Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Department of History, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

10.22059/jhss.2025.389019.473775

Abstract

 
tThe reconstruction of Median history in modern scholarship primarily relies on two main sources: the Greek narrative, particularly Herodotus' Histories, and the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian sources written in cuneiform. Scholars like Diakonoff (1956) regarded Herodotus as providing "the only genuine coherent history of Media." Despite his extensive use of cuneiform records related to Media, Diakonoff still validated the key events of Median history primarily through Herodotus. This reliance on Greek sources, while valuable, has shaped modern interpretations of the Median kingdom, often overshadowing the wealth of information found in contemporary cuneiform texts. This essay critically re-examines four fundamental aspects of the Median kingdom as described by Herodotus, revisiting these themes in light of cuneiform evidence. The aspects explored include: the establishment of an empire by the Medes, the existence of a unified Median royal dynasty, the number of kings who ruled Media and their familial relationships, and whether or not the kingdom of Cyrus the Great was a vassal of Media before its rise. Additionally, the essay delves into the political and military developments of the late seventh century BCE, when a new force emerged in the Ancient Near East, leading to the eventual downfall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. It argues that cuneiform sources should be prioritized over Greek accounts due to their closer proximity to the events they describe, thus offering a more direct view of Median history. The analysis also considers the biases inherent in both the Greek and cuneiform narratives, acknowledging how political and religious motives may have influenced their portrayals of events. Ultimately, the essay calls for a more nuanced understanding of the Medes, suggesting that a combination of both Greek and cuneiform sources, when critically analyzed, can offer a more comprehensive, balanced reconstruction of Median history, culture, politics, and lasting legacy.

Keywords

Main Subjects

 
 
 
کتسیاس (Ctesias) بنگرید به Llewellyn-Jones and Robson 2010.
Adalı, S. F., 2011, The Scourge of God: the Umman-manda and its significance in the first millennium BC. Helsinki: Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project.
Asheri, D., Lloyd, A., and Corcella, A., 2007, A Commentary on Herodotus Books I-IV. Edited by Oswyn Murray and Alfonso Moreno, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Badamchi, H., 2013. The Decree of Cyrus the Great. Tehran: Negah-e Moaser. [In Persian].
Beaulieu, P.A. 1989, The Reign of Nabonidus, King of Babylon 556-539 BC, New Haven: Yale University Press.
Beaulieu, P. A., 2018, A History of Babylon, 2200 BC-AD 75, Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Borger, R., 1996, Beiträge zum Inschriftenwerk Assurbanipals: die Prismenklassen A, B, C = K, D, E, F, G, H, J und T sowie andere Inschriften, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
Ctesias = Llewellyn-Jones and Robson 2010.
Dandamayev, M. A., 1986, Arbaces, Encyclopaedia Iranica, edited by Ehsan Yarshater, New York: Mazda, vol. II, p. 275.
Dandamayev, M. and Medvedskaya, I., 2006, Media, Encyclopaedia Iranica, Iranicaonline.org
Diakonoff, I. M. 1985, Elam, pages 1-24, in the Cambridge History of Iran, volume 2: the Median and Achaemenian Periods, edited by Ilya Gershevitch, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Diakonov, A. M., 1966. The History of Media. Translated by Karim Keshavarz. Tehran: Translation and Publishing Company.[In Persian].
Drews, R. 1973, The Greek Accounts of Eastern History, Cambridge, Mass.
Frame, Grant 2021, The Royal Inscriptions of Sargon II, King of Assyria (721–705 BC), Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian period, v. 2, University Park, Pennsylvania: Eisenbrauns.
Fuchs, A., 1994, Die Inschriften Sargons II. Aus Khorsabad, Göttingen: Cuvillier.
Fuchs, A., 2005, Parsua(š), Reallexikon der Assyriologie, vol. 10: 340-342.
Fuchs, A., 2017, Assyria and the East: Western Iran and Elam, pages 259-267 in A Companion to Assyria, edited by E. Frahm, Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Fuchs, A., and Schmitt, R., 1998, Arbaku, p. 128 in the Prosopography of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, vol. 1, part I: A, edited by K. Radner, Helsinki.
Fuchs, A., and Schmitt, R., 1999, Daiukku, p. 370 in the Prosopography of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, vol. 1, part II: B-G, edited by K. Radner, Helsinki.
Fuchs, A., and Schmitt, R., 2000, Kaštarītu, p. 608 in the Prosopography of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, vol. 2, part I: H-K, edited by Heather D. Baker, Helsinki.
Glassner, Jean-Jacques 2004, Mesopotamian Chronicles, Leiden: Brill.
Grayson, A. Kirk., 1975, Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles, Locust Valley, NY: Augustin.
Helm, Peyton, R., 1981, Herodotus' "Mêdikos Logos" and Median History, Iran, vol. 19: 85-90.
Herodotus, 1975. Histories, translated by A. D. Godley, volume I: Books I-II (Loeb Classical Library), Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press 1926, reprint.
Herodotus, 1998.  the Histories, translated by Robin Waterfield, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Herodotus, 2013. the Histories, translated by Tom Holland, New York: Viking/Penguin,
Kuhrt, A., 2010, The Persian Empire: a Corpus of Sources from the Achaemenid Period, London: Routledge.
Lanfranchi, Giovanni B., Roaf, M., and Rollinger, R., 2003, Continuity of Empire (?): Assyria, Media, Persia, Padua: S.a.r.g.o.n.
Llewellyn-Jones, L., and James, R., 2010, Ctesias' History of Persia: Tales of the Orient, New York: Routledge.
Medvedskaya, I., 2002, The Rise and Fall of Media, the International Journal of Kurdish Studies, 16, 1/2: 29-44.
Medvedskaya, I., 2004, Ḫudimiri, Encyclopedia Iranica, edited by Ehsan Yarshater, New York: Mazda, vol. 12, pp. 553-554.
RINAP = The Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period
Rollinger, R., 2004, Medien, pages 112-115, in Herrscherchronologien der antiken Welt, Namen, Daten, Dynastien, Der Neue Pauly – Supplemente, vol. 1, edited by W. Eder and J. Renger, Stuttgart.
Rollinger, R., 2007, Media, pages 115-118, in Chronologies of the Ancient World: Names, Dates and Dynasties, Brill's New Pauly Supplements 1, edited by Walter Eder and Johannes Renger, translated and edited by Wouter Henkelman, Leiden: Brill.
Rollinger, R., 2010, Das medische Königtum und die medische Suprematie im sechsten Jahrhundert v. Chr. Pages 63-85, in Concepts of Kingship in Antiquity, edited by G. B. Lanfranchi and R. Rollinger, Padua.
Rollinger, R., 2020, The Medes of the 7th and 6th c. BCE: A Short-Term Empire or Rather a Short-Term Confederacy? Pp. 189-214, in Short-term Empires In World History, edited by Robert Rollinger, Julian Degen, and Michael Gehler, Wiesbaden: Springer.
Schaudig, H. 2001, Die Inschriften Nabonids von Babylon und Kyros' des Großen samt den in ihrem Umfeld entstandenen Tendenzschriften, Alter Orient und Altes Testament 256, Münster: Ugarit.
Schmitt, R. 1987, Astyages, Encyclopaedia Iranica, edited by Ehsan Yarshater, New York: Mazda, vol. 2, pp. 873-874.
Starr, I. 1990, Queries to the Sungod. Divination and Politics in Sargonid Assyria, State Archives of Assyria, vol. IV, Helsinki.
Stronach, D., 1997, Notes on the Fall of Nineveh, pages 307-324 in Assyria 1995. Proceedings of the 10th Anniversary Symposium of the Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project, edited by Simo Parpola & R.M. Whiting, Helsinki: The Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project.
 Tavernier, J. 2007, Iranica in the Achaemenid period (ca. 550–330 BC), Lexicon of Old Iranian Proper Names and Loanwords, attested in non-Iranian Texts, Leuven: Peeters.
Weidner, Ernst F.  1931, Die älteste Nachricht über Das Persische Königshaus. Kyros I. Ein Zeitgenosse Aššurbânaplis, Archiv Für Orientforschung 7: 1-7.
Zawadzki, S., 1988, The Fall of Assyria and Median-Babylonia relations in light of the Nabopolassar Chronicle, Poznań: Adam Mickiewicz University Press.
    Zawadzki, S.,2012, Ummān-manda Revisited, State Archives of Assyria Bulletin 19, 267-78.