AP. The passing of one of the greatest down home actors of all time -- Andy Griffith -- brings to mind that, sadly, many of the actors who lived in the fictional town of Mayberry, NC are no longer with us.
The Medes were an people of Indo-Iranian (Aryan) origin who inhabited the western and north-western portion of present-day Iran. By the 6th century BC (prior to the Persian invasion) the Medes were able to establish an empire that stretched from Aran (the modern-day Republic of Azerbaijan) to Central Asia and Afghanistan.
Josephus relates the Medes (OT Heb. Madai) to the biblical character, Madai, son of Japheth. Now as to Javan and Madai, the sons of Japhet; from Madai came the Madeans, who are called Medes, by the Greeks Antiquities of the Jews, I:6.