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Media (Old Persian: 𐎶𐎠𐎭, romanized: Māda; Ancient Greek: Μηδία, romanized: Mēdía; Akkadian: Mādāya) was a polity centered in Ecbatana that existed from the 7th century BCE until the mid-6th century BCE, and is believed to have dominated a significant portion of the Iranian plateau, preceding the powerful Achaemenid Empire. The frequent interference in the Zagros Mountains by the Neo-Assyrian Empire, located in Upper Mesopotamia, led to the unification of the Median tribes. By 612 BCE, the Medes, in alliance with Babylonia in Lower Mesopotamia, became strong enough to overthrow the declining Neo-Assyrian Empire.
According to classical historiography, Media emerged as one major power of the ancient Near East after the collapse of Assyria. Under Cyaxares (r. 625–585 BCE), the kingdom's borders were expanded to the east and west through the subjugation of neighboring peoples, such as the Persians and Armenians. Media's territorial expansion led to the formation of the first Iranian empire, which at its height would have exercised authority over more than two million square kilometers, stretching from the eastern banks of the Kızılırmak River in Anatolia to Central Asia. In this period, the Median Empire was one of the great powers in the ancient Near East, alongside the Neo-Babylonian Empire, Lydia, and the late period of Egypt. During his reign, Astyages (r. 585–550 BCE) worked to strengthen and centralize the Median state, going against the will of tribal nobility, which may have contributed to the kingdom's downfall. In 550 BCE, the Median capital, Ecbatana, was conquered by the Persian leader Cyrus the Great, marking the beginning of the Achaemenid Empire.
However, most historians increasingly view the Median Empire as having been made up by Herodotus and that the Medes were a loose confederacy instead, only uniting under one leader when external powers were attacking Media.
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