Kashtaritu"; His place in the history of Medes and his ethnicity

Abstract

Even though Kashtaritu or Kashtariti was not an urban ruler, but he gained such power during the time of Esarhaddon (669-680 BC) that Assyria and other lands were afraid of this issue. This person's position in terms of military point of view had turned the heart of the Assyrian king, and therefore, the name of Kashtaritu is seen many times in the prophetic letters related to the god "Shamash", in which Esrahaddon repeatedly asks whether or not to participate in the war with him. There is a theory about Kashtaritu 's identity, in which he is considered the same as Phraortes described in Herodotus' history. In this article, while examining the details of the information related to Kashtaritu , this adaptation is rejected and then the scope of his territory, who he is in relation to the Medes and his place in the history of Media are discussed. The upcoming research, by examining the documentary data in the Assyrian written sources and comparing them with the information related to the mythological history of the Medes in the writings of authors such as Diodorus (cited by Ctesias), Eusebius, Khorni and Agapius, will determine the position of Kashtaritu from the perspective of this analysis. This article shows that Kashtaritu 's deeds did not affect the historical memory of the Medes, but their memory of his character had an impact on the identity of these people.

Keywords

• media
• assyria
• archaeomythology
• ctesias
• kashtaritu