[Picture: Scene from Persian mythology: Angra Mainyu kills the primeval bull, whose seed is rescued by Mah (Avestan: Maonghah, the moon) as the source for all other animals]
Inscriptions indicate that when Teispes died, two of his sons shared the throne as Cyrus, king of Anshan, and Ariaramnes, king of Parsua (later called Pārsa, that is, Persia Proper). They were succeeded by their respective sons Cambyses I of Anshan, and Arsames of Iran (Persia).
In 559 BC, Cambyses I the Elder was succeeded as king of Anshan by his son Cyrus II the Great, who also succeeded the still-living Arsames as King of Persia, thus reuniting the two realms. Cyrus is considered to be the first true king of the Achaemenid dynasty, as his predecessors were subservient to Media.