The first historical mention of the Medes was by the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III (r.859-824 BC), who claimed to have received tribute from them. Tiglath-pileser III (r.745-727 BC) campaigned against the tribes of Media and gained control of their territory. Sargon II (r.722-705 BC) fought against the Medes and succeeded in making them vassals.
According to Assyrian records the Medes controlled a large part of the Iranian Plateau as early as the ninth century BC. Their land probably extended to Tabriz on the north, the Solduz Plain (the land of the Manneans) on the west, and to Elam on the south, with their eastern border uncertain because the Assyrian never penetrated far enough to ascertain it.
According to Herodotus (c.484-c.425 BC), Deioces (r.c.728-c.675 BC) was the first independent king of the Medes and the founder of the Median capital Ecbatana (=Hamadan), but it is more probable that the Medes were first united under Deioces’ son Phraortes (r.c.675-c.653 BC). The western Scythians came from Central Asia and entered the Near East via the Caucasus. When they arrived at the Assyrian border in the mid-seventh century BC, the Assyrians, having failed to subdue the Medes, made a pact with the Scythians against the Medes: the Scythians under Maydes (r.c.653-c.615 BC), son of Partatua (r.c.673-c.653 BC), attacked and defeated Phraortes’ forces.
Herodotus tells us that Cyaxares (r.625-585 BC), son of Phraortes, defeated the Scythians by having their chieftains drink themselves into a stupor then slaying them. Renewing the war in Assyria, Cyaxares sacked Assur in 614 BC. Cyaxares then formed an alliance with Nabopolassar (r.626-605 BC) and their combined armies captured Nineveh in 612 BC.
The conquerors divided the spoils: the Babylonians controlled the whole of the Fertile Crescent; the Medes all of highlands up to central Anatolia. There they clashed with the Lydians. Their final battle, the Battle of Halys, ended abruptly due to a solar eclipse on 28 May 585 BC as it was perceived as an omen that the gods wanted the fighting to stop.
A truce was hastily arranged. As part of the terms of the agreement Aryenis, a daughter of Alyattes II (r.c.610-c.560 BC), married Cyaxares’ son Astyages (r.585-550 BC), and the Halys River was declared to be the border of the two nations. Under Astyages the Median kingdom seems to have been successful in extending its influence from the Halys in the west across the Iranian Plateau, apparently as far as Bactria.
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