[CP]
Communities speaking Indo-European languages who occupied northwest Iran from the late 2nd millennium bc through to the mid 1st millennium bc. Their origins are rather obscure, but they appear to have arrived in the region via the Zagros Mountains at about the same time as the Persians, to whom they may have been related. At first the Medes were the more powerful of the two peoples. During the early 1st millennium bc they played an active part in the complicated politics of the region. Although initially dominated by the late Assyrian rulers, they seized the opportunities presented by the collapse of Elam to destroy Assyria in 614–612 bc, under their ruler Cyaxarea. They then created their own empire, taking in most of Iran, northern Mesopotamia, and eastern and central Asia Minor. They inherited much of the kingdom of Urartu. Their capital was at Ecbatana (modern Hamadan), and major settlements have been excavated at Godin Tepe, Bab Jan, and Nush-I Jan.
The Persian king Cyrus the Great overran the Medes in the mid 6th century bc, although they remained ruling partners in the Achaemenid empire he set up. The Medes and the Persians were subsequently united by marriage connections. The Medes are well illustrated in the friezes of Persepolis, and are traditionally credited with the invention of trousers.
