Media, << MEE dee uh, >> was an ancient country that flourished in the 500’s B.C. in what is now northern Iran. Media was inhabited by the Medes, an Indo-European people who had come to the region from the north about 1000 B.C. Assyria, a powerful country to the west, invaded Media in 836 B.C. Many other Assyrian invasions of Media followed. The Medes formed a unified state about 700 B.C. and established their capital at Ecbatana (now Hamadan, Iran). They reached the peak of their power under Cyaxares, who reigned from 625 to 585 B.C. Cyaxares defeated Assyria and built an empire that included parts of what are now Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey. Astyages, the son of Cyaxares, was the last Median king. He was defeated by Cyrus the Great of Persia about 550 B.C. Cyrus incorporated Median lands into the Persian Empire and made Media a Persian province.
