Mandana bint Astyages of Media

• Preferred Name: Mandana bint Astyages of Media^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]}
  
• Gender: F
  
• FSID: 936B-P93
  
• http://familysearch.org/v1/TitleOfNobility: Princess of Media with note: Wikiwand: Mandane of Media
  
• Clan Name: with note: Description: House of Median
  
• Birth: 615 BC in Ecbatana, Median Kingdom at LATI: N2 LONG: E3
  
• http://familysearch.org/v1/TitleOfNobility: Queen Mother with note: Wikiwand: Mandane of Media
  
• http://familysearch.org/v1/TitleOfNobility: Queen consort of Persia
  
• Death: ABT 559 BC in Persis, Fars, Persian Empire at LATI: N9 LONG: E3 with note: Wikiwand: Mandane of Media
  
• http://familysearch.org/v1/TitleOfNobility: Shahbanu of Media
  
• Religion: Zoroastrianism with note: Wikiwand: Mandane of Media
  
• Notes:

  === Life Sketch ===
  Mandana of Media (Old Iranian: Mandanā) was a Shahbanu of Media and, later, the Queen consort of Cambyses I of Anshan and mother of Cyrus the Great, ruler of Persia's Achaemenid Empire.
  According to Herodotus, Mandane was the daughter of Astyages, King of Media.
  
  Shortly after her birth, Herodotus reports that Astyages had a strange dream where his daughter urinated so much that Asia would flood. He consulted the magians who interpreted the dream as a warning that Mandane's son would overthrow his rule. To forestall that outcome, Astyages betrothed Mandane to the vassal prince, Cambyses I of Anshan, “a man of good family and quiet habits”, whom Astyages considered no threat to the Median throne. Astyages had a second dream when Mandane became pregnant where a vine grew from her womb and overtook the world. Terrified, he sent his most loyal court retainer, Harpagus, to kill the child. However, Harpagus loathed to spill royal blood and hid the child, Cyrus II, with a shepherd named Mitradates. Years later, Cyrus would defy his grandfather Astyages, leading to war between them; a war that Cyrus would have lost, but for Harpagus' defection at the battle of Pasargadae, leading to the overthrow of Astyages, as the dream had forecast.
  
  Mandane in Xenophon's Cyropedia
  Xenophon also gives reference to Mandane in his Cyropaedia (The Education of Cyrus). In this story, Mandane and her son travel to Astyages' court, when Cyrus is in his early teens. Cyrus charms his grandfather, who includes the boy in royal hunts, while Mandane returns to her husband in Anshan. It is when Cyrus concocts a story that his father, Cambyses I, is ill and returns to visit him that Astyages comes after him and the battle is joined.
  
  There are references to Mandana's death as 559 BC; however, as this year is considered the date of her husband's death (Cambyses I), it is unknown if that is the actual date of her death or when she changed status from Queen Consort to Queen Mother.

1. Cyrus II "the Great" King of Persia, b. 598 BC–600 BC in Anshan, Persis, Fars, Persian Empire     d. 4 DEC 530 BC in In Battle with the Messagatae along the Syr Darya, Central Asia

1. Title: Wikiwand: Old Persian
   Author: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
   Publication: Name: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Old_Persian;
   Note: Old Persian is one of the two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan). Like other Old Iranian languages, this language was known to its native speakers as Iranian language. Old Persian appears primarily in the inscriptions, clay tablets and seals of the Achaemenid era (c. 600 BCE to 300 BCE). Examples of Old Persian have been found in what is now Iran, Romania (Gherla), Armenia, Bahrain, Iraq, Turkey and Egypt, with the most important attestation by far being the contents of the Behistun Inscription (dated to 525 BCE). Recent research (2007) into the vast Persepolis Fortification Archive at the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago have unearthed Old Persian tablets, which suggest Old Persian was a written language in use for practical recording and not only for royal display. Origin and overview As a written language, Old Persian is attested in royal Achaemenid inscriptions. It is an Iranian language and as such a member of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. The oldest known text written in Old Persian is from the Behistun Inscriptions. Old Persian is one of the oldest Indo-European languages which is attested in original texts. The oldest date of use of Old Persian as a spoken language is not precisely known. According to certain historical assumptions about the early history and origin of ancient Persians in southwestern Iran (where Achaemenids hailed from), Old Persian was originally spoken by a tribe called Parsuwash, who arrived in the Iranian Plateau early in the 1st millennium BCE and finally migrated down into the area of present-day Fārs province. Their language, Old Persian, became the official language of the Achaemenid kings. Assyrian records, which in fact appear to provide the earliest evidence for ancient Iranian (Persian and Median) presence on the Iranian Plateau, give a good chronology but only an approximate geographical indication of what seem to be ancient Persians. In these records of the 9th century BCE, "Parsuwash" (along with "Matai," presumably Medians) are first mentioned in the area of Lake Urmia in the records of Shalmaneser III. The exact identity of the Parsuwash is not known for certain, but from a linguistic viewpoint the word matches Old Persian "pārsa" itself coming directly from the older word "pārćwa." Also, as Old Persian contains many words from another extinct Iranian language, Median, according to P. O. Skjærvø it is probable that Old Persian had already been spoken before formation of the Achaemenid Empire and was spoken during most of the first half of the first millennium BCE. Xenophon, a Greek general serving in some of the Persian expeditions, describes many aspects of Armenian village life and hospitality in around 401 BCE, which is when Old Persian was still spoken and extensively used. He relates that the Armenian people spoke a language that to his ear sounded like the language of the Persians. Classification Main article: Old Iranian languages Old Persian belongs to the Iranian language family, which is a branch of the Indo-Iranian language family, itself within the large family of Indo-European languages. The common ancestors of Indo-Iranians came from Central Asia sometime in the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE. The extinct and unattested Median language is another Old Iranian language related to Old Persian (for example, both are classified as Western Iranian languages and many Median names appeared in Old Persian texts) The group of Old Iranian languages was presumably a large group; however knowledge of it is restricted mainly to Old Persian, Avestan and Median. The former are the only languages in that group which have left written original texts while Median is known mostly from loanwords in Old Persian. Language evolution By the 4th century BCE, the late Achaemenid period, the inscriptions of Artaxerxes II and Artaxerxes III differ enough from the language of Darius' inscriptions to be called a "pre-Middle Persian," or "post-Old Persian." Old Persian subsequently evolved into Middle Persian, which is in turn the ancestor of New Persian. Professor Gilbert Lazard, a famous Iranologist and the author of the book "Persian Grammar" states: "The language known as New Persian, which usually is called at this period (early Islamic times) by the name of Parsi-Dari, can be classified linguistically as a continuation of Middle Persian, the official religious and literary language of Sassanian Iran, itself a continuation of Old Persian, the language of the Achaemenids. Unlike the other languages and dialects, ancient and modern, of the Iranian group such as Avestan, Parthian, Soghdian, Kurdish, Pashto, etc., Old, Middle and New Persian represent one and the same language at three states of its history. It had its origin in Fars and is differentiated by dialectical features, still easily recognizable from the dialect prevailing in northwestern and eastern Iran." Middle Persian, also sometimes called Pahlavi, is a direct continuation of Old Persian and was used as the written official language of the country. Comparison of the evolution at each stage of the language shows great simplification in grammar and syntax. However, New Persian is a direct descendant of Middle and Old Persian. Substrates Old Persian "presumably" has a Median language substrate. The Median element is readily identifiable because it did not share in the developments that were peculiar to Old Persian. Median forms "are found only in personal or geographical names [...] and some typically are from religious vocabulary and so could in principle also be influenced by Avestan." "Sometimes, both Median and Old Persian forms are found, which gave Old Persian a somewhat confusing and inconsistent look: 'horse,' for instance, is [attested in Old Persian as] both asa (OPers.) and aspa (Med.)." Script Main article: Old Persian cuneiform Old Persian texts were written from left to right in the syllabic Old Persian cuneiform script and had 36 phonetic characters and 8 logograms. The usage of logograms is not obligatory. The script was surprisingly not a result of evolution of the script used in the nearby civilisation of Mesopotamia. Despite the fact that Old Persian was written in cuneiform script, the script was not a direct continuation of Mesopotamian tradition and in fact, according to Schmitt, was a "deliberate creation of the sixth century BCE." The origin of the Old Persian cuneiform script and the identification of the date and process of introduction are a matter of discussion among Iranian scholars with no general agreement having been reached. The factors making the consensus difficult are, among others, the difficult passage DB (IV lines 88–92) from Darius the Great who speaks of a new "form of writing" being made by himself which is said to be "in Aryan": "King Darius says: By the grace of Ahuramazda this is the inscription which I have made. Besides, it was in Aryan ("ariyâ") script, and it was composed on clay tablets and on parchment. Besides, a sculptured figure of myself I made." — "Behistun Inscription (IV lines 88–92)" Also, the analysis of certain Old Persian inscriptions are "supposed or claimed" to predate Darius the Great. Although it is true that the oldest attested Old Persian inscriptions are from Behistun monument from Darius, the creation of this "new type of writing" seems, according to Schmitt, "to have begun already under Cyrus the Great." The script shows a few changes in the shape of characters during the period it was used. This can be seen as a standardization of the heights of wedges, which in the beginning (i.e. in DB) took only half the height of a line. Phonology The following phonemes are expressed in the Old Persian script: Vowels . Long: /aː/ /iː/ /uː/ . Short: /a/ /i/ /u/ Consonants Labial Dental/ Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal Nasal m n Plosive p b t d k ɡ Fricative f θ x h Affricate t͡s t͡ʃ d͡ʒ Sibilant s z ʃ Rhotic r Approximant l j w Notes: Lycian "𐊋𐊆𐊈𐊈𐊀𐊓𐊕𐊑𐊏𐊀," "Kizzaprñna," "~ 𐊈𐊆𐊖𐊀𐊓𐊕𐊑𐊏𐊀," "Zisaprñna" for (genuine) Old Persian "Ciçafarnā" (besides the Median form "Ciθrafarnah") = Tissaphernes suggests "/t͡s/" as the pronunciation of "ç" (compare and Kloekhorst 2008, p. 125 in for this example, who, however, mistakenly writes "Çiçafarnā," which contradicts the etymology [PIIr. "Čitra-swarnas-"] and the Middle Persian form "Čehrfar" ["ç" gives Middle Persian "s"]). The phoneme /l/ does not occur in native Iranian vocabulary, only in borrowings from Akkadian (a new /l/ develops in Middle Persian from Old Persian /rd/ and the change of /rθ/ to /hl/). The phoneme /r/ can also form a syllable peak; both the way Persian names with syllabic /r/ (such as Brdiya) are rendered in Elamite and its further development in Middle Persian suggest that before the syllabic /r/, an epenthetic vowel [i] had developed already in the Old Persian period, which later became [u] after labials. For example, Old Persian "Vᵃ-rᵃ-kᵃ-a-nᵃ" /vrkaːna/ is rendered in Elamite as "Mirkānu-," rendering transcriptions such as "V(a)rakāna," "Varkāna" or even "Vurkāna" questionable and making "Vrkāna" or "Virkāna" much more realistic (and equally for "vrka-," "wolf," "Brdiya" and other Old Persian words and names with syllabic /r/). While "v" usually became /v/ in Middle Persian, it became /b/ word-initially, except before [u] (including the epenthetic vowel mentioned above), where it became /g/. This suggests that it was really pronounced as [w]. Grammar Nouns Old Persian stems: . a-stems (-a, -am, -ā) . i-stems (-iš, iy) . u- (and au-) stems (-uš, -uv) . consonantal stems (n, r, h) -a -am -ā Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural Nominative -a -ā -ā, -āha -am -ā -ā -ā -ā -ā Vocative -ā -ā Accusative -am -ām Instrumental/ Ablative -ā -aibiyā -aibiš -ā -aibiyā -aibiš -āyā -ābiyā -ābiš Genitive -āyā ..
   
2. Title: Wikiwand: Cyrus the Great
   Author: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
   Publication: Name: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Cyrus_the_Great;
   Note: Cyrus II of Persia (Old Persian: "𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁," "Kūrauš"; "Kourosh"; New Persian: "کوروش," "Kuruš; Hebrew: "כורש," Modern: "Kōréš," Tiberian: "Kōréš"; c. 600 – 530 BC), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, and also called Cyrus the Elder by the Greeks, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian Empire. Under his rule, the empire embraced all the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanded vastly and eventually conquered most of Western Asia and much of Central Asia. From the Mediterranean Sea and Hellespont in the west to the Indus River in the east, Cyrus the Great created the largest empire the world had yet seen. Under his successors, the empire eventually stretched at its maximum extent from parts of the Balkans (Bulgaria-Paeonia and Thrace-Macedonia) and Eastern Europe proper in the west, to the Indus Valley in the east. His regal titles in full were The Great King, King of Persia, King of Anshan, King of Media, King of Babylon, King of Sumer and Akkad, and King of the Four Corners of the World. The Nabonidus Chronicle notes the ch'nge in his title from simply "King of Anshan," a city, to "King of Persia." Assyriologist François Vallat wrote that "When Astyages marched against Cyrus, Cyrus is called 'King of Anshan,' but when Cyrus crosses the Tigris on his way to Lydia, he is 'King of Persia.'" The coup therefore took place between these two events." The reign of Cyrus the Great lasted c. 30 years. Cyrus built his empire by first conquering the Median Empire, then the Lydian Empire, and eventually the Neo-Babylonian Empire. He led an expedition into Central Asia, which resulted in major campaigns that were described as having brought "into subjection every nation without exception." Cyrus did not venture into Egypt, and was alleged to have died in battle, fighting the Massagetae along the Syr Darya in December 530 BC. He was succeeded by his son, Cambyses II, who managed to conquer Egypt, Nubia, and Cyrenaica during his short rule. Cyrus the Great respected the customs and religions of the lands he conquered. This became a very successful model for centralized administration and establishing a government working to the advantage and profit of its subjects.In fact, the administration of the empire through satraps and the vital principle of forming a government at Pasargadae were the works of Cyrus. What is sometimes referred to as the Edict of Restoration (actually two edicts) described in the Bible as being made by Cyrus the Great left a lasting legacy on the Jewish religion. According to Isaiah 45:1 of the Hebrew Bible, God anointed Cyrus for this task, even referring to him as a messiah (lit. "anointed one") and he is the only non-Jewish figure in the Bible to be called so. Cyrus the Great also is well recognized for his achievements in human rights, politics, and military strategy, as well as his influence on both Eastern and Western civilizations. Having originated from Persis, roughly corresponding to the modern Iranian province of Fars, Cyrus has played a crucial role in defining the national identity of modern Iran The Achaemenid influence in the ancient world eventually would extend as far as Athens, where upper-class Athenians adopted aspects of the culture of the ruling class of Achaemenid Persia as their own. In the 1970s, the last Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi identified his famous proclamation inscribed onto the Cyrus Cylinder as the oldest known declaration of human rights, and the Cylinder has since been popularized as such. This view has been criticized by some historians as a misunderstanding of the Cylinder's generic nature as a traditional statement that new monarchs make at the beginning of their reign. Etymology Further information: Cyrus The name "Cyrus" is a Latinized form derived from the Greek "Κῦρος," "Kỹros," itself from the Old Persian "Kūruš." The name and its meaning has been recorded in ancient inscriptions in different languages. The ancient Greek historians Ctesias and Plutarch stated that Cyrus was named from "Kuros," the Sun, a concept which has been interpreted as meaning "like the Sun" (Khurvash) by noting its relation to the Persian noun for sun, "khor," while using "-vash" as a suffix of likeness. This may also point to a relationship to the mythological "first king" of Persia, Jamshid, whose name also incorporates the element "sun" ("shid"). Karl Hoffmann has suggested a translation based on the meaning of an Indo-European root "to humiliate" and accordingly, "Cyrus" means "humiliator of the enemy in verbal contest." In the Persian language and especially in Iran, Cyrus's name is spelled as "کوروش" [kuːˈɾoʃ]. In the Bible, he is known as Koresh (Hebrew: "כורש‎"). Some scholars, on the other hand, believe that neither Cyrus nor Cambyses were Iranian names, proposing that Cyrus was Elamite in origin and that it meant "He who bestows care." Dynastic history See also: Achaemenes, Achaemenid family tree, and Teispids The Persian domination and kingdom in the Iranian plateau started by an extension of the Achaemenid dynasty, who expanded their earlier domination possibly from the 9th century BC onward. The eponymous founder of this dynasty was Achaemenes (from Old Persian "Haxāmaniš"). Achaemenids are "descendants of Achaemenes," as Darius the Great, the ninth king of the dynasty, traces his genealogy to him and declares "for this reason we are called Achaemenids." Achaemenes built the state Parsumash in the southwest of Iran and was succeeded by Teispes, who took the title "King of Anshan" after seizing Anshan city and enlarging his kingdom further to include Pars proper. Ancient documents mention that Teispes had a son called Cyrus I, who also succeeded his father as "king of Anshan." Cyrus I had a full brother whose name is recorded as Ariaramnes. In 600 BC, Cyrus I was succeeded by his son, Cambyses I, who reigned until 559 BC. Cyrus II "the Great" was a son of Cambyses I, who had named his son after his father, Cyrus I. There are several inscriptions of Cyrus the Great and later kings that refer to Cambyses I as the "great king" and "king of Anshan." Among these are some passages in the Cyrus cylinder where Cyrus calls himself "son of Cambyses, great king, king of Anshan." Another inscription (from CM's) mentions Cambyses I as "mighty king" and "an Achaemenian," which according to the bulk of scholarly opinion was engraved under Darius and considered as a later forgery by Darius. However Cambyses II's maternal grandfather Pharnaspes is named by historian Herodotus as "an Achaemenian" too. Xenophon's account in Cyropædia further names Cambyses's wife as Mandane and mentions Cambyses as king of Iran (ancient Persia). These agree with Cyrus's own inscriptions, as Anshan and Parsa were different names of the same land. These also agree with other non-Iranian accounts, except at one point from Herodotus stating that Cambyses was not a king but a "Persian of good family." However, in some other passages, Herodotus's account is wrong also on the name of the son of Chishpish, which he mentions as Cambyses but, according to modern scholars, should be Cyrus I. The traditional view based on archaeological research and the genealogy given in the Behistun Inscription and by Herodotus holds that Cyrus the Great was an Achaemenid. However, M. Waters has suggested that Cyrus is unrelated to the Achaemenids or Darius the Great and that his family was of Teispid and Anshanite origin instead of Achaemenid. Early life Cyrus was born to Cambyses I, King of Anshan, and Mandane, daughter of Astyages, King of Media, during the period of 600–599 BC. By his own account, generally believed now to be accurate, Cyrus was preceded as king by his father Cambyses I, grandfather Cyrus I, and great-grandfather. Cyrus married Cassandane who was an Achaemenian and the daughter of Pharnaspes who bore him two sons, Cambyses II and Bardiya along with three daughters, Atossa, Artystone, and Roxane. Cyrus and Cassandane were known to love each other very much – Cassandane said that she found it more bitter to leave Cyrus than to depart her life. After her death, Cyrus insisted on public mourning throughout the kingdom. The "Nabonidus Chronicle" states that Babylonia mourned Cassandane for six days (identified from 21–26 March 538 BC). After his father's death, Cyrus inherited the Persian throne at Pasargadae, which was a vassal of Astyages. The Greek historian Strabo has said that Cyrus was originally named Agradates by his step-parents. It is probable that, when reuniting with his original family, following the naming customs, Cyrus's father, Cambyses I, named him Cyrus after his grandfather, who was Cyrus I. There is also an account by Strabo that claimed Agradates adopted the name Cyrus after the Cyrus River near Pasargadae. Mythology Herodotus gave a mythological account of Cyrus' early life. In this account, Astyages had two prophetic dreams in which a flood, and then a series of fruit bearing vines, emerged from his daughter Mandane's pelvis, and covered the entire kingdom. These were interpreted by his advisers as a foretelling that his grandson would one day rebel and supplant him as king. Astyages summoned Mandane, at the time pregnant with Cyrus, back to Ecbatana to have the child killed. Harpagus delegated the task to Mithradates, one of the shepherds of Astyages, who raised the child and passed off his stillborn son to Harpagus as the dead infant Cyrus. Cyrus lived in secrecy, but when he reached the age of 10, during a childhood game, he had the son of a nobleman beaten when he refused to obey Cyrus's commands. As it was unheard of for the son of a shepherd to commit such an act, Astyages had the boy brought to his court, and interviewed him and his adoptive father. Upon the shepherd's confession, Astyages sent Cyrus back to Persia to live with his biological parents. However, Astyages summoned the son of Harpagus, and in retribution, ch..
   
3. Title: Wikiwand: Herodotus
   Author: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
   Publication: Name: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Herodotus;
   Note: Herodotus (/hɪˈrɒdətəs/; Ancient Greek: "Ἡρόδοτος," "Hēródotos," Attic Greek pronunciation: [hɛː.ró.do.tos]; c. 484 – c. 425 BC) was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus in the Persian Empire (modern-day Bodrum, Turkey). He is known for having written the book "The Histories" (Greek: "Ἱστορίαι" - "Historíai"), a detailed record of his "inquiry" (ἱστορία "historía") on the origins of the Greco-Persian Wars. He is widely considered to have been the first writer to have treated historical subjects using a method of systematic investigation—specifically, by collecting his materials and then critically arranging them into an historiographic narrative. On account of this, he is often referred to as "The Father of History", a title first conferred on him by the first-century BC Roman orator Cicero. Despite Herodotus's historical significance, little is known about his personal life. His "Histories" primarily deals with the lives of Croesus, Cyrus, Cambyses, Smerdis, Darius, and Xerxes and the battles of Marathon, Thermopylae, Artemisium, Salamis, Plataea, and Mycale; however, his many cultural, ethnographical, geographical, historiographical, and other digressions form a defining and essential part of the Histories and contain a wealth of information. Herodotus has been criticized for the fact that his book includes many obvious legends and fanciful accounts. Many authors, starting with the late fifth-century BC historian Thucydides, have accused him of making up stories for entertainment. However, Herodotus states that he is merely reporting what he has seen and heard. A sizable portion of the information he provides has since been confirmed by historians and archaeologists. Place in history Herodotus announced the purpose and scope of his work at the beginning of his "Histories": "Here are presented the results of the enquiry carried out by Herodotus of Halicarnassus. The purpose is to prevent the traces of human events from being erased by time, and to preserve the fame of the important and remarkable achievements produced by both Greeks and non-Greeks; among the matters covered is, in particular, the cause of the hostilities between Greeks and non-Greeks." — Herodotus, "The Histories" Robin Waterfield translation (2008) Predecessors His record of the achievements of others was an achievement in itself, though the extent of it has been debated. Herodotus's place in history and his significance may be understood according to the traditions within which he worked. His work is the earliest Greek prose to have survived intact. However, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, a literary critic of Augustan Rome, listed seven predecessors of Herodotus, describing their works as simple, unadorned accounts of their own and other cities and people, Greek or foreign, including popular legends, sometimes melodramatic and naïve, often charming – all traits that can be found in the work of Herodotus himself] Modern historians regard the chronology as uncertain, but according to the ancient account, these predecessors included Dionysius of Miletus, Charon of Lampsacus, Hellanicus of Lesbos, Xanthus of Lydia and, the best attested of them all, Hecataeus of Miletus. Of these, only fragments of Hecataeus' works survived, and the authenticity of these is debatable, but they provide a glimpse into the kind of tradition within which Herodotus wrote his own Histories. Writing style In his introduction to Hecataeus' work, "Genealogies": "Hecataeus the Milesian speaks thus: I write these things as they seem true to me; for the stories told by the Greeks are various and in my opinion absurd." This points forward to the "folksy" yet "international" outlook typical of Herodotus. However, one modern scholar has described the work of Hecataeus as "a curious false start to history," since despite his critical spirit, he failed to liberate history from myth. Herodotus mentions Hecataeus in his Histories, on one occasion mocking him for his naive genealogy and, on another occasion, quoting Athenian complaints against his handling of their national history. It is possible that Herodotus borrowed much material from Hecataeus, as stated by Porphyry in a quote recorded by Eusebius. In particular, it is possible that he copied descriptions of the crocodile, hippopotamus, and phoenix from "Hecataeus's Circumnavigation of the Known World (Periegesis / Periodos ges)", even misrepresenting the source as "Heliopolitans" (Histories 2.73). But Hecataeus did not record events that had occurred in living memory, unlike Herodotus, nor did he include the oral traditions of Greek history within the larger framework of oriental history. There is no proof that Herodotus derived the ambitious scope of his own work, with its grand theme of civilizations in conflict, from any predecessor, despite much scholarly speculation about this in modern times. Herodotus claims to be better informed than his predecessors by relying on empirical observation to correct their excessive schematism. For example, he argues for continental asymmetry as opposed to the older theory of a perfectly circular earth with Europe and Asia/Africa equal in size ("Histories" 4.36 and 4.42). However, he retains idealizing tendencies, as in his symmetrical notions of the Danube and Nile. His debt to previous authors of prose "histories" might be questionable, but there is no doubt that Herodotus owed much to the example and inspiration of poets and story-tellers. For example, Athenian tragic poets provided him with a world-view of a balance between conflicting forces, upset by the hubris of kings, and they provided his narrative with a model of episodic structure. His familiarity with Athenian tragedy is demonstrated in a number of passages echoing Aeschylus's "Persae," including the epigrammatic observation that the defeat of the Persian navy at Salamis caused the defeat of the land army ("Histories" 8.68 ~ "Persae" 728). The debt may have been repaid by Sophocles because there appear to be echoes of "The Histories" in his plays, especially a passage in "Antigone" that resembles Herodotus's account of the death of Intaphernes ("Histories" 3.119 ~ "Antigone" 904–920). However, this point is one of the most contentious issues in modern scholarship. Homer was another inspirational source. Just as Homer drew extensively on a tradition of oral poetry, sung by wandering minstrels, so Herodotus appears to have drawn on an Ionian tradition of story-telling, collecting and interpreting the oral histories he chanced upon in his travels. These oral histories often contained folk-tale motifs and demonstrated a moral, yet they also contained substantial facts relating to geography, anthropology, and history, all compiled by Herodotus in an entertaining style and format. Contemporary and modern critics It is on account of the many strange stories and the folk-tales he reported that his critics have branded him "The Father of Lies." Even his own contemporaries found reason to scoff at his achievement. In fact, one modern scholar has wondered if Herodotus left his home in Greek Anatolia, migrating westwards to Athens and beyond, because his own countrymen had ridiculed his work, a circumstance possibly hinted at in an epitaph said to have been dedicated to Herodotus at one of his three supposed resting places, Thuria: "Herodotus the son of Sphynx lies; in Ionic history without peer; a Dorian born, who fled from slander's brand and made in Thuria his new native land." Yet it was in Athens where his most formidable contemporary critics could be found. In 425 BC, which is about the time that Herodotus is thought by many scholars to have died, the Athenian comic dramatist Aristophanes created "The Acharnians," in which he blames the Peloponnesian War on the abduction of some prostitutes – a mocking reference to Herodotus, who reported the Persians' account of their wars with Greece, beginning with the rapes of the mythical heroines Io, Europa, Medea, and Helen. Similarly, the Athenian historian Thucydides dismissed Herodotus as a "logos-writer" (story-teller). Thucydides, who had been trained in rhetoric, became the model for subsequent prose-writers as an author who seeks to appear firmly in control of his material, whereas with his frequent digressions Herodotus appeared to minimize (or possibly disguise) his authorial control. Moreover, Thucydides developed a historical topic more in keeping with the Greek world-view: focused on the context of the polis or city-state. The interplay of civilizations was more relevant to Greeks living in Anatolia, such as Herodotus himself, for whom life within a foreign civilization was a recent memory. "Before the Persian crisis, history had been represented among the Greeks only by local or family traditions. The "Wars of Liberation" had given to Herodotus the first genuinely historical inspiration felt by a Greek. These wars showed him that there was a corporate life, higher than that of the city, of which the story might be told; and they offered to him as a subject the drama of the collision between East and West. With him, the spirit of history was born into Greece; and his work, called after the nine Muses, was indeed the first utterance of Clio." — Richard Claverhouse Jebb Life Modern scholars generally turn to Herodotus's own writing for reliable information about his life, supplemented with ancient yet much later sources, such as the Byzantine "Suda," an 11th-century encyclopedia which possibly took its information from traditional accounts. "The data are so few – they rest upon such late and slight authority; they are so improbable or so contradictory, that to compile them into a biography is like building a house of cards, which the first breath of criticism will blow to the ground. Still, certain points may be approximately fixed ..." — George Rawlinson Childhood Modern accounts of his life typically go something like this: Herodotus was ..
   
4. Title: Wikiwand: Aryenis
   Author: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
   Publication: Name: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Aryenis;
   Note: Aryenis of Lydia was, according to Herodotus, the daughter of King Alyattes of Lydia and the sister of King Croesus of Lydia. Family Aryenis also was the Queen consort of Astyages, King of Media. She was given in marriage to Astyages to seal a treaty between Cyaxares of Media and Alyattes of Lydia, following the Battle of the Eclipse. Herodotus does not clearly identified her as the mother of Mandane and there is speculation that Mandane (the wife of Cambyses I of Anshan) may have been born to an earlier wife of Astyages.
   
5. Title: Wikiwand: Zoroastrianism
   Author: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
   Publication: Name: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Zoroastrianism;
   Note: Zoroastrianism or Mazdayasna is one of the world's oldest continuously practiced religions. It is a multi-tendency faith centered on a dualistic cosmology of good and evil and an eschatology predicting the ultimate conquest of evil with theological elements of henotheism, monotheism/monism, and polytheism. Ascribed to the teachings of the Iranian-speaking spiritual leader Zoroaster (also known as Zarathushtra), it exalts an uncreated and benevolent deity of wisdom, Ahura Mazda ("Wise Lord"), as its supreme being. Major features of Zoroastrianism, such as messianism, judgment after death, heaven and hell, and free will may have influenced other religious and philosophical systems, including Second Temple Judaism, Gnosticism, Greek philosophy, Christianity, Islam, the Bahá'í Faith, and Buddhism. With possible roots dating back to the second millennium BCE, Zoroastrianism enters recorded history in the 5th century BCE. Along with a Mithraic Median prototype and a Zurvanist Sassanid successor, it served as the state religion of the ancient Iranian empires for more than a millennium, from around 600 BCE to 650 CE. Zoroastrianism declined from the 7th century onwards following the Muslim conquest of Persia of 633–654. Recent estimates place the current number of Zoroastrians at around 110,000–120,000, with most living in India and in Iran; their number has been thought to be declining. The most important texts of the religion are those of the Avesta, which includes as central the writings of Zoroaster known as the Gathas, enigmatic ritual poems that define the religion's precepts, which is within Yasna, the main worship service of modern Zoroastrianism. The religious philosophy of Zoroaster divided the early Iranian gods of the Proto-Indo-Iranian tradition into ahuras and daevas, the latter of which were not considered worthy of worship. Zoroaster proclaimed that Ahura Mazda was the supreme creator, the creative and sustaining force of the universe through Asha and that human beings are given a right of choice between supporting Ahura Mazda or not, making them responsible for their choices. Though Ahura Mazda has no equal contesting force, Angra Mainyu (destructive spirit/mentality), whose forces are born from Aka Manah (evil thought), is considered the main adversarial force of the religion, standing against Spenta Mainyu (creative spirit/mentality). Middle Persian literature developed further Angra Mainyu into Ahriman and advancing him to be the direct adversary to Ahura Mazda. "Asha" (truth, cosmic order), the life force that originates from Ahura Mazda, stands in opposition to "Druj" (falsehood, deceit) and Ahura Mazda is considered to be all-good with no evil emanating from the deity. Ahura Mazda works in gētīg (the visible material realm) and mēnōg (the invisible spiritual and mental realm) through the seven (six when excluding Spenta Mainyu) Amesha Spentas (direct emanations of Ahura Mazda) and the host of other Yazatas (literally meaning "worthy of worship"), who all worship Ahura Mazda in the Avesta and other texts and who Ahura Mazda requests worship towards in the same texts. Zoroastrianism is not uniform in theological and philosophical thought, especially with historical and modern influences having a significant impact on individual and local beliefs, practices, values and vocabulary, sometimes merging with tradition and in other cases displacing it. Modern Zoroastrianism, however, tends to divide itself into either Reformist or Traditionalist camps with various smaller movements arising. In Zoroastrianism, the purpose in life is to become an Ashavan (a master of Asha) and to bring happiness into the world, which contributes to the cosmic battle against evil. Zoroastrianism's core teachings include but are not limited: . Follow the Threefold Path of Asha: Humata, Huxta, Huvarshta (Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds). . Charity is a way of maintaining one's soul aligned to Asha and to spread happiness. . The spiritual equality and duty of the genders. . Being good for goodness' sake without hope of reward (see Ashem Vohu). Terminology The name "Zoroaster" is a Greek rendering of the Avestan name "Zarathustra." He is known as "Zartosht" and "Zardosht" in Persian and "Zaratosht" in Gujarati. The Zoroastrian name of the religion is "Mazdayasna," which combines "Mazda-" with the Avestan language word "yasna," meaning "worship, devotion." In English, an adherent of the faith is commonly called a Zoroastrian or a Zarathustrian. An older expression still used today is "Behdin," meaning "The best Religion | 'Beh' < Middle Persian 'Weh' (good) + 'Din' < Middle Persian 'dēn' < Avestan 'Daēnā'." In Zoroastrian liturgy the term is used as a title for an individual who has been formally inducted into the religion in a "Navjote" ceremony. The first surviving reference to Zoroaster in English scholarship is attributed to Thomas Browne (1605–1682), who briefly refers to Zoroaster in his 1643 "Religio Medici." The term "Mazdaism" (/ˈmæzdə.ɪzəm/) is an alternative form in English used as well for the faith, taking "Mazda-" from the name Ahura Mazda and adding the suffix "-ism" to suggest a belief system. Overview Theology Zoroastrians believe that there is one universal, transcendent, all-good, and uncreated supreme creator deity, Ahura Mazda, or the "Wise Lord." ("Ahura" meaning "Lord" and "Mazda" meaning "Wisdom" in Avestan). Zoroaster keeps the two attributes separate as two different concepts in most of the Gathas yet sometimes combines them into one form. Zoroaster also claims that Ahura Mazda is omniscient but not omnipotent. In the Gathas, Ahura Mazda is noted as working through emanations known as the Amesha Spenta and with the help of "other ahuras," of which Sraosha is the only one explicitly named of the latter category. Scholars and theologians have long debated on the nature of Zoroastrianism, with dualism, monotheism, and polytheism being the main terms applied to the religion. Some scholars assert that Zoroastrianism's concept of divinity covers both being and mind as immanent entities, describing Zoroastrianism as having a belief in an immanent self-creating universe with consciousness as its special attribute, thereby putting Zoroastrianism in the pantheistic fold sharing its origin with Indian Brahmanism. In any case, Asha, the main spiritual force which comes from Ahura Mazda, is the cosmic order which is the antithesis of chaos, which is evident as "druj," falsehood and disorder. The resulting cosmic conflict involves all of creation, mental/spiritual and material, including humanity at its core, which has an active role to play in the conflict. In the Zoroastrian tradition, druj comes from Angra Mainyu (also referred to in later texts as "Ahriman"), the destructive spirit/mentality, while the main representative of Asha in this conflict is Spenta Mainyu, the creative spirit/mentality. Ahura Mazda is immanent in humankind and interacts with creation through emanations known as the Amesha Spenta, the bounteous/holy immortals, which are representative and guardians of different aspects of creation and the ideal personality. Ahura Mazda, through these Amesha Spenta, is assisted by a league of countless divinities called Yazatas, meaning "worthy of worship, and each is generally a hypostasis of a moral or physical aspect of creation. According to Zoroastrian cosmology, in articulating the Ahuna Vairya formula, Ahura Mazda made the ultimate triumph of good against Angra Mainyu evident. Ahura Mazda will ultimately prevail over the evil Angra Mainyu, at which point reality will undergo a cosmic renovation called Frashokereti and limited time will end. In the final renovation, all of creation—even the souls of the dead that were initially banished to or chose to descend into "darkness"—will be reunited with Ahura Mazda in the Kshatra Vairya (meaning "best dominion"), being resurrected to immortality. In Middle Persian literature, the prominent belief was that at the end of time a savior-figure known as the Saoshyant would bring about the Frashokereti, while in the Gathic texts the term Saoshyant (meaning "one who brings benefit") referred to all believers of Mazdayasna but changed into a messianic concept in later writings. Zoroastrian theology includes foremost the importance of following the Threefold Path of Asha revolving around Good Thoughts, Good Words, and Good Deeds. There is also a heavy emphasis on spreading happiness, mostly through charity, and respecting the spiritual equality and duty of the genders. Zoroastrianism's emphasis on the protection and veneration of nature and its elements has led some to proclaim it as the "world's first proponent of ecology." The Avesta and other texts call for the protection of water, earth, fire and air making it, in effect, an ecological religion: "It is not surprising that Mazdaism ... is called the first ecological religion. The reverence for Yazatas (divine spirits) emphasizes the preservation of nature (Avesta: Yasnas 1.19, 3.4, 16.9; Yashts 6.3–4, 10.13)." However, this particular assertion is undermined by the fact that early Zoroastrians had a duty to exterminate "evil" species, a dictate no longer followed in modern Zoroastrianism. Practices The religion states that active and ethical participation in life through good deeds formed from good thoughts and good words is necessary to ensure happiness and to keep chaos at bay. This active participation is a central element in Zoroaster's concept of free will and Zoroastrianism as such rejects extreme forms of asceticism and monasticism but historically has allowed for moderate expressions of these concepts. In Zoroastrian tradition, life is a temporary state in which a mortal is expected to participate actively in the continuing battle between Asha and Druj. Prior to being born, the "urvan" (soul) of an individual is still united with its "fravashi" (personal/higher spirit), which has exi..
   
6. Title: Wikiwand: Queen consort
   Author: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
   Publication: Name: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Queen_consort;
   Note: A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king, or an empress consort in the case of an emperor. A queen consort usually shares her husband's social rank and status. She holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles, but historically, she does not share the king's political and military powers. In contrast, a queen regnant is a queen in her own right with all the powers of a monarch, who (usually) has become queen by inheriting the throne upon the death of the previous monarch. In Brunei, the wife of the Sultan is known as a "Raja Isteri" with prefix "Pengiran Anak," equivalent to queen consort in English, as were the consorts of tsars when Bulgaria was still a monarchy. Titles The title of king consort for the husband of a reigning queen is rare. Examples are Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, in Scotland; Antoine of Bourbon-Vendôme in Navarre; and Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in Portugal. Where some title other than that of king is held by the sovereign, his wife is referred to by the feminine equivalent, such as princess consort or empress consort. In monarchies where polygamy has been practiced in the past (such as Morocco and Thailand), or is practiced today (such as the Zulu nation and the various Yoruba polities), the number of wives of the king varies. In Morocco, King Mohammed VI has broken with tradition and given his wife, Lalla Salma, the title of princess. Prior to the reign of King Mohammed VI, the Moroccan monarchy had no such title. In Thailand, the king and queen must both be of royal descent. The king's other consorts are accorded royal titles that confer status. Other cultures maintain different traditions on queenly status. A Zulu chieftain designates one of his wives as "Great Wife," which would be the equivalent to queen consort. Conversely, in Yorubaland, all of a chief's consorts are essentially of equal rank. Although one of their number, usually the one who has been married to the chief for the longest time, may be given a chieftaincy of her own to highlight her relatively higher status when compared to the other wives; she does not share her husband's ritual power as a chieftain. When a woman is to be vested with an authority similar to that of the chief, she is usually a lady courtier in his service who is not married to him, but who is expected to lead his female subjects on his behalf. Role In general, the consorts of monarchs have no power "per se," even when their position is constitutionally or statutorily recognized. However, often the queen consort of a deceased king (the dowager queen or queen mother) has served as regent if her child, the successor to the throne, was still a minor—for example: . Anne of Kiev, wife of Henry I of France . Munjeong, mother of King Myeongjong of Korea . Mary of Guise, mother of Mary, Queen of Scots . Catherine of Austria, grandmother of Sebastian of Portugal . Marie de Medici, mother of Louis XIII of France . Kösem Sultan, mother of Sultan Murad IV of the Ottoman Empire . Luisa de Guzmán, mother of Afonso VI of Portugal . Lakshmi Bai, the Rani of Jhansi and mother of Damodar Rao . Maria Christina of Austria, mother of Alfonso XIII of Spain . Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont, mother of Wilhelmina of the Netherlands . Anna Khanum, mother of Abbas II of Persia . Helen of Greece, mother of King Michael of Romania Besides these examples, there have been many cases of queens consort being shrewd or ambitious stateswomen and, usually (but not always) unofficially, being among the king's most trusted advisors. In some cases, the queen consort has been the chief power behind her husband's throne; e.g. Maria Luisa of Parma, wife of Charles IV of Spain. Examples of queens and empresses consort Past queens consort: . Queen Jang, consort to Sukjong of Joseon. Demoted back in 1694 to the rank of hui-bin, Royal Noble Consort Joseon rank 1 . Queen Marie Antoinette, consort to Louis XVI of France . Queen Charlotte was George III's consort for 57 years, 70 days, between 1761 and 1818, making her Britain's longest-tenured queen consort. . Queen Mary, consort of George V . Queen Elizabeth, consort of George VI . Queen Fabiola, consort of Baudouin I of the Belgians . Queen Paola, consort of Albert II of Belgium . Queen Anne Marie, consort of Constantine II of Greece . Queen Geraldine, consort of Zog I of Albania . Queen Marie José, consort of Umberto II of Italy . Queen Kapiolani, consort of King Kalākaua of Hawaiʻi . Queen Soraya Tarzi, consort of King Amanullah Khan of Afghanistan . Tsaritsa Ioanna, consort of Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria . Queen Regent Saovabha Phongsri, consort of Chulalongkorn of Siam . Panapillai Amma (queen consort) Srimathi Lakshmi Pilla Kochamma Chempakaraman Arumana Ammaveedu, wife of Visakham Thirunal Maharajah of Travancore . Queen Catherine, first queen consort of Henry VIII of England, was also regent when he was in a war in France. . Queen Hortense, consort of Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland . Shahbanu Farah Pahlavi, consort of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran . Queen Wilhelmine, consort of William I of the Netherlands . Queen Anna Pavlovna, consort of William II of the Netherlands . Queen Sophie, first consort of William III of the Netherlands . Queen Emma, second consort of William III of the Netherlands: When William died on 23 November 1890, Emma became regent (1890–1898) for her underaged daughter, Wilhelmina, the late king's only surviving child. . Queen Ratna, second consort of Mahendra of Nepal . Queen Sirikit, consort of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand . Queen Ruth, consort of Seretse Khama, King of the Bamangwato Tswanas of Botswana Past empresses consort: . Empress Theodora, consort of Justinian I, East Roman Emperor . Empress Ruqaiya Sultan Begum, consort of Akbar the Great, the third Mughal Emperor. . Empress Hürrem Sultan, consort of Suleiman the Magnificent, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Her imperial title was Haseki Sultan . Empress Nurbanu Sultan, consort of Selim II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Her imperial title was Haseki Sultan . Empress Safiye Sultan, consort of Murad III, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Her imperial title was Haseki Sultan . Empress Kösem Sultan, consort of Ahmed I, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Her imperial title was Haseki Sultan . Empress Nur Jahan, consort of Jahangir, Mughal Emperor . Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, consort of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor . Titular Empress Carlota Joaquina of Spain, consort of John VI of Portugal, Titular Emperor of Brazil . Empress Maria Leopoldina, consort of Pedro I, Emperor of Brazil . Empress Xiao Zhen Xian, consort of Xianfeng, Qing Emperor . Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, consort of Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All Russia . Empress Shubhadrangi, consort of Bindusara, Mauryan emperor . Empress Durdhara, consort Chandragupta Maurya, first Mauryan emperor . Empress Asandhimitra, principal consort ( agramahishi) of Ashoka, third Mauryan emperor . Empress Devi, first consort of Ashoka . Empress Karuvaki, consort of Ashoka . Empress Padmavati, consort of Ashoka . Empress Tishyaraksha, consort of Ashoka . Empress Michiko, consort of Emperor Akihito of Japan Current queens consort: . Queen Nanasipauʻu Tukuʻaho, consort of Tupou VI of Tonga . Queen 'Masenate, consort of Letsie III of Lesotho . Queen Jetsun Pema, consort of Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck of Bhutan . Queen Saleha, consort of Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei Darussalam . Queen Máxima, consort of Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands . Queen Mathilde, consort of Philippe of Belgium . Queen Rania, consort of Abdullah II of Jordan . Queen Silvia, consort of Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden . Queen Suthida, consort of Vajiralongkorn of Thailand . Queen Letizia, consort of Felipe VI of Spain . Queen Sonja, consort of Harald V of Norway . Queen Sylvia, consort of Muwenda Mutebi II of Buganda, Uganda. Her official title is Nnabagereka of Buganda. Current empress consort: . Empress Masako, consort of Emperor Naruhito of Japan Because queens consort lack an ordinal with which to distinguish between them, many historical texts and encyclopedias refer to deceased consorts by their premarital (or maiden) name or title, not by their marital royal title (examples: Queen Mary, consort of George V, is usually called Mary of Teck, and Queen Maria José, consort of Umberto II of Italy, is usually called Marie José of Belgium).
   
7. Title: Wikiwand: Astyages
   Author: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
   Publication: Name: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Astyages;
   Note: Astyages (spelled by Herodotus as "Ἀστυάγης" "Astyages"; by Ctesias as "Astyigas"; by Diodorus as "Aspadas"; Babylonian: "Ištumegu") was the last king of the Median Empire, r. 585–550 BCE, the son of Cyaxares; he was dethroned in 550 BCE by Cyrus the Great. His name derives from the Old Iranian "Rishti Vaiga," which means "swinging the spear, lance-hurler." In the inscriptions of Nabonidus, the name is written "Ishtuvegu." Reign Astyages succeeded his father in 585 BCE, following the Battle of Halys, which ended a five-year war between the Lydians and the Medes. He 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. However, due to recent evidence, the garden was likely built by the Assyrian King Sennacherib. 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. The ancient sources report almost nothing about Astyages’ reign, and a final judgment on his character is not possible, since Herodotus’ negative account (Astyages is represented as a cruel and despotic ruler) and Ctesias’ favorable one, are both biased. According to "Cyropaedia" of Xenophon, after thirty-two years of relative stability, Astyages lost the support of his nobles during the war against Cyrus, whom Xenophon understands as being Astyages' grandson. This resulted in the founding of the Persian empire by Cyrus. In Herodotus The account given by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus relates that Astyages had a dream in which his daughter, Mandane, gave birth to a son who would destroy his empire. Fearful of the dream's prophecy, Astyages married her off to Cambyses I of Anšan, who had a reputation for being a "quiet and thoughtful prince" and whom Astyages believed to be no threat. When a second dream warned Astyages of the dangers of Mandane's offspring, Astyages sent his general Harpagus to kill the child Cyrus. Herodotus correctly names Cyrus' parents, though he fails to mention that Cambyses was a king. Modern scholarship generally rejects his claim that Cyrus was the grandson of Astyages. Harpagus, unwilling to spill royal blood, gave the infant to a shepherd, Mitridates, whose wife had just given birth to a stillborn child. Cyrus was raised as Mitridates' own son, and Harpagus presented the stillborn child to Astyages as the dead Cyrus. When Cyrus was found alive at age ten, Astyages spared the boy on the advice of his Magi, returning him to his parents in Anshan. Harpagus, however, did not escape punishment, as Astyages is said to have fed him his own son at a banquet. Cyrus succeeded his father in 559, and in 553, on the advice of Harpagus, who was eager for revenge for being given the "abominable supper," Cyrus rebelled against Astyages. After three years of fighting, Astyages' troops mutinied during the battle of Pasargadae, and Cyrus conquered the Median's empire. Astyages was spared by Cyrus, and despite being taunted by Harpagus, Herodotus says he was treated well and remained in Cyrus' court until his death. Rather than giving the popular mythology that Cyrus was suckled by a dog, the dog was sacred to Persians. cf. also the legend of Sargon, or the similar legend of Romulus and Remus, suckled by a she-wolf. (Latin: Lupa) Herodotus explains that the herdsman Mitridates lived with another of Astyages' slaves, a woman named 'Spaco,' which he explains is Median for "dog," gives both the legend and Herodotus' rationalized version. Defeat The contemporaneous "Chronicle of Nabonidus" refers to the mutiny on the battlefield as the cause for Astyages' overthrow, but does not mention Harpagus by name. However, since Harpagus was Astyages' general at the battle of Pasargadae and his family were granted high positions in Cyrus' empire after the war, and since Harpagus went on to become Cyrus' most successful general, it is possible he had something to do with the mutiny against Astyages. Cyrus then went on to capture Astyages' capital of Ecbatana. Ancient sources agree that after Astyages was taken by Cyrus he was treated with clemency, though the accounts differ. Herodotus says that Cyrus kept Astyages at his court during the remainder 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, Oebares. The circumstances of Astyages' death are not known. After Astyages' overthrow, Croesus marched on Cyrus to avenge Astyages. Cyrus, with Harpagus at his side, defeated Croesus and conquered Lydia in or after 547 BCE.
   
8. Title: Wikiwand: Mandane of Media
   Author: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
   Publication: Name: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Mandane_of_Media;
   Note: Mandana of Media was a princess of Media and, later, the Queen consort of Cambyses I of Anshan and mother of Cyrus the Great, ruler of Persia's Achaemenid Empire. Etymology The name “Mandana” means "Eternal” in Old Persian. Mandana in Herodotus' histories According to Herodotus, Mandane was the daughter of Astyages, King of Media. Shortly after her birth, Herodotus reports that Astyages had a strange dream where his daughter urinated so much that Asia would flood. He consulted the magians who interpreted the dream as a warning that Mandane's son would overthrow his rule. To forestall that outcome, Astyages betrothed Mandane to the vassal prince, Cambyses I of Anshan, "a man of good family and quiet habits", whom Astyages considered no threat to the Median throne. Astyages had a second dream when Mandane became pregnant where a vine grew from her womb and overtook the world. Terrified, he sent his most loyal court retainer, Harpagus, to kill the child. However, Harpagus was loath to spill royal blood and hid the child, Cyrus II, with a shepherd named Mitradates. Years later, Cyrus would defy his grandfather Astyages, leading to war between them; a war that Cyrus would have lost, but for Harpagus' defection at the battle of Pasargadae, leading to the overthrow of Astyages, as the dream had forecast. Mandane in Xenophon's Cyropedia Xenophon also gives reference to Mandane in his Cyropœdia (The Education of Cyrus). In this story, Mandane and her son travel to Astyages court, when Cyrus is in his early teens. Cyrus charms his grandfather, who includes the boy in royal hunts, while Mandane returns to her husband in Anshan. It is when Cyrus concocts a story that his father, Cambyses I, is ill and returns to visit him that Astyages comes after him and the battle is joined. Death There are references to Mandana's death as 559 BC; however, as this year is considered the date of her husband's death (Cambyses I), it is unknown if that is the actual date of her death or when she changed status from Queen Consort to Queen Mother. Asia portal Sources ^ J. Hedderwick & co (1809). Letters on ancient history. p. 80.
   
9. Title: Wikiwand: Achaemenid Empire
   Author: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
   Publication: Name: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Achaemenid_Empire;
   Note: The Achaemenid Empire (/əˈkiːmənɪd/; "𐎧𐏁𐏂," "Xšāça" (Old Persian) "The Empire" c. 550–330 BC), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire based in Western Asia founded by Cyrus the Great. Ranging at its greatest extent from the Balkans and Eastern Europe proper in the west to the Indus Valley in the east, it was larger than any previous empire in history, spanning 5.5 million square kilometers. Incorporating various peoples of different origins and faiths, it is notable for its successful model of a centralized, bureaucratic administration (through satraps under the King of Kings), for building infrastructure such as road systems and a postal system, the use of an official language across its territories, and the development of civil services and a large professional army. The empire's successes inspired similar systems in later empires. By the 7th century BC, the Persians had settled in the south-western portion of the Iranian Plateau in the region of Persis, which came to be their heartland. From this region, Cyrus the Great advanced to defeat the Medes, Lydia, and the Neo-Babylonian Empire, establishing the Achaemenid Empire. Alexander the Great, an avid admirer of Cyrus the Great, conquered most of the empire by 330 BC. Upon Alexander's death, most of the empire's former territory fell under the rule of the Ptolemaic Kingdom and Seleucid Empire, in addition to other minor territories which gained independence at that time. The Iranian elites of the central plateau reclaimed power by the second century BC under the Parthian Empire. The Achaemenid Empire is noted in Western history as the antagonist of the Greek city-states during the Greco-Persian Wars and for the emancipation of the Jewish exiles in Babylon. The historical mark of the empire went far beyond its territorial and military influences and included cultural, social, technological and religious influences as well. Despite the lasting conflict between the two states, many Athenians adopted Achaemenid customs in their daily lives in a reciprocal cultural exchange, some being employed by or allied to the Persian kings. The impact of Cyrus's edict is mentioned in Judeo-Christian texts, and the empire was instrumental in the spread of Zoroastrianism as far east as China. The empire also set the tone for the politics, heritage and history of Iran (also known as Persia). Etymology The term Achaemenid means "of the family of the Achaemenis/Achaemenes" (Old Persian: "𐏃𐎧𐎠𐎶𐎴𐎡𐏁," "Haxāmaniš"; a bahuvrihi compound translating to "having a friend's mind"). Achaemenes was himself a minor seventh-century ruler of the Anshan in southwestern Iran, and a vassal of Assyria. History See also: Achaemenid Kingdom Part of a series on the History of Iran Timeline Iran portal Achaemenid timeline Astronomical year numbering Origin Main articles: Achaemenes, Teispids, and Achaemenid family tree "The Persian nation contains a number of tribes as listed here. ... : the Pasargadae, Maraphii, and Maspii, upon which all the other tribes are dependent. Of these, the Pasargadae are the most distinguished; they contain the clan of the Achaemenids from which spring the Perseid kings. Other tribes are the Panthialaei, Derusiaei, Germanii, all of which are attached to the soil, the remainder—the Dai, Mardi, Dropici, Sagarti, being nomadic." — Herodotus, "Histories 1.101 & 125" The Achaemenid Empire was created by nomadic Persians. The name "Persia" is a Greek and Latin pronunciation of the native word referring to the country of the people originating from Persis (Old Persian: "𐎱𐎠𐎼𐎿," "Pārsa"). The Persians were an Iranian people who arrived in what is today Iran c. 1000 BC and settled a region including north-western Iran, the Zagros Mountains and Persis alongside the native Elamites. For a number of centuries they fell under the domination of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911–609 BC), based in northern Mesopotamia. The Persians were originally nomadic pastoralists in the western Iranian Plateau and by 850 BC were calling themselves the Parsa and their constantly shifting territory Parsua, for the most part localized around Persis. The Achaemenid Empire was not the first Iranian empire, as the Medes, another group of Iranian peoples, established a short-lived empire and played a major role in the overthrow of the Assyrian. The Achaemenids initially were rulers of the Elamite city of Anshan near the modern city of Marvdasht; the title "King of Anshan" was an adaptation of the earlier Elamite title "King of Susa and Anshan." There are conflicting accounts of the identities of the earliest Kings of Anshan. According to the Cyrus Cylinder (the oldest extant genealogy of the Achaemenids) the kings of Anshan were Teispes, Cyrus I, Cambyses I and Cyrus II, also known as Cyrus the Great, who created the empire (the later Behistun Inscription, written by Darius the Great, claims that Teispes was the son of Achaemenes and that Darius is also descended from Teispes through a different line, but no earlier texts mention Achaemenes). In Herodotus' "Histories," he writes that Cyrus the Great was the son of Cambyses I and Mandane of Media, the daughter of Astyages, the king of the Median Empire. Formation and expansion Further information: Battle of the Persian Border, Persian Revolt, Battle of Pteria, Battle of Opis, Battle of Pelusium (525 BC), Achaemenid invasion of the Indus Valley, and European Scythian campaign of Darius I Cyrus revolted against the Median Empire in 553 BC, and in 550 BC succeeded in defeating the Medes, capturing Astyages and taking the Median capital city of Ecbatana. Once in control of Ecbatana, Cyrus styled himself as the successor to Astyages and assumed control of the entire empire. By inheriting Astyages' empire, he also inherited the territorial conflicts the Medes had had with both Lydia and the Neo-Babylonian Empire. King Croesus of Lydia sought to take advantage of the new international situation by advancing into what had previously been Median territory in Asia Minor. Cyrus led a counterattack which not only fought off Croesus' armies, but also led to the capture of Sardis and the fall of the Lydian Kingdom in 546 BC. Cyrus placed Pactyes in charge of collecting tribute in Lydia and left, but once Cyrus had left Pactyes instigated a rebellion against Cyrus. Cyrus sent the Median general Mazares to deal with the rebellion, and Pactyes was captured. Mazares, and after his death Harpagus, set about reducing all the cities which had taken part in the rebellion. The subjugation of Lydia took about four years in total. When power in Ecbatana changed hands from the Medes to the Persians, many tributaries to the Median Empire believed their situation had changed and revolted against Cyrus. This forced Cyrus to fight wars against Bactria and the nomadic Saka in Central Asia. During these wars, Cyrus established several garrison towns in Central Asia, including the Cyropolis. Nothing is known of Persian-Babylonian relations between 547 BC and 539 BC, but it is likely that there were hostilities between the two empires for several years leading up to the war of 540–539 BC and the Fall of Babylon. In October 539 BC, Cyrus won a battle against the Babylonians at Opis, then took Sippar without a fight before finally capturing the city of Babylon on 12 October, where the Babylonian king Nabonidus was taken prisoner. Upon taking control of the city, Cyrus depicted himself in propaganda as restoring the divine order which had been disrupted by Nabonidus, who had promoted the cult of Sin rather than Marduk, and he also portrayed himself as restoring the heritage of the Neo-Assyrian Empire by comparing himself to the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal. The Hebrew Bible also unreservedly praises Cyrus for his actions in the conquest of Babylon, referring to him as Yahweh's anointed. He is credited with freeing the people of Judah from their exile and with authorizing the reconstruction of much of Jerusalem, including the Second Temple. In 530 BC, Cyrus died while on a military expedition against the Massagetae in Central Asia. He was succeeded by his eldest son Cambyses II, while his younger son Bardiya received a large territory in Central Asia. By 525 BC, Cambyses had successfully subjugated Phoenicia and Cyprus and was making preparations to invade Egypt with the newly created Persian navy. The great Pharaoh Amasis II had died in 526 BC and had been succeeded by Psamtik III, resulting in the defection of key Egyptian allies to the Persians. Psamtik positioned his army at Pelusium in the Nile Delta. He was soundly defeated by the Persians in the Battle of Pelusium before fleeing to Memphis, where the Persians defeated him and took him prisoner. Herodotus depicts Cambyses as openly antagonistic to the Egyptian people and their gods, cults, temples and priests, in particular stressing the murder of the sacred bull Apis. He says that these actions led to a madness that caused him to kill his brother Bardiya (who Herodotus says was killed in secret), his own sister-wife and Croesus of Lydia. He then concludes that Cambyses completely lost his mind, and all later classical authors repeat the themes of Cambyses' impiety and madness. However, this is based on spurious information, as the epitath of Apis from 524 BC shows that Cambyses participated in the funeral rites of Apis styling himself as pharaoh. Following the conquest of Egypt, the Libyans and the Greeks of Cyrene and Barca in Libya surrendered to Cambyses and sent tribute without a fight Cambyses then planned invasions of Carthage, the oasis of Ammon and Ethiopia. Herodotus claims that the naval invasion of Carthage was cancelled because the Phoenicians, who made up a large part of Cambyses' fleet, refused to take up arms against their own people, but modern historians doubt whether an invasion of Carthage was ever planned at all. Herodotus claims that the naval invasion of Cartha..
   
10. Title: "Letters on ancient history ... for the use of schools and young persons," by Anne Wilson
    Author: J. Hedderwick & co., 1809
    Publication: Name: https://books.google.com/books?id=EwA2AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA80&dq=Mandane+of+media#v=onepage&q=Mandane%20of%20media&f=false;