Mede

one of an Indo-European people, related to the Persians, who entered northeastern Iran probably as early as the 17th century bc and settled in the plateau land that came to be known as Media.

Joseph Mead, a 17th-century Anglican biblical scholar, pioneered progressive millennialism. Ignoring the traditional allegorical interpretation, Mead took a fresh look at the Revelation to John and he concluded that it did in fact hold the promise of a literal kingdom of God. Redemption, he believed, would be completed within human history, and Jesus would return after the millennium....

 The area between the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea that is a part of present-day Iran has a turbulent history that goes back for more than 25 centuries. Because of its location, the area has always been a critical one. Over the years various groups of people have dominated it in turn. One of these, the Medes, came into prominence in about 700 .

Egypt, Babylonia, and Assyria were many centuries old when the mountain-walled plateau region south of the Caspian Sea was settled by a nomadic people from the grasslands of Central Asia in approximately 1000 . Although the newcomers called themselves Irani (Aryans) and their new homeland Irania (now Iran), the land came to be called Persia, because Greek geographers mistakenly named it after the province Pars, or Persis, where their early kings had their capital.

(plural of magus), from Persian magu, meaning magician; members of a priestly caste of ancient Medes and Persians; name is applied also to the wise men in the Bible (Matthew ii) who followed a star to Bethlehem; the Bible story does not name them nor give their number, but Christian tradition from about the 7th century names the three Melchior, Gaspar, and Balthazar; their bodies are said to have been brought to Constantinople by Empress Helen, mother of Constantine, thence taken to Milan, and finally to Cologne in 1162 by Frederick Barbarossa; since that time they have often been called the Three Kings of Cologne

The religion spread slowly throughout Afghanistan and westward into the land of the Medes and Persians. With the arrival of the Sassanian Dynasty on the throne of Iran in 224, Zoroastrianism became the official religion. Its hierarchy possessed considerable power, and other religions were persecuted. It was at this time that the Avesta, one of the chief scriptures of the religion, was compiled. It still serves as prayer book and scripture.

By the 6th century , the Medes had built a large empire (see Medes) that included the Persians to the east and the Assyrians to the west. However, in 550 Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered the Medes, acquiring Assyria in the process, which the Median King Cyarxes had taken in about 612 . The formidable armies of Cyrus battled their way to more victories, notably the conquest of Lydia, then ruled by King Croesus (see Croesus). This victory gave Cyrus possession of the Greek seaboard cities of Asia Minor. In 539 Babylon, capital of the Chaldean Empire, surrendered to Cyrus without a fight; in conquering Babylon, Cyrus also acquired Palestine. He allowed the Jews to return from Babylonian exile and rebuild their temple in Jerusalem. Turning eastward, Cyrus expanded his empire to the border of India. He was killed fighting against eastern nomads in 529 and was buried in a tomb he had prepared at his capital, Pasargadae.

The Aryan people came from central Asia sometime after 2000 . The two main groups of Aryans were the Medes and the Persians. The Medes held power at first. However, the Persians took control in about 550 . Their king, Cyrus II the Great, founded the Achaemenid Dynasty, or ruling family.