribe, and country. Although clan affiliations or tribal connections of significant individuals are rarely mentioned in Achaemenid period texts, the Persians still identified themselves through their relationships with family (paternal name), clan, and tribe. It is quite likely that the Medes did the same, as, according to Herodotus, their nation was also composed of tribes (<i>génēa</i>).<sup id="cite_ref-35" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-35"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>33<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Assyrian inscriptions use the unusual term "<i>bēl-āli</i>" for the Median leaders, a term that is occasionally applied also to other rulers of polities in the Zagros mountains, but otherwise unknown in the Assyrian records. Literally translated the term means "head of a city" but it has been variously translated as "chieftain", "city leader", or "city lord". The term as used by the Assyrians is probably also a reflection of their own interpretation of a power structure that was unfamiliar to them and could only be rendered in terms that the Assyrians themselves understood. It is clear from Assyrian sources that the position of <i>bēl-āli</i> could be hereditary.<sup id="cite_ref-:1_22-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-22"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>20<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The Assyrian sources do not provide any information about the organizational structure above the level of chieftains, and the inner structure of these Median chiefdoms remain largely unknown. According to Herodotus, the Medes were divided into six tribes: Busai, Paretakenians, Struchates, Arizantians, Budians, and <a href="/wiki/Magi" title="Magi">Magians</a>. The name of these tribes appear to be completely unknown to the Assyrians despite centuries of direct contact with various Median groups. Only the name of Herodotus's Paretakenians sounds similar to the lands of Partakka and Partukka, whose chieftains sought help from the Assyrian king Esarhaddon (680-669 BC). If any tribal structures existed from the 9th to the 7th century BC, their political significance was likely minimal. Contrary to expectations, the Medes' internal rivalries did not result in the concentration of land, wealth, and power in the hands of a steadily decreasing number of chieftains over time, the opposite occurred. In 819 BC, a small number of Median chiefs fielded considerably stronger forces against Assyria than their more numerous descendants did in the later half of the 8th century BC, when they were attacked by Tiglath-Pileser III and Sargon II. This suggests that sons of chieftains had equal inheritance rights, leading to the division of their father's lands, increasing the number of chiefdoms, and accelerating Media's political fragmentation. Sargon II's inscriptions alone identify at least 55 Median chiefdoms, and considering that there were likely additional less important chiefdoms not mentioned in Assyrian records, the total number could have been close to a hundred or even more.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_23-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-23"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Presumably the tribal union of the Medes was not merely nominal. It is to this union that the Medes must have owed at times the possibility of collective action with a choice of capable leaders. But such unity could manifest itself only occasionally. In the majority of the cases the Medes, in spite of their strength, were divided. The six Median tribes resided in Media proper, the triangular area between <a href="/wiki/Rhagae" class="mw-redirect" title="Rhagae">Rhagae</a>, <a href="/wiki/Isfahan" title="Isfahan">Aspadana</a> and <a href="/wiki/Ecbatana" title="Ecbatana">Ecbatana</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-books.google.no_36-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-books.google.no-36"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>34<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In present-day <a href="/wiki/Iran" title="Iran">Iran</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-37" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-37"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>35<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> that is the area between <a href="/wiki/Tehran" title="Tehran">Tehran</a>, <a href="/wiki/Isfahan" title="Isfahan">Isfahan</a> and <a href="/wiki/Hamadan" title="Hamadan">Hamadan</a>, respectively. Of the Median tribes, the Magi resided in Rhagae,<sup id="cite_ref-38" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-38"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>36<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> modern Tehran.<sup id="cite_ref-39" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-39"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>37<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> They were of a sacred caste which ministered to the spiritual needs of the Medes.<sup id="cite_ref-40" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-40"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>38<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The Paretaceni tribe resided in and around Aspadana, modern Isfahan,<sup id="cite_ref-books.google.no_36-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-books.google.no-36"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>34<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-41" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-41"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>39<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-42" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-42"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>40<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> the Arizanti lived in and around <a href="/wiki/Kashan" title="Kashan">Kashan</a> (<a href="/wiki/Isfahan_Province" class="mw-redirect" title="Isfahan Province">Isfahan Province</a>),<sup id="cite_ref-books.google.no_36-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-books.google.no-36"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>34<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and the Busae tribe lived in and around the future Median capital of Ecbatana, near modern Hamadan.<sup id="cite_ref-books.google.no_36-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-books.google.no-36"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>34<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The Struchates and the Budii lived in villages in the Median triangle.<sup id="cite_ref-43" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-43"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>41<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The family life of the Medes was based on patriarchal authority and <a href="/wiki/Polygamy" title="Polygamy">polygamy</a> was permitted. <a href="/wiki/Strabo" title="Strabo">Strabo</a> (<a href="/wiki/Geographica" title="Geographica">Geogr.</a> XI, 13.11) mentions a peculiar law applied to all Medes – a law requiring every man to have no fewer than five wives. It is very unlikely that such a burden would actually be obligatory on anyone: most likely only five lawful wives, and no more, were permitted by the aforementioned law, just as four wives, and no more, are legal for <a href="/wiki/Muslims" title="Muslims">Muslims</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTERawlinson2007_44-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTERawlinson2007-44"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>42<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The Medes had "cities", probably small fortified settlements like those identified archaeologically. These locations were characterized by fortifications, warehouses, worship buildings, and ceremonial structures. The common population did not reside within these places, nor necessarily in immediate proximity; it is presumed they inhabited small villages or pastoral camps.<sup id="cite_ref-:2_45-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:2-45"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>43<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The Medes are portrayed in the reliefs of <a href="/wiki/Persepolis" title="Persepolis">Persepolis</a>, dating back to 515 BCE, just 35 years after the fall of the Median Kingdom. The reliefs depicting the Medes appear in three locations, showing guards, nobles, and their delegations. The reason for their frequent representation lies in the fact that the Medes held a privileged status in the Achaemenid Empire. The first relief shows four Medes and Persian spearmen. In this relief, the Medes wear short coats, trousers, and round caps, under which they seem to have curly hair.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEStierlin2006145_46-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEStierlin2006145-46"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>44<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Religion">Religion</h3></div> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Farvahar_background.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Farvahar_background.jpg/220px-Farvahar_background.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="121" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Farvahar_background.jpg/330px-Farvahar_background.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Farvahar_background.jpg 2x" data-file-width="365" data-file-height="200" /></a><figcaption><a href="/wiki/Faravahar" title="Faravahar">Faravahar</a>, a symbol of Zoroastrianism</figcaption></figure> <p>Information about the religion of the Medes is very limited. Primary sources pointing to religious affiliations of Medes found so far include the archaeological discoveries in Tepe Nush-i Jan, personal names of Median individuals, and the <i>Histories</i> of Herodotus.<sup id="cite_ref-EIR-MediaReligion_47-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-EIR-MediaReligion-47"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>45<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Between 1967 and 1977, <a href="/wiki/David_Stronach" title="David Stronach">David Stronach</a> excavated a building at Tepe Nush-i Jan that had been built around 750 BC and appears to be mainly religious in character. The building was erected on a rock about 30 meters high and included a "Central Sanctuary", "Western Sanctuary", "Fortress" and "Columned Hall", which were surrounded by a circular brick support wall. The Central Sanctuary was tower-shaped with a triangular inner altar. Its space is 11×7 meters and the walls are eight meters high. Near the west corner of the altar, a stepped fire altar constructed of mud bricks was discovered. As is known, the <a href="/wiki/Cult_of_fire" class="mw-redirect" title="Cult of fire">cult of fire</a> was a common Indo-Iranian legacy.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDandamayevMedvedskaya2006_25-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDandamayevMedvedskaya2006-25"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>23<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> According to Herodotus, the Medes had a priestly caste called the <a href="/wiki/Magi" title="Magi">Magi</a>, who were one of the tribes of this people. They had the right or privilege to serve as priests not only for the Medes but also for the Persians. Thus, they constituted a priestly caste that passed its functions from father to son. They played a significant role in the court of the Median king Astyages, serving as advisers, sorcerers, dream interpreters, and soothsayers. Classical authors regarded the Magi as Zoroastrian priests. From the personal names of Medes as recorded by Assyrian texts from 8th and 9th centuries BCE there are examples of the use of the Indo-Iranian word <i>arta-</i> (lit. "truth") or <a href="/wiki/Theophoric_name" title="Theophoric name">theophoric names</a> with <i>Maždakku</i> and even the name of the god <a href="/wiki/Ahura_Mazda" title="Ahura Mazda">Ahura Mazda</a>, which is familiar from both <a href="/wiki/Avestan" title="Avestan">Avestan</a> and Old Persian.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDandamayevMedvedskaya2006_25-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDandamayevMedvedskaya2006-25"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>23<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-EIR-MediaReligion_47-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-EIR-MediaReligion-47"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>45<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The religion promoted by the Magi could be some form of pre-Zoroastrianism or <a href="/wiki/Zoroastrianism" title="Zoroastrianism">Zoroastrianism</a> itself. This is a controversial topic on which scholars have not yet reached a consensus. <a href="/wiki/Igor_Diakonoff" class="mw-redirect" title="Igor Diakonoff">Igor Diakonoff</a> supposed that Astyages and perhaps even Cyaxares had already adopted a religion derived from the teachings of <a href="/wiki/Zoroaster" title="Zoroaster">Zoroaster</a> (although not necessarily identical with his doctrine). <a href="/wiki/Mary_Boyce" title="Mary Boyce">Mary Boyce</a> argued that the existence of the Magi in Media with their own traditions and forms of worship was an obstacle to Zoroastrian proselytism there.<sup id="cite_ref-EIR-MediaReligion_47-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-EIR-MediaReligion-47"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>45<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Boyce wrote that the Zoroastrian traditions in the Median city of Ray probably goes back to the 8th century BCE.<sup id="cite_ref-48" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-48"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>46<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> It is suggested that from the 8th century BCE, a form of "<a href="/wiki/Mazdaism" class="mw-redirect" title="Mazdaism">Mazdaism</a> with common Iranian traditions" existed in Media and the strict <a href="/wiki/Zoroastrianism" title="Zoroastrianism">reforms of Zarathustra</a> began to spread in western Iran during the reign of the last Median kings in the 6th century BCE.<sup id="cite_ref-EIR-MediaReligion_47-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-EIR-MediaReligion-47"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>45<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> It is also possible that the Medes may have practised <a href="/wiki/Mithraism" title="Mithraism">Mithraism</a>, with <a href="/wiki/Mithra" title="Mithra">Mithra</a> as their supreme deity.<sup id="cite_ref-49" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-49"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>47<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Language">Language</h3></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Median_language" title="Median language">Median language</a></div> <p>Median people spoke the Median language, which was an Old Iranian language. <a href="/wiki/Strabo" title="Strabo">Strabo</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/Geographica" title="Geographica">Geographica</a></i> (finished in the early first century) mentions the affinity of Median with other <a href="/wiki/Iranian_languages" title="Iranian languages">Iranian languages</a>: "The name of<i> <a href="/wiki/Ariana" title="Ariana">Ariana</a> </i>is further extended to a part of Persia and of Media, as also to the <a href="/wiki/Bactria" title="Bactria">Bactrians</a> and <a href="/wiki/Sogdia" title="Sogdia">Sogdians</a> on the north; for these speak approximately the same language, but with slight variations".<sup id="cite_ref-50" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-50"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>48<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>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 <a href="/wiki/Dinon" title="Dinon">Dinon</a> on the existence of "Median court poets".<sup id="cite_ref-51" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-51"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>49<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Median literature is part of the "Old Iranian literature" (including also <a href="/wiki/Saka_language" title="Saka language">Saka</a>, <a href="/wiki/Old_Persian" title="Old Persian">Old Persian</a>, <a href="/wiki/Avestan" title="Avestan">Avestan</a>) as this Iranian affiliation of them is explicit also in ancient texts, such as Herodotus's account<sup id="cite_ref-Herodotus-vii-62_9-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Herodotus-vii-62-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> that many peoples including Medes were "universally called Iranian".<sup id="cite_ref-52" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-52"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>50<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>No documents dated from the Median period have been preserved. Only one bronze plate dating from the pre-Achaemenid period has been found in Median territory, bearing a cuneiform inscription in Akkadian dating back to the 8th century BCE, but it does not mention any Median names. A cuneiform inscription on a piece of silver was excavated at Tepe Nush-i Jan, but only the end of one sign and the beginning of the next were preserved.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDandamayevMedvedskaya2006_25-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDandamayevMedvedskaya2006-25"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>23<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> If writing was employed by the Medes, it likely utilized a script similar to Aramaic that was written on perishable materials since no historical accounts, literary texts, bureaucratic records, or even commercial transaction records survived. Some small elements of the Median language have been reconstructed from place names, personal names, and some suggested Median linguistic remnants in <a href="/wiki/Old_Persian" title="Old Persian">Old Persian</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-:1_22-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-22"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>20<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Numerous non-Persian words in Old Persian texts are commonly assumed to be Median, and other Median forms are preserved in Akkadian versions of Achaemenid inscriptions and elsewhere.<sup id="cite_ref-53" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-53"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>51<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The Median words in Old Persian texts, whose Median origin can be established by "phonetic criteria",<sup id="cite_ref-Schmitt2008-p98_54-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Schmitt2008-p98-54"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>52<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> appear more frequently among royal titles and among terms of the chancellery, military, and judicial affairs according to <a href="/wiki/R%C3%BCdiger_Schmitt" title="Rüdiger Schmitt">Rüdiger Schmitt</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Schmitt2008-p98_54-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Schmitt2008-p98-54"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>52<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> It's likely that the Median language differed only dialectically from Old Persian.<sup id="cite_ref-55" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-55"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>53<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Art_and_architecture">Art and architecture</h3></div> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Gold_Rhyton_in_the_form_of_a_Ram%27s_Head_-_Reza_Abbasi_Museum_-_Tehran,_Iran.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/df/Gold_Rhyton_in_the_form_of_a_Ram%27s_Head_-_Reza_Abbasi_Museum_-_Tehran%2C_Iran.jpg/220px-Gold_Rhyton_in_the_form_of_a_Ram%27s_Head_-_Reza_Abbasi_Museum_-_Tehran%2C_Iran.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="146" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/df/Gold_Rhyton_in_the_form_of_a_Ram%27s_Head_-_Reza_Abbasi_Museum_-_Tehran%2C_Iran.jpg/330px-Gold_Rhyton_in_the_form_of_a_Ram%27s_Head_-_Reza_Abbasi_Museum_-_Tehran%2C_Iran.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/df/Gold_Rhyton_in_the_form_of_a_Ram%27s_Head_-_Reza_Abbasi_Museum_-_Tehran%2C_Iran.jpg/440px-Gold_Rhyton_in_the_form_of_a_Ram%27s_Head_-_Reza_Abbasi_Museum_-_Tehran%2C_Iran.jpg 2x" data-file-width="4288" data-file-height="2848" /></a><figcaption><a href="/wiki/Rhyton" title="Rhyton">Rhyton</a> in the shape of a ram's head, gold – Kurdistan - western Iran <sup id="cite_ref-56" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-56"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>54<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> –, late 7th–early 6th century BCE</figcaption></figure> <p>Very little remains of the material culture of the Medes, and it is challenging to confidently attribute artifacts from the period before the Persian Empire to the Medes specifically or to other groups residing in western Iran during the Iron Age. For this reason, Median art remains a purely speculative topic,<sup id="cite_ref-:0_23-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-23"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and its existence is even denied by some scholars.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDandamayevMedvedskaya2006_25-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDandamayevMedvedskaya2006-25"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>23<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <a href="/w/index.php?title=G%C3%A9za_de_Francovitch&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Géza de Francovitch (page does not exist)">Géza de Francovitch</a> noted that there is not a single work conclusively of Median origin in the archaeological record. This observation appears to remain relevant, even after the excavation of two seemingly Median sites in western Iran and the emergence of more academic writings claiming to have unraveled and understood the characteristics of Median art.<sup id="cite_ref-:20_57-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:20-57"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>55<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Still, other scholars presume that archaeological sites such as Tepe Nush-i Jan and Godin Tepe, located in Media and dating back to the 8th and 7th centuries BCE, are examples supporting the existence of Median art. Although Tepe Nush-i Jan was not a capital, according to David Stronach, it became a crucial link in a chain of evidence regarding the composition and development of Median architecture, as well as the incorporation of Median culture into ancient Eastern civilizations. Influence and direct borrowing of fine details, entire architectural forms, and building design that had precise analogs in <a href="/wiki/Assyrian_art" class="mw-redirect" title="Assyrian art">Assyrian</a> and <a href="/w/index.php?title=Urartian_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Urartian art (page does not exist)">Urartian art</a> can be traced in the architecture of Tepe Nus-i Jã and Godin Tepe. The Medes not only borrowed some elements from foreign art but also used them in new contexts with new functions and meanings, that is, in a new context without their typical and initial qualities. Later, the Achaemenids borrowed cultural achievements from the ancient Near East through the Medes.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDandamayevMedvedskaya2006_25-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDandamayevMedvedskaya2006-25"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>23<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <a href="/w/index.php?title=J._Curtis&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="J. Curtis (page does not exist)">J. Curtis</a> argues against the minimalist position that there is nothing readily identifiable as Median art, but rather asserts that those objects that may be characterized as Median were heavily influenced by Assyrian art.<sup id="cite_ref-waters_24-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-waters-24"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>22<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-58" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-58"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>56<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Objects in a style halfway Assyrian, halfway Achaemenid, are often attributed to Median art.<sup id="cite_ref-:21_59-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:21-59"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>57<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Herodotus provides a description of the palace of Deioces in Ecbatana, stating that it was an architectural complex built on a hill and surrounded by seven concentric walls, with each <a href="/wiki/Battlement" title="Battlement">battlement</a> of a wall surpassing that of the wall next outside it. The palace itself and the royal treasures were located within the innermost circle. The battlements of these circles would have been painted with seven different colors, indicating that the Medes developed a rich <a href="/wiki/Polychrome" title="Polychrome">polychrome</a>; and the two innermost circles were covered with silver and gold, respectively. The artistic contributions of Median <a href="/wiki/Goldsmith" title="Goldsmith">goldsmiths</a> are also mentioned in Persian records.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDandamayevMedvedskaya2006_25-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDandamayevMedvedskaya2006-25"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>23<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p><a href="/w/index.php?title=Pictorial_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Pictorial art (page does not exist)">Pictorial art</a> has been excavated in small quantities and of somewhat disappointing quality so far. Evidence shows that Median pictorial art was heavily influenced by the Babylonians, Assyrians, Elamites, and perhaps the early phase of the 'animal style' of the Ancient Near East. In Hamadan, a bronze plate was discovered with the inscription of a king of Abadana, a small kingdom west of Assyrian outposts. The plate depicts the king dressed similarly to Babylonian attire from the late Kassite period. Another inscribed object is a cylinder seal with a hero fighting a monster, the scene and inscription style related to the Elamite style in Susa, but the hero's headdress is typical of the Medes in Achaemenid palace reliefs. Other findings include a crude-style cylinder seal impression from Nush-i Jan and cylinder seals in various Mesopotamian styles from the ruins and vicinity of Hamadan, some dating back to the 8th and 7th centuries BCE. These findings reveal a strong influence from other civilizations but lack distinctive traits of authentic Median art. Local craftsmanship is indicated by excavated bronze jars. Architectural painting, attested in both Baba Jan and Nush-i Jan, can be compared to the not-so-sophisticated geometric style found in <a href="/wiki/Tepe_Sialk" title="Tepe Sialk">Tepe Sialk</a>. <a href="/wiki/Richard_David_Barnett" title="Richard David Barnett">R. D. Barnett</a> argued that the so-called <a href="/wiki/Scythian_art" class="mw-redirect" title="Scythian art">Scythian style</a>, more precisely the earliest phase of this style, was also part of contemporary Median art (late 8th century BCE). However, this theory has not been proven or refuted so far.<sup id="cite_ref-:21_59-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:21-59"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>57<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>A passage from the <i>Babylonian Chronicle</i> records that after the conquest of Ecbatana, Cyrus took the silver, gold, goods, and properties of the city to Persia. While the exact nature of these precious metals and goods is not specified, except for being portable material, it is possible that Median artisanal objects, as well as state or religious items, were among the spoils.<sup id="cite_ref-:20_57-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:20-57"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>55<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>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".<sup id="cite_ref-Young-p449_12-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Young-p449-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> 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.<sup id="cite_ref-Young-p450_60-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Young-p450-60"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>58<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Economy">Economy</h3></div> <p>The basic economic resource in the region was pastoralism, as indicated in the records of Assyrian raids and tributes. A primary factor for economic development was the breeding of valuable breeds, such as horses for military use and Bactrian camels for commercial transport. The proximity to the Assyrian Empire, as well as to Urartu, Elam, and Babylon, made the breeding of these animals highly profitable. However, the most crucial economic factor was the strategic location of the Medes along the main trade route, the <a href="/wiki/Silk_Road" title="Silk Road">Silk Road</a>, connecting Mesopotamia to Central Asia.<sup id="cite_ref-:2_45-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:2-45"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>43<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Assyrian palace reliefs depict inhabitants of the eastern mountain regions wearing the same tunics, sheepskin coats, lace-up boot, and hairstyles. This visual evidence suggests a similarity in the lifeways of the Western Iranian peoples, with no apparent significant distinctions among the Medes and their neighbors. The only direct references to the Median lifestyle occur in a literary text from the 7th century BCE, known as the "Sargon Geography", mentioning one Median chiefdom, Karzinu, reached by Assyrian forces in 716 BCE. As usual, non-Mesopotamian foreigners are characterized negatively, by listing the Assyrian cultural elements that the foreigners supposedly lacked. The description of the people of Karzinu makes it clear that they differed in quite a number of respects, including hairstyle, funerary practices, and diet, from the cultural habits of the western parts of the Assyrian Empire. </p><p>Median livestock breeders probably practiced <a href="/wiki/Transhumance" title="Transhumance">transhumance</a>, inhabiting their settlements in winter and spending the summer on pastures high in the mountains. The information gleaned from the Sargon campaign provides a rare reference to Median farming, suggesting a robust rural economy combining livestock breeding and farming, albeit lacking notable crafts or industries worth mentioning. The degree to which the Medes participated in the trade that passed through their territories between Mesopotamia and the lands further east is unknown. Assyrians received various goods from the Medes, including horses, mules, Bactrian camels, oxen, sheep, and goats. However, there is an absence of sophisticated finished products like precious textiles, metalwork, or furniture, and no luxury goods except for lapis lazuli.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_23-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-23"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The Medes were defined by their life in the Zagros Mountains. They sowed grain in the broad valleys and pastured their animals on the hillsides, moving from summer to winter pastures as the weather demanded. The Medes raised sheep, goat, and cattle for meat, milk, and wool, but it was the Median horses that were considered their most treasured resource. The Medes were known for their horsemanship, and when the Assyrians demanded tribute from them it was almost always in the form of horses trained for riding.<sup id="cite_ref-:1_22-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-22"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>20<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Mythology">Mythology</h2></div> <p>In the <a href="/wiki/Greek_myth" class="mw-redirect" title="Greek myth">Greek myth</a> of <a href="/wiki/Jason" title="Jason">Jason and the Argonauts</a>, Medea is the daughter of King <a href="/wiki/Ae%C3%ABtes" title="Aeëtes">Aeëtes</a> of Colchis and a paternal granddaughter of the sun-god <a href="/wiki/Helios" title="Helios">Helios</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-61" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-61"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>59<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Following her failed marriage to Jason while in <a href="/wiki/Ancient_Corinth" title="Ancient Corinth">Corinth</a>, for one of several reasons depending on the version,<sup id="cite_ref-62" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-62"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>60<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> she marries King <a href="/wiki/Aegeus" title="Aegeus">Aegeus</a> of Athens and bears a son <a href="/wiki/Medus" title="Medus">Medus</a>. After failing to make Aegeus kill his older son <a href="/wiki/Theseus" title="Theseus">Theseus</a>, she and her son fled to <i><a href="/wiki/Ariana" title="Ariana">Aria</a></i>, where the Medes take their name from her, according to several Greek and later Roman accounts, including in <a href="/wiki/Pausanias_(geographer)" title="Pausanias (geographer)">Pausanias</a>' <i><a href="/wiki/Description_of_Greece" title="Description of Greece">Description of Greece</a></i> (1st-century AD).<sup id="cite_ref-63" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-63"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>61<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> According to other versions, such as in <a href="/wiki/Strabo" title="Strabo">Strabo</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/Geographica" title="Geographica">Geographica</a></i> (1st-century AD) and <a href="/wiki/Justin_(historian)" title="Justin (historian)">Justin</a>'s <i>Epitoma Historiarum Philippicarum</i> (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 <a href="/wiki/Diodorus_Siculus" title="Diodorus Siculus">Diodorus Siculus</a> in <i><a href="/wiki/Bibliotheca_Historica" class="mw-redirect" title="Bibliotheca Historica">Bibliotheca Historica</a></i> (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.<sup id="cite_ref-64" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-64"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>62<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Kurds_and_Medes">Kurds and Medes</h2></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Origin_of_the_Kurds" title="Origin of the Kurds">Origin of the Kurds</a></div> <p>Russian historian and linguist <a href="/wiki/Vladimir_Minorsky" title="Vladimir Minorsky">Vladimir Minorsky</a> suggested that the Medes, who widely inhabited the land where currently the <a href="/wiki/Kurds" title="Kurds">Kurds</a> 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, <a href="/wiki/Martin_van_Bruinessen" title="Martin van Bruinessen">Martin van Bruinessen</a>, a Dutch scholar, argues against the attempt to take the Medes as ancestors of the Kurds:<sup id="cite_ref-Ozoglu25_65-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Ozoglu25-65"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>63<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <blockquote><p>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 </p><dl><dd>—van Bruinessen</dd></dl></blockquote> <p>Contemporary linguistic evidence has challenged the previously suggested view that the Kurds are descendants of the Medes.<sup id="cite_ref-66" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-66"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>64<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-67" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-67"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>65<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Gernot_Ludwig_Windfuhr" title="Gernot Ludwig Windfuhr">Gernot Ludwig Windfuhr</a>, professor of Iranian Studies, identified the <a href="/wiki/Kurdish_languages" class="mw-redirect" title="Kurdish languages">Kurdish languages</a> as <a href="/wiki/Parthian_language" title="Parthian language">Parthian</a>, albeit with a <a href="/wiki/Median_language" title="Median language">Median</a> substratum.<sup id="cite_ref-68" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-68"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>66<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <a href="/wiki/David_Neil_MacKenzie" title="David Neil MacKenzie">David Neil MacKenzie</a>, 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 <a href="/wiki/Northwestern_Iranian_language" class="mw-redirect" title="Northwestern Iranian language">Northwestern Iranian language</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Paul_69-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Paul-69"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>67<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The <a href="/wiki/Kurdology" title="Kurdology">Kurdologist</a> and <a href="/wiki/Iranian_studies" title="Iranian studies">Iranologist</a> <a href="/wiki/Garnik_Asatrian" title="Garnik Asatrian">Garnik Asatrian</a> 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 <a href="/wiki/Tati_language_(Iran)" title="Tati language (Iran)">Southern Tati</a>) 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).<sup id="cite_ref-70" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-70"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>68<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-71" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-71"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>69<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> 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."<sup id="cite_ref-72" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-72"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>70<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>According to <a href="/wiki/Alireza_Shapour_Shahbazi" title="Alireza Shapour Shahbazi">Shahbazi</a>, the Medes were ancestors of many Iranians, particularly the Kurds.<sup id="cite_ref-73" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-73"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>71<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> To <a href="/wiki/Wadie_Jwaideh" title="Wadie Jwaideh">Jwaideh</a>, "The empire of the Medes, one of the reputed ancestors of the Kurdish people, was the only great national state that may be said to have been established by the Kurds."<sup id="cite_ref-74" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-74"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>72<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>According to <i>The Cambridge History of the Kurds:</i> </p> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1244412712"><blockquote class="templatequote"><p>Although some Kurdish authors have claimed descendants for Kurdish from <a href="/wiki/Avestan" title="Avestan">Avestan</a> and Median, a direct link of Kurdish with Avestan was ruled out in Iranian <a href="/wiki/Philology" title="Philology">philology</a> even back in its initial stages (cf. Rödiger and Pott, 1842, cited in Lecoq, 1997: 31), while Avestan, although its classification is also unresolved, is traditionally considered to be closer to <a href="/wiki/Eastern_Iranian_languages" title="Eastern Iranian languages">Eastern Iranian languages</a> (cf. Korn, 2016: 403). Furthermore, the purported relationship of Kurdish to the Median language, although defended by Minorsky based mostly on <a href="/wiki/Conjecture" title="Conjecture">conjectural</a> historical evidence (Minorsky, 1940: 143–6), is not supported by linguistic evidence, since information about the Median language is extremely limited and indirect, being mostly restricted to the loanwords found in the <a href="/wiki/Old_Persian" title="Old Persian">Old Persian</a> inscriptions (Lecoq, 1987: 674).4 As Lecoq (1997: 31) states in relation to the Kurdish–Median connection, everything is possible but nothing is demonstrable. But even the limited data at hand provide evidence against Kurdish–Median genetic affinity (Asatrian, 2009: 21; MacKenzie, 1999: 675–6; Rossi, 2010: 308). Refuting thus the Median origin of Kurdish, MacKenzie (1961) outlined a picture of the evolution of North-western Iranian languages where Kurdish and <a href="/wiki/Persian_language" title="Persian language">Persian</a> evolved in parallel and therefore Kurdish "represented an early splitting from the linguistic subgroup of Median" (cf. Rossi, 2010: 307–8). Likewise, in his survey of major isoglosses in the historical <a href="/wiki/Phonology" title="Phonology">phonology</a> of <a href="/wiki/West_Iranian_languages" class="mw-redirect" title="West Iranian languages">West Iranian languages</a>, Windfuhr (1975: 458) concluded on the basis of these facts (and with regard to the subsequent migration of the Kurds into the Median territory – explained below) that Kurdish can probably not be considered a 'Median' dialect neither linguistically nor geographically, stating further that the modern Iranian languages of <a href="/wiki/Azerbaijan_(Iran)" title="Azerbaijan (Iran)">Azerbaijan</a> (originally '<a href="/wiki/Atropatene" title="Atropatene">Aturpatakan</a>') and <a href="/wiki/Central_Iran" title="Central Iran">Central Iran</a> (e.g. Sivandi) are Median dialects (Windfuhr, 2009: 15).<sup id="cite_ref-75" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-75"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>73<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></p></blockquote> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2></div> <ul><li><span class="nowrap"><span class="mw-image-border noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="flag" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ca/Flag_of_Iran.svg/32px-Flag_of_Iran.svg.png" decoding="async" width="32" height="18" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ca/Flag_of_Iran.svg/48px-Flag_of_Iran.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ca/Flag_of_Iran.svg/64px-Flag_of_Iran.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="630" data-file-height="360" /></span></span> </span><a href="/wiki/Portal:Iran" title="Portal:Iran">Iran portal</a></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Notes">Notes</h2></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><span class="rt-commentedText nowrap"><span class="IPA nopopups noexcerpt" lang="en-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/English" title="Help:IPA/English">/<span style="border-bottom:1px dotted"><span title="'m' in 'my'">m</span><span title="/iː/: 'ee' in 'fleece'">iː</span><span title="'d' in 'dye'">d</span><span title="'z' in 'zoom'">z</span></span>/</a></span></span>; <a href="/wiki/Old_Persian" title="Old Persian">Old Persian</a>: <span title="Old Persian (ca. 600-400 B.C.)-language text"><span lang="peo"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1094882035">.mw-parser-output .script-Cprt{font-size:1.25em;font-family:"Segoe UI Historic","Noto Sans Cypriot",Code2001}.mw-parser-output .script-Hano{font-size:125%;font-family:"Noto Sans Hanunoo",FreeSerif,Quivira}.mw-parser-output .script-Latf,.mw-parser-output .script-de-Latf{font-size:1.25em;font-family:"Breitkopf Fraktur",UnifrakturCook,UniFrakturMaguntia,MarsFraktur,"MarsFraktur OT",KochFraktur,"KochFraktur OT",OffenbacherSchwabOT,"LOB.AlteSchwabacher","LOV.AlteSchwabacher","LOB.AtlantisFraktur","LOV.AtlantisFraktur","LOB.BreitkopfFraktur","LOV.BreitkopfFraktur","LOB.FetteFraktur","LOV.FetteFraktur","LOB.Fraktur3","LOV.Fraktur3","LOB.RochFraktur","LOV.RochFraktur","LOB.PostFraktur","LOV.PostFraktur","LOB.RuelhscheFraktur","LOV.RuelhscheFraktur","LOB.RungholtFraktur","LOV.RungholtFraktur","LOB.TheuerbankFraktur","LOV.TheuerbankFraktur","LOB.VinetaFraktur","LOV.VinetaFraktur","LOB.WalbaumFraktur","LOV.WalbaumFraktur","LOB.WeberMainzerFraktur","LOV.WeberMainzerFraktur","LOB.WieynckFraktur","LOV.WieynckFraktur","LOB.ZentenarFraktur","LOV.ZentenarFraktur"}.mw-parser-output .script-en-Latf{font-size:1.25em;font-family:Cankama,"Old English Text MT","Textura Libera","Textura Libera Tenuis",London}.mw-parser-output .script-it-Latf{font-size:1.25em;font-family:"Rotunda Pommerania",Rotunda,"Typographer Rotunda"}.mw-parser-output .script-Lina{font-size:1.25em;font-family:"Noto Sans Linear A"}.mw-parser-output .script-Linb{font-size:1.25em;font-family:"Noto Sans Linear B"}.mw-parser-output .script-Ugar{font-size:1.25em;font-family:"Segoe UI Historic","Noto Sans Ugaritic",Aegean}.mw-parser-output .script-Xpeo{font-size:1.25em;font-family:"Segoe UI Historic","Noto Sans Old Persian",Artaxerxes,Xerxes,Aegean}</style><span class="script-Xpeo"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%F0%90%8E%B6%F0%90%8E%A0%F0%90%8E%AD" class="extiw" title="wiktionary:𐎶𐎠𐎭">𐎶𐎠𐎭</a></span></span></span></span>, <span title="Old Persian (ca. 600-400 B.C.)-language romanization"><i lang="peo-Latn">Māda-</i></span>; <a href="/wiki/Akkadian_language" title="Akkadian language">Akkadian</a>: <span title="Akkadian-language text"><i lang="akk"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Assyrian_cuneiform_U121B3_MesZL_578.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9f/Assyrian_cuneiform_U121B3_MesZL_578.svg/17px-Assyrian_cuneiform_U121B3_MesZL_578.svg.png" decoding="async" width="17" height="17" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9f/Assyrian_cuneiform_U121B3_MesZL_578.svg/26px-Assyrian_cuneiform_U121B3_MesZL_578.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9f/Assyrian_cuneiform_U121B3_MesZL_578.svg/34px-Assyrian_cuneiform_U121B3_MesZL_578.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1788" data-file-height="1817" /></a></span><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Assyrian_cuneiform_U12220_MesZL_552.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c7/Assyrian_cuneiform_U12220_MesZL_552.svg/18px-Assyrian_cuneiform_U12220_MesZL_552.svg.png" decoding="async" width="18" height="17" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c7/Assyrian_cuneiform_U12220_MesZL_552.svg/27px-Assyrian_cuneiform_U12220_MesZL_552.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c7/Assyrian_cuneiform_U12220_MesZL_552.svg/36px-Assyrian_cuneiform_U12220_MesZL_552.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="2341" data-file-height="2157" /></a></span><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Assyrian_cuneiform_U12055_MesZL_561.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/58/Assyrian_cuneiform_U12055_MesZL_561.svg/33px-Assyrian_cuneiform_U12055_MesZL_561.svg.png" decoding="async" width="33" height="17" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/58/Assyrian_cuneiform_U12055_MesZL_561.svg/50px-Assyrian_cuneiform_U12055_MesZL_561.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/58/Assyrian_cuneiform_U12055_MesZL_561.svg/66px-Assyrian_cuneiform_U12055_MesZL_561.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="4314" data-file-height="2159" /></a></span><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Assyrian_cuneiform_U12000_MesZL_839.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/Assyrian_cuneiform_U12000_MesZL_839.svg/13px-Assyrian_cuneiform_U12000_MesZL_839.svg.png" decoding="async" width="13" height="17" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/Assyrian_cuneiform_U12000_MesZL_839.svg/20px-Assyrian_cuneiform_U12000_MesZL_839.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/Assyrian_cuneiform_U12000_MesZL_839.svg/26px-Assyrian_cuneiform_U12000_MesZL_839.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1547" data-file-height="1993" /></a></span><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Assyrian_cuneiform_U12000_MesZL_839.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/Assyrian_cuneiform_U12000_MesZL_839.svg/13px-Assyrian_cuneiform_U12000_MesZL_839.svg.png" decoding="async" width="13" height="17" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/Assyrian_cuneiform_U12000_MesZL_839.svg/20px-Assyrian_cuneiform_U12000_MesZL_839.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/Assyrian_cuneiform_U12000_MesZL_839.svg/26px-Assyrian_cuneiform_U12000_MesZL_839.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1547" data-file-height="1993" /></a></span></i></span>, <span title="Akkadian-language romanization"><i lang="akk-Latn">mat Mādāya</i></span> or <span title="Akkadian-language text"><i lang="akk"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Assyrian_cuneiform_U121B3_MesZL_578.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9f/Assyrian_cuneiform_U121B3_MesZL_578.svg/17px-Assyrian_cuneiform_U121B3_MesZL_578.svg.png" decoding="async" width="17" height="17" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9f/Assyrian_cuneiform_U121B3_MesZL_578.svg/26px-Assyrian_cuneiform_U121B3_MesZL_578.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9f/Assyrian_cuneiform_U121B3_MesZL_578.svg/34px-Assyrian_cuneiform_U121B3_MesZL_578.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1788" data-file-height="1817" /></a></span><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Assyrian_cuneiform_U12220_MesZL_552.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c7/Assyrian_cuneiform_U12220_MesZL_552.svg/18px-Assyrian_cuneiform_U12220_MesZL_552.svg.png" decoding="async" width="18" height="17" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c7/Assyrian_cuneiform_U12220_MesZL_552.svg/27px-Assyrian_cuneiform_U12220_MesZL_552.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c7/Assyrian_cuneiform_U12220_MesZL_552.svg/36px-Assyrian_cuneiform_U12220_MesZL_552.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="2341" data-file-height="2157" /></a></span><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Assyrian_cuneiform_U122EB_MesZL_248.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9b/Assyrian_cuneiform_U122EB_MesZL_248.svg/33px-Assyrian_cuneiform_U122EB_MesZL_248.svg.png" decoding="async" width="33" height="17" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9b/Assyrian_cuneiform_U122EB_MesZL_248.svg/50px-Assyrian_cuneiform_U122EB_MesZL_248.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9b/Assyrian_cuneiform_U122EB_MesZL_248.svg/66px-Assyrian_cuneiform_U122EB_MesZL_248.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="4375" data-file-height="2227" /></a></span><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Assyrian_cuneiform_U12000_MesZL_839.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/Assyrian_cuneiform_U12000_MesZL_839.svg/13px-Assyrian_cuneiform_U12000_MesZL_839.svg.png" decoding="async" width="13" height="17" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/Assyrian_cuneiform_U12000_MesZL_839.svg/20px-Assyrian_cuneiform_U12000_MesZL_839.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/Assyrian_cuneiform_U12000_MesZL_839.svg/26px-Assyrian_cuneiform_U12000_MesZL_839.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1547" data-file-height="1993" /></a></span><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Assyrian_cuneiform_U12000_MesZL_839.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/Assyrian_cuneiform_U12000_MesZL_839.svg/13px-Assyrian_cuneiform_U12000_MesZL_839.svg.png" decoding="async" width="13" height="17" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/Assyrian_cuneiform_U12000_MesZL_839.svg/20px-Assyrian_cuneiform_U12000_MesZL_839.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/Assyrian_cuneiform_U12000_MesZL_839.svg/26px-Assyrian_cuneiform_U12000_MesZL_839.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1547" data-file-height="1993" /></a></span></i></span>, <span title="Akkadian-language romanization"><i lang="akk-Latn">mat Mātāya</i></span>;<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Ancient_Greek" title="Ancient Greek">Ancient Greek</a>: <span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1180947483">.mw-parser-output .polytonic{font-family:"SBL BibLit","SBL Greek","New Athena Unicode","EB Garamond","EB Garamond 12","Foulis Greek","Garamond Libre","Noto Sans","Noto Serif","Cardo","Gentium Plus","Gentium Book Plus","Garamond","Palatino Linotype","DejaVu Sans","DejaVu Serif","FreeSerif","FreeSans","Arial Unicode MS","Lucida Sans Unicode","Lucida Grande","Code2000",sans-serif}</style><span class="polytonic"><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%9C%E1%BF%86%CE%B4%CE%BF%CE%B9" class="extiw" title="wiktionary:Μῆδοι">Μῆδοι</a></span></span></span>, <span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language romanization"><i lang="grc-Latn">Mēdoi</i></span><br />According to the <i><a href="/wiki/OED" class="mw-redirect" title="OED">OED</a></i> entry "Mede", the word is from <a href="/wiki/Classical_Latin" title="Classical Latin">Classical Latin</a> <i><span title="Latin-language text"><i lang="la">Mēdus</i></span></i> (usually as plural, <i><span title="Latin-language text"><i lang="la">Mēdī</i></span></i>) from <a href="/wiki/Ancient_Greek" title="Ancient Greek">ancient Greek</a> (Attic and Ionic) <span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">Μῆδος</span></span>, <i>Mê̄dos</i>, <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="el-Latn-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/Greek" title="Help:IPA/Greek">[mɛ̂ːdos]</a></span> (<a href="/wiki/Arcadocypriot_Greek" title="Arcadocypriot Greek">Cypriot</a>: <span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">Μᾶδοι</span></span>, <i>Mâdœ</i>, <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="el-Latn-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/Greek" title="Help:IPA/Greek">[mâdoi̯]</a></span>, plural) from <a href="/wiki/Old_Persian" title="Old Persian">Old Persian</a> <i><span title="Old Persian (ca. 600-400 B.C.)-language text"><i lang="peo-Latn">Māda</i></span></i>.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFDiakonoff1985">Diakonoff 1985</a>, p. 140: "Archaeological evidence for the religion of the Iranian-speaking Medes of the first centuries of the 1st millennium B.C. comes so far only from the burials of "Necropolis B" in Tepe-Sialk, ascribed with some probability to the Medes; these are the usual ancient burials in pits, certainly not Zoroastrian."<br /><i><a href="/wiki/Encyclopedia_of_Indo-European_Culture" title="Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture">EIEC</a></i>, p. 30: "By the seventh century BC the Urartian state was collapsing, ultimately in the face of the (Semitic) Babylonians and the Medes (Iranians of what is now northwestern Iran)."<br /><a href="#CITEREFKuz'mina2007">Kuz'mina 2007</a>, p. 303: "Proto-Iranian split into Western (Median, ancient Persian, and others) and Eastern (Scythian, Ossetic, Saka, Pamir and others), and the direct genetic relation between the Scythian and Saka culture of the 7th–6th century BC and the Bronze Age culture of the Eurasian steppes identified by the retrospective method proves the Indo-Iranian character of the latter."</span> </li> </ol></div></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Citations">Citations</h2></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239543626"><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap mw-references-columns"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite id="CITEREFParpola1970" class="citation book cs1">Parpola, Simo (1970). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/neoassyriantopon0000parp"><i>Neo-Assyrian Toponyms</i></a>. Kevaeler: Butzon & Bercker. pp. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/neoassyriantopon0000parp/page/230/mode/2up">230</a>-<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/neoassyriantopon0000parp/page/230/mode/2up">231</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Neo-Assyrian+Toponyms&rft.place=Kevaeler&rft.pages=230-231&rft.pub=Butzon+%26+Bercker&rft.date=1970&rft.aulast=Parpola&rft.aufirst=Simo&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fneoassyriantopon0000parp&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i><a href="/wiki/OED" class="mw-redirect" title="OED">OED</a></i> Online <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/115629?rskey=kViil4&result=4">"entry Mede, n."</a>:</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Iranica-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Iranica_5-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/media">"MEDIA"</a>. <i>Encyclopaedia Iranica</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">17 August</span> 2017</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Encyclopaedia+Iranica&rft.atitle=MEDIA&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iranicaonline.org%2Farticles%2Fmedia&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.scribd.com/document/162028612/Karen-Radner-Assyria-and-the-Medes-In-D-T-Potts-ed-The-Oxford-Handbook-of-Ancient-Iran-Oxford-2013-442-456">"Karen Radner, "Assyria and The Medes." in D.T. Potts (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran (Oxford 2013) 442-456. | PDF | Assyria"</a>. <i>Scribd</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">21 January</span> 2024</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Scribd&rft.atitle=Karen+Radner%2C+%22Assyria+and+The+Medes.%22+in+D.T.+Potts+%28Ed.%29%2C+The+Oxford+Handbook+of+Ancient+Iran+%28Oxford+2013%29+442-456.+%7C+PDF+%7C+Assyria&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.scribd.com%2Fdocument%2F162028612%2FKaren-Radner-Assyria-and-the-Medes-In-D-T-Potts-ed-The-Oxford-Handbook-of-Ancient-Iran-Oxford-2013-442-456&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Tavernier-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Tavernier_7-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Tavernier_7-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFTavernier2007">Tavernier 2007</a>, p. 27</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFDiakonoff1985">Diakonoff 1985</a>, p. 57</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Herodotus-vii-62-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Herodotus-vii-62_9-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Herodotus-vii-62_9-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Herodotus <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.62.1">7.62</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Herodotus <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.61">7.61</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-stronach-EIr-288-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-stronach-EIr-288_11-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-stronach-EIr-288_11-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-stronach-EIr-288_11-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-stronach-EIr-288_11-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFStronach1982">Stronach1982</a>, p. 288</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Young-p449-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Young-p449_12-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Young-p449_12-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Young-p449_12-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Young-p449_12-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Young-p449_12-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFYoung1997">Young 1997</a>, p. 449</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFStronach1968">Stronach 1968</a>, p. 179</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-stronach-EIr-290-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-stronach-EIr-290_14-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-stronach-EIr-290_14-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-stronach-EIr-290_14-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFStronach1982">Stronach 1982</a>, p. 290</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-15">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFHenrickson1988">Henrickson 1988</a>, p. ?</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-16"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-16">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFDandamayevMedvedskaya2006">Dandamayev & Medvedskaya 2006</a>, p. ?</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-17"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-17">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFYoung1997">Young 1997</a>, p. 448</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-18"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-18">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFDiakonoff1985">Diakonoff 1985</a>, pp. 36–41</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-dandamaev-lukonin-2-3-19"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-dandamaev-lukonin-2-3_19-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-dandamaev-lukonin-2-3_19-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-dandamaev-lukonin-2-3_19-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-dandamaev-lukonin-2-3_19-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFDandamaevLukoninKohlDadson2004">Dandamaev et al. 2004</a>, pp. 2–3</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-20"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-20">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFZadok2002">Zadok 2002</a>, p. 140</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-21"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-21">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFDandamaevLukoninKohlDadson2004">Dandamaev et al. 2004</a>, p. 3</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-:1-22"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-:1_22-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:1_22-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:1_22-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:1_22-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:1_22-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:1_22-5"><sup><i><b>f</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation journal cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.academia.edu/34285360">"The Median Confederacy"</a>. <i>King of the Seven Climes</i>: 39. 2021<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">6 January</span> 2024</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=King+of+the+Seven+Climes&rft.atitle=The+Median+Confederacy&rft.pages=39&rft.date=2021&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.academia.edu%2F34285360&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-:0-23"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-:0_23-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_23-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_23-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_23-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_23-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFRadnerMoellerPotts2023" class="citation book cs1">Radner, Karen; Moeller, Nadine; Potts, Daniel T. (14 April 2023). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=jTOxEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA674"><i>The Oxford History of the Ancient Near East: Volume IV: the Age of Assyria</i></a>. Oxford University Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-068763-2" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-19-068763-2"><bdi>978-0-19-068763-2</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Oxford+History+of+the+Ancient+Near+East%3A+Volume+IV%3A+the+Age+of+Assyria&rft.pub=Oxford+University+Press&rft.date=2023-04-14&rft.isbn=978-0-19-068763-2&rft.aulast=Radner&rft.aufirst=Karen&rft.au=Moeller%2C+Nadine&rft.au=Potts%2C+Daniel+T.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DjTOxEAAAQBAJ%26pg%3DPA674&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-waters-24"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-waters_24-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-waters_24-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFWaters2005" class="citation journal cs1">Waters, Matt (October–December 2005). <span class="id-lock-registration" title="Free registration required"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.academia.edu/1040674">"[Review:] Media and Its Discontents"</a></span>. <i>Journal of the American Oriental Society</i>. <b>125</b> (4): 517–533. <a href="/wiki/JSTOR_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="JSTOR (identifier)">JSTOR</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/i20064419">i20064419</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">10 February</span> 2024</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Journal+of+the+American+Oriental+Society&rft.atitle=%5BReview%3A%26%2393%3B+Media+and+Its+Discontents&rft.volume=125&rft.issue=4&rft.pages=517-533&rft.date=2005-10%2F2005-12&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jstor.org%2Fstable%2Fi20064419%23id-name%3DJSTOR&rft.aulast=Waters&rft.aufirst=Matt&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.academia.edu%2F1040674&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTEDandamayevMedvedskaya2006-25"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDandamayevMedvedskaya2006_25-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDandamayevMedvedskaya2006_25-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDandamayevMedvedskaya2006_25-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDandamayevMedvedskaya2006_25-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDandamayevMedvedskaya2006_25-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDandamayevMedvedskaya2006_25-5"><sup><i><b>f</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDandamayevMedvedskaya2006_25-6"><sup><i><b>g</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFDandamayevMedvedskaya2006">Dandamayev & Medvedskaya 2006</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-26"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-26">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFNijssen" class="citation web cs1">Nijssen, Daan. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.academia.edu/34484530">"The Median Dark Age"</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">18 January</span> 2024</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=The+Median+Dark+Age&rft.aulast=Nijssen&rft.aufirst=Daan&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.academia.edu%2F34484530&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-27"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-27">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="/wiki/Georges_Roux" title="Georges Roux">Georges Roux</a>, <i>Ancient Iraq</i>, 1992<sup class="noprint Inline-Template" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources#What_information_to_include" title="Wikipedia:Citing sources"><span title="A complete citation is needed. (June 2014)">full citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-28"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-28">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Assyria/">Encyclopaedia Britannica</a> "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."</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-:3-29"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-:3_29-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:3_29-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFBriant2006" class="citation book cs1">Briant, Pierre (2006). <i>From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire</i>. Eisenbrauns. p. 31.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=From+Cyrus+to+Alexander%3A+A+History+of+the+Persian+Empire&rft.pages=31&rft.pub=Eisenbrauns&rft.date=2006&rft.aulast=Briant&rft.aufirst=Pierre&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-30"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-30">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFYoung1988">Young 1988</a>, p. 16</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-31"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-31">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFYoung1988">Young 1988</a>, p. 19</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-32"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-32">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFYoung1988">Young 1988</a>, p. 21</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Diakonoff1985-33"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Diakonoff1985_33-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Diakonoff1985_33-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFDiakonoff1985">Diakonoff 1985</a>, p. 112</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-34"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-34">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Herodotus, <i>The Histories</i>, p. 93.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources#What_information_to_include" title="Wikipedia:Citing sources"><span title="A complete citation is needed. (June 2014)">full citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-35"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-35">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://iranicaonline.org/articles/class-system-ii">"CLASS SYSTEM II. In the Median and Achaemenid Periods"</a>. <i>Encyclopaedia Iranica</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">7 October</span> 2021</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Encyclopaedia+Iranica&rft.atitle=CLASS+SYSTEM+II.+In+the+Median+and+Achaemenid+Periods&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Firanicaonline.org%2Farticles%2Fclass-system-ii&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-books.google.no-36"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-books.google.no_36-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-books.google.no_36-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-books.google.no_36-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-books.google.no_36-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFGershevitch1985" class="citation book cs1">Gershevitch, I. (1985). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=kMLKgzj5afMC&pg=PA75"><i>The Cambridge History of Iran</i></a>. Cambridge University Press. p. 75. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-521-20091-2" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-521-20091-2"><bdi>978-0-521-20091-2</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Cambridge+History+of+Iran&rft.pages=75&rft.pub=Cambridge+University+Press&rft.date=1985&rft.isbn=978-0-521-20091-2&rft.aulast=Gershevitch&rft.aufirst=I.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DkMLKgzj5afMC%26pg%3DPA75&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-37"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-37">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREF(Diaconus)2005" class="citation book cs1">(Diaconus), Leo (2005). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=RCDsV41k8A0C&pg=PA204"><i>The History of Leo the Deacon: Byzantine Military Expansion in the Tenth Century</i></a>. Dumbarton Oaks. p. 204. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0884023241" title="Special:BookSources/978-0884023241"><bdi>978-0884023241</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+History+of+Leo+the+Deacon%3A+Byzantine+Military+Expansion+in+the+Tenth+Century&rft.pages=204&rft.pub=Dumbarton+Oaks&rft.date=2005&rft.isbn=978-0884023241&rft.aulast=%28Diaconus%29&rft.aufirst=Leo&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DRCDsV41k8A0C%26pg%3DPA204&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-38"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-38">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFBoyce1982" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/wiki/Mary_Boyce" title="Mary Boyce">Boyce, Mary</a> (1982). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=Y3sfAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA9"><i>A History of Zoroastrianism: Volume II: Under the Achaemenians</i></a>. Brill. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-90-04-06506-2" title="Special:BookSources/978-90-04-06506-2"><bdi>978-90-04-06506-2</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=A+History+of+Zoroastrianism%3A+Volume+II%3A+Under+the+Achaemenians&rft.pub=Brill&rft.date=1982&rft.isbn=978-90-04-06506-2&rft.aulast=Boyce&rft.aufirst=Mary&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DY3sfAAAAIAAJ%26pg%3DPA9&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-39"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-39">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFZumerchikDanver2010" class="citation book cs1">Zumerchik, John; Danver, Steven Laurence (2010). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=IBKoUXrF5p0C&pg=PR99"><i>Seas and Waterways of the World: An Encyclopedia of History, Uses, and Issues</i></a>. ABC-CLIO. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-85109-711-1" title="Special:BookSources/978-1-85109-711-1"><bdi>978-1-85109-711-1</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Seas+and+Waterways+of+the+World%3A+An+Encyclopedia+of+History%2C+Uses%2C+and+Issues&rft.pub=ABC-CLIO&rft.date=2010&rft.isbn=978-1-85109-711-1&rft.aulast=Zumerchik&rft.aufirst=John&rft.au=Danver%2C+Steven+Laurence&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DIBKoUXrF5p0C%26pg%3DPR99&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-40"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-40">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFSabourin1973" class="citation book cs1">Sabourin, Leopold (1973). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=S883AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA28"><i>Priesthood</i></a>. Brill Archive. GGKEY:ZRNUJJQ6GG2.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Priesthood&rft.pub=Brill+Archive&rft.date=1973&rft.aulast=Sabourin&rft.aufirst=Leopold&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DS883AAAAIAAJ%26pg%3DPA28&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-41"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-41">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation book cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/travelsinlurista02debo"><i>Travels in Luristan and Arabistan</i></a>. J. Madden and Company. 1845. p. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/travelsinlurista02debo/page/312">312</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Travels+in+Luristan+and+Arabistan&rft.pages=312&rft.pub=J.+Madden+and+Company&rft.date=1845&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Ftravelsinlurista02debo&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-42"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-42">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFChristensen1993" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/wiki/Peter_Christensen" title="Peter Christensen">Christensen, Peter</a> (1993). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=ebB_ac13v3UC&pg=PA131"><i>The Decline of Iranshahr: Irrigation and Environments in the History of the Middle East, 500 B.C. to A.D. 1500</i></a>. Museum Tusculanum Press. p. 131. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-87-7289-259-7" title="Special:BookSources/978-87-7289-259-7"><bdi>978-87-7289-259-7</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Decline+of+Iranshahr%3A+Irrigation+and+Environments+in+the+History+of+the+Middle+East%2C+500+B.C.+to+A.D.+1500&rft.pages=131&rft.pub=Museum+Tusculanum+Press&rft.date=1993&rft.isbn=978-87-7289-259-7&rft.aulast=Christensen&rft.aufirst=Peter&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DebB_ac13v3UC%26pg%3DPA131&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-43"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-43">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFThomson1948" class="citation book cs1">Thomson, James Oliver (1948). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=rQipbjusDyQC&pg=PA292"><i>History of Ancient Geography</i></a>. Biblo & Tannen Publishers. p. 292. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8196-0143-8" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-8196-0143-8"><bdi>978-0-8196-0143-8</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=History+of+Ancient+Geography&rft.pages=292&rft.pub=Biblo+%26+Tannen+Publishers&rft.date=1948&rft.isbn=978-0-8196-0143-8&rft.aulast=Thomson&rft.aufirst=James+Oliver&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DrQipbjusDyQC%26pg%3DPA292&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTERawlinson2007-44"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTERawlinson2007_44-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFRawlinson2007">Rawlinson 2007</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-:2-45"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-:2_45-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:2_45-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFLiverani2003" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/wiki/Mario_Liverani" title="Mario Liverani">Liverani, Mario</a> (2003). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://m-hosseini.ir/mad-hakha/articles-1/20.pdf">"The Rise and Fall of Media"</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span>. In Lanfranchi, Giovanni B.; <a href="/wiki/Michael_Roaf" title="Michael Roaf">Roaf, Michael</a>; <a href="/wiki/Robert_Rollinger" title="Robert Rollinger">Rollinger, Robert</a> (eds.). <i>Continuity of Empire (?) Assyria, Media, Persia</i>. <a href="/wiki/Padua" title="Padua">Padua</a>: S.a.r.g.o.n. Editrice e Libreria. pp. 1–12. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-9-990-93968-2" title="Special:BookSources/978-9-990-93968-2"><bdi>978-9-990-93968-2</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=The+Rise+and+Fall+of+Media&rft.btitle=Continuity+of+Empire+%28%3F%29+Assyria%2C+Media%2C+Persia&rft.place=Padua&rft.pages=1-12&rft.pub=S.a.r.g.o.n.+Editrice+e+Libreria&rft.date=2003&rft.isbn=978-9-990-93968-2&rft.aulast=Liverani&rft.aufirst=Mario&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fm-hosseini.ir%2Fmad-hakha%2Farticles-1%2F20.pdf&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTEStierlin2006145-46"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEStierlin2006145_46-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFStierlin2006">Stierlin 2006</a>, p. 145.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-EIR-MediaReligion-47"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-EIR-MediaReligion_47-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-EIR-MediaReligion_47-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-EIR-MediaReligion_47-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-EIR-MediaReligion_47-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFDandamayevMedvedskaya2006">Dandamayev & Medvedskaya 2006</a>, Median Religion</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-48"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-48">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFBoyceGrenet1991">Boyce & Grenet 1991</a>, p. 81</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-49"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-49">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFSoudavar2003">Soudavar 2003</a>, p. 84</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-50"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-50">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Geography, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239%3Abook%3D15%3Achapter%3D2%3Asection%3D8">Strab. 15.2.8</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-51"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-51">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFGershevitch1968">Gershevitch 1968</a>, p. 2</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-52"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-52">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFGershevitch1968">Gershevitch 1968</a>, p. 1</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-53"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-53">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://iranicaonline.org/articles/iran-vi2-documentation">"Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica"</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Welcome+to+Encyclopaedia+Iranica&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Firanicaonline.org%2Farticles%2Firan-vi2-documentation&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Schmitt2008-p98-54"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Schmitt2008-p98_54-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Schmitt2008-p98_54-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFSchmitt2008">Schmitt 2008</a>, p. 98</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-55"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-55">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10117a.htm">"CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Media and Medes"</a>. <i>www.newadvent.org</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">17 September</span> 2023</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=www.newadvent.org&rft.atitle=CATHOLIC+ENCYCLOPEDIA%3A+Media+and+Medes&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newadvent.org%2Fcathen%2F10117a.htm&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-56"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-56">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://iranicaonline.org/articles/ziwiye">https://iranicaonline.org/articles/ziwiye</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-:20-57"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-:20_57-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:20_57-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFMuscarella2013" class="citation book cs1">Muscarella, Oscar White (1 January 2013). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://brill.com/view/book/9789004236691/B9789004236691_040.xml">"Median Art and Medizing Scholarship"</a>. <i>Archaeology, Artifacts and Antiquities of the Ancient Near East</i>. Brill. pp. 999–1023. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1163%2F9789004236691_040">10.1163/9789004236691_040</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-90-04-23669-1" title="Special:BookSources/978-90-04-23669-1"><bdi>978-90-04-23669-1</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=Median+Art+and+Medizing+Scholarship&rft.btitle=Archaeology%2C+Artifacts+and+Antiquities+of+the+Ancient+Near+East&rft.pages=999-1023&rft.pub=Brill&rft.date=2013-01-01&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.1163%2F9789004236691_040&rft.isbn=978-90-04-23669-1&rft.aulast=Muscarella&rft.aufirst=Oscar+White&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbrill.com%2Fview%2Fbook%2F9789004236691%2FB9789004236691_040.xml&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-58"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-58">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/372125/Media">"Media (ancient region, Iran)"</a> <a href="/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica" title="Encyclopædia Britannica">Encyclopædia Britannica</a>. Pesquisa em 28/04/17</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-:21-59"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-:21_59-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:21_59-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://iranicaonline.org/articles/art-in-iran-ii-median">"ART IN IRAN ii. Median Art and Architecture"</a>. <i>Encyclopaedia Iranica</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">8 October</span> 2022</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Encyclopaedia+Iranica&rft.atitle=ART+IN+IRAN+ii.+Median+Art+and+Architecture&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Firanicaonline.org%2Farticles%2Fart-in-iran-ii-median&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Young-p450-60"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Young-p450_60-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFYoung1997">Young 1997</a>, p. 450</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-61"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-61">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="/wiki/Hesiod" title="Hesiod">Hesiod</a>, 700 BC: <i><a href="/wiki/Theogony" title="Theogony">Theogony</a></i>, pp. 993–1002</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-62"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-62">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFKetevan_Nadareishvili2010–2011" class="citation web cs1">Ketevan Nadareishvili (2010–2011). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270588130">"Madea in the Context of East/West Relationships"</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Madea+in+the+Context+of+East%2FWest+Relationships&rft.date=2010%2F2011&rft.au=Ketevan+Nadareishvili&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.researchgate.net%2Fpublication%2F270588130&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-63"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-63">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias2A.html">"PAUSANIAS, DESCRIPTION OF GREECE 2.1-14 - Theoi Classical Texts Library"</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=PAUSANIAS%2C+DESCRIPTION+OF+GREECE+2.1-14+-+Theoi+Classical+Texts+Library&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theoi.com%2FText%2FPausanias2A.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-64"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-64">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.theoi.com/Text/DiodorusSiculus4C.html">"DIODORUS SICULUS, LIBRARY OF HISTORY BOOK 4.40-58 - Theoi Classical Texts Library"</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=DIODORUS+SICULUS%2C+LIBRARY+OF+HISTORY+BOOK+4.40-58+-+Theoi+Classical+Texts+Library&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theoi.com%2FText%2FDiodorusSiculus4C.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Ozoglu25-65"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Ozoglu25_65-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Hakan Özoğlu, <i>Kurdish notables and the Ottoman state: Evolving Identities, Competing Loyalties, and Shifting Boundaries</i>, SUNY Press, 2004, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=CttLWEaTrJUC&dq=%22many+Kurdish+nationalists+in+the+twentieth+century%22&pg=PA25">p. 25.</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-66"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-66">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation book cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=cxr_vqpwVUkC&q=%22kurds+are+descendants%22&pg=PA61"><i>Turkey Foreign Policy and Government Guide</i></a>. 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(1 January 1973), "Geographical Studies in the Neo-Assyrian Zagros: I", <i>Iran</i>, <b>11</b>: 1–27, <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.2307%2F4300482">10.2307/4300482</a>, <a href="/wiki/ISSN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISSN (identifier)">ISSN</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0578-6967">0578-6967</a>, <a href="/wiki/JSTOR_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="JSTOR (identifier)">JSTOR</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4300482">4300482</a></cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Iran&rft.atitle=Geographical+Studies+in+the+Neo-Assyrian+Zagros%3A+I&rft.volume=11&rft.pages=1-27&rft.date=1973-01-01&rft.issn=0578-6967&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jstor.org%2Fstable%2F4300482%23id-name%3DJSTOR&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.2307%2F4300482&rft.aulast=Levine&rft.aufirst=Louis+D.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFLevine1974" class="citation cs2">Levine, Louis D. (1 January 1974), "Geographical Studies in the Neo-Assyrian Zagros-II", <i>Iran</i>, <b>12</b>: 99–124, <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.2307%2F4300506">10.2307/4300506</a>, <a href="/wiki/ISSN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISSN (identifier)">ISSN</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0578-6967">0578-6967</a>, <a href="/wiki/JSTOR_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="JSTOR (identifier)">JSTOR</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4300506">4300506</a></cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Iran&rft.atitle=Geographical+Studies+in+the+Neo-Assyrian+Zagros-II&rft.volume=12&rft.pages=99-124&rft.date=1974-01-01&rft.issn=0578-6967&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jstor.org%2Fstable%2F4300506%23id-name%3DJSTOR&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.2307%2F4300506&rft.aulast=Levine&rft.aufirst=Louis+D.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFRawlinson2007" class="citation book cs1">Rawlinson, George (2007) [1885]. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16163/16163-h/16163-h.htm"><i>The Seven Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World</i></a>. Vol. 7. New York: John B. Eldan Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-931956-46-8" title="Special:BookSources/978-1-931956-46-8"><bdi>978-1-931956-46-8</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Seven+Great+Monarchies+of+the+Ancient+Eastern+World&rft.place=New+York&rft.pub=John+B.+Eldan+Press&rft.date=2007&rft.isbn=978-1-931956-46-8&rft.aulast=Rawlinson&rft.aufirst=George&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gutenberg.org%2Ffiles%2F16163%2F16163-h%2F16163-h.htm&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFRollinger2021" class="citation book cs1">Rollinger, Robert (2021). "The Median Dilemma". In Jacobs, Bruno; Rollinger, Robert (eds.). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=qZA7EAAAQBAJ"><i>A Companion to the Achaemenid Persian Empire</i></a>. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 457–473. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1119174288" title="Special:BookSources/978-1119174288"><bdi>978-1119174288</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=The+Median+Dilemma&rft.btitle=A+Companion+to+the+Achaemenid+Persian+Empire&rft.pages=457-473&rft.pub=John+Wiley+%26+Sons&rft.date=2021&rft.isbn=978-1119174288&rft.aulast=Rollinger&rft.aufirst=Robert&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DqZA7EAAAQBAJ&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFSchmitt2008" class="citation cs2">Schmitt, Rüdiger (2008), "Old Persian", in Woodard, Roger D. (ed.), <i>The Ancient Languages of Asia and the Americas</i>, Cambridge University Press, pp. 76–100, <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-521-68494-1" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-521-68494-1"><bdi>978-0-521-68494-1</bdi></a></cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=Old+Persian&rft.btitle=The+Ancient+Languages+of+Asia+and+the+Americas&rft.pages=76-100&rft.pub=Cambridge+University+Press&rft.date=2008&rft.isbn=978-0-521-68494-1&rft.aulast=Schmitt&rft.aufirst=R%C3%BCdiger&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFSoudavar2003" class="citation cs2">Soudavar, Abolala (2003), <i>The aura of kings: legitimacy and divine sanction in Iranian kingship</i>, Mazda Publishers, <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-56859-109-4" title="Special:BookSources/978-1-56859-109-4"><bdi>978-1-56859-109-4</bdi></a></cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+aura+of+kings%3A+legitimacy+and+divine+sanction+in+Iranian+kingship&rft.pub=Mazda+Publishers&rft.date=2003&rft.isbn=978-1-56859-109-4&rft.aulast=Soudavar&rft.aufirst=Abolala&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFStierlin2006" class="citation book cs1 cs1-prop-foreign-lang-source">Stierlin, Henri (2006). <i>Splendeurs de I'Empire perse</i> (in French). Paris: Grund. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-2700015249" title="Special:BookSources/978-2700015249"><bdi>978-2700015249</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Splendeurs+de+I%27Empire+perse&rft.place=Paris&rft.pub=Grund&rft.date=2006&rft.isbn=978-2700015249&rft.aulast=Stierlin&rft.aufirst=Henri&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFStronach1968" class="citation cs2">Stronach, David (1968), "Tepe Nush-i Jan: A Mound in Media", <i>The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin</i>, New Series, <b>27</b> (3): 177–186, <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.2307%2F3258384">10.2307/3258384</a>, <a href="/wiki/ISSN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISSN (identifier)">ISSN</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0026-1521">0026-1521</a>, <a href="/wiki/JSTOR_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="JSTOR (identifier)">JSTOR</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3258384">3258384</a></cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=The+Metropolitan+Museum+of+Art+Bulletin&rft.atitle=Tepe+Nush-i+Jan%3A+A+Mound+in+Media&rft.volume=27&rft.issue=3&rft.pages=177-186&rft.date=1968&rft.issn=0026-1521&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jstor.org%2Fstable%2F3258384%23id-name%3DJSTOR&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.2307%2F3258384&rft.aulast=Stronach&rft.aufirst=David&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFStronach1982" class="citation cs2">Stronach, David (1982), "Archeology ii. Median and Achaemenid", in Yarshater, E. (ed.), <i>Encyclopædia Iranica</i>, vol. 2, Routledge & Kegan Paul, pp. 288–296, <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-933273-67-2" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-933273-67-2"><bdi>978-0-933273-67-2</bdi></a></cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=Archeology+ii.+Median+and+Achaemenid&rft.btitle=Encyclop%C3%A6dia+Iranica&rft.pages=288-296&rft.pub=Routledge+%26+Kegan+Paul&rft.date=1982&rft.isbn=978-0-933273-67-2&rft.aulast=Stronach&rft.aufirst=David&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFTavernier2007" class="citation cs2">Tavernier, Jan (2007), <i>Iranica in the Achaemenid Period (ca. 550-330 B.C.): Linguistic Study of Old Iranian Proper Names and Loanwords, Attested in Non-Iranian Texts</i>, Peeters Publishers, <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-90-429-1833-7" title="Special:BookSources/978-90-429-1833-7"><bdi>978-90-429-1833-7</bdi></a></cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Iranica+in+the+Achaemenid+Period+%28ca.+550-330+B.C.%29%3A+Linguistic+Study+of+Old+Iranian+Proper+Names+and+Loanwords%2C+Attested+in+Non-Iranian+Texts&rft.pub=Peeters+Publishers&rft.date=2007&rft.isbn=978-90-429-1833-7&rft.aulast=Tavernier&rft.aufirst=Jan&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFVan_De_Mieroop2015" class="citation cs2">Van De Mieroop, Marc (2015), <i>A History of the Ancient Near East, ca. 3000–323 BC</i>, Wiley Blackwell</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=A+History+of+the+Ancient+Near+East%2C+ca.+3000%E2%80%93323+BC&rft.pub=Wiley+Blackwell&rft.date=2015&rft.aulast=Van+De+Mieroop&rft.aufirst=Marc&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFWindfuhr1991" class="citation cs2">Windfuhr, Gernot L. (1991), "Central dialects", in Yarshater, E. (ed.), <i>Encyclopædia Iranica</i>, Routledge & Kegan Paul, pp. 242–251, <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-939214-79-2" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-939214-79-2"><bdi>978-0-939214-79-2</bdi></a></cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=Central+dialects&rft.btitle=Encyclop%C3%A6dia+Iranica&rft.pages=242-251&rft.pub=Routledge+%26+Kegan+Paul&rft.date=1991&rft.isbn=978-0-939214-79-2&rft.aulast=Windfuhr&rft.aufirst=Gernot+L.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFYoung1988" class="citation cs2">Young, T. Cuyler Jr. (1988), <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120327064659/http://histories.cambridge.org/extract?id=chol9780521228046_CHOL9780521228046A002">"The early history of the Medes and the Persians and the Achaemenid empire to the death of Cambyses"</a>, in Boardman, John; Hammond, N. G. L.; Lewis, D. M.; Ostwald, M. (eds.), <i>The Cambridge Ancient History</i>, vol. 4, Cambridge University Press, pp. 1–52, <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1017%2FCHOL9780521228046.002">10.1017/CHOL9780521228046.002</a>, <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1139054317" title="Special:BookSources/978-1139054317"><bdi>978-1139054317</bdi></a>, archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://histories.cambridge.org/extract?id=chol9780521228046_CHOL9780521228046A002">the original</a> on 27 March 2012<span class="reference-accessdate">, retrieved <span class="nowrap">21 February</span> 2011</span></cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=The+early+history+of+the+Medes+and+the+Persians+and+the+Achaemenid+empire+to+the+death+of+Cambyses&rft.btitle=The+Cambridge+Ancient+History&rft.pages=1-52&rft.pub=Cambridge+University+Press&rft.date=1988&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.1017%2FCHOL9780521228046.002&rft.isbn=978-1139054317&rft.aulast=Young&rft.aufirst=T.+Cuyler+Jr.&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fhistories.cambridge.org%2Fextract%3Fid%3Dchol9780521228046_CHOL9780521228046A002&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFYoung1997" class="citation cs2">Young, T. Cuyler (1997), "Medes", in Meyers, Eric M. (ed.), <i>The Oxford encyclopedia of archaeology in the Near East</i>, vol. 3, Oxford University Press, pp. 448–450, <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-511217-7" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-19-511217-7"><bdi>978-0-19-511217-7</bdi></a></cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=Medes&rft.btitle=The+Oxford+encyclopedia+of+archaeology+in+the+Near+East&rft.pages=448-450&rft.pub=Oxford+University+Press&rft.date=1997&rft.isbn=978-0-19-511217-7&rft.aulast=Young&rft.aufirst=T.+Cuyler&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFZadok2002" class="citation cs2">Zadok, Ran (2002), "The Ethno-Linguistic Character of Northwestern Iran and Kurdistan in the Neo-Assyrian Period", <i>Iran</i>, <b>40</b>: 89–151, <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.2307%2F4300620">10.2307/4300620</a>, <a href="/wiki/ISSN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISSN (identifier)">ISSN</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0578-6967">0578-6967</a>, <a href="/wiki/JSTOR_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="JSTOR (identifier)">JSTOR</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4300620">4300620</a></cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Iran&rft.atitle=The+Ethno-Linguistic+Character+of+Northwestern+Iran+and+Kurdistan+in+the+Neo-Assyrian+Period&rft.volume=40&rft.pages=89-151&rft.date=2002&rft.issn=0578-6967&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jstor.org%2Fstable%2F4300620%23id-name%3DJSTOR&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.2307%2F4300620&rft.aulast=Zadok&rft.aufirst=Ran&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFKuz'mina2007" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/wiki/Elena_Efimovna_Kuzmina" title="Elena Efimovna Kuzmina">Kuz'mina, E. Efimovna</a> (2007). Mallory, J. Patrick (ed.). <i>The Origin of the Indo-Iranians</i>. BRILL. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-90-04-16054-5" title="Special:BookSources/978-90-04-16054-5"><bdi>978-90-04-16054-5</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Origin+of+the+Indo-Iranians&rft.pub=BRILL&rft.date=2007&rft.isbn=978-90-04-16054-5&rft.aulast=Kuz%27mina&rft.aufirst=E.+Efimovna&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></li></ul> </div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Further_reading">Further reading</h2></div> <ul><li>"<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9051719">Mede</a>". <i>Encyclopædia Britannica</i>. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 16 January 2008.</li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFGershevitch1985" class="citation cs2">Gershevitch, Ilya (1985), <i>The Cambridge History of Iran</i>, vol. 2, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-521-20091-2" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-521-20091-2"><bdi>978-0-521-20091-2</bdi></a></cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Cambridge+History+of+Iran&rft.place=Cambridge%2C+UK&rft.pub=Cambridge+University+Press&rft.date=1985&rft.isbn=978-0-521-20091-2&rft.aulast=Gershevitch&rft.aufirst=Ilya&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMedes" class="Z3988"></span></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1235681985">.mw-parser-output .side-box{margin:4px 0;box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid #aaa;font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em;background-color:var(--background-color-interactive-subtle,#f8f9fa);display:flow-root}.mw-parser-output .side-box-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output .side-box-text{padding:0.25em 0.9em}.mw-parser-output .side-box-image{padding:2px 0 2px 0.9em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .side-box-imageright{padding:2px 0.9em 2px 0;text-align:center}@media(min-width:500px){.mw-parser-output .side-box-flex{display:flex;align-items:center}.mw-parser-output .side-box-text{flex:1;min-width:0}}@media(min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .side-box{width:238px}.mw-parser-output .side-box-right{clear:right;float:right;margin-left:1em}.mw-parser-output .side-box-left{margin-right:1em}}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1237033735">@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .sistersitebox{display:none!important}}@media 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navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Modern</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Upper_Mesopotamia" title="Upper Mesopotamia">Upper Mesopotamia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lower_Mesopotamia" title="Lower Mesopotamia">Lower Mesopotamia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mesopotamian_Marshes" title="Mesopotamian Marshes">Mesopotamian Marshes</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Persian_Gulf" title="Persian Gulf">Persian Gulf</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Syrian_Desert" title="Syrian Desert">Syrian Desert</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Taurus_Mountains" title="Taurus Mountains">Taurus Mountains</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tigris%E2%80%93Euphrates_river_system" title="Tigris–Euphrates river system">Tigris–Euphrates river system</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Euphrates" title="Euphrates">Euphrates</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tigris" title="Tigris">Tigris</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Zagros_Mountains" title="Zagros Mountains">Zagros Mountains</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hamrin_Mountains" title="Hamrin Mountains">Hamrin Mountains</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sinjar_Mountains" title="Sinjar Mountains">Sinjar Mountains</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Ancient</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Fertile_Crescent" title="Fertile Crescent">Fertile Crescent</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Adiabene" title="Adiabene">Adiabene</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Akkad_(city)" title="Akkad (city)">Akkad</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Armani_(kingdom)" title="Armani (kingdom)">Armani</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Assyria" title="Assyria">Assyria</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Babylonia" title="Babylonia">Babylonia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chaldea" title="Chaldea">Chaldea</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Elam" title="Elam">Elam</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gutian_people" title="Gutian people">Gutium</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hamazi" title="Hamazi">Hamazi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hittites" title="Hittites">Hittites</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kassites" title="Kassites">Kassites</a></li> <li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Media</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mitanni" title="Mitanni">Mitanni</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Simurrum" title="Simurrum">Simurrum</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Subartu" title="Subartu">Subartu</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Suhum" title="Suhum">Suhum</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sumer" title="Sumer">Sumer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Turukkaeans" title="Turukkaeans">Tukri</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Urartu" title="Urartu">Urartu</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_cities_of_the_ancient_Near_East" title="List of cities of the ancient Near East">Cities</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td><td class="noviewer navbox-image" rowspan="7" style="width:1px;padding:0 0 0 2px"><div><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Ishtar_Gate.gif" class="mw-file-description" title="Ishtar Gate in the city of Babylon"><img alt="Ishtar Gate in the city of Babylon" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/Ishtar_Gate.gif/110px-Ishtar_Gate.gif" decoding="async" width="110" height="120" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/Ishtar_Gate.gif/165px-Ishtar_Gate.gif 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/Ishtar_Gate.gif/220px-Ishtar_Gate.gif 2x" data-file-width="275" data-file-height="300" /></a></span></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">(Pre)history</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Prehistory_of_Mesopotamia" title="Prehistory of Mesopotamia">Prehistory</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Acheulean" title="Acheulean">Acheulean</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mousterian" title="Mousterian">Mousterian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Trialetian" class="mw-redirect" title="Trialetian">Trialetian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Zarzian_culture" title="Zarzian culture">Zarzian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Natufian_culture" title="Natufian culture">Natufian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nemrik_9" title="Nemrik 9">Nemrik</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Khiamian" class="mw-redirect" title="Khiamian">Khiamian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pre-Pottery_Neolithic_A" title="Pre-Pottery Neolithic A">Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pre-Pottery_Neolithic_B" title="Pre-Pottery Neolithic B">Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hassuna_culture" title="Hassuna culture">Hassuna</a>/<a href="/wiki/Samarra_culture" title="Samarra culture">Samarra</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Halaf_culture" title="Halaf culture">Halaf</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ubaid_period" title="Ubaid period">Ubaid</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Uruk_period" title="Uruk period">Uruk</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jemdet_Nasr_period" title="Jemdet Nasr period">Jemdet Nasr</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kish_civilization" title="Kish civilization">Kish civilization</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/History_of_Mesopotamia" title="History of Mesopotamia">History</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Early_Dynastic_Period_(Mesopotamia)" title="Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia)">Early Dynastic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Akkadian_Empire" title="Akkadian Empire">Akkadian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gutian_rule_in_Mesopotamia" title="Gutian rule in Mesopotamia">Gutians</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Simurrum" title="Simurrum">Simurrum</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Third_Dynasty_of_Ur" title="Third Dynasty of Ur">Ur III</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Isin-Larsa_period" title="Isin-Larsa period">Isin-Larsa</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/First_Babylonian_Empire" class="mw-redirect" title="First Babylonian Empire">Old Babylonian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kassite_dynasty" title="Kassite dynasty">Kassite</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Middle_Babylonian_period" title="Middle Babylonian period">Middle Babylonian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Neo-Assyrian_Empire" title="Neo-Assyrian Empire">Neo-Assyrian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Neo-Babylonian_Empire" title="Neo-Babylonian Empire">Neo-Babylonian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fall_of_Babylon" title="Fall of Babylon">Fall of Babylon</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Achaemenid_Assyria" title="Achaemenid Assyria">Achaemenid</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Seleucid_Empire" title="Seleucid Empire">Seleucid</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Parthian_Empire" title="Parthian Empire">Parthian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mesopotamia_(Roman_province)" title="Mesopotamia (Roman province)">Roman</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sasanian_Empire" title="Sasanian Empire">Sasanian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Muslim_conquest_of_Persia" title="Muslim conquest of Persia">Muslim conquest</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Assyriology" title="Assyriology">Languages</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Akkadian_language" title="Akkadian language">Akkadian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Amorite_language" title="Amorite language">Amorite</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Aramaic" title="Aramaic">Aramaic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Eblaite_language" title="Eblaite language">Eblaite</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Elamite_language" title="Elamite language">Elamite</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gutian_language" title="Gutian language">Gutian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hittite_language" title="Hittite language">Hittite</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hurrian_language" title="Hurrian language">Hurrian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kassite_language" title="Kassite language">Kassite</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Luwian_language" title="Luwian language">Luwian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Median_language" title="Median language">Median</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Middle_Persian" title="Middle Persian">Middle Persian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Old_Persian" title="Old Persian">Old Persian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Parthian_language" title="Parthian language">Parthian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Proto-Armenian_language" title="Proto-Armenian language">Proto-Armenian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sutean_language" title="Sutean language">Sutean</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sumerian_language" title="Sumerian language">Sumerian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Urartian_language" title="Urartian language">Urartian</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Culture/society</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Architecture_of_Mesopotamia" title="Architecture of Mesopotamia">Architecture</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Art_of_Mesopotamia" title="Art of Mesopotamia">Art</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Akitu" title="Akitu">Akitu</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cuneiform" title="Cuneiform">Cuneiform</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Babylonian_astronomy" title="Babylonian astronomy">Babylonian astronomy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Babylonian_mathematics" title="Babylonian mathematics">Babylonian mathematics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Akkadian_literature" title="Akkadian literature">Akkadian literature</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Economy_of_Sumer" title="Economy of Sumer">Economy of Sumer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Warfare_in_Sumer" title="Warfare in Sumer">Warfare in Sumer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Military_history_of_the_Neo-Assyrian_Empire" title="Military history of the Neo-Assyrian Empire">Military history of the Neo-Assyrian Empire</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sumerian_cuisine&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Sumerian cuisine (page does not exist)">Sumerian cuisine</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sumerian_literature" title="Sumerian literature">Sumerian literature</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Music_of_Mesopotamia" title="Music of Mesopotamia">Music</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Indus-Mesopotamia_relations" class="mw-redirect" title="Indus-Mesopotamia relations">Indus-Mesopotamia relations</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Egypt-Mesopotamia_relations" class="mw-redirect" title="Egypt-Mesopotamia relations">Egypt-Mesopotamia relations</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Akkadian_royal_titulary" title="Akkadian royal titulary">Royal titles</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_Mesopotamian_dynasties" title="List of Mesopotamian dynasties">List of rulers</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Archaeology</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Archaeological_looting_in_Iraq" title="Archaeological looting in Iraq">Looting</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Destruction_of_cultural_heritage_by_ISIL" class="mw-redirect" title="Destruction of cultural heritage by ISIL">Destruction by ISIL</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tell_(archaeology)" title="Tell (archaeology)">Tell</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Religion</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Ancient_Mesopotamian_religion" title="Ancient Mesopotamian religion">Ancient Mesopotamian religion</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sumerian_religion" title="Sumerian religion">Sumerian religion</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_Mesopotamian_deities" title="List of Mesopotamian deities">Deities</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mesopotamian_myths" class="mw-redirect" title="Mesopotamian myths">Mesopotamian myths</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mesopotamian_divination" title="Mesopotamian divination">Divination</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mesopotamian_prayer" title="Mesopotamian prayer">Prayers</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ziggurat" title="Ziggurat">Ziggurat (Temple)</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Academia</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Assyriology" title="Assyriology">Assyriology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_Assyriologists" title="List of Assyriologists">Assyriologists</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hittitology" title="Hittitology">Hittitology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pennsylvania_Sumerian_Dictionary" title="Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary">Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chicago_Assyrian_Dictionary" title="Chicago Assyrian Dictionary">Chicago Assyrian Dictionary</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chicago_Hittite_Dictionary" title="Chicago Hittite Dictionary">Chicago Hittite Dictionary</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236075235"></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="Median_topics" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks mw-collapsible expanded navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239400231"><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Median_topics" title="Template:Median topics"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Median_topics" title="Template talk:Median topics"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Median_topics" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Median topics"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Median_topics" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Median</a> topics</div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Language</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Median_language" title="Median language">Median language</a>, <a href="/wiki/Iranian_language" class="mw-redirect" title="Iranian language">Iranian language</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Cities</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Ecbatana" title="Ecbatana">Ecbatana</a> (Hamadan)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Rhagae" class="mw-redirect" title="Rhagae">Rhagae</a> (Shahre Rey, Tehran)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nahavand" title="Nahavand">Laodicea</a> (Nahavand)</li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Battles involving Lydia</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Eclipse_of_Thales" title="Eclipse of Thales">Eclipse of Thales</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Battles involving Persia</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Persian_Revolt" class="mw-redirect" title="Persian Revolt">Persian Revolt</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Hyrba" title="Battle of Hyrba">Battle of Hyrba</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_the_Persian_Border" title="Battle of the Persian Border">Battle of the Persian Border</a></li> <li>Siege of Pasargadae Hill</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pasargadae" title="Pasargadae">Battle of Pasargadae</a></li> <li>Fall of Ecbatana</li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Kings/Satraps</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Deioces" title="Deioces">Deioces</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Phraortes" title="Phraortes">Phraortes</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Madyes" title="Madyes">Madyes</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cyaxares" title="Cyaxares">Cyaxares</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Astyages" title="Astyages">Astyages</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cyaxares_II" title="Cyaxares II">Cyaxares II</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Darius_the_Mede" title="Darius the Mede">Darius the Mede</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Other Medians</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Amytis_of_Babylon" class="mw-redirect" title="Amytis of Babylon">Amytis of Babylon</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Artembares" title="Artembares">Artembares</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Datis" title="Datis">Datis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gobryas_(general)" title="Gobryas (general)">Gubaru</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mazares" title="Mazares">Mazares</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Harpagus" title="Harpagus">Harpagus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Aryenis" title="Aryenis">Aryenis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mandane_of_Media" title="Mandane of Media">Mandane</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Lists</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Median_dynasty" title="Median dynasty">Monarchs of the Median dynasty</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Related</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Medism" title="Medism">Medism</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236075235"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r886047488">.mw-parser-output .nobold{font-weight:normal}</style><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886047488"></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="Median_and_Achaemenid_kings" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks mw-collapsible mw-collapsed navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239400231"><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Median_and_Achaemenid_kings" title="Template:Median and Achaemenid kings"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Median_and_Achaemenid_kings" title="Template talk:Median and Achaemenid kings"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Median_and_Achaemenid_kings" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Median and Achaemenid kings"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Median_and_Achaemenid_kings" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Median_kingdom" title="Median kingdom">Median</a> and <a href="/wiki/Achaemenid_Empire" title="Achaemenid Empire">Achaemenid</a> kings</div></th></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2"><div><a href="/wiki/Achaemenid_family_tree" title="Achaemenid family tree">Family tree</a></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Median_kingdom" title="Median kingdom">Median</a> <span class="nobold"><span style="font-size:85%;">(728–550 BC)</span></span></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Deioces" title="Deioces">Deioces</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Phraortes" title="Phraortes">Phraortes</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Madyes" title="Madyes">Madyes</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cyaxares" title="Cyaxares">Cyaxares</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Astyages" title="Astyages">Astyages</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Achaemenid_Empire" title="Achaemenid Empire">Achaemenid</a> <span class="nobold"><span style="font-size:85%;">(550–330 BC)</span></span></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><i><a href="/wiki/Achaemenes" title="Achaemenes">Achaemenes</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Ariaramnes" title="Ariaramnes">Ariaramnes</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Arsames" title="Arsames">Arsames</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Teispes" title="Teispes">Teispes</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cyrus_I" title="Cyrus I">Cyrus I</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cambyses_I" title="Cambyses I">Cambyses I</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cyrus_the_Great" title="Cyrus the Great">Cyrus the Great (Cyrus II)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cambyses_II" title="Cambyses II">Cambyses II</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bardiya" title="Bardiya">Smerdis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gaumata" class="mw-redirect" title="Gaumata">Gaumata</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Darius_the_Great" title="Darius the Great">Darius the Great (Darius I)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Xerxes_I" title="Xerxes I">Xerxes the Great (Xerxes I)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Artaxerxes_I" title="Artaxerxes I">Artaxerxes I</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Xerxes_II" title="Xerxes II">Xerxes II</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sogdianus" title="Sogdianus">Sogdianus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Darius_II" title="Darius II">Darius II Nothus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Artaxerxes_II" title="Artaxerxes II">Artaxerxes II Mnemon</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Artaxerxes_III" title="Artaxerxes III">Artaxerxes III Ochus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Arses_of_Persia" title="Arses of Persia">Artaxerxes IV Arses</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Darius_III" title="Darius III">Darius III Codomannus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bessus" title="Bessus">Artaxerxes V Bessus</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2"><div><i>Italics</i> indicate kings not directly attested and so possibly legendary.</div></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236075235"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1126788409"></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="Provinces_of_the_Achaemenid_Empire(Behistun_/_Persepolis_/_Naqsh-e_Rustam_/_Susa_/_Daeva_inscriptions)" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks mw-collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="3"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239400231"><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Achaemenid_Provinces" title="Template:Achaemenid Provinces"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Achaemenid_Provinces" title="Template talk:Achaemenid Provinces"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Achaemenid_Provinces" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Achaemenid Provinces"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Provinces_of_the_Achaemenid_Empire(Behistun_/_Persepolis_/_Naqsh-e_Rustam_/_Susa_/_Daeva_inscriptions)" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><div class="plainlist" style="padding:0.1em;white-space:nowrap;"><ul style="line-height:1.2em;"><li>Provinces of the <a href="/wiki/Achaemenid_Empire" title="Achaemenid Empire">Achaemenid Empire</a></li><li style="font-size:90%;font-weight:normal;">(<a href="/wiki/Behistun_Inscription" title="Behistun Inscription">Behistun</a> / <a href="/wiki/Persepolis" title="Persepolis">Persepolis</a> / <a href="/wiki/Naqsh-e_Rustam" class="mw-redirect" title="Naqsh-e Rustam">Naqsh-e Rustam</a> / <a href="/wiki/Palace_of_Darius_in_Susa" title="Palace of Darius in Susa">Susa</a> / <a href="/wiki/Daeva" title="Daeva">Daeva</a> inscriptions)</li></ul></div></div></th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0;background:transparent;padding:0.25em;line-height:1.4em;"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li>Akaufaka (<a href="/wiki/Quhistan" title="Quhistan">Quhistan</a>?)</li> <li>Amyrgoi</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Achaemenid_Arabia" title="Achaemenid Arabia">Arabia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Arachosia" title="Arachosia">Arachosia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Aria_(region)" title="Aria (region)">Aria</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Satrapy_of_Armenia" title="Satrapy of Armenia">Armenia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Achaemenid_Assyria" title="Achaemenid Assyria">Assyria</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Babylonia#Persian_Babylonia" title="Babylonia">Babylonia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bactria_(satrapy)" title="Bactria (satrapy)">Bactria</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cappadocia_(satrapy)" title="Cappadocia (satrapy)">Cappadocia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Caria" title="Caria">Caria</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Carmania_(region)" title="Carmania (region)">Carmania</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chorasmia_(satrapy)" title="Chorasmia (satrapy)">Chorasmia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cilicia_(satrapy)" class="mw-redirect" title="Cilicia (satrapy)">Cilicia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Colchis" title="Colchis">Colchis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dahae" title="Dahae">Dahae</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Drangiana" title="Drangiana">Drangiana</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Twenty-seventh_Dynasty_of_Egypt" title="Twenty-seventh Dynasty of Egypt">1st Egypt</a> / <a href="/wiki/Thirty-first_Dynasty_of_Egypt" title="Thirty-first Dynasty of Egypt">2nd Egypt</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Eber-Nari" title="Eber-Nari">Eber-Nari</a> (<a href="/wiki/Levant" title="Levant">Levant</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Elam" title="Elam">Elam</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kush_(satrapy)" title="Kush (satrapy)">Kush</a> (Nubia)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gand%C4%81ra" title="Gandāra">Gandāra</a> (Gandhara)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gedrosia_(satrapy)" title="Gedrosia (satrapy)">Gedrosia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hyrcania" title="Hyrcania">Hyrcania</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ionia_(satrapy)" title="Ionia (satrapy)">Ionia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hindush" title="Hindush">Hindush</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Libya_(satrapy)" title="Libya (satrapy)">Libya</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lydia_(satrapy)" title="Lydia (satrapy)">Lydia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Maka_(satrapy)" title="Maka (satrapy)">Maka</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Margiana" title="Margiana">Margiana</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Media_(region)" title="Media (region)">Media</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Massagetae" title="Massagetae">Massagetae</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Parthia" title="Parthia">Parthia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Persis" title="Persis">Persis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Achaemenid_Phoenicia" class="mw-redirect" title="Achaemenid Phoenicia">Phoenicia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Phrygia" title="Phrygia">Phrygia</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Hellespontine_Phrygia" title="Hellespontine Phrygia">Hellespontine Phrygia</a></li> <li>Greater Phrygia</li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Saka" title="Saka">Saka</a></li> <li>Samaritan Province</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sattagydia" title="Sattagydia">Sattagydia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Skudra" title="Skudra">Skudra (Thrace)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sogdia" title="Sogdia">Sogdia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Yehud_(Persian_province)" class="mw-redirect" title="Yehud (Persian province)">Yehud</a></li></ul> </div></td><td class="noviewer navbox-image" rowspan="1" style="width:1px;padding:0 0 0 2px"><div><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Map_of_the_Achaemenid_Empire.jpg" class="mw-file-description" title="The principal Achaemenid satrapies, ~500 BC."><img alt="The principal Achaemenid satrapies, ~500 BC." src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Map_of_the_Achaemenid_Empire.jpg/160px-Map_of_the_Achaemenid_Empire.jpg" decoding="async" width="160" height="77" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Map_of_the_Achaemenid_Empire.jpg/240px-Map_of_the_Achaemenid_Empire.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Map_of_the_Achaemenid_Empire.jpg/320px-Map_of_the_Achaemenid_Empire.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1314" data-file-height="635" /></a></span></div></td></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="3"><div>See also <a href="/wiki/Taxation_districts_of_the_Achaemenid_Empire" title="Taxation districts of the Achaemenid Empire">Taxation districts of the Achaemenid Empire</a> <span style="font-size:85%;">(according to <a href="/wiki/Herodotus" title="Herodotus">Herodotus</a>)</span></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236075235"></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="Iran_topics" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks hlist mw-collapsible mw-collapsed navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239400231"><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Iran_topics" title="Template:Iran topics"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Iran_topics" title="Template talk:Iran topics"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Iran_topics" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Iran topics"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Iran_topics" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Iran" title="Iran">Iran</a> topics</div></th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks mw-collapsible mw-collapsed navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><div id="History" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/History_of_Iran" title="History of Iran">History</a></div></th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2"><div id="Prehistory"><a href="/wiki/Prehistory_of_Iran" title="Prehistory of Iran">Prehistory</a></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Ancient</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:9.0em">3400–539 BC</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Kura%E2%80%93Araxes_culture" title="Kura–Araxes culture">Kura-Araxes <span class="nowrap">culture (3400–2000 BC)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Proto-Elamite" class="mw-redirect" title="Proto-Elamite">Proto-Elamite <span class="nowrap">civilization (3100–2700 BC)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Elam" title="Elam">Elamite <span class="nowrap">dynasties (2700–540 BC)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Akkadian_Empire" title="Akkadian Empire">Akkadian <span class="nowrap">Empire (c.2334 BC–c.2154 BC)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lullubi" title="Lullubi">Lullubi <span class="nowrap">(c.2300–675 BC)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kassites" title="Kassites">Kassites <span class="nowrap">(c.1595–c.1155 BC)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mannaeans" class="mw-redirect" title="Mannaeans">Kingdom of <span class="nowrap">Mannai (10th–7th century BC)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Neo-Assyrian_Empire" title="Neo-Assyrian Empire">Neo-Assyrian <span class="nowrap">Empire (911–609 BC)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Urartu" title="Urartu">Urartu <span class="nowrap">(860 BC–590 BC)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Median_kingdom" title="Median kingdom">Median <span class="nowrap">Empire (678–549 BC)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Scythians" title="Scythians">Scythian <span class="nowrap">Kingdom (652–625 BC)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Neo-Babylonian_Empire" title="Neo-Babylonian Empire">Neo-Babylonian <span class="nowrap">Empire (626–539 BC)</span></a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:9.0em">550 BC–AD 224</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Achaemenid_Empire" title="Achaemenid Empire">Achaemenid <span class="nowrap">Empire (550–330 BC)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Atropatene" title="Atropatene">Atropatene <span class="nowrap">(c.323 BC–AD 226)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kingdom_of_Armenia_(antiquity)" title="Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)">Kingdom of <span class="nowrap">Armenia (321 BC–AD 428)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kingdom_of_Cappadocia" title="Kingdom of Cappadocia">Kingdom of <span class="nowrap">Cappadocia (320s BC–AD 17)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Seleucid_Empire" title="Seleucid Empire">Seleucid <span class="nowrap">Empire (312–63 BC)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Frataraka" title="Frataraka">Frataraka <span class="nowrap">(c.295–220 BC)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kingdom_of_Pontus" title="Kingdom of Pontus">Kingdom of <span class="nowrap">Pontus (281 BC–AD 62)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Parthian_Empire" title="Parthian Empire">Parthian <span class="nowrap">Empire (247 BC–AD 224)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kings_of_Persis" title="Kings of Persis">Kings of <span class="nowrap">Persis (after 132 BC–AD 224)</span></a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:9.0em">AD 224–651</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Sasanian_Empire" title="Sasanian Empire">Sasanian <span class="nowrap">Empire (AD 224–651)</span></a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Medieval and<br />early modern</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:9.0em;font-weight:normal;font-size:85%;">632–1090</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Rashidun_Caliphate" title="Rashidun Caliphate">Rashidun <span class="nowrap">Caliphate (632–661)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Umayyad_Caliphate" title="Umayyad Caliphate">Umayyad <span class="nowrap">Caliphate (661–750)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Abbasid_Caliphate" title="Abbasid Caliphate">Abbasid <span class="nowrap">Caliphate (750–1258)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Samanid_Empire" title="Samanid Empire">Samanid <span class="nowrap">dynasty (819–999)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tahirid_dynasty" title="Tahirid dynasty">Tahirid <span class="nowrap">dynasty (821–873)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Alid_dynasties_of_northern_Iran" title="Alid dynasties of northern Iran">Alavid <span class="nowrap">dynasty (864–928)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Saffarid_dynasty" title="Saffarid dynasty">Saffarid <span class="nowrap">dynasty (861–1003)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ziyarid_dynasty" title="Ziyarid dynasty">Ziyarid <span class="nowrap">dynasty (931–1090)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Buyid_dynasty" title="Buyid dynasty">Buyid <span class="nowrap">dynasty (934–1062)</span></a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:9.0em;font-weight:normal;font-size:85%;">977–1432</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Ghaznavids" title="Ghaznavids">Ghaznavid <span class="nowrap">Empire (977–1186)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ghurid_dynasty" title="Ghurid dynasty">Ghurid <span class="nowrap">dynasty (1011–1215)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Seljuk_Empire" title="Seljuk Empire">Seljuk <span class="nowrap">Empire (1037–1194)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Anushtegin_dynasty" title="Anushtegin dynasty">Anushtegin <span class="nowrap">dynasty (1077–1231)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Eldiguzids" title="Eldiguzids">Eldiguzids <span class="nowrap">(1135/36-1225)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kart_dynasty" title="Kart dynasty">Kart <span class="nowrap">dynasty (1244–1381)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ilkhanate" title="Ilkhanate"><span class="nowrap">Ilkhanate (1256–1335)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Muzaffarids_(Iran)" title="Muzaffarids (Iran)">Muzaffarid <span class="nowrap">dynasty (1314–1393)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jalayirid_Sultanate" title="Jalayirid Sultanate">Jalayirid Sultanate <span class="nowrap">dynasty (1335–1432)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chobanids" title="Chobanids">Chobanid <span class="nowrap">dynasty (1338–1357)</span></a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:9.0em;font-weight:normal;font-size:85%;">1370–1925</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Timurid_Empire" title="Timurid Empire">Timurid <span class="nowrap">Empire (1370–1507)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Qara_Qoyunlu" title="Qara Qoyunlu">Qara Qoyunlu <span class="nowrap">Turcomans (1374–1468)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Aq_Qoyunlu" title="Aq Qoyunlu">Aq Qoyunlu <span class="nowrap">Turcomans (1378–1508)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Safavid_Iran" title="Safavid Iran">Safavid <span class="nowrap">Empire (1501–1736)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Afsharid_Iran" title="Afsharid Iran">Afsharid <span class="nowrap">Empire (1736–1796)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Zand_dynasty" title="Zand dynasty">Zand <span class="nowrap">Dynasty (1751–1794)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Qajar_Iran" title="Qajar Iran">Qajar <span class="nowrap">Empire (1789–1925)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Khanates_of_the_Caucasus" title="Khanates of the Caucasus">Khanates of the <span class="nowrap">Caucasus (18th–20th centuries)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Persian_Constitutional_Revolution" title="Persian Constitutional Revolution">Persian Constitutional Revolution (1905–1911)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/1908_bombardment_of_the_Majlis" title="1908 bombardment of the Majlis">1908 bombardment of the Majlis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kurdish_separatism_in_Iran" title="Kurdish separatism in Iran">Kurdish separatism in Iran (1918–)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/1921_Persian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat" title="1921 Persian coup d'état">1921 Persian coup d'état</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Arab_separatism_in_Khuzestan" title="Arab separatism in Khuzestan">Arab separatism in Khuzestan (1922–2020)</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Modern</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:9.0em;font-weight:normal;font-size:85%;">1925–1979</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Pahlavi_dynasty" title="Pahlavi dynasty">Pahlavi <span class="nowrap">dynasty (1925–1979)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Shatt_al-Arab_dispute" title="Shatt al-Arab dispute">Shatt al-Arab dispute (1936–1975)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iran_crisis_of_1946" title="Iran crisis of 1946">Iran crisis of 1946</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Insurgency_in_Balochistan" title="Insurgency in Balochistan">Insurgency in Balochistan (1948–)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/1949_Iranian_Constituent_Assembly_election" title="1949 Iranian Constituent Assembly election">1949 Iranian Constituent Assembly election</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat" title="1953 Iranian coup d'état">1953 coup d'état</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iranian_revolution" title="Iranian revolution">Iranian <span class="nowrap">revolution (1979)</span></a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:9.0em;font-weight:normal;font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:120%"><a href="/wiki/Iran" title="Iran">Islamic Republic</a></span><br />1979–present</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/History_of_the_Islamic_Republic_of_Iran" title="History of the Islamic Republic of Iran"><span class="nowrap">History (1979–)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Interim_Government_of_Iran" title="Interim Government of Iran">Interim Government (1979)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/March_1979_Iranian_Islamic_Republic_referendum" class="mw-redirect" title="March 1979 Iranian Islamic Republic referendum">March 1979 Iranian Islamic Republic referendum</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/1979_Khuzestan_insurgency" title="1979 Khuzestan insurgency">1979 Khuzestan insurgency</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iran_hostage_crisis" title="Iran hostage crisis">Iran hostage crisis (1979–1981)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/December_1979_Iranian_constitutional_referendum" class="mw-redirect" title="December 1979 Iranian constitutional referendum">December 1979 Iranian constitutional referendum</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iranian_Embassy_siege" title="Iranian Embassy siege">Iranian Embassy <span class="nowrap">siege (1980)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nojeh_coup_plot" title="Nojeh coup plot">Nojeh coup plot (1980)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93Iraq_War" title="Iran–Iraq War">Iran–Iraq <span class="nowrap">War (1980–88)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Interim_Government_of_Iran_(1981)" title="Interim Government of Iran (1981)">Interim Government of Iran (1981)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/1987_Mecca_incident" title="1987 Mecca incident">1987 Mecca incident</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655" title="Iran Air Flight 655">Iran Air Flight 655 <span class="nowrap">shootdown (1988)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/KDPI_insurgency_(1989%E2%80%931996)" title="KDPI insurgency (1989–1996)">KDPI insurgency (1989–1996)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93PJAK_conflict" title="Iran–PJAK conflict">PJAK conflict (2004–)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/2009_Iranian_presidential_election_protests" title="2009 Iranian presidential election protests">2009 Iranian presidential election protests</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Syrian_civil_war" title="Syrian civil war">Syrian civil war (2011–)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/International_military_intervention_against_the_Islamic_State" class="mw-redirect" title="International military intervention against the Islamic State">International military intervention against the Islamic State (2014–)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Joint_Comprehensive_Plan_of_Action" title="Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action">Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (2015)</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/United_States_withdrawal_from_the_Joint_Comprehensive_Plan_of_Action" title="United States withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action">United States withdrawal (2018)</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/2017%E2%80%932018_Iranian_protests" title="2017–2018 Iranian protests">2017–2018 Iranian protests</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/2018%E2%80%932019_Iranian_general_strikes_and_protests" title="2018–2019 Iranian general strikes and protests">2018–2019 Iranian general strikes and protests</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic_in_Iran" title="COVID-19 pandemic in Iran">COVID-19 pandemic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/2019_Sistan_and_Baluchestan_protests" title="2019 Sistan and Baluchestan protests">2019 Sistan and Baluchestan protests</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/2019%E2%80%932020_Iranian_protests" title="2019–2020 Iranian protests">2019–2020 Iranian protests</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/2021_Sistan_and_Baluchestan_protests" title="2021 Sistan and Baluchestan protests">2021 Sistan and Baluchestan protests</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/2021%E2%80%932022_Iranian_protests" title="2021–2022 Iranian protests">2021–2022 Iranian protests</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;font-weight:normal;">See also</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_ancient_Persians" title="List of ancient Persians">Ancient Persians</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Greater_Iran" title="Greater Iran">Greater Iran</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Persianization" title="Persianization">Persianization</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Persianate_society" title="Persianate society">Persianate society</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Turco-Persian_tradition" title="Turco-Persian tradition">Turco-Persian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Indo-Persian_culture" title="Indo-Persian culture">Indo-Persian</a></li></ul></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iranian_peoples" title="Iranian peoples">Iranic peoples</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Iranian_languages" title="Iranian languages">languages</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jiroft_culture" title="Jiroft culture">Jiroft culture</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Aryan" title="Aryan">Aryans</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Azerbaijanis" title="Azerbaijanis">Azerbaijanis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Peoples_of_the_Caucasus" class="mw-redirect" title="Peoples of the Caucasus">Peoples of the Caucasus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Persians" title="Persians">Persians</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_monarchs_of_Persia" title="List of monarchs of Persia">Monarchs of Persia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_heads_of_state_of_Iran" title="List of heads of state of Iran">Heads of state of Iran</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/History_of_democracy_in_classical_Iran" class="mw-redirect" title="History of democracy in classical Iran">History of democracy in classical Iran</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Military_history_of_Iran" title="Military history of Iran">Military history</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/History_of_electricity_in_Iran" title="History of electricity in Iran">Electric history</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_years_in_Iran" title="List of years in Iran">Years in Iran</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks mw-collapsible mw-collapsed navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><div id="Geography" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Geography_of_Iran" title="Geography of Iran">Geography</a></div></th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Borders_of_Iran" title="Borders of Iran">Borders</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_cities_in_Iran_by_province" title="List of cities in Iran by province">Cities</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_largest_cities_of_Iran" title="List of largest cities of Iran">largest</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_twin_towns_and_sister_cities_in_Iran" title="List of twin towns and sister cities in Iran">twin towns and sister cities</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_Iran" title="List of earthquakes in Iran">Earthquakes</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Environmental_issues_in_Iran" title="Environmental issues in Iran">Environmental issues</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Climate_change_in_Iran" title="Climate change in Iran">Climate change</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Azerbaijan_(Iran)" title="Azerbaijan (Iran)">Iranian Azerbaijan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sistan_and_Baluchestan_province" title="Sistan and Baluchestan province">Iranian Balochistan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Caspian_Hyrcanian_mixed_forests" class="mw-redirect" title="Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests">Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Caucasus" title="Caucasus">Caucasus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iranian_Kurdistan" title="Iranian Kurdistan">Iranian Kurdistan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iranian_plateau" title="Iranian plateau">Iranian plateau</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lake_Urmia" title="Lake Urmia">Lake Urmia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_islands_of_Iran" title="List of islands of Iran">Islands</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_mountains_in_Iran" title="List of mountains in Iran">Mountains</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Provinces_of_Iran" title="Provinces of Iran">Provinces</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wildlife_of_Iran" title="Wildlife of Iran">Wildlife</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks mw-collapsible mw-collapsed navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><div id="Politics" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_Iran" title="Politics of Iran">Politics</a></div></th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">General</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Censorship_in_Iran" title="Censorship in Iran">Censorship</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Constitution_of_Iran" title="Constitution of Iran">Constitution</a> (<a href="/wiki/Persian_Constitutional_Revolution" title="Persian Constitutional Revolution">Persian Constitutional Revolution</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Corruption_in_Iran" title="Corruption in Iran">Corruption</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Elections_in_Iran" title="Elections in Iran">Elections</a> (<a href="/wiki/2009_Iranian_presidential_election" title="2009 Iranian presidential election">2009 presidential</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Iran" title="Foreign relations of Iran">Foreign relations</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Government_of_the_Islamic_Republic_of_Iran" class="mw-redirect" title="Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran">Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Human_rights_in_Iran" title="Human rights in Iran">Human rights</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Childrens%27_Rights_in_Iran" class="mw-redirect" title="Childrens' Rights in Iran">Children's rights</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Iran" class="mw-redirect" title="LGBT rights in Iran">LGBT</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Women%27s_rights_in_Iran" title="Women's rights in Iran">Women's rights</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/History_of_the_judicial_system_of_Iran" title="History of the judicial system of Iran">Judicial system</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Islamic_Republic_of_Iran_Armed_Forces" title="Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces">Military</a> (<a href="/wiki/Islamic_Republic_of_Iran_Army" title="Islamic Republic of Iran Army">Army</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Islamic_Republic_of_Iran_Air_Force" title="Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force">Air Force</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Islamic_Republic_of_Iran_Navy" title="Islamic Republic of Iran Navy">Navy</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ministry_of_Intelligence_(Iran)" title="Ministry of Intelligence (Iran)">Ministry of Intelligence</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cyberwarfare_and_Iran" title="Cyberwarfare and Iran">Cyberwarfare</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nuclear_program_of_Iran" title="Nuclear program of Iran">Nuclear program</a> (<a href="/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council_Resolution_1747" title="United Nations Security Council Resolution 1747">UN Security Council Resolution 1747</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_Iran" title="List of political parties in Iran">Political parties</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Principlists" class="mw-redirect" title="Principlists">Principlists</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Propaganda_in_Iran" title="Propaganda in Iran">Propaganda</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iranian_Reformists" class="mw-redirect" title="Iranian Reformists">Reformists</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Assassination_and_terrorism_in_Iran" title="Assassination and terrorism in Iran">Terrorism</a> (<a href="/wiki/Iran_and_state-sponsored_terrorism" title="Iran and state-sponsored terrorism">state-sponsorship allegations</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/White_Revolution" title="White Revolution">White Revolution (1963)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Women%27s_rights_movement_in_Iran" title="Women's rights movement in Iran">Women's rights movement</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Councils</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Assembly_of_Experts" title="Assembly of Experts">Assembly (or Council) of Experts</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Expediency_Discernment_Council" title="Expediency Discernment Council">Expediency Discernment Council</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Guardian_Council" title="Guardian Council">Guardian Council</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Islamic_Consultative_Assembly" title="Islamic Consultative Assembly">Islamic Consultative Assembly (parliament)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Local_councils_of_Iran" title="Local councils of Iran">Local councils</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Supreme_National_Security_Council" title="Supreme National Security Council">Supreme National Security Council</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/List_of_Iranian_officials" title="List of Iranian officials">Officials</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_current_ambassadors_from_Iran" title="List of current ambassadors from Iran">Ambassadors</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/President_of_Iran" title="President of Iran">President</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_current_Iran_governors-general" title="List of current Iran governors-general">Provincial governors</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Supreme_Leader_of_Iran" title="Supreme Leader of Iran">Supreme Leader</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks mw-collapsible mw-collapsed navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><div id="Economy" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Economy_of_Iran" title="Economy of Iran">Economy</a></div></th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">General</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Bonyad" title="Bonyad">Bonyad (charitable trust)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Human_capital_flight_from_Iran" title="Human capital flight from Iran">Brain drain</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_companies_of_Iran" title="List of companies of Iran">Companies</a> (<a href="/wiki/Automotive_industry_in_Iran" title="Automotive industry in Iran">Automotive industry</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Child_labour_in_Iran" title="Child labour in Iran">Child labour</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Corruption_in_Iran" title="Corruption in Iran">Corruption</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Economic_Cooperation_Organization" title="Economic Cooperation Organization">Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Economic_history_of_Iran" title="Economic history of Iran">Economic history</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iranian_Economic_Reform_Plan" class="mw-redirect" title="Iranian Economic Reform Plan">Economic Reform Plan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Energy_in_Iran" title="Energy in Iran">Energy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Environmental_issues_in_Iran" title="Environmental issues in Iran">Environmental issues</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Foreign_direct_investment_in_Iran" title="Foreign direct investment in Iran">Foreign direct investment</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Intellectual_property_in_Iran" title="Intellectual property in Iran">Intellectual property</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iranian_oil_bourse" title="Iranian oil bourse">International oil bourse</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/International_rankings_of_Iran" title="International rankings of Iran">International rankings</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iran_and_the_World_Trade_Organization" title="Iran and the World Trade Organization">Iran and the World Trade Organization</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Taxation_in_Iran" title="Taxation in Iran">Taxation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_economic_laws_in_Iran" title="List of economic laws in Iran">Main economic laws</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Economy_of_the_Middle_East" title="Economy of the Middle East">Economy of the Middle East</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Milad_Tower" title="Milad Tower">Milad Tower and complex</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_military_equipment_manufactured_in_Iran" title="List of military equipment manufactured in Iran">Military equipment manufactured</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nuclear_program_of_Iran" title="Nuclear program of Iran">Nuclear program</a> (<a href="/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council_Resolution_1747" title="United Nations Security Council Resolution 1747">UN Security Council Resolution 1747</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Privatization_in_Iran" title="Privatization in Iran">Privatization</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iranian_rial" title="Iranian rial">Rial (currency)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iranian_Space_Agency" title="Iranian Space Agency">Space Agency</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Execution_of_Imam_Khomeini%27s_Order" title="Execution of Imam Khomeini's Order">Setad</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Supreme_Audit_Court_of_Iran" title="Supreme Audit Court of Iran">Supreme Audit Court</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tehran_Stock_Exchange" title="Tehran Stock Exchange">Tehran Stock Exchange</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Venture_capital_in_Iran" class="mw-redirect" title="Venture capital in Iran">Venture capital</a> (<a href="/wiki/Communications_in_Iran#Technology_start-ups" title="Communications in Iran">Technology start-ups</a>)</li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Economic_sector" title="Economic sector">Sectors</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Agriculture_in_Iran" title="Agriculture in Iran">Agriculture</a> (<a href="/wiki/Fruit_production_in_Iran" title="Fruit production in Iran">fruit</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Banking_and_insurance_in_Iran" title="Banking and insurance in Iran">Banking and insurance</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Central_Bank_of_Iran" title="Central Bank of Iran">Central Bank</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Shetab_Banking_System" title="Shetab Banking System">Shetab Banking System</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Construction_industry_of_Iran" title="Construction industry of Iran">Construction</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Defense_industry_of_Iran" title="Defense industry of Iran">Defense</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Healthcare_in_Iran" title="Healthcare in Iran">Health care</a> (<a href="/wiki/Pharmaceuticals_in_Iran" class="mw-redirect" title="Pharmaceuticals in Iran">Pharmaceuticals</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Industry_of_Iran" title="Industry of Iran">Industry</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mining_in_Iran" title="Mining in Iran">Mining</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Petroleum_industry_in_Iran" title="Petroleum industry in Iran">Petroleum</a> (<a href="/wiki/Anglo-Persian_Oil_Company" title="Anglo-Persian Oil Company">Anglo-Persian Oil Company</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Communications_in_Iran" title="Communications in Iran">Telecommunications and IT</a> (<a href="/wiki/Telecommunication_Company_of_Iran" title="Telecommunication Company of Iran">TCI</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Transport_in_Iran" title="Transport in Iran">Transport</a> (<a href="/wiki/List_of_airlines_of_Iran" title="List of airlines of Iran">airlines</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tehran_Metro" title="Tehran Metro">metro</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Islamic_Republic_of_Iran_Railways" title="Islamic Republic of Iran Railways">railways</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/IRISL_Group" title="IRISL Group">shipping</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tourism_in_Iran" title="Tourism in Iran">Tourism</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;padding:0.35em 1.0em;line-height:1.2em;"><a href="/wiki/State-owned_enterprise" title="State-owned enterprise">State-owned<br />companies</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Defense_Industries_Organization" title="Defense Industries Organization">Defense Industries Organization (DIO)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/IDRO_Group" title="IDRO Group">Industrial Development and Renovation Organization (IDRO)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iran_Aviation_Industries_Organization" title="Iran Aviation Industries Organization">Iran Aviation Industries Organization (IAIO)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iran_Electronics_Industries" title="Iran Electronics Industries">Iran Electronics Industries (IEI)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/National_Iranian_Oil_Company" title="National Iranian Oil Company">National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/National_Development_Fund_of_Iran" title="National Development Fund of Iran">National Development Fund</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Places</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Asaluyeh" title="Asaluyeh">Asaluyeh industrial corridor</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chabahar_Free_Trade-Industrial_Zone" title="Chabahar Free Trade-Industrial Zone">Chabahar Free Trade-Industrial Zone</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kish_Island" title="Kish Island">Kish Island Free Trade Zone</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_Iranian_research_centers" title="List of Iranian research centers">Research centers</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks mw-collapsible mw-collapsed navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><div id="Society" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Category:Society_of_Iran" title="Category:Society of Iran">Society</a></div></th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Demographics_of_Iran" title="Demographics of Iran">Demographics</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Languages_of_Iran" title="Languages of Iran">Languages</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Persian_language" title="Persian language">Persian (Farsi)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Armenian_language" title="Armenian language">Armenian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Azerbaijani_language" title="Azerbaijani language">Azerbaijani</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kurdish_languages" class="mw-redirect" title="Kurdish languages">Kurdish</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hebrew_language" title="Hebrew language">Hebrew</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Georgian_language" title="Georgian language">Georgian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Assyrian_Neo-Aramaic" class="mw-redirect" title="Assyrian Neo-Aramaic">Neo-Aramaic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iranian_languages" title="Iranian languages">Iranian languages</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;font-weight:normal;">Peoples</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Demographics_of_Iran" title="Demographics of Iran">Iranian citizens</a> (<a href="/wiki/Iranian_diaspora" title="Iranian diaspora">abroad</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ethnic_minorities_in_Iran" title="Ethnic minorities in Iran">Ethnic minorities</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Iranian_Armenians" title="Iranian Armenians">Armenians</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Assyrians_in_Iran" title="Assyrians in Iran">Assyrians</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iranian_Azerbaijanis" title="Iranian Azerbaijanis">Azerbaijanis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Circassians_in_Iran" title="Circassians in Iran">Circassians</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iranian_Georgians" title="Iranian Georgians">Georgians</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kurds_in_Iran" title="Kurds in Iran">Kurds</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Iran" title="History of the Jews in Iran">Jews</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iranian_Turkmens" title="Iranian Turkmens">Turkmen</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Religion_in_Iran" title="Religion in Iran">Religion</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Islam_in_Iran" title="Islam in Iran">Islam</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bah%C3%A1%CA%BC%C3%AD_Faith_in_Iran" title="Baháʼí Faith in Iran">Baháʼí Faith</a> (<a href="/wiki/Persecution_of_Bah%C3%A1%CA%BC%C3%ADs" title="Persecution of Baháʼís">persecution</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Christianity_in_Iran" title="Christianity in Iran">Christianity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Zoroastrianism_in_Iran" title="Zoroastrianism in Iran">Zoroastrians</a> (<a href="/wiki/Persecution_of_Zoroastrians" title="Persecution of Zoroastrians">persecution</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Freedom_of_religion_in_Iran" title="Freedom of religion in Iran">Freedom of religion</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;font-weight:normal;">Other</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Corruption_in_Iran" title="Corruption in Iran">Corruption</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Crime_in_Iran" title="Crime in Iran">Crime</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Education_in_Iran" title="Education in Iran">Education</a> (<a href="/wiki/Higher_education_in_Iran" title="Higher education in Iran">higher</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Intellectual_movements_in_Iran" title="Intellectual movements in Iran">Intellectual movements</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_pre-modern_Iranian_scientists_and_scholars" title="List of pre-modern Iranian scientists and scholars">scientists and scholars</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_universities_in_Iran" title="List of universities in Iran">universities</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/International_rankings_of_Iran" title="International rankings of Iran">International rankings</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iranian_nationality_law" title="Iranian nationality law">Nationality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Water_supply_and_sanitation_in_Iran" title="Water supply and sanitation in Iran">Water supply and sanitation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Women_in_Iran" title="Women in Iran">Women</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Culture_of_Iran" title="Culture of Iran">Culture</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Iranian_architecture" title="Iranian architecture">Architecture</a> (<a href="/wiki/Achaemenid_architecture" title="Achaemenid architecture">Achaemenid</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Architects_of_Iran" title="Architects of Iran">architects</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Persian_art" title="Persian art">Art</a> (<a href="/wiki/Iranian_modern_and_contemporary_art" title="Iranian modern and contemporary art">modern / contemporary</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Persian_astronomy" title="Persian astronomy">Astronomy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Blogging_in_Iran" title="Blogging in Iran">Blogs</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iranian_calendars" title="Iranian calendars">Calendars</a> (<a href="/wiki/Nowruz" title="Nowruz">Persian New Year (<i>Nowruz</i>)</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fashion_in_Iran" title="Fashion in Iran">Fashion</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/University_of_Chicago_Persian_antiquities_dispute" class="mw-redirect" title="University of Chicago Persian antiquities dispute">Chicago Persian antiquities dispute</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cinema_of_Iran" title="Cinema of Iran">Cinema</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iranian_cuisine" title="Iranian cuisine">Cuisine</a> (<a href="/wiki/Persian_wine" title="Persian wine">wine</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iranian_folklore" title="Iranian folklore">Folklore</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Intellectual_movements_in_Iran" title="Intellectual movements in Iran">Intellectual movements</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_Iranians" title="List of Iranians">Iranians</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iranian_studies" title="Iranian studies">Iranian studies</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Islam_in_Iran" title="Islam in Iran">Islam</a> (<a href="/wiki/Islamization_of_Iran" title="Islamization of Iran">Islamization</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Persian_literature" title="Persian literature">Literature</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mass_media_in_Iran" title="Mass media in Iran">Media</a> (<a href="/wiki/List_of_Iranian_news_agencies" title="List of Iranian news agencies">news agencies</a> (<a href="/wiki/Iranian_Students_News_Agency" class="mw-redirect" title="Iranian Students News Agency">student</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_newspapers_in_Iran" title="List of newspapers in Iran">newspapers</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Persian_mythology" title="Persian mythology">Mythology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iranian_National_Jewels" title="Iranian National Jewels">National Jewels</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_national_symbols_of_Iran" class="mw-redirect" title="List of national symbols of Iran">National symbols</a> (<a href="/wiki/Imperial_Anthem_of_Iran" title="Imperial Anthem of Iran">Imperial Anthem</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Opium_in_Iran" title="Opium in Iran">Opium consumption</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Persian_gardens" title="Persian gardens">Persian gardens</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Persian_name" title="Persian name">Persian name</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iranian_philosophy" title="Iranian philosophy">Philosophy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Public_holidays_in_Iran" title="Public holidays in Iran">Public holidays</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Scouting_in_Iran" title="Scouting in Iran">Scouting</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sport_in_Iran" title="Sport in Iran">Sport</a> (<a href="/wiki/Football_in_Iran" title="Football in Iran">football</a>)</li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:5.2em;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Music_of_Iran" title="Music of Iran">Music</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Iranian_folk_music" title="Iranian folk music">Folk</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iranian_jazz" title="Iranian jazz">Jazz</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iranian_pop_music" title="Iranian pop music">Pop</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iranian_hip_hop" title="Iranian hip hop">Rap and hip-hop</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iranian_rock" title="Iranian rock">Rock</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Persian_traditional_music" title="Persian traditional music">Traditional</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Ey_Iran" title="Ey Iran">Ey Iran</a></i></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Other topics</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Science_and_technology_in_Iran" title="Science and technology in Iran">Science and technology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Anti-Iranian_sentiment" title="Anti-Iranian sentiment">Anti-Iranian sentiment</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tehrangeles" title="Tehrangeles">Tehrangeles</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2"><div> <ul><li><span class="noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><span title="Category"><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/96/Symbol_category_class.svg/16px-Symbol_category_class.svg.png" decoding="async" width="16" height="16" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/96/Symbol_category_class.svg/23px-Symbol_category_class.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/96/Symbol_category_class.svg/31px-Symbol_category_class.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="180" data-file-height="185" /></span></span> <a href="/wiki/Category:Iran" title="Category:Iran">Category</a></li> <li><span class="noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Symbol_portal_class.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="Portal"><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e2/Symbol_portal_class.svg/16px-Symbol_portal_class.svg.png" decoding="async" width="16" height="16" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e2/Symbol_portal_class.svg/23px-Symbol_portal_class.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e2/Symbol_portal_class.svg/31px-Symbol_portal_class.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="180" data-file-height="185" /></a></span> <a href="/wiki/Portal:Iran" title="Portal:Iran">Portal</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <p><span class="metadata coord-missing"></span> </p>    </div><noscript><img src="https://login.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?type=1x1" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border: none; position: 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