kingdom · Mesopotamia and Iran

Ishkuza

680 BCE – 615 BCE (approx.)

A Scythian kingdom in north-western Iran that troubled and then allied with Assyria, remembered by Herodotus for a 28-year Scythian domination of Asia.

Origins

Scythian horsemen from the steppes north of the Caucasus entered the lands south of the Caucasus and around Lake Urmia in the early 7th century BCE. Assyrian texts of Esarhaddon call their kingdom Ishkuza and name its leader Ishpakai, who was killed fighting Assyria around 675 BCE.

Rule and society

The Ishkuza were mounted archers who raided widely and sold their services to neighbouring powers. Their king Bartatua, identified with Herodotus' Protothyes, sought an Assyrian princess in marriage, and the Scythians thereafter generally supported Assyria against the Medes and Cimmerians. Herodotus says that under Madyes, son of Protothyes, the Scythians defeated the Medes and dominated Asia for 28 years. Their own institutions are known only through outsiders' reports.

Decline and legacy

According to Herodotus, the Median king Cyaxares killed the Scythian leaders at a banquet and drove them out, after which the Median Empire absorbed their lands. The chronology of these events is uncertain.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Connections (1)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Ishkuza. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ishkuza
MLA
“Ishkuza.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ishkuza. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Ishkuza.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ishkuza.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Ishkuza’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ishkuza (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻