Phraortes

For the genus of stick insects, see Lonchodinae.

Phraortes,^[a] son of Deioces, was the second king of the Median kingdom.

Phraortes
King of the Medes
Reign	675 – 653 BC[2][3]
Predecessor	Deioces
Successor	Cyaxares
Died	653 BC
Dynasty	Median dynasty
Father	Deioces
Religion	Ancient Iranian religion

Like his father Deioces, Phraortes started wars against Assyria, but was defeated and killed by the Assyrian king, probably Ashurbanipal (r. 669-631 BC).

Biography

All ancient information about him is from Herodotus. According to him (1.102), Phraortes was the son of Deioces and united all Median tribes into a single state. He also subjugated the Persians and Parthians and other nations of ancient Iran. He ruled for twenty-two years (c. 675 – c. 653 BC)^[7] Media was then ruled by Scythians, allies of Assyria, for 28 years before Phraortes's son, Cyaxeres, overthrew Scythian domination and became king in 625.^[7] Phraortes is commonly identified with Kashtariti, a chieftain in Media, although some scholars consider such an identification doubtful.

Book of Judith

Various scholars have identified Phraortes with the "Arphaxad, king of the Medes" in the Book of Judith. Fulcran Vigouroux identified the battle between "Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians" and "Arphaxad, the king of the Medes" as the battle that occurred between Ashurbanipal and Phraortes.^[8] This battle occurred during the seventeenth year of Ashurbanipal's reign, and the book of Judith states that this battle occurred in the seventeenth year of "Nebuchadnezzar's" reign. Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet expressed a similar view regarding this.^[9] As argued by Vigouroux, the two battles mentioned in the Septuagint version of the Book of Judith are a reference to the clash of the two empires in 658–657 and to Phraortes' death in battle in 653, after which Ashurbanipal continued his military actions with a large campaign starting with the Battle of the Ulai River the same year.

Notes

1. • /freɪˈɔːrtiz/ fray-OAR-teez^[4]
   • Old Persian: 𐎳𐎼𐎺𐎼𐎫𐎡𐏁, romanized: Fravartiš^[5][6]
   • Ancient Greek: Φραόρτης, romanized: Phraórtēs