 The latter, however, was soon in no position to threaten others, for Astyages was himself under attack.Indeed, Astyages and the Medians were soon overthrown by the rise to power in the Iranian world of Cyrus II the Great

While the Median kingdom controlled the highland region, the Chaldeans, with their capital at Babylon, were masters of the Fertile Crescent.Nebuchadnezzar, becoming king of the Chaldeans in 604 BC, raised Babylonia to another epoch of brilliance after more than a thousand years of the eclipse.