 Throughout the prehistoric period, from the middle of the sixth millennium BC to about 3000 BC, painted pottery is a characteristic feature of many sites in Iran.The first record of the Persians comes from an Assyrian inscription from c. 844 BC that calls them the Parsu (Parsuash (Persians), Parsumash) and mentions them in the region of Lake Urmia alongside another group, the Madai (Medes).For the next two centuries, the Persians and Medes were at times tributary to the Assyrians.