Median Empire

c. 678-549 BCDeioces (per Herodotus)

RegionIran

Periodc. 678-549 BC

Founded ByDeioces (per Herodotus)

About Median Empire

An Iranian power centered on Ecbatana, modern Hamadan. Under King Cyaxares the Medes joined Babylon to destroy the Assyrian Empire in 612 BC. Much of what is known comes from Herodotus, and historians debate how centralized it really was. Cyrus the Great overthrew the last Median king, Astyages, and absorbed it into Persia.

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