Median kingdom

Media was a polity centered in Ecbatana that existed from the 7th century BCE until the mid-6th century BCE, and is believed to have dominated a significant portion of the Iranian plateau, preceding the powerful Achaemenid Empire. The frequent interference in the Zagros Mountains by the Neo-Assyrian Empire, located in Upper Mesopotamia, led to the unification of the Median tribes. By 612 BCE, the Medes, in alliance with Babylonia in Lower Mesopotamia, became strong enough to overthrow the declining Neo-Assyrian Empire.