THE MEDIAN AND THE CYROPAEDIA OF XENOPHON. 



9 



rest ? It seeDis to rest on a tradition which confused the Medes 

 ■ — who were of Aryan race — with a completely distinct people 

 named the Manda, who were of Scythian origin. The name of 

 the capital city of each people was the same— Ekbatana — and 

 each of the people had a king of the same name, Istuvegu or 

 Astyages. 



Professor Sayce writes : — 



"It is startling to find that Istuvegu or Astyages was 

 king not of the Medes but of the Manda. The name of 

 Manda was applied by the Babylonians and Assyrians to 

 the nomad tribes who at times threatened their eastern and 

 northern borders. ... It would seem that the Manda 

 of Ekbatana were the Scythians of classical history." 

 Higher Criticism and the Monuments, pp. 519, 520. 



Professor Sayce goes on to say — 



" Totally distinct from the Manda were the Mada or 

 Medes. Their land lay to north-east of that of Ekbatana, 

 and extended as far as the shores of the Caspian. They 

 consisted for the most part of Aryan tribes, aUied in blood 

 and language to the Persians " (p. 521). 



And then he further says — 



" The Medes and the Manda were confounded with each 

 other. Astyages, the suzerain of Cyrus, was transformed 

 into a Mede, and the city of Ekbatana into the capital of a 

 Median empire. It was not until the discovery of the 

 monuments of NabonTdos and Cyrus that the truth came to 

 light." 



The defeat of Astyages by Cyrus is related on a cylinder of 

 Nabomdus, King of Babylon, 555-538 B.C. {Brit Mus., No. 82-7-14, 

 1025). The following is the translation by L. W. King, M.A. :— 



" I, Nabonidus, the great king, the mighty king, the king 

 of the world, king of Babylon, king of the four quarters, 

 the patron of Esagil and Ezida, whose destiny Sin and Ningal 

 in the womb of his mother for a royal destiny determined, 

 son of Nabu-balatsu-ikbi ; the wise prince, the worshipper 



