I stumbled across something saying that scholars debate that there ever was a Median Empire and that its existence has more to do with Herodotus's need for a narrative of successive empires. I'm wondering what the latest scholarship says on this.
Was there a Median Empire?
If not, who were the Medes and how do they relate to the later Persian Empire and the earlier Elamite, Assyrian, and Babylonian Empires, polities, cultures, etc.?
What do non-Greek sources say about the Medes?
I'd like to ask a follow-up question. When do the Medes start disappearing from the historical record? I recall Atilla called himself "King of the Medes" (among many other titles). Were they assimilated into the "Iranian" (or Persian) identity of the Sassanid Empire?
Another question. The Bible generally refers to "the Medes and the Persians" as essentially synonyms or at any rate always working together. Was it a little like Anglo-Saxons two groups that basically became one. Would have you been able to distinguish between a Mede and a Persian during the time of Ezra or Nehemiah