Author name:
تيسير سالم مجيد
Supervisor name:
سعدون عبد الهادي برغش الامير
University location:
Wasit
Abstract:
The researcher introduces the subject of “Medeans : a Study of Their History and Civilization” as an inquiry into the migration of these peoples, their settlements, the political developments they were part of, the rise of their kingdom, a detailed examination of the reigns of their kings, and their most important political, military, and cultural achievements.The importance of studying the Medes relies on their historical precedent among Aryan peoples in building a political entity in Ancient Iran. This precedence, as we see, had its own political and cultural circumstances. Moreover, they participated in the greatest event in the 7th century BC in Ancient Iraq or even the whole Near East, i.e. the fall of Nineveh in 612 BC. We should not forget that they represented the civilizational basis for the Achaemenid Empire, and the starting point that Cyrus the Great used to forge the greatest empire ever in the Near East, with respect to political or cultural importance. Furthermore, we know quite little about the Medes in our study of Ancient History in Iraqi universities.In his study, the researcher decided to use the descriptive method out of consideration for the nature of our subject, providing his relevant information in accordance with the logical succession of historical events, from the migration of these peoples until the fall of their kingdom.This thesis is composed of an introduction, three chapters, and conclusions. The first chapter, “Medes : Their Origin and the Formation of Their Kingdom,” deals with the origins of these peoples, as it looks into their roots, first waves of migration, their settlement in Northwest Iran and Azerbaijan, and their political and cultural affairs as related to us through Assyrian sources. Its last section, “the Kings of Medea,” is2concerned with the formation of their kingdom in 701 or 700 BC until their last king Astyages.The second chapter, “Political Relations with Neighboring States and Kingdoms,” focuses on military and political affairs between the Kingdom of Medea that rose into an empire by the rule of Cyaxares (624 - 585 BC) and the surrounding states, including Urartu, Lydia, and the kingdoms of Ancient Iraq in the Late Assyrian and Modern Babylonian eras, along with their relationship with the Achaemenid kingdom until its fall to Cyrus the Great in 550 BC.The third and last chapter, “The Cultural Aspect of the Medean Kingdom,” surveys crucial activities and endeavors under their civilization, such as language, writing, governance, administrative and military regulations, their most important military achievements, especially under the rule of Cyaxares, along with the religious beliefs and ideas that Medeans adhered to on societal and state levels. Of course, arts and architecture were present in their history, along with social and economic affairs.This study reached the following conclusions : The northwestern regions of Iran saw a state of political and military vacuum after the fall of the Hittites in the 13th century BC, therefore the migrant Indo - European tribes, including the Medes, moved into this region and starting building their own settlements, until they created their first political system, the Medean Empire, between 701/700 - 550 BC. Several factors stood behind its foundation and rise, the most important of which was the pressing necessity of establishing a political entity that organizes the political life of Aryan tribes in the region and defends them against outside intrusions.3The Medean Kingdom went through a very harsh period of Scythian takeover, that lasted for twenty - eight years (653 - 625 BC), since the Scythians were only concerned with tax collection and wielding oppression against the Medes. This period reached its end by the rise of the Cyaxares (625 - 585), the mightiest king of the Medes, whose rule ushered in a new stage in which Medea reached its military, political, and economic peak.Since 612 BC, the Medean Empire became a political pole in the region, since it extended its military and political hegemony to most of the surrounding kingdoms, especially in Asia Minor and southern and central Iran. Thus Cyaxares was able to achieve something that neither his father or grandfather were able to achieve, through conquests to enlarge his kingdom, and the accumulated victories he realized in his continuous wars, so copious they were that some historians reduce the Medean Empire to his character.But this mighty kingdom didn’t last for long, as weakness crept into its structure during the rules of its last king, Astyages (585 - 550 BC), when the Medean army lost its mission, since Medea was bound by political treaties under the rule of Cyaxares.The political disputes that arose between Cyrus II and his maternal grandfather, Astyages, led to a war that lasted three years (553 - 550 BC) and ended with Cyrus’s victory and taking over the capital Ecbatana, thus putting an end to the political life of the Medes
