The first Iranian empire, the Median Kingdom united the Iranian tribes of the plateau and briefly dominated the Near East before being absorbed by Cyrus the Great's Achaemenid revolt.
Conquered by Achaemenid Persian king Cyrus the Great in 550 BCE when the Median army deserted king Astyages, who was captured; the Median capital Ecbatana fell and Media became the first major component of the Achaemenid Empire.
The atlas holds 3 border frames for Median Kingdom — the shape you scrub through changes in 678 BC · 604 BC · 589 BC.
Accessible overview placing the Medes in the long sweep of Iranian history.
The standard reference volume for the Median kingdom; includes I. M. Diakonoff's definitive chapter 'Media' (pp. 36–148) — the most rigorous treatment of Median political history in a major reference series.