THE HISTORY OF THE MEDES

CHAPTER I.

THE PHYSICAL HISTORY OF MEDIA.

THIS Country, once the seat of a potent empire, derived its name from Madai, the third son of Japhet; as may be gathered from Scripture, in which the Medes are constantly thus denominated. See 2 Kings xvii. 6; Isa. xiii. 17; Dan. v. 28, etc.

It is difficult to determine the boundaries of Media, as they appear to have varied in different ages. According to the best authorities, however, Media Proper was bounded by Armenia and Assyria Proper on the west; by Persia on the east; by the Caspian provinces on the north; and by Susiana on the south.

In ancient times, Media was divided into several provinces, namely, Tropatene, Charomithrane, Darites, Marciane, Amariace, and Syro-Media. According to Strabo, these were, by a later division, reduced to two provinces, Great Media, and Media Atropatene.

Great Media, which is a high table land, is said by all writers to have possessed a good climate and fertile soil; an account which is confirmed by modern travellers. It was separated on the west and south-west from the low country watered by the Tigris and the Euphrates, by a range of mountains, known to the ancients by the names of Zagros and Parachoatris. On the east it was bounded by a desert and the Caspian mountains, (the modern Elburz mountains;) and on the north and north-west by the Cadussii, Atropatene, and the Matiene: thus, nearly corresponding to the modern

Irak Ajemni, which is the most western province of the Persian empire.

Media Atropatene, now called Aderbijan, extended as far north as the Arates. This was a cold, barren, and inhospitable country, on which account it is supposed that Tiglathpileser and Shalmaneser, kings of Assyria, chose it for the abode of the captive tribes of Israel; (see 2 Kings xvii. 6; 1 Chron. v. 26;) acting upon a similar course of policy, which actuated the Russian monarch, Peter the Great, in transferring the Swedish prisoners, taken at Pultowa, into the barren regions of Siberia. By some authors, this division of Media is supposed to have derived its name from Atropates, who successfully opposed the Macedonians, and established an independent monarchy, which continued till the time of Strabo, notwithstanding its proximity to the Armenian and Parthian dominions. It is more probable, how ever, that the appellation of Atropatene is a corruption of Adzur-bagjan, or "The Place of Fire," from the number of pyrea, or fire temples, erected there, Thebarma, on the lake of Urmeeah, in Aderbijan, being the reputed place of Zoroaster's birth; or from the volcanic eruptions to which it is subjected.

MOUNTAINS.

According to Ptolemy and Strabo, the mountains of Media, demanding notice, are

1. Choatra, parting Media from Assyria, and branching out from the Gordyan or Carduchian mountains, on the confines of Assyria and Armenia.

2. Zagros, a mountain range, which divides Media from Assyria on the east. And,

3. Parachoatra, which is placed by Ptolemy on the borders, towards Persia, and by Strabo on the confines of Media, Hyrcania, and Parthia.

These are boundaries between Media and the adjacent regions; and, therefore, may be said to belong to the latter as well as the former. But there are other mountains, those of the Orontes, the Jasonius, and the Coronus, which, as they stand in the very heart of the country, may, in the strictest sense, be termed mountains of Media. The principal of

these is the

Orontes, or the modern Alwend, which bounds the plains of Hamadan to the north-west. This range stretches from

north-east to south-west, thirty miles in length, and is completely separated from the more northern ranges of Giroos and Sahund. When viewed from the south and south-east, the Orontes presents the appearance of a vast range of separate mountains. It commences with a gradual ascent from the north-east, and covers with its ramifications upwards of sixty miles of ground. The summit of the mountain is covered with perpetual snow, and Sir R. Ker Porter, who ascended it in the month of September, when the summer heat has attained its maximum, found the ravines below the peak deeply covered with snow. From this circumstance, and the high elevation of the plains of Hamadan, in which it is situated, it is thought that it rivals Olympus in absolute elevation: above the level of the sea, though not in respect of its altitude from the base of the plain. The elevation of the plains of Hamadan is alone 5,000 feet above the level of the sea. The ascent of the mountain of Orontes, or Alwend, occupied Sir R. Ker Porter four hours on horseback, and half an hour more was required to scale the summit. Eight hours are required to ascend the summit of Olympus from the plains of Broussa: five hours and a half on horseback, the rest on foot. This will give an idea of the difference of the eleva tions of the plains on which these mountains stand.

RIVERS.

The rivers of note, according to Ptolemy, are the Straton, Amardus, Cyrus, and Cambyses. But these rivers, as they are represented to fall into the most southern part of the Caspian sea, must, by their positions, have belonged to the provinces now denominated Ghilan and Mazandaran; and consequently could not belong to Media Proper, as it is described by the ancients.

CLIMATE, PRODUCTIONS, ETC.

The northern parts of Media, lying between the Caspian mountains and the sea, are very cold and barren. Chardin says, that the snow lies on the mountains nine months in the year. The southern parts of Media, however, are productive of all kinds of grain, and necessaries for life; and they are so pleasant that the country adjoining Tauris is called "The Garden of Persia." In this part of the country there are large plains, among which that of Nysa was famous in an

cient times for the numerous stud of horses fed there for the use of the Persian monarchs.

Where this plain of Nysa was situated, it is now difficult to determine. The ancients place it in the most eastern part of Media, and beyond the limits of what is now supposed to have been properly this country. Sir J. Chardin conceives that he passed over this fertile tract of ground; but if he is correct, it must be placed several degrees nearer us than the ancient geographers have defined its position. He says: "We continued our way, from Tauris towards Persia, upon the most beautiful and fertile plains, covered with villages. These plains afford the most excellent pasture of all Media, and, I dare say, of the whole world, and the best horses of the country were there at grass. I asked a young noblemen, in company with us, if there were any other plains in Media so fine and so extensive. He told me he had seen some as fine about Derbent, but none more extensive. So that it is reasonable enough to believe that these plains are the Hippobaton of the ancients, and where, they say, the kings of Media had a stud of fifty thousand horses; and that here it is also we must look for the Nysean plain, so famous for the horses of that name. Stephanus, the geographer, says that Nysa was in the country of the Medes. I told this same nobleman some particulars which historians relate concerning those horses, particularly Phavorinus, who says all the Nysean horses were light duns. He answered, that he had never read or heard any thing of the kind. I afterwards inquired of several gentlemen of learning, but could never understand that there was any place, either in Persia or Media, that produced horses of that colour."

Polybius, in describing Media, says, This country is the most powerful kingdom in all Asia, as well for its extent as for the number and strength of its inhabitants, and the great quantity of horses it produces. Media furnishes all Asia with those beasts, and its pastures are so rich, that the neighbouring monarchs send their studs there.

The climate of Media is very unequal; that part which lies between the mountains and the sea is exceedingly cold, and the earth swampy, and full of marshes, where innumerable swarms of venomous insects are bred, which, together with the vapours rising from the Caspian sea, render that part very inhospitable. Elian tells us, that these parts of Media were infested by scorpions, and that while the king of Persia was on his progress into Media, the inhabitants were employed,

for three days before his arrival on the confines, in destroying them.

The provinces that are more remote from the sea enjoy a very wholesome air, though liable to heavy rains and violent storms, especially according to Chardin, in spring and autumn. This author states that, besides the cattle and game, which the inland provinces abound with, some of them have been, for many ages, remarkable on account of the various sorts of excellent wine they produce, especially the neighbourhood of Tauris, where no fewer, than sixty different kinds of grapes, all of an exquisite flavour, are now gathered.

In the plains of Hamadan, the climate is very pleasant. The thermometer never rises, in the height of summer, higher than 80°. The heat, therefore, is never very oppressive, as in other parts of Persia, being constantly tempered by a cool breeze from the north-west during this season. It is no wonder, then, that the Persian kings made Ecbatana (which, as will be seen, was situated in these plains) their summer residence. This province abounds in fine rivulets of the purest water, which is a blessing of inestimable value in the arid and parched regions of Persia. The habitations on these plains are profusely interspersed with trees, which give variety and beauty to the scenery. Beside the poplar, the narwend, a species of elm, is a very common tree, and grows into shapes so formal as to raise suspicions that they have acquired them by art. On the skirts of the Orontes, Morier was introduced into an extensive garden, in the centre of which was an alley of poplar, willow, and narwend trees, nearly a mile long, and in which many of the natives were singing and taking their pleasure. One large group was seated around a basin of the coolest and most transparent The extensive plain itself is varied at short distances with villages rising from amidst groves of the noblest trees, and seems one luxuriant carpet of the richest verdure, studded with hamlets, and watered with numberless rills. From all this, some idea may be formed of the fertility of Media in ancient times, when it was the seat of empire.

water.