Media (region)

Media
𐎶𐎠𐎭
Historical region of Iran

The regional origin of the Medes
CapitalEcbatana
History 
• Establishment of the Medes
c. 678 BC
• Fall of the Median dynasty
c. 549 BC
Today part ofIran
Medes (region)

Media (Old Persian: 𐎶𐎠𐎭, romanized: Māda, Middle Persian: Mād) is a region of north-western Iran, best known for having been the political and cultural base of the Medes.[N 1] During the Achaemenid period, it comprised present-day Iranian Azerbaijan, Iranian Kurdistan and western Tabaristan. As a satrapy under Achaemenid rule, it would eventually encompass a wider region, stretching to southern Dagestan in the north.[2] However, after the wars of Alexander the Great, the northern parts were separated due to the Partition of Babylon and became known as Atropatene, while the remaining region became known as Lesser Media.

Rock relief of a Median man, Persepolis
  1. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica Online Media (ancient region, Iran)
  2. ^ Bruno Jacobs, "ACHAEMENID RULE IN Caucasus" in Encyclopædia Iranica. January 9, 2006. Excerpt: "Achaemenid rule in the Caucasus region was established, at the latest, in the course of the Scythian campaign of Darius I in 513-12 BCE. The Persian domination of the cis-Caucasian area (the northern side of the range) was brief, and archeological findings indicate that the Great Caucasus formed the northern border of the empire during most, if not all, of the Achaemenid period after Darius"


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