In the seventh century BCE a unified Median state is formed which together with Babylonia, Lydia, and Egypt becomes one of the four major powers of the ancient Near East.

An alliance with the Babylonians helps the Medes to capture Nineveh in 612 BCE which results in the collapse of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.

The Medes are subsequently able to establish their Median kingdom (with Ecbatana as their royal center) beyond their original homeland (central-western Iran) and have eventually a territory stretching roughly from northeastern Iran to the Halys River in Anatolia.

The Median kingdom is conquered in 550 BCE by Cyrus the Great who establishes the next Iranian dynasty—the Achaemenid Empire.