Medes

KINGS OF THE MEDES (MEDIA)
Deioces	c.728-675
Phraortes	675-653
Cyaxares	653-585
Overthrows Assyria, 614-609; Conquers Urart.u, 585; Battle of the Eclipse, 585
Astyages	585-550

The fall of the Assyrian empire came with surprising suddenness. The Medes and the Babylonians, who cooperated in defeating Assyria, divided the Asiatic domain of the Assyrians between them. (Egypt had meanwhile liberated itself.)

The daughter of the Median king Cyaxares was married to the son, Nebuchadnezzar, of the Babylonian king Nabopolassar. The famous result of this was the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, built to assuage the homesickness of the bride for the mountains of Iran. Nabûchadnezzar, in turn, perpetuated one Assyrian practice by relocating subjects to populate the city of Babylon. The Babylonian Captivity of the Jews, after he took Jerusalem in 587, is the most famous example of that.

KINGS OF LYDIA
Sandonids/Tilonids
Ardys I	c.800?
Alyattes I
Myrsus (Meles)
Candaules
Mermnadae
Gyges	685-644
Ardys II	644-615
Sadyattes	615-610
Alyattes II	610-560
Battle of the Eclipse, 585
Croesus	560-547

The Medes expanded their domain at the expense of Anatolian kingdoms, culminating in the Battle of the Eclipse on 28 May 585 BC with the Lydians. The eclipse (first contact, 18h 10m local time; maximum eclipse, 90% total, 19h 02m, just before sunset; last contact 19h 52m, after sunset), supposedly predicted by the philosopher Thales, ended the battle and the war. The balance of power between Media, Babylonian, Lydia, and Egypt was generally maintained until a new king came to the throne of Persia, a vassal of Media, in 559.

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Last modified: 2022-11-16

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