Ecbatana

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ECBATANA.—See Achmetha.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909

Margin of Ezr_6:2 for ACHMETHA equating to Hagmatana, the native appellation; a Median town where was a palace. There were two of this name: the capital of N. Media," the seven walled town," with each wall of a different color, white, black, scarlet, blue, orange, silver, and gold (Herodotus, 1:98-99,153); the capital of Cyrus, therefore probably the town where the roll was found containing Cyrus' decree for rebuilding the Jerusalem temple, which induced Darius to issue a new decree sanctioning the recommencement of the suspended work; now the ruins of Takht-i-Suleiman. The other town was capital of the larger province, Media Magna; now Hamadan. Takht-i-Suleiman contains a lake of pure water in its center, 300 paces round.
The Zendavesta makes Demshid, but Herodotus Deioces, its founder. The seven walls were designed to put the city under the guardianship of the seven planets. The finding of Cyrus' decree at Ecbatana, whereas, when Ezra wrote, the Persian kings resided usually at Susa or Babylon, visiting only occasionally in summer time Ecbatana or Persepolis, is one of those little points of agreement between sacred and profane history which confirm the truth of Scripture, because their very minuteness proves the undesignedness of the harmony. Susa and Babylon were the ordinary depositories of the archives. But Cyrus held his court permanently at Ecbatana, and therefore kept his archives there. Ezra, living a century after, would not have been likely to have fixed on Ecbatana as the place of finding Cyrus' decree, had he been inventing, instead of recording facts.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.

Ecbat'ana. Ezr_6:2 margin. In the apocryphal books, Ecbatana is frequently mentioned. Two cities named Ecbatana seem to have existed in ancient times, one the capital of northern Media ? the Media Atropatene of Strabo ? the other the metropolis of the larger and more important province known as Media Magna. The site of the former appears to be marked by the very curious ruins at Takht-i-Suleiman.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863

a city of Media, which, according to Herodotus, was built by Dejoces, king of the Medes. It was situated on a gentle declivity, distant twelve stadia from Mount Orontes, and was in compass one hundred and fifty stadia, and, next to Nineveh and Babylon, was one of the strongest and most beautiful cities of the east. After the union of Media with Persia, it was the summer residence of the Persian kings. Sir R. K. Porter, in his Travels, says, “Having for a few moments gazed at the venerable mountain. (Orontes, at the foot of which Ecbatana was built,) and at the sad vacuum at its base; what had been Ecbatana, being now shrunk to comparative nothingness; I turned my eye on the still busy scene of life which occupied the adjacent country; the extensive plain of Hamadan, and its widely extending hills. On our right, the receding vale was varied, at short distances, with numberless castellated villages rising from amidst groves of the noblest trees; while the great plain itself stretched northward and eastward to such far remoteness, that its mountain boundaries appeared like clouds upon the horizon. This whole tract seemed one carpet of luxuriant verdure, studded with hamlets, and watered by beautiful rivulets. On the southwest, Orontes, or Elwund, (by whichever name we may designate this most towering division of the mountain,) presents, itself, in all the stupendous grandeur of its fame and form. Near to its base, appear the dark coloured dwellings of Hamadan, crowded thickly on each other; while the gardens of the inhabitants with their connecting orchards and woods, fringe the entire slope of that part of the mountain.” “The site of the modern town, like that of the ancient, is on a gradual ascent, terminating near the foot of the eastern side of the mountain; but there all trace of its past appearance would cease, were it not for two or three considerable elevations, and overgrown irregularities on and near them, which may have been the walls of the royal fortress, with those of the palaces, temples, and theatres, seen no more. I passed one of these heights, standing to the south-west, as I entered the city, and observed that it bore many vestiges of having been strongly fortified. The sides and summit are covered with large remnants of ruined walls of a great thickness, and also of towers, the materials of which were sun dried bricks. It has the name of the Inner Fortress, and certainly holds the most commanding station near the plain.” Of the interior of the city, the same author says, “The mud alleys, which now occupy the site of the ancient streets or squares, are narrow, interrupted by large holes or hollows in the way, and heaps of the fallen crumbled walls of deserted dwellings. A miserable bazaar or two are passed through in traversing the town; and large lonely spots are met with, marked by broken low mounds over older ruins; with here and there a few poplars, or willow trees, shadowing the border of a dirty stream, abandoned to the meanest uses; which, probably, flowed pellucid and admired, when these places were gardens, and the grass-grown heap some stately dwelling of Ecbatana. In one or two spots I observed square platforms, composed of large stones; the faces of many of which were chiselled all over into the finest arabesque fretwork, while others had, in addition, long inscriptions in the Arabic character. They had evidently been tomb-stones of the inhabitants, during the caliph rule in Persia. But when we compare relics of the seventh century, with the deep antiquity of the ruins on which they lie, these monumental remains seem but the register of yesterday.” Here is shown the tomb of Mordecai and Esther; as well as that of Avicenna, the celebrated Arabian physician. The sepulchre of the former stands near the centre of the city of Hamadan: the tombs are covered by a dome, on which is the following inscription in Hebrew: “This day, 15th of the month Adar, in the year 4474 from the creation of the world, was finished the building of this temple over the graves of Mordecai and Esther, by the hands of the good-hearted brothers, Elias and Samuel, the sons of the deceased Ismael of Kashan.” This inscription, the date of which proves the dome to have been built eleven hundred years, was sent by Sir Gore Ouseley to Sir John Malcolm, who has given it in his History of Persia; who also says that the tombs, which are of a black coloured wood, are evidently of very great antiquity, but in good preservation, as the wood has not perished, and the inscriptions are still very legible. Sir R. K. Porter has given a more particular description of this tomb. He says, “I accompanied the priest through the town, over much ruin and rubbish, to an enclosed piece of ground, rather more elevated than any in its immediate vicinity. In the centre was the Jewish tomb; a square building of brick, of a mosque- like form, with a rather elongated dome at the top. The whole seems in a very decaying state, falling fast to the mouldering condition of some wall fragments around, which, in former times, had been connected with, and extended the consequence of, the sacred enclosure. The door that admitted us into the tomb, is in the ancient sepulchral fashion of the country, very small; consisting of a small stone of great thickness, and turning on its own pivots from one side. Its key is always in possession of the head of the Jews resident at Hamadan.” “On passing through the little portal, which we did in an almost doubled position, we entered a small arched chamber, in which are seen the graves of several rabbles: probably one may cover the remains of the pious Ismael; and, not unlikely, the others may contain the bodies of the first rebuilders after the sacrilegious destruction by Timour. Having ‘trod lightly by their graves,' a second door of such very confined dimensions presented itself at the end of this vestibule, we were constrained to enter it on our hands and knees, and then standing up, we found ourselves in a larger chamber, to which appertained the dome. Immediately under its concave, stand two sarcophagi, made of a very dark wood, carved with great intricacy of pattern, and richness of twisted ornament, with a line of inscription in Hebrew running round the upper ledge of each. Many other inscriptions, in the same language, are cut on the walls; while one of the oldest antiquity, engraved on a slab of white marble, is let into the wall itself.” This inscription is as follows: “Mordecai, beloved and honoured by a king, was great and good. His garments were as those of a sovereign. Ahasuerus covered him with this rich dress, and also placed a golden chain around his neck. The city of Susa rejoiced at his honours, and his high fortune became the glory of the Jews.” The inscription which encompasses the sarcophagus of Mordecai, is to this effect: “It is said by David, Preserve me, O God! I am now in thy presence. I have cried at the gate of heaven, that thou art my God; and what goodness I have received from thee, O Lord! Those whose bodies are now beneath in this earth, when animated by thy mercy were great; and whatever happiness was bestowed upon them in this world, came from thee, O God! Their grief and sufferings were many, at the first; but they became happy, because they always called upon thy holy name in their miseries. Thou liftedst me up, and I became powerful. Thine enemies sought to destroy me, in the early times of my life; but the shadow of thy hand was upon me, and covered me, as a tent, from their wicked purposes!—MORDECAI.” The following is the corresponding inscription on the sarcophagus of Esther: “I praise thee, O God, that thou hast created me! I know that my sins merit punishment, yet I hope for mercy at thy hands; for whenever I call upon thee, thou art with me; thy holy presence secures me from all evil. My heart is at ease, and my fear of thee increases. My life became, through thy goodness, at the last, full of peace. O God, do not shut my soul out from thy divine presence! Those whom thou lovest, never feel the torments of hell. Lead me, O merciful Father, to the life of life: that I may be filled with the heavenly fruits of paradise!—ESTHER.” The Jews at Hamadan have no tradition of the cause of Esther and Mordecai having been interred at that place; but however that might be, there are sufficient reasons for believing the validity of their interment in this spot. The strongest evidence we can have of the truth of any historical fact, is, its commemoration by an annual festival. It is well known, that several important events in Jewish history are thus celebrated; and among the rest, the feast of Purim is kept on the 13th and 14th of the month Adar, to commemorate the deliverance obtained by the Jews, at the intercession of Esther, from the general massacre ordered by Ahasuerus, and the slaughter they were permitted to make of their enemies. Now on this same festival, in the same day and month, Jewish pilgrims resort from all quarters to the sepulchre of Mordecai and Esther; and have done so for centuries,—a strong presumptive proof that the tradition of their burial in this place rests on some authentic foundation.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.

ek-bat?a-na (Ezr_6:2 margin). See ACHMETHA.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.

Ecbat?ana [ACHMETHA]
The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.

Ecbatana
(1Es_6:23) or "ECBAT'ANE" (τὰ Ε᾿κβάτανα, 2Ma_9:3; Jdt_1:1 sq.; Tob_5:9, etc.; comp. Josephus, Ant. 10:11, 7; 11:4, 6; Α᾿γβάτανα in Ctesias 1; Herod. 1:98; 2:153), the metropolis of Media (Curt. 5:81), situated 88° and 37 degrees, 45 feet, according to Ptolemy (6, 2, 14), and after the time of Cyrus (Strabo, 11:522 sq.; Pausan. 4:24, 1; Xenoph. Cyr. 8:6, 22; Anab. 3, 5, 15) two months in the year the residence of the Persian (later the Parthian) kings. It is somewhat doubtful whether the name of this place is really contained in the Hebrew Scriptures. Many of the best commentators understand the expression בְּאִחְמְתָא, in Ezr_6:2, differently, and translate it in arca "in a coffer" (see Buxtorf and others, and so our English Bible in the margin). The Sept., however, give ἐν πόλει, " in a city," or (in some MSS.) ἐν Α᾿μαθὰ ἐν πόλει, which favors the ordinary interpretation. If a city is meant, there is little doubt of one of the two Ecbatanas being intended; for, except these towns, there was no place in the province of the Medes "which contained a palace" (בַּירָה), or where records are likely to have been deposited. The name Achmetha, too, which at first sight seems somewhat remote from Ecbatana, wants but one letter of Hagmatana, which was the native appellation. The earlier and more correct Greek form of the name, too, was Agbatana (see Steph. Byz. page 19; compare Wesseling ad Herod. 3, 65). Lassen (Biblioth. 3, 36) regards the name as Zendish, Aghwa-Tana, "land rich in horses." Hyde (De rel. vet. Pers. page 541 sq.) compares it with the Persic Abadan, "cultivated place;” Ilgen (on Tobit, l.c.) regards it as Sbemitic; compare Syr. Chamtana, "fortress." For other etymologies, see Simonis Onom. V.T. page 578 sq.; Gesenius, Thes. page 70.
Two cities of the name of Ecbatana seem to have existed in ancient times, one the capital of Northern Media, the Media Atropatene of Strabo; the other the metropolis of the larger and more important province known as Media Magna (see Sir H. Rawlinson's paper on the Atropatenian Ecbatana, in the 10th volume of the Journal of the Geographical Society, art. 2). The site of the former appears to be marked by the very curious ruins at Takht i-Suleiman (lat. 36 degrees 28 feet long. 47 degrees 9 feet); while that of the latter is occupied by hamadan, which is one of the most important cities of modern Persia. There is generally some difficulty in determining, when Ecbatana is mentioned, whether the northern or the southern metropolis is intended. Few writers are aware of the existence of the two cities, and they lie sufficiently near to one another for geographical notices in most cases to suit either site. The northern city was the "seven-walled town" described by Herodotus, and declared by him to have been the capital of Cyrus (Herod. 1:98-99, 153; compare Mos. Choren. 2:84); and it was thus most probably there that the roll was found which proved to Darius that Cyrus had really made a decree allowing the Jews to rebuild their Temple.
Various descriptions of the northern city have come down to us, but none of them is completely to be depended on. That of the Zendavesta (Vendidad, Fargard II) is the oldest and the least exaggerated. "Jemshid,” it is said, "erected a var, or fortress, sufficiently large, and formed of squared blocks of stone; he assembled in the place a vast, population, and stocked the surrounding country with cattle for their use. He caused the water of the great fortress to flow forth abundantly. And within the var, or fortress, he erected a lofty palace; encompassed with walls, and laid it out in many separate divisions, and there was no place, either in front or rear, to command and overawe the fortress." Herodotus, who ascribes the foundation of the city to his king Deloces, says: "The Medes were obedient to Deloces, and built the city now called Agbatana, the walls of which are of great size and strength, rising in circles one within the other. The plan of the place is that each of the walls should out-top the one beyond it by the battlements. The nature of the ground, which is a gentle hill, favors this arrangement in some degree, but it was mainly effected by art. The number of the circles is seven, the royal palace and the treasuries standing within the last. The circuit of the outer wall is nearly the same with that of Athens. Of this outer wall the battlements are white, of the next black, of the third scarlet, of the fourth blue, of the fifth orange: all these are colored with paint. The last two have their battlements coated respectively with silver and gold. All these fortifications Deloces caused to be raised for himself and his own palace. The people were required to build their dwellings outside the circuit of the walls" (Herod. 1:98, 99). Finally, the book of Judith, probably the work of an Alexandrian Jew, professes to give a number of details, which appear to be drawn chiefly from the imagination of the writer (Jud_1:2-4).
The peculiar feature of the site of Takht i-Suleman, which it is proposed to identify with the northern Ecbatana, is a conical hill rising to the height of about 150 feet above the plain, and covered both on its top and sides with massive ruins of the most antique and primitive character. A perfect enceinte, formed of large blocks of squared stone, may be traced round the entire hill along its brow; within there is an oval enclosure, about 800 yards in its greatest and 400 in its least diameter, strewn with ruins, which cluster round a remarkable lake. This is an irregular baError! Not a valid filename.sin, about 300 paces in circuit, filled with water exquisitely clear and pleasant to the taste, which is supplied in some unknown way from below, and which stands uniformly at the same level, whatever the quantity taken from it for irrigating the lands which lie at the foot of the hill. This hill itself is not perfectly isolated, though it appears so to those who approach it by the ordinary route. On three sides — the south, the west, and the north — the acclivity is steep, and the height above the plain uniform; but on the east it abuts upon a hilly tract of ground, and here it is but slightly elevated above the adjoining country. It cannot, therefore, have ever answered exactly to the description of Herodotus, as the eastern side could not anyhow admit of seven walls of circumvallation. It is doubted whether even the other sides were thus defended. Although the flanks on these sides are covered with ruins, "no traces remain of any wall but the upper one" (As. Jour. 10:52). Still, as the nature of the ground on three sides would allow this style of defense, and as the account in Herodotus is confirmed by the Armenian historian, writing clearly without knowledge of the earlier author, it seems best to suppose that in the peaceful times of the Persian empire it was thought sufficient to preserve the upper enceinte, while the others were allowed to fall into decay, and ultimately were superseded by domestic buildings. With regard to the coloring of the walls, or, rather, of the battlements, which has been considered to mark especially the fabulous character of Herodotus's description, recent discoveries show that such a mode of ornamentation was actually in use at the period an question in a neighboring country. The temple of the Seven Spheres at Borsippa was adorned almost exactly in the manner which Herodotus assigns to the Median capital ( SEE BABEL, TOWER OF ); and it does not seem at all improbable that, with the object of placing the city under the protection of the seven planets, the seven walls may have been colored nearly as described. Herodotus has a little deranged the order of the hues, which should have been either black, orange, scarlet, gold, white, blue, silver — as at the Borsippa temple — or black, white, orange, blue, scarlet, silver, gold — if the order of the days dedicated to the planets were followed. Even the use of silver and gold in external ornamentation — which seems at first sight highly improbable — is found to have prevailed. Silver roofs were met with by the Greeks at the southern Ecbatana (Polybius, 10:27, 10-12); and there is reason to believe that at Borsippa the gold and silver stages of the temple were actually coated with those metals. (See Rawlinson, Herodotus, 1:185.)
The northern Ecbatana continued to be an important place down to the 13th century after Christ. By the Greeks and Romans it appears to have been known as Gaza, Gazaca, or Canzaca, "the treasure city," on account of the wealth laid up in it, while by the Orientals it was termed Shiz. Its decay is referable to the Mogul conquests, cir. A.D. 1200; and its final ruin is supposed to date from about the 15th or 16th century (As. Soc. Journ. 10, part 1:49).
In the 2d book of Maccabees (9:3, etc.), the Ecbatana mentioned is undoubtedly the southern city, now represented both in name and site by Hamadan. This place, situated on the northern flank of the great mountain called formerly Oroiates, and now Elwend, was perhaps as ancient as the other, and is far better known in history. If not the Median capital of Cyrus, it was, at any rate, regarded from the time of Darius Hystaspis as the chief city of the Persian satrapy of Media, and as such it became the summer residence of the Persian kings from Darius downwards. It was occupied by Alexander soon after the battle of Arbela (Arrian, Exp. Alex. 3:19), and at his decease passed under the dominion of the Seleucidae. In the wars between his successors it was more than once taken and retaken, each time suffering largely at the hands of its conquerors (Polyb. 10:27). It was afterwards recognized as the metropolis of their empire by the Parthians (Oros. 6:4). During the Arabian period, from the rise of Bagdad on the one band and of Ispahan on the other, it sank into comparative insignificance; but still it has never descended below the rank of a provincial capital, and even in the present depressed condition of Persia it is a city of from 20,000 to 90,000 inhabitants. The Jews, curiously enough, -regard it as the residence of Ahasuerus (Xerxes?) — which is in Scripture declared to be Susa (Est_1:2; Est_2:3, etc.) — and show within its precincts the tombs of Esther and Mordecai (Ker Porter, 2:105-110). It is not distinguished by any remarkable peculiarities from other Oriental cities of the same size.
The Ecbatana of the book of Tobit is thought by Sir H. Rawlinson to be the northern city (see As. Soc. Journ. 10, 1:137-141). SEE ACHMETHA. Eccard.
SEE ECKHARD.

CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.

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