Page:Herodotus and the Empires of the East.djvu/86

80 desolate in consequence of their licentiousness and insolence. Besides levying tribute upon every nation, they made inroads into the countries and plundered the inhabitants, until Cyaxares and the Medes invited a number of them to a banquet, made them drunk, and slew them. . . . After this—i. e., the conquest of Nineveh—Cyaxares died. He had reigned forty years, including the time of Scythian dominion, and was succeeded by his son Astyages." (Hdt. I., 106.)

We infer from the statement of Herodotus that the Medes, under Cyaxares, threw off the Scythian yoke; and that Astyages, as son of his predecessor, is a national Median king. But in the cuneiform inscriptions we find Astyages residing in Ecbatana, and designated king of the Scythians. We cannot assume, in order to justify the statements of Herodotus, that the Babylonian writer, after the Scythians had invaded Media, reckoned the Median king among the Scythians (Umman-manda). Later events count against such an inference, especially the behavior of the troops of Astyages in the battle against Cyrus. The annals of Nabû-na'id read: " From Astyages his army revolted, and gave him bound to Cyrus." In another place we are told that Cyrus, with a small number of troops, conquered a great Scythian host which was under the command of Astyages. "But Merodach spoke to me (Nabû-na'id); the Scythian (Umman-manda), of whom