Assyrian sources

The Territorial conquests of the Medes, as Far East as Hyrcania, could be traced from the first half of the seventh century BC onwards. The first Median kings undertook far-flung campaigns to take control of the region and extend their territory. The existence of the fortified settlement in the Gorgān plain could prove the expansion of centralized Median kingdom as far as Hyrcania. The Assyrian sources of the 9th to 7th century BC are also in overall agreement with the results of the archeological studies in the western steppe of Gorgān plain (Hyrcania). As a result, the Median’s dominance over Hyrcania determined the strategies and political guidelines of the Median kingdom and set the foundations for its transformation from a confederation of tribes to a powerful trans-regional state. Accordingly, in the present paper, beside historical and literary sources, archaeological evidences have also been studied in order to determine the Median’s range of territory in the east of their homeland.