Media in Biblical History

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Schaff's Bible Dictionary

Definitions in Biblical History
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What is Media?
ME'DIA
Name.-- The name is the same as Madai, "middle land," one of Japheth's sons. Gen 10:2. The Hebrew word thus translated "Madai" is also rendered "Medes," 2 Kgs 17:6, etc., and "Media," Esth 1:3, etc., and also "Mede." Dan 11:1. In the period of which Herodotus writes the people of Media were called Aryans. Situation and Extent. -- The general boundaries seem to have been the river Araxes and the Caspian Sea on the north and north-east; Parthia and Hyrcania and the great salt desert of Iram on the east; Persia and Susiana on the south; Assyria and Armenia on the west. Its greatest length from north to south was 550 miles, its average breadth 250 to 300 miles, and its area 150,000 square miles, or about one-fifth more than the area of Great Britain. See map, "Lands of the Jewish Captivities." Physical Features and Political Divisions. -- Media was divided originally into six provinces, which in Greek and Roman times were reduced to two, Media Atropatene and Media Magna. 1. Media Atropatene, the northern division, embraced the tract between the Caspian and the mountains, north of the Zagros. This is a tract lying on an average 3000 feet above the sea-level and diversified by mountains and valleys. The soil is tolerably fertile, and produces a great variety of vegetables and fruits. 2. Media Magna, lying to the south and east of Atropatene. This tract is mountainous toward the west, but well wooded and fertile; while toward the east and south-east it is bare, rocky, and sandy, shading away into the great salt desert of Iram. Each of these provinces seems to have had Ecbatana for its capital. Media was also divided into smaller divisions, concerning which there is little information. George Smith discovered on an octagonal cylinder of Sargon a list of twenty-four Median chiefs. This list belongs to b.c. 713, and is curious as showing the divided state of Media at that time (Assyr. Discoveries, p. 288). Media is now included in the dominions of the Shah of Persia. History. -- The early history of the Medes is very obscure. Their origin is given in Gen 10:2. Assyrian records show that about b.c. 880 an Assyrian monarch invaded their territory. Their first appearance in Scripture history is in connection with the captivity of Israel. 2 Kgs 17:6; 2 Kgs 18:11. Isaiah, in his prophecy against Babylon, reveals the agency and character of the Medes. Isa 13:17-18; John 21:2. But Media was not incorporated with Assyria, although Sargon, and afterward Sennacherib, subdued its people and exacted tribute. In b.c. 633 an independent kingdom was set up by Cyaxares, who in b.c. 625 took a leading part in the destruction of Nineveh. Media then became a great and powerful monarchy, comprising, besides Media proper, Persia, Assyria, Armenia, and other adjoining countries. It extended from the river Halys on the north-west to the Caspian Gates, and included the territory between the Black and Caspian Seas on the one side, and the Euphrates and Persian Gulf on the other. The empire was 1500 miles long, 450 miles wide, and had an area of 600,000 square miles. Under Cyrus the two kingdoms were united, b.c. 558. There are references in Scripture to this kingdom under the title of the "Medes and Persians." Dan 5:28; Dan 6:8, Jud 4:12, 2 Sam 20:15; comp. Esth 1:19. The only city in Media alluded to in the canonical Scriptures is Achmetha, or Ecbatana. Ezr 6:2. The Medes revolted unsuccessfully in the reign of Darius, son of Hystaspes, b.c. 500, and in that of Darius Nothus, b.c. 420. This region was absorbed in the Macedonian empire of Alexander the Great. Later an independent Median kingdom held sway until the Christian era, after which it became a part of the Parthian empire. Medes are mentioned in connection with Parthians, etc., in the N.T. Acts 2:9.

Bibliography Information
Schaff, Philip, Dr. "Biblical Definition for 'media' in Schaffs Bible Dictionary".
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