Familienstammbaum Homs » Astyages Astyages King of Medes (± 620-± 554)

Persönliche Daten Astyages Astyages King of Medes 

• Er wurde geboren rund -620 in 620 BCE (Media), Iran.
• Er ist verstorben rund -554 in Abt. 554 BCE (Media), Iran.
• Ein Kind von Cyaxares - Kyaxeres (Hvakhshathra) Cyaxares und Vashti ???
• Diese Information wurde zuletzt aktualisiert am 18. März 2012.

Familie von Astyages Astyages King of Medes

Er ist verheiratet mit Aryenis N.

Sie haben geheiratet am 28. Mai 585 in (Media), Iran.

Kind(er):

1. Mandane de Médie  ± 583-± 554 

Notizen bei Astyages Astyages King of Medes

Astyages
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Astyages (in Persian: ????????? (Ishtovigu), spelled by Herodotos as Astyages; by Ctesias as Astyigas, by Diodorus as Aspadas; Akkadian: Ištumegu, Median: Rishti Vega Azhi Dahâk, Armenian: Azhdahak, Kurdish: Azh Dahâk), the last king of Media, r. 585 BCE-550 BCE, the son of king Cyaxares (Cyaraxes the Great), dethroned in 550 BCE by Cyrus the Great.

Contents [hide]
1 Reign
2 Herodotus' account
3 Historical account
4 External links

[edit]
Reign
Astyages succeeded his father in 585 BCE, following the Battle of Pteria which ended a five-year war between the Lydians and the Medes. Married to Aryenis, the sister of King Croesus of Lydia, to seal the treaty between the two empires, Astyages ascended to the Median throne upon his father's death later that year.

Astyages inherited a large empire, ruled in alliance with his two brothers-in-law, Croesus of Lydia and Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, whose wife, Amytis, Astyages' sister, was the queen for whom Nebuchadnezzar was said to have built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

The reign of Astyages was noted for its both its stability and for the growth of the easten prophet-based religion, Zoroastrianism throughout his empire, at the same time that Croesus was overseeing an explosion of secular thought in the west (through the philosophers he patronized, Thales, Solon, Aesop...), and Nebuchadnezzar was turning his city of Babylon into the greatest metropololis the world had yet seen.

After thirty-two years of relative stability, Astyages lost the support of his nobles during the war with Cyrus the Great, resulting in Astyages', Croesus' and Babylon's overthrow and the formation of the Persian empire.

[edit]
Herodotus' account
Reported by Herodotus as a vain and superstious king, Astyages was said to have had a dream where his daughter, Mandane gave birth to a son who would destroy his empire. Fearing this to be true, Astyages arranged a marriage between Mandane and Cambyses I of Anshan (Iran). Reputed to be a "quiet and thoughtful prince" of little power, Astyages believed a union between Mandane and Cambyses would produce a child incapable of taking his throne.

When a second dream warned Astyages of the dangers of Mandane's offspring following her marriage to Cambyses I, Astyages sent his courtier and general Harpagus to kill the child, Cyrus II. Harpagus, unwilling to spill his own royal blood, gave the infant to a shepherd, Mitridates, who raised him as his own son.

When, at age ten, Cyrus II was found alive, Astyages spared the boy on the advice of his Magi (Zoroastrian priest), returning him to Cambyses II and Mandane in Anshan. Harpagus, however, did not escape punishment, when Astyages fed Harpagus his own son at a banquet, leading to Harpagus' eventual mutiny against Astyages at the battle of Pasargadae in 550 BCE.

[edit]
Historical account
In 553 BCE, King Cyrus the Great made war on Astyages' Media. After three years of fighting, Astyages' troops mutinied and Astyages was handed over to the enemy. Cyrus then went on to pillage Astyages's capital of Ecbatana.

While Herodotus relates that the mutiny was instigated by Harpagus, as revenge for the king forcing him to eat his own son, there is no independent verification of such punishment being inflicted upon Harpagus by Astyages.

The Chronicle of Nabonidus of Babylon does refer to a mutiny on the battlefield as the cause for Astyages' overthrow, but does not mention Harpagus by name. However, as Harpagus was Astyages' general at the battle of Pasargadae, as his family were granted high positions in Cyrus' empire after the war, and as Harpagus went on to become Cyrus II's most successful general, it is possible he had something to do with the mutiny against Astyages.

Though Cyrus II is considered to be Astyages' grandson through his daughter, Mandane, it is not known whether Cyrus II made this claim in order to legitimize his overthrow of Astyages or if he really was Astyages' direct descendant.

After Astyages' overthrow, Croesus marched on Cyrus II to avenge Astyages. Cyrus II, with Harpagus at his side, defeated Croesus, overthrew Lydia in 547 BCE. Cyrus II's conquests continued with Babylon a few years later, combining the three former empires into his new empire of Iran.

Ancient sources agree that Astyages was treated with clemency after his capture, but differ in details. Herodotus says that he was imprisoned for the rest of his life, while according to Ctesias, he was made a governor of a region of Parthia and was later murdered by a political opponent, Oebaras. The actual circumstances of Astyages' death are not known.

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Astyages

Two Medes
(relief from Persepolis; ©***) Astyages (Akkadian Ištumegu): last king of Media, son of king Cyaxares, dethroned 550 BCE.
Most information on Astyages can be found in the second part of the first book of the Histories by the Greek researcher Herodotus, who lived in the fifth century, hundred years after Astyages' reign. However, he is almost our only source, and it is inevitable to follow Herodotus' lead and trying to check him where possible.

There is no need to doubt Herodotus' statement that Astyages was the son of the Median king Cyaxares. We know from a cuneiform text that the latter was already king in 614, when he destroyed the Assyrian religious center Aššur. Cyaxares was still alive in the summer of 585, when he signed a peace treaty with the Lydians, with whom he had been fighting for five years. A diplomatic marriage was arranged to celebrate the treaty: Aryenis, a sister of the Lydian king Croesus, was married to the Median crown prince Astyages.

Aryenis was not Astyages' first wife. His daughter Mandane was married to the Persian king Cambyses before 576 BCE -when the future king Cyrus the Great was born- and Mandane must have been born before, say, 590. It seems inevitable to assume that Astyages had another wife. (There is some doubt about the truth of the marriage between Mandane and Cambyses. According to Ctesias of Cnidus, their son Cyrus married to a daughter of Astyages. That would be his aunt, which is most unusual.)

There is another argument why Aryenis was not Astyages' first wife. His father had started to reign before 614. If we assume that he had become king at an age of thirty -which is not improbable- and his son was born when he was twenty-five -which is possible-, we must assume that Astyages married Mandane at the age of at least thirty-four. This is very improbable.

The Babylonian historian Berossus (third century BCE) tells us that after the fall of Aššur in 614, an alliance between the Medes and the Babylonians was cemented by another royal wedding: the Babylonian crown prince Nebuchadnezzar married Amytis, the daughter of Astyages. This is impossible, because it would suggest that Astyages was almost hundred years old when he was dethroned.

It is unclear when Astyages was elected king of the Medes. Herodotus tells us that he had reigned for thirty-five years when he was taken captive by the Persian king Cyrus. From the cuneiform text that is known as the Chronicle of Nabonidus, we know that this happened in the sixth year of the Babylonian king Nabonidus, which is the period between 10 March 550 and 28 March 549 (a leap year with thirteen moons). Counting backwards, we arrive at 585/584 as the year of Astyages' accession. This is not impossible, although we must assume that Astyages' father Cyaxares was still alive in 585, when he concluded a peace treaty with the Lydian

However, the regnal years of the Median kings mentioned by Herodotus are a bit suspect: the four kings reign exactly hundred and fifty years, in two pairs of each seventy-five years. It is obvious that we must be cautious, but up till now, there is nothing to contradict his statement that Astyages reigned from 585/584 to 550/549 and his father Cyaxares from 625/624 to 585/585. (Although it should be noted that there is one inscription that says that Astyages was dethroned in 554/553.)

According to Herodotus, Astyages had a dream about the son of his daughter Mandane and her husband Cambyses, Cyrus, which he took as an evil omen. Therefore, Astyages ordered his courtier Harpagus to kill the young boy, but Harpagus secretly gave it to a herdsman, who was to do the dreadful deed. Fortunately, the herdsman and his wife decided not to kill the baby, but to accept him as their own son.

When the boy was ten years old, it became obvious that he was not a herdsman's son. His behavior was too noble, according to Herodotus. Astyages started to suspect what had happened when he interviewed the boy and noticed that his face resembled his own. He ordered Harpagus to explain what he had done with the baby, and when the courtier confessed that he had not killed Astyages' daughter's child, the king forced him to eat his own son. Cyrus received a favorable treatment and was allowed to go to his own parents, Cambyses and Mandane.

According to Herodotus, Harpagus was looking for an opportunity to avenge himself. When Cyrus had come of age, Harpagus managed to convince the young man that the Medes were ready to revolt against their king, who had become a despot. Cyrus organized a federation of ten Persian tribes and revolted, and Astyages 'armed all the Medes, and blinded by divine providence he appointed Harpagus to be the leader of the army'. Of course, Harpagus did not hesitate to switch allegiance. The united army of Medes and Persians marched to the Median capital and seized Astyages, who was kept captive by Cyrus.

The Nabonidus chronicle
(British Museum, London; ©***)
The first part of Herodotus' story is, of course, an oriental fairy tale. However, the last part of it is confirmed by the Chronicle of Nabonidus, where we read that in the sixth year of the Babylonian king Nabonidus
king Astyages called up his troops and marched against Cyrus, king of Anšan [i.e., Persia], in order to meet him in battle. The army of Astyages revolted against him and in fetters they delivered him to Cyrus. Cyrus marched against the country Ecbatana; the royal residence he seized; silver, gold, other valuables of the country Ecbatana he took as booty and brought to Anšan.
It is possible that the deepest cause of the rebellion of Harpagus was dissatisfaction with Astyages' policy. In the sixth century, the Iranian tribes became more and more settled, and their kings were no longer the first among equal tribal chiefs, but started to behave as real kings. When Astyages started to punish one of the other tribal chiefs, revolt was inevitable.
The fall of Astyages was not the end of the war, however, because Astyages' allies were prepared to help him. According to Herodotus, the

destruction of the kingdom of Astyages [...] and the increasing power of the Persians forced [the king of Lydia] Croesus to cut short the power of the Persians, if this were still possible, while it was too late. (Histories 1.46)
In 547 BCE, Croesus launched an expedition against the Persians to avenge his brother-in-law. However, he was defeated; Cyrus added Lydia to his dominions.
The Greek historian Ctesias (c.400 BCE), as quoted by the Byzantine scholar Photius (Summaries 72, 36a9), calls Astyages 'Astuïgas', which is closer to the Babylonian rendering of his Iranian name Ištumegu. The variant 'Astyages' means 'sacker of cities' in Greek.

http://www.livius.org/as-at/astyages/astyages.htm

{geni:about_me} ID: I62243

Name: Astyages of Medes

Prefix: King

Given Name: Astyages

Surname: of Medes

Sex: M

_UID: E12FC4D9F599CB4DA338207641FF859B2494

Change Date: 26 Nov 2005

Death: Y

Marriage 1 Spouse Unknown

Children

of Medes

Forrás / Source:

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jdp-fam&id=I62243

SOURCE NOTES:
http://www.american-pictures.com/genealogy/persons/per00623.htm#0

RESEARCH NOTES:
King of Media 584-554 BCE

KING OF MEDIA ca. 584-550 BC

He ruled from 595 to 560 b.c.

He ruled from 595 to 560 b.c.

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