Ecbatana

— the Greco-Latin name for the Hebrew city of Achmetha, city and capital of the kingdom of Media (Ezra 6:2), and also the summer residence of the Persian and, later, the Parthian kings. The city of Ecbatana was situated at, or very near, the site of the present-day city of Hamadan, one of the most significant cities of present-day Persia. Remnants of a stone wall are still visible here. According to Herodotus, the city was built by Deioces, king of Media, and surrounded by seven concentric walls (Judith 1:1–4).

In this city, in all likelihood, was found the scroll in which Cyrus commands the Jews to rebuild the Temple. There was here a magnificent royal palace and a temple of the sun. In Ecbatana once lived Raguel, a kinsman of Tobit, to which city Tobias also removed after the death of his parents, and where he died (Tobit 6:6; 14:12). In this city, in all likelihood, the tombs of Esther and Mordecai are pointed out. The city was, as we have already noted above, the favorite residence of the Persian kings, but Alexander of Macedon, too, 324 years before Christ, spent two autumn months here and celebrated the festival of Dionysia in this place.

In the early centuries of Christianity the Gospel was preached in Ecbatana, and a church was established there. Mention of its bishops is found in the history of the Eastern Church, but a Christian community has long since ceased to exist there. It is said that a considerable number of Jews are still found here to this day.