Scythians
Conquest of Media

When, following a period of Assyrian decline over the course of the 650s BC, Esarhaddon's other son, Šamaš-šuma-ukin, who had succeeded him as the king of Babylon, revolted against his brother Ashurbanipal in 652 BC, the Medes supported him, and Madyes helped Ashurbanipal suppress the revolt externally by invading the Medes. The Median king Phraortes was killed in battle, either against the Assyrians or against Madyes himself, who then imposed Scythian hegemony over the Medes for twenty-eight years on behalf of the Assyrians, thus starting a period which Greek authors called called the "Scythian rule over Asia", with Media, Mannai, and Urartu all continuing to exist as kingdoms under Scythian suzerainty.

During this period, the Medes adopted Scythian archery techniques and equipment due to their superiority over those of the West Asian peoples, and the trade of silk to western Eurasia might have started at this time through the intermediary of the Scythians during their stay in West Asia, with the earliest presence of silk in this part of the world having been found in a Urartian fortress, presumably imported from China through the intermediary of the Scythians.
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