from the steppes of Russia infiltrated Iran. They eventually settled in the west, where they were first reported by the Assyrians in the ninth century as the Madai (Medes) and as Parsua or Parsumash (Persians). After a twenty-eight-year hegemony by the invading Scythians from Russia, the Medes became united in the seventh century. They dominated the Persians until the rise of Cyrus II (circa 550), who was himself half-Median and half-Persian. The most brilliant period of Persian history was that