Editing Medes (section)

=== Art and architecture ===
[[File:Gold Rhyton in the form of a Ram's Head - Reza Abbasi Museum - Tehran, Iran.jpg|thumb|[[Rhyton]] in the shape of a ram's head, gold – Kurdistan - western Iran <ref>{{cite web | url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/ziwiye | title=Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica }}</ref> –, late 7th–early 6th century BCE]] 

Very little remains of the material culture of the Medes, and it is challenging to confidently attribute artifacts from the period before the Persian Empire to the Medes specifically or to other groups residing in western Iran during the Iron Age. For this reason, Median art remains a purely speculative topic,<ref name=":0" /> and its existence is even denied by some scholars.{{sfn|Dandamayev|Medvedskaya|2006}} [[Géza de Francovitch]] noted that there is not a single work conclusively of Median origin in the archaeological record. This observation appears to remain relevant, even after the excavation of two seemingly Median sites in western Iran and the emergence of more academic writings claiming to have unraveled and understood the characteristics of Median art.<ref name=":20" /> Still, other scholars presume that archaeological sites such as Tepe Nush-i Jan and Godin Tepe, located in Media and dating back to the 8th and 7th centuries BCE, are examples supporting the existence of Median art. Although Tepe Nush-i Jan was not a capital, according to David Stronach, it became a crucial link in a chain of evidence regarding the composition and development of Median architecture, as well as the incorporation of Median culture into ancient Eastern civilizations. Influence and direct borrowing of fine details, entire architectural forms, and building design that had precise analogs in [[Assyrian art|Assyrian]] and [[Art of Urartu|Urartian art]] can be traced in the architecture of Tepe Nus-i Jã and Godin Tepe. The Medes not only borrowed some elements from foreign art but also used them in new contexts with new functions and meanings, that is, in a new context without their typical and initial qualities. Later, the Achaemenids borrowed cultural achievements from the ancient Near East through the Medes.{{sfn|Dandamayev|Medvedskaya|2006}} [[J. Curtis]] argues against the minimalist position that there is nothing readily identifiable as Median art, but rather asserts that those objects that may be characterized as Median were heavily influenced by Assyrian art.<ref name=waters/><ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/372125/Media "Media (ancient region, Iran)"] [[Encyclopædia Britannica]]. Pesquisa em 28/04/17</ref> Objects in a style halfway Assyrian, halfway Achaemenid, are often attributed to Median art.<ref name=":21">{{cite web |access-date=2022-10-08 |language=en-US |title=ART IN IRAN ii. Median Art and Architecture |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/art-in-iran-ii-median |website=Encyclopaedia Iranica}}</ref>

Herodotus provides a description of the palace of Deioces in Ecbatana, stating that it was an architectural complex built on a hill and surrounded by seven concentric walls, with each [[battlement]] of a wall surpassing that of the wall next outside it. The palace itself and the royal treasures were located within the innermost circle. The battlements of these circles would have been painted with seven different colors, indicating that the Medes developed a rich [[polychrome]]; and the two innermost circles were covered with silver and gold, respectively. The artistic contributions of Median [[goldsmith]]s are also mentioned in Persian records.{{sfn|Dandamayev|Medvedskaya|2006}}

[[Pictorial art]] has been excavated in small quantities and of somewhat disappointing quality so far. Evidence shows that Median pictorial art was heavily influenced by the Babylonians, Assyrians, Elamites, and perhaps the early phase of the 'animal style' of the Ancient Near East. In Hamadan, a bronze plate was discovered with the inscription of a king of Abadana, a small kingdom west of Assyrian outposts. The plate depicts the king dressed similarly to Babylonian attire from the late Kassite period. Another inscribed object is a cylinder seal with a hero fighting a monster, the scene and inscription style related to the Elamite style in Susa, but the hero's headdress is typical of the Medes in Achaemenid palace reliefs. Other findings include a crude-style cylinder seal impression from Nush-i Jan and cylinder seals in various Mesopotamian styles from the ruins and vicinity of Hamadan, some dating back to the 8th and 7th centuries BCE. These findings reveal a strong influence from other civilizations but lack distinctive traits of authentic Median art. Local craftsmanship is indicated by excavated bronze jars. Architectural painting, attested in both Baba Jan and Nush-i Jan, can be compared to the not-so-sophisticated geometric style found in [[Tepe Sialk]]. [[Richard David Barnett|R. D. Barnett]] argued that the so-called [[Scythian art|Scythian style]], more precisely the earliest phase of this style, was also part of contemporary Median art (late 8th century BCE). However, this theory has not been proven or refuted so far.<ref name=":21" />

A passage from the ''Babylonian Chronicle'' records that after the conquest of Ecbatana, Cyrus took the silver, gold, goods, and properties of the city to Persia. While the exact nature of these precious metals and goods is not specified, except for being portable material, it is possible that Median artisanal objects, as well as state or religious items, were among the spoils.<ref name=":20">{{cite book |date=2013-01-01 |first=Oscar White |language=en |last=Muscarella |title=Archaeology, Artifacts and Antiquities of the Ancient Near East |publisher=Brill |chapter=Median Art and Medizing Scholarship |pages=999–1023 |doi=10.1163/9789004236691_040 |isbn=978-90-04-23669-1 |chapter-url=https://brill.com/view/book/9789004236691/B9789004236691_040.xml}}</ref>

Greek references to "Median" people make no clear distinction between the "Persians" and the "Medians"; in fact for a Greek to become "too closely associated with Iranian culture" was "to become Medianized, not Persianized".<ref name="Young-p449" /> The Median kingdom was a short-lived Iranian state and the textual and archaeological sources of that period are rare and little could be known from the Median culture.<ref name=Young-p450>{{Harvnb|Young|1997|p=450}}</ref>