Situated south of the Caspian Sea and east of the Zagros Mountains, the ountry of Media—and its people, the Medes—was located on the far northern fringes of ancient Israel's geographical consciousness.
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The Medes came into their own towards the end of the Assyrian Empire in the 7th Cent BC when they formed an alliance with a Chaldean prince named Nabopolassar, and together brought about the demise of the Assyrian Empire and the establishment of the Babylonian Empire. Through the span of the latter the Median Empire remained vibrant and was even able to subdue the Persians to the east. It was an hitherto unknown Persian prince, married to a Median princess, who would eventually bring down the Babylonian Empire; his name was, of course, Cyrus the Great. With that Media became a province within the Persian Empire (Ezr 6:2) and slowly dessolved out of political existence. The people, however, continue to remember themselves as Medes long into NT times as attested by Acts 2:9, where Medes were reported to be present at the Feast of Pentecost.
The land/empire of Media is mentioned only 8x in the OT, mostly in the book of Esther, while the Medes themselves are mentioned 14x, mostly in the book of Daniel.
Open Concordance on Medes Media
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