Cyaxares facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Cyaxares |
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| King of Media | |
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Possible relief of Cyaxares, Qyzqapan tomb, Sulaymaniyah. Iraqi Kurdistan.
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| King of the Medes | |
| Reign | 625 – 585 BCE |
| Predecessor | Phraortes |
| Successor | Astyages |
| Died | 585 BCE |
| Burial | Syromedia (present-day Qyzqapan, Kurdistan Region) |
| Spouse | Daughter (or granddaughter) of Nabopolassar |
| Issue | Astyages Amytis |
| Median | ᴴuvaxšϑra |
| Dynasty | Median dynasty |
| Father | Phraortes |
| Religion | Ancient Iranian religion |
Cyaxares was an important king of the Medes, an ancient Iranian people. He became king in 625 BCE after his father, Phraortes, died fighting the Assyrians. Cyaxares worked with the Babylonians to defeat the powerful Assyrian Empire. He also united many Iranian groups, making Media a strong kingdom in the region.
Contents
What's in a Name?
The name Cyaxares comes from the Latin language. It is based on the Greek name Kuaxarēs. This Greek name was a version of the Median name ᴴuvaxšϑra. This Median name meant "good ruler."
Another Greek writer, Diodorus Siculus, called Cyaxares Astibaras. This name meant "spear bearer" in Median. It is similar to his son Astyages's name, which meant "spear thrower."
Life and Rule
Becoming King
Cyaxares was the son of the Median king Phraortes. Around the mid-600s BCE, Phraortes led the Medes in a fight against Assyria. He was killed in battle. This was either against the Assyrians or their allies, the Scythians. The Scythian king Madyes then took control of the Medes. This period was called the "Scythian rule over Asia."
After this invasion, Cyaxares became king of the Medes. But he was under the control of the Scythians.
Freeing the Medes
By the 620s BCE, the Assyrian Empire was getting weaker. In 626 BCE, Babylon rebelled against the Assyrians. The next year, in 625 BCE, Cyaxares found a way to free the Medes. He invited the Scythian rulers to a big dinner. Then, he had them all killed. This included Madyes.
After gaining freedom, Cyaxares made the Median army stronger. Before, Median fighters were in small tribal groups. They used whatever weapons they liked best. Cyaxares changed this. He created a regular army, like the Assyrians had. His soldiers were well-equipped by the state. They were organized into different units for fighting. Cyaxares might have also made the Scythians his allies. This is because Babylonian records show Scythians fighting with the Medes from 615 BCE.
Expanding the Kingdom
During his time as king, Cyaxares conquered lands to the east of Media. These included Hyrcania and Parthia.
War Against Assyria
Cyaxares then turned his attention to the Assyrian Empire. In 615 BCE, Cyaxares crossed the Zagros mountains. He captured the city of Arrapha. The next year, in 614 BCE, the Medes attacked the Assyrian capital, Nineveh. This made the Assyrian king, Sinsharishkun, go to defend it. But the Medes then marched north and captured Tarbisu. They then went to Assur.
The Medes attacked and destroyed Assur. They killed many people and took its treasures. Soon after Assur fell, the Babylonian king, Nabopolassar, met Cyaxares. They formed an alliance against Assyria. To make the alliance strong, they arranged marriages. Nabopolassar's son, Nebuchadnezzar II, married Cyaxares's daughter, Amytis. Cyaxares married a daughter or granddaughter of Nabopolassar.
The Median and Babylonian armies then worked together. In 612 BCE, they marched on Nineveh. After a three-month siege, they captured and destroyed the city. King Sinsharishkun likely died during this battle.
After Nineveh fell, an Assyrian leader, Ashur-uballit II, became king in Harran. He had support from the remaining Assyrian army. The Egyptian pharaoh Necho II also helped the Assyrians. In 610 BCE, Cyaxares and Nabopolassar took Harran. The Assyrian and Egyptian forces moved to Carchemish. The Neo-Babylonian Empire took most of the former Assyrian lands. The Medes helped in the fighting.
Conquering Urartu
In 609 BCE, the Medes attacked Urartu, a kingdom in the Armenian Highlands. This attack might have been with the Babylonians. Babylonian records mention a joint attack in 608 BCE. This invasion did not destroy Urartu. Instead, it became a kingdom under Median rule. Median soldiers might have helped the Babylonians win the final battle against Assyria and Egypt at Carchemish in 605 BCE. After this, the Medes stopped helping the Babylonians in their military campaigns.
War Against the Lydians
After the Assyrian Empire was gone, many Scythians left Western Asia. They went to the Pontic–Caspian steppe. The Medes and Babylonians had some disagreements, but they did not fight each other.
Instead, a war started between Media and another group of Scythians. These Scythians had fled to the kingdom of Lydia. The Lydian king, Alyattes, refused to give them back to Cyaxares. So, a war began between Media and the Lydian Empire in 590 BCE.
This war lasted five years. In 585 BCE, a solar eclipse happened during a battle. This event is known as the Battle of the Eclipse. Both sides saw the eclipse as a sign to stop fighting. The kings of Babylon and Cilicia helped them make a peace treaty. This treaty was sealed by a marriage. Cyaxares's son, Astyages, married Alyattes's daughter, Aryenis.
The border between Lydia and Media was set in eastern Anatolia. Some historians say the Halys River was the border.
Death
Cyaxares died in 585 BCE, the same year as the Battle of the Eclipse. His son, Astyages, became the next king. Some historians believe Cyaxares's tomb might be in a place called Qyzqapan in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Legacy
After Darius I became ruler of the Achaemenid Empire, some people rebelled. They claimed to be related to Cyaxares. Darius wrote about two of these rebellions in the Behistun Inscription:
- "Another was Phraortes, the Mede; he lied, saying: 'I am Khshathrita, of the dynasty of Cyaxares.' He made Media to revolt."
- "Another was Tritantaechmes, the Sagartian; he lied, saying: 'I am king in Sagartia, of the dynasty of Cyaxares.' He made Sagartia to revolt."
