Classical Antiquity

Median Empire

678 BC – 549 BC · peak 600 BC

The Median Empire (7th–6th centuries BC) united Iranian groups of the western plateau under a monarchy centered at Ecbatana. Allied with the Babylonians, it helped bring down the Neo-Assyrian Empire with the capture of Nineveh in 612 BC. It was later incorporated into the Achaemenid Empire when Cyrus the Great defeated Astyages around 550 BC.

Capital: Ecbatana