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J) "Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture or EIEC, edited by J. P. Mallory and Douglas Q. Adams, published in 1997 by Fitzroy Dearborn. pg 30: "..and the Medes (Iranians of what is now north-west Iran).."</ref> who lived in [[Iran]] in an area known as Media and spoke a northwestern Iranian language referred to as the [[Median language]]. Their arrival to the region is associated with the first wave of Iranian tribes in the late second millennium BCE (the [[Bronze Age collapse]]) through the beginning of first millennium BCE.
J) "Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture or EIEC, edited by J. P. Mallory and Douglas Q. Adams, published in 1997 by Fitzroy Dearborn. pg 30: "..and the Medes (Iranians of what is now north-west Iran).."</ref> who lived in [[Iran]] in an area known as Media and spoke a northwestern Iranian language referred to as the [[Median language]]. Their arrival to the region is associated with the first wave of Iranian tribes in the late second millennium BCE (the [[Bronze Age collapse]]) through the beginning of first millennium BCE.


The city of [[Rey, Iran|Rey]] today known as [[Tehran]] was the largest city of the Medes.<ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=s1YNAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA49&dq=%22largest+city+of+media%22&hl=en&ei=LOVcTaaHE5DqOfGZmZsL&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22largest%20city%20of%20media%22&f=false</ref> and [[Ecbatana]], now modern city of [[Hamadan]] was their political centre.<ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=LGQNT6G_do8C&pg=PA414&dq=%22capital+of+the+medes%22&hl=en&ei=ouVcTdScFI7tOeSnwd4K&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=%22capital%20of%20the%20medes%22&f=false</ref> Both these cities are today inhabited by ethnic Persians.
The city of [[Rey, Iran|Rey]] today known as [[Tehran]] was the largest city of the Medes.<ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=s1YNAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA49&dq=%22largest+city+of+media%22&hl=en&ei=LOVcTaaHE5DqOfGZmZsL&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22largest%20city%20of%20media%22&f=false</ref> and [[Ecbatana]], now modern city of [[Hamadan]] was their political centre.<ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=LGQNT6G_do8C&pg=PA414&dq=%22capital+of+the+medes%22&hl=en&ei=ouVcTdScFI7tOeSnwd4K&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=%22capital%20of%20the%20medes%22&f=false</ref> Both these cities are today inhabited by ethnic Persians.<ref>http://www.hamedanmiras.ir/en_site/j-siasi.htm</ref> <ref>http://www.iranchamber.com/people/articles/iranian_ethnic_groups.php</ref>


In the 7th century BCE a unified Median state was formed which together with Babylonia, Lydia, and Egypt became one of the four major powers of the ancient near east. An alliance with the [[Neo-Babylonian empire|Babylonia]]ns helped the Medes to capture [[Nineveh]] in 612 BCE which resulted in the collapse of the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]]. Medes were subsequently able to establish their Median kingdom beyond their original homeland (central-western Iran) and had eventually a territory stretching roughly from northeastern Iran to the [[Halys river]] in [[Anatolia]]. The Median kingdom was conquered in 550 BCE by [[Cyrus the Great]] who established the next Iranian dynasty—the [[Achaemenid Empire]].<!-- this whole paragraph in the lead is a summary of sourced materials from the article. It will not be sourced here. But for your convenience see "The Oxford encyclopedia of archaeology in the Near East, volume 3. 1997" pages 448-9 -->
In the 7th century BCE a unified Median state was formed which together with Babylonia, Lydia, and Egypt became one of the four major powers of the ancient near east. An alliance with the [[Neo-Babylonian empire|Babylonia]]ns helped the Medes to capture [[Nineveh]] in 612 BCE which resulted in the collapse of the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]]. Medes were subsequently able to establish their Median kingdom beyond their original homeland (central-western Iran) and had eventually a territory stretching roughly from northeastern Iran to the [[Halys river]] in [[Anatolia]]. The Median kingdom was conquered in 550 BCE by [[Cyrus the Great]] who established the next Iranian dynasty—the [[Achaemenid Empire]].<!-- this whole paragraph in the lead is a summary of sourced materials from the article. It will not be sourced here. But for your convenience see "The Oxford encyclopedia of archaeology in the Near East, volume 3. 1997" pages 448-9 -->

Revision as of 10:38, 31 March 2011

"Mede" redirects here. For the town in Italy, see Mede (Italy).
Median Empire or Median Confederation
Mādai
728 BC–549 BC
A map of Median Empire; based on Herodotean
A map of Median Empire; based on Herodotean
CapitalEcbatana
Common languagesOld Iranian; Median language
Religion
Zoroastrianism
GovernmentMonarchy
King 
• 625-585 BC
Cyaxares (first)
• 589-549 BC
Astyages (last)
Historical eraGolden Age
• Cyaxares united Median tribes[1]
728 BC
549 BC
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Neo-Assyrian Empire
Achaemenid Empire
History of Greater Iran
Pre-Islamic
BCE / BC
Prehistory
Kura–Araxes culture c. 3400 – c. 2000
Proto-Elamite civilization 3200–2800
Elamite dynasties 2800–550
Jiroft culture
Mannaea
Lullubi/Zamua
Gutians
Cyrtian
Corduene
Bactria–Margiana Complex 2200–1700
Avestan period c. 1500 BCE – 500 BCE
Kingdom of Mannai 10th–7th century
Neo-Assyrian Empire 911–609
Urartu 860–590
Median Empire 728–550
Scythian Kingdom 652–625
Achaemenid Empire 550–330
Ancient kingdom of Armenia 331 BCE – 428 CE
Seleucid Empire 330–150
Caucasian Iberia c. 302 BCE – 580 CE
Greco-Bactrian Kingdom 250–125
Parthian Empire 248 BCE–224 CE
Caucasian Albania 2nd century BCE –
8th century CE
Roman Empire 27 BCE – 330 CE
CE / AD
Kushan Empire 30–275
Sasanian Empire 224–651
Afrighid dynasty 305–995
Hephthalite Empire 425–557
Kabul Shahi kingdom 565–879
Dabuyid dynasty 642–760
Bagratid Armenia 880s – 1045
Alania 8th/9th century – 1238 / 9
Kingdom of Georgia 1008–1490
Islamic
Rashidun Caliphate 637–651
Umayyad Caliphate 661–750
Abbasid Caliphate 750–1258
Shirvanshah 799–1607
Tahirid dynasty 821–873
Dulafid dynasty 840–897
Zaydis of Tabaristan 864–928
Saffarid dynasty 861–1003
Samanid Empire 819–999
Sajid dynasty 889/90–929
Ziyarid dynasty 928–1043
Buyid dynasty 934–1055
Sallarid dynasty 941–1062
Ghaznavid Empire 975–1187
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Safavid Empire 1501–1722
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Afsharid Iran 1736–1750
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Qajar Iran 1794–1925

The Medes[N 1] (from Old Persian Māda-) were an ancient Iranian people[3] who lived in Iran in an area known as Media and spoke a northwestern Iranian language referred to as the Median language. Their arrival to the region is associated with the first wave of Iranian tribes in the late second millennium BCE (the Bronze Age collapse) through the beginning of first millennium BCE.

The city of Rey today known as Tehran was the largest city of the Medes.[4] and Ecbatana, now modern city of Hamadan was their political centre.[5] Both these cities are today inhabited by ethnic Persians.[6] [7]

In the 7th century BCE a unified Median state was formed which together with Babylonia, Lydia, and Egypt became one of the four major powers of the ancient near east. An alliance with the Babylonians helped the Medes to capture Nineveh in 612 BCE which resulted in the collapse of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Medes were subsequently able to establish their Median kingdom beyond their original homeland (central-western Iran) and had eventually a territory stretching roughly from northeastern Iran to the Halys river in Anatolia. The Median kingdom was conquered in 550 BCE by Cyrus the Great who established the next Iranian dynasty—the Achaemenid Empire.

Name

The original source for different words used to call the Median people, their language and homeland is a directly transmitted Old Iranian geographical name which is attested as the Old Persian "Māda-" (sing. masc.).[8] The meaning of this word is not precisely established.[8][9] The linguist W. Skalmowski proposes a relation with the proto-indoeuropean word "med(h)-" meaning "central, suited in the middle" by referring to Old Indic "madhya-" and Old Iranic Avestan "maidiia-" both carrying the same meaning.[8]

They also appear in many ancient texts: According to Histories of Herodotus "The Medes were called anciently by all people Aryans; but when Medea, the Colchian, came to them from Athens, they changed their name. Such is the account which they themselves give".[10] He had also listed the names of six Median tribes: "Thus Deioces collected the Medes into a nation, and ruled over them alone. Now these are the tribes of which they consist: the Busae, the Paretaceni, the Struchates, the Arizanti, the Budii, and the Magi."[11]

The geographical name "Media" survives in the Modern Persian name "Māhīdašt" (lit. “the Median plain,” with "Māh < Māda-") in Kermanshah province.[12]

Historical geography of Media

The original population area of median people was western Iran and named after them as "Media". At the end of 2nd millennium BCE the median tribes, as one of Iranian tribes to do so, arrived in the region which they later called Media. These tribes expanded their control over larger areas subsequently and over a period of several hundred years the boundaries of Media moved.[13]

Ancient textual sources

The earlier description of the territory of Media by the Assyrians dates from the end of 9th century until the beginning of the 7th century BCE. The southern border of Media, in that period, is named as Elamite region of Simaški in presend day Lorestan, from west and northwest it was bounded by Zagros mountains and from east by Dašt-e Kavir. In summary the region of Media known to Assyrian and recorded by them "extended along the Great Khorasan Road from just east of Harhar to Alwand, and probably beyond. It was limited on the north by Mannea, on the south by Ellipi."[14] The location of Harhar is suggested to be "the central or eastern" Mahidasht in Kermanshah province.[15]

On the east and southeast of Media, as described by Assyrians, another land with the name of "Patušarra" appears. This land was located near a mountain range with what Assyrian mention as "Bikni" and describe as "Lapis Lazuli Mountain". There are various opinion on the location of this mountain. Damavand of Tehran and Alvand of Hamadan are two proposed identification of that location. This location is the most remote eastern area that the Assyrians knew or reached during their expansion until the beginning of 7th century BCE.[16]

In the sources from Achaemenid Iran and specifically from the inscription of Darius I (2.76, 77-78) the capital of Media is named as "Hamgmatāna-" in Old Persian (and as Elamite "Agmadana-", Babylonian "Agamtanu-", etc.). The classical authors transmitted this as Ecbatana. This site is the modern Hamadan province.[17]

Archaeological evidence

Excavation from ancient Ecbatane, Hamadan, Iran

The Median archaeological sources are rare. Three major sites from central western Iran in the Iron Age III period (i.e. 850-500 BCE) are[18]

  • Tepe Nush-i Jan (a primarily religious site of Median period),
  • Godin period II (a fortified palace of a Median king or tribal chief),
  • Baba Jan (probably the seat of a lesser tribal ruler of Media).

These sources have both similarities (in cultural characteristics) and differences (due to functional differences and diversity among the Median tribes).[18] 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.[19]

Rise to power

Pre-dynastic history

Iranian tribes were present in western and northwestern Iran at least from 12-11th century BCE. The significance of Iranian elements in these regions were established from beginning of the second half of the 8th century BCE. [20] By this time the Iranian tribes were the majority in what later become the territory of Median kingdom and also the west of Media proper.[20] A study of textual sources from the region show that in Neo-Assyrian period, the regions of Media and further west and northwest had a population with Iranian speaking people as majority. [21]

In western and northwestern Iran and in areas west to these and prior to the Median rule there were previously political activities of powerful societies of Elam, Manna, Assyria and Urartu/Ararat (Armenia).[20] 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 7th century BCE.[20] One opinion (of Herzfeld, et al) is that the ruling class were "Iranian migrants" but the society was "autochthonous" while another opinion (of Grantovsky, et al) holds that both the ruling class and basic elements of the population were Iranian.[22]

Median dynasty

The list of Median rulers and their dates compiled according to A: Herodotus who calls them "kings" and associates them to the same family and B: Babylonian Chronicle which in "Gadd's Chronicle on the Fall of Nineveh" gives its own list, ist: Deioces (reign 700-647 BCE), Phraortes (reign 647-625 BCE), Scythian (reign 624-597 BCE), Cyaxares (reign 624-585 BCE) and Astyages (reign 585-549 BCE): a total of 150 years.[23] Not all of these dates and personalities given by Herodotus match the other near eastern sources[24]

In Herodotus (book 1, chapters 95-130), Deioces is introduced as the founder of a centralized Median state. He had been known to Median people as "a just and incorruptible man" and when asked by Median people to solve their possible disputes he agreed and put the condition that they make him "king" and build a great city at Ecbatana as the capital of Median state.[25] Judging from the contemporary sources of the region and disregarding[26] the account of Herodotus puts the formation of a unified Median state during reign of Cyaxares or later.[27]


Median culture and society

Modern artistic drawing of Costumes of ancient Mede nobility.

In Greek references to "Median" people there is 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".[28]

Language

Main article: Median language

Median people spoke Median language that was an Old Iranian language. Strabo(63/64 BC – ca. AD 24) in his "Geography", mentions the affinity of Mede with other Iranian languages: "The name of Ariana is further extended to a part of Persia and of Media, as also to the Bactrians and Sogdians on the north; for these speak approximately the same language, with but slight variations".[29]

Words probably of Mede origin appear in various other Iranian dialects, including Old Persian. For example, Herodotus mentions the word Spaka (dog), still found in Iranic languages such as Talyshi. Other words also thought to be of Mede origin (I.M Diakonoff, Medes) include

  • Farnah: Divine glory; (Avestan: khvarənah)
  • Paridaiza: Paradise, (as in Pardis پردیس)
  • Vazraka: Great, (as Modern Persian Bozorg بزرگ),
  • Vispa: All, (as in Avestan),
  • Xshayathiya (royal, royalty)

The Medes are sometimes considered by Kurdish nationalists to be one of the ancestors of the Kurds based on linguistic and geographic claims.[30] This conjecture is, however, challenged by other scholars who consider central Iranian dialects, mainly those of Kashan area and Tati as the only direct offshoots of Median language.[31][32] Moreover, although some medieval Armenian authors refer to Kurds as mark or azgn marac (the tribe of the marks), this is considered as part of a literary tradition of identifying modern ethnic groups with the unrelated ancient people.[33] Moreover linguistic evidence shows the ancestor of the Kurds lived to the south of the Medes and departed from the South to the North.[34]

Religion

From the names in the Assyrian inscriptions, it appears they had already adopted the religion of Zoroaster.[35]

The revival of Zoroastrianism, enforced everywhere by the Sassanids, completed this development. Atropatene, already center of the fire cult during Parthian times (see Takht-i-Suleiman) now became the site of one of the legendary Great Fires. Under the patronage of Kartir, the 'priest of priests' of the early Sassanid kings, Arsacia/Rhagae advanced to become one of the two (the other being Ishtakhr, ancestral seat of the Sassanid priest-kings) centers of the Zoroastrian priesthood.

Media in later periods

Achaemenid Persia

Modern artistic drawing of Mede nobleman and Persians.
Further information: Persian Mesopotamia

In 553 BC, Cyrus the Great, King of Persia, rebelled against his grandfather, the Mede King, Astyages son of Cyaxares; he finally won a decisive victory in 550 BC resulting in Astyages' capture by his own dissatisfied nobles, who promptly turned him over to the triumphant Cyrus.[36]

After Cyrus's victory against Astyages, the Medes were subjected to their close kin, the Persians.[37] In the new empire they retained a prominent position; in honor and war, they stood next to the Persians; their court ceremony was adopted by the new sovereigns, who in the summer months resided in Ecbatana; and many noble Medes were employed as officials, satraps and generals. Interestingly, at the beginning the Greek historians referred to the Achaemenid Empire as a Median empire.

After the assassination of the usurper Smerdis, a Mede Fravartish (Phraortes), claiming to be a scion of Cyaxares, tried to restore the Mede kingdom, but was defeated by the Persian generals and executed in Ecbatana (Darius I the Great in the Behistun inscr.). Another rebellion, in 409 BC, against Darius II (Xenophon, Hellen. ~. 2, 19) was of short duration. But the Iranian[38] tribes to the north, especially the Cadusii, were always troublesome; many abortive expeditions of the later kings against them are mentioned.[39]


Under Persian rule, the country was divided into two satrapies: the south, with Ecbatana and Rhagae (Rey near modern Tehran), Media proper, or Greater Media, as it is often called, formed in Darius I the Great's organization the eleventh satrapy (Herodotus iii. 92), together with the Paricanians and Orthocorybantians; the north, the district of Matiane (see above), together with the mountainous districts of the Zagros and Assyria proper (east of the Tigris) was united with the Alarodians and Saspirians in eastern Armenia, and formed the eighteenth satrapy (Herod. iii. 94; cf. v. 49, 52, VII. 72).

When the Persian empire decayed and the Cadusii and other mountainous tribes made themselves independent, eastern Armenia became a special satrapy, while Assyria seems to have been united with Media; therefore Xenophon in the Anabasis always designates Assyria by the name of "Media".[40]

Seleucid rule

Main article: Atropatene

Following Alexander's invasion of the satrapy of Media in the summer of 330 BC, he appointed as satrap a former general of Darius III the Great named Atropates (Atrupat) in 328 BC, according to Arrian. In the partition of his empire, southern Media was given to the Macedonian Peithon; but the north, far off and of little importance to the generals squabbling over Alexander's inheritance, was left to Atropates.

While southern Media, with Ecbatana, passed to the rule of Antigonus, and afterwards (about 310 BC) to Seleucus I, Atropates maintained himself in his own satrapy and succeeded in founding an independent kingdom. Thus the partition of the country, that Persia had introduced, became lasting; the north was named Atropatene (in Pliny, Atrapatene; in Ptolemy, Tropatene), after the founder of the dynasty, a name still said to be preserved in the modern form 'Azerbaijan'.

The capital of Atropatene was Gazaca in the central plain, and the castle Phraaspa, discovered on the Araz river by archaeologists in April 2005.

Atropatene is that country of western Asia which was least of all other countries influenced by Hellenism; there exists not even a single coin of its rulers. Southern Media remained a province of the Seleucid Empire for a century and a half, and Hellenism was introduced everywhere. Media was surrounded everywhere by Greek towns, in pursuance of Alexander's plan to protect it from neighboring barbarians, according to Polybius (x. 27). Only Ecbatana retained its old character. But Rhagae became the Greek town Europus; and with it Strabo (xi. 524) names Laodicea, Apamea Heraclea or Achais. Most of them were founded by Seleucus I and his son Antiochus I.

Arsacid rule

In 221 BC, the satrap Molon tried to make himself independent (there exist bronze coins with his name and the royal title), together with his brother Alexander, satrap of Persis, but they were defeated and killed by Antiochus the Great. In the same way, the Mede satrap Timarchus took the diadem and conquered Babylonia; on his coins he calls himself the great king Timarchus; but again the legitimate king, Demetrius I, succeeded in subduing the rebellion, and Timarchus was slain. But with Demetrius I, the dissolution of the Seleucid Empire began, brought about chiefly by the intrigues of the Romans, and shortly afterwards, in about 150, the Parthian king Mithradates I conquered Media (Justin xli. 6).

From this time Media remained subject to the Arsacids or Parthians, who changed the name of Rhagae, or Europus, into Arsacia (Strabo xi. 524), and divided the country into five small provinces (Isidorus Charac.). From the Parthians, it passed in 226 to the Sassanids, together with Atropatene.


See also

Notes

  1. ^ from OED's entry: "Mede < classical Latin Mēdus (usually as plural, Mēdī) < ancient Greek (Attic and Ionic) Μῆδος (Cypriot ma-to-i Μᾶδοι, plural) < Old Persian Māda"[2]

References

  1. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica Online Media (ancient region, Iran)
  2. ^ OED Online "entry Mede, n.".:
  3. ^ A) "Mede" Encyclopædia Britannica 2008 (Encyclopædia Britannica Online) 16 January 2008 <http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9051719>. B) Andrew Dalby, Dictionary of Languages: the definitive reference to more than 400 languages, Columbia University Press, 2004, pg 278. C) Gwendolyn Leick, Who's Who in the Ancient Near East, Routledge, Published 2001. pg 192 D) Ian Shaw, Robert Jameson, A Dictionary of Archaeology, Blackwell Publishing, 1999. E) Sabatino Moscati, Face of the Ancient Orient, Courier Dover Publications, Published 2001. pg 67 F) John Prevas, Xenophon's March: Into the Lair of the Persian Lion, Da Capo Press, 2002. pg 20. G) I.M. Diakonoff, "Media" In Cambridge History of Iran (ed. William Bayne Fisher, Ilya Gershevitch), Volume 2. Pg 140 "Archaeological evidence for the religion of the Iranian-speaking Medes of the .." H) Amélie Kuhrt, "The Persian Empire, Volume 1", Chp 2: Medes, Routledge, 2007. excerpt from pg 19: "The early history of the western Iranians (Medes and Persian) is a thorny problem..." I) John Curtis, British Museum, 2000, 2nd edition. pg 34: "They were an Indo-European people who, like the related Persians, spoke an Iranian language" J) "Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture or EIEC, edited by J. P. Mallory and Douglas Q. Adams, published in 1997 by Fitzroy Dearborn. pg 30: "..and the Medes (Iranians of what is now north-west Iran).."
  4. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=s1YNAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA49&dq=%22largest+city+of+media%22&hl=en&ei=LOVcTaaHE5DqOfGZmZsL&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22largest%20city%20of%20media%22&f=false
  5. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=LGQNT6G_do8C&pg=PA414&dq=%22capital+of+the+medes%22&hl=en&ei=ouVcTdScFI7tOeSnwd4K&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=%22capital%20of%20the%20medes%22&f=false
  6. ^ http://www.hamedanmiras.ir/en_site/j-siasi.htm
  7. ^ http://www.iranchamber.com/people/articles/iranian_ethnic_groups.php
  8. ^ a b c (Tavernier 2007, p. 27)
  9. ^ (Diakonoff 1985, p. 57)
  10. ^ Herodotus 7.62.1
  11. ^ Herodotus 1.101
  12. ^ (Windfuhr 1991, p. 242)
  13. ^ (Diakonoff 1985, pp. 36–41)
  14. ^ (Levine 1974, p. 119)
  15. ^ (Levine 1974, p. 117)
  16. ^ (Levine 1974, pp. 118–119)
  17. ^ (Levine 1974, pp. 118)
  18. ^ a b (Young 1997, p. 449)
  19. ^ (Young 1997, p. 448)
  20. ^ a b c d (Dandamaev et al. 2004, pp. 2–3) harv error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFDandamaevLukoninKohlDadson2004 (help)
  21. ^ (Zadok 2002, p. 140)
  22. ^ (Dandamaev et al. 2004, p. 3) harv error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFDandamaevLukoninKohlDadson2004 (help)
  23. ^ (Diakonoff 1985, p. 112)
  24. ^ (Diakonoff 1985, p. 112)
  25. ^ (Young 1988, p. 16) harv error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFYoung1988 (help)
  26. ^ (Young 1988, p. 19) harv error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFYoung1988 (help)
  27. ^ (Young 1988, p. 21) harv error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFYoung1988 (help)
  28. ^ (Young 1997, p. 449)
  29. ^ Geography, Strab. 15.2.8
  30. ^ John Limbert, "The Origins and Appearance of the Kurds in Pre-Islamic Iran", Iranian Studies, Vol. 1, No. 2, Spring 1968. Excerpt: "Although some scholars have dismissed the Kurds' claim of Median descent, linguistic and geographical evidence supports these claims. All Kurdish dialects have maintained the basic characteristics of Kurdish despite the wide dispersion of the tribes. This fact suggests that there was an ancient and powerful language from which the dialects evolved, which cannot be proved to be Median".
  31. ^ G. Asatrian, Prolegomena to the Study of the Kurds, Iran and the Caucasus, Vol.13, pp.1-58, 2009. (p.21)
  32. ^ Borjian, Habib. 2009. "Median Succumbs to Persian after Three Millennia of Coexistence: Language Shift in the Central Iranian Plateau". Journal of Persianate Studies. 2 (1): 62-87.
  33. ^ G. Asatrian, Prolegomena to the Study of the Kurds, Iran and the Caucasus, Vol.13, pp.1-58, 2009. (pp.21-22) Excerpt:"In the late Armenian sources, especially in the colophons of the manuscripts, the Kurds are sometimes referred to as mark or azgn marac. Namely this phenomenon in the Armenian written tradition is declared by the protagonists of the mentioned idea (e.g. Minorsky, Les origines des Kurds, Actes du XXe Congrès international des orientalistes, Louvain: 143-152, 1940). However, the labeling of the Kurds as Medians by the Armenian chroniclers is a mere literary device within the tradition of identifying the contemporary ethnic units with the ancient peoples, known throughout the Classical literature. Tatars, e.g., were identified with the Persians, azgn parsic; Kara-qoyunlu Turkmens were called "the tribe of the Scythians", azgn skiwt‘ac‘woc‘.
  34. ^ Kreyenbroek, Philip G., and Stefan Sperl. ۱۹۹۲. The Kurds: a contemporary overview. Routledge/SOAS contemporary politics and culture in the Middle East series. London: Routledge. p.7۰
  35. ^ Mary Boyce, Textual Sources for the Study of Zoroastrianism (Chicago: Univ. Of Chicago Press, 1990) [1]
  36. ^ From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire, Pierre Briant, Eisenbrauns, 2006, p. 31
  37. ^ Herodotus, The Histories, p. 93.
  38. ^ Rudiger Schmitt, "Cadusii" in Encyclopedia Iranica
  39. ^ The encyclopædia britannica: a dictionary of arts, sciences, literature and general information, Volume 18, Edited by Hugh Crisholm, University Press, 1911, p. 21
  40. ^ The encyclopædia britannica:a dictionary of arts, sciences, literature and general information, Volume 18, Edited by Hugh Crisholm, University Press, 1911, p. 21

Literature cited

  • Tavernier, Jan (2007), Iranica in the Achaemenid Period (ca. 550-330 B.C.): Linguistic Study of Old Iranian Proper Names and Loanwords, Attested in Non-Iranian Texts, Peeters Publishers, ISBN 9042918330
  • Dandamaev, M. A.; Lukonin, V. G.; Kohl, Philip L.; Dadson, D. J. (2004), The Culture and Social Institutions of Ancient Iran, Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, p. 480, ISBN 9780521611916
  • Diakonoff, I. M. (1985), "Media", The Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 2 (Edited by Ilya Gershevitch ed.), Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, pp. 36–148, ISBN 0521200911
  • Levine, Louis D. (1 January 1973), "Geographical Studies in the Neo-Assyrian Zagros: I", Iran, 11: 1–27, doi:10.2307/4300482, ISSN 0578-6967
  • Levine, Louis D. (1 January 1974), "Geographical Studies in the Neo-Assyrian Zagros-II", Iran, 12: 99–124, doi:10.2307/4300506, ISSN 0578-6967
  • Young, T. Cuyler, Jr. (1988), "The early history of the Medes and the Persians and the Achaemenid empire to the death of Cambyses", in Boardman, John; Hammond, N. G. L.; Lewis, D. M.; Ostwald., M. (eds.), The Cambridge Ancient History, vol. 4, Cambridge University Press, pp. 1–52, doi:10.1017/CHOL9780521228046.002{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Young, T. Cuyler (1997), "Medes", in Meyers, Eric M. (ed.), The Oxford encyclopedia of archaeology in the Near East, vol. 3, Oxford University Press, pp. 448–450, ISBN 9780195112177
  • Zadok, Ran (2002), "The Ethno-Linguistic Character of Northwestern Iran and Kurdistan in the Neo-Assyrian Period", Iran, 40: 89–151, doi:10.2307/4300620, ISSN 0578-6967
  • Windfuhr, Gernot L. (1991), "Central dialects", in Yarshater, E. (ed.), Encyclopaedia Iranica, pp. 242–51, ISBN 9780939214792

Further reading

Encyclopaedic Articles
  • "Mede." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 16 January 2008.
  • Dandamayev, M.; Medvedskaya, I. (2006), "Media", Encyclopaedia Iranica Online Edition
Book chapters
  • Gershevitch, Ilya (1985), The Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 2, Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521200911
  • Dandamaev, M. A.; Lukonin, V. G.; Kohl, Philip L.; Dadson, D. J. (2004), The Culture and Social Institutions of Ancient Iran, Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, p. 480, ISBN 9780521611916
  • Young, T. Cuyler, Jr. (1988), "The early history of the Medes and the Persians and the Achaemenid empire to the death of Cambyses", in Boardman, John; Hammond, N. G. L.; Lewis, D. M.; Ostwald., M. (eds.), Persia, Greece and the Western Mediterranean C. 525 to 479 B.C. (Cambridge Histories Online ed.), Cambridge University Press, doi:10.1017/CHOL9780521228046.002{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

External links

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