The First “Median History”: A Critical Review on the Book “Media” by George Rawlinson

The study of the history of the Median state is of high importance as Medes were the first group among Iranian people who formed a large kingdom in the western and central parts of the Iranian Plateau. About two centuries ago, our only source for the study of these people were narratives of classic authors and sporadic references of the Old Testament. From the 19th century onward, because of the deciphering of Mesopotamian and old Persian cuneiform inscriptions and the development of archaeological studies, our knowledge of the Median kingdom has remarkably increased. One of the first orientalists who did good research on the Median state and culture, using new sources and materials in his work, was George Rawlinson whose book has recently been translated into Persian. In the present paper, we review the book of “Media” written by Georg Rawlinson which has been published around 150 years ago. We show that although it was considered as leading research at the time of first publishing, its scientific value has decreased inevitably as a long time passed over its writing time. Despite this fact, publishing this book in Persian could be considered a positive step because the book is of high significance in reviewing the development of studies relating to Medes and Media.