A Legendary City on Alvand Hillside

The fabled fortress built by the Medes king, Deioces (647-747 BC,) is referred to in the works of the Greek historian, Herodotus. He describes Ecbatana as a castle with seven nested fences, each with a different colored battlement (white, black, purple, blue, orange, and the last two made of silver and gold). Ctesias, the Greek physician of the Achaemenids, had a different point of view than Herodotus’ about Hegmataneh. He believed that Semiramis, the legendary Assyrian queen, was the founder of this city, who ordered the construction of a water channel from the Alvand Mountains to Hegmataneh.

 

The inscriptions called Ganjnameh (treasure epistle) near Hamadan are relics of the Achaemenid Empire. The Hegmataneh mound and the Stone Lion have been attributed to the Parthians.

 

Hamadan is one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities and mentioned in the Bible. The tombs of Esther and Mordecai are major Jewish pilgrimage sites. According to the Old Testament, one day king Xerxes (Achaemenid king 466-486 BC) asked his queen to flaunt her beauty to the guests but the queen refused and he replaced her with a Jewish girl named Esther, the niece of Mordecai.

 

As a center of culture and science, Hamadan has produced many scientists, poets and artists. The tomb of Avicenna (Bu Ali Sina), the great Persian polymath, who is also known as the father of modern medicine, is also here. Endowed with such fantastic historical sites and natural beauty, Hamadan was duly awarded the title “The Capital of Iran’s History and Civilization” by the government in 2007.

Hamadan

The fabled fortress built by the Medes king, Deioces (647-747 BC,) is referred to in the works of the Greek historian, Herodotus. He describes Ecbatana as a castle with seven nested fences, each with a different colored battlement (white, black, purple, blue, orange, and the last two made of silver and gold). Ctesias, the Greek physician of the Achaemenids, had a different point of view than Herodotus’ about Hegmataneh. He believed that Semiramis, the legendary Assyrian queen, was the founder of this city, who ordered the construction of a water channel from the Alvand Mountains to Hegmataneh.

 

The inscriptions called Ganjnameh (treasure epistle) near Hamadan are relics of the Achaemenid Empire. The Hegmataneh mound and the Stone Lion have been attributed to the Parthians.

 

Hamadan is one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities and mentioned in the Bible. The tombs of Esther and Mordecai are major Jewish pilgrimage sites. According to the Old Testament, one day king Xerxes (Achaemenid king 466-486 BC) asked his queen to flaunt her beauty to the guests but the queen refused and he replaced her with a Jewish girl named Esther, the niece of Mordecai.

 

As a center of culture and science, Hamadan has produced many scientists, poets and artists. The tomb of Avicenna (Bu Ali Sina), the great Persian polymath, who is also known as the father of modern medicine, is also here. Endowed with such fantastic historical sites and natural beauty, Hamadan was duly awarded the title “The Capital of Iran’s History and Civilization” by the government in 2007.

Hamadan

The fabled fortress built by the Medes king, Deioces (647-747 BC,) is referred to in the works of the Greek historian, Herodotus. He describes Ecbatana as a castle with seven nested fences, each with a different colored battlement (white, black, purple, blue, orange, and the last two made of silver and gold). Ctesias, the Greek physician of the Achaemenids, had a different point of view than Herodotus’ about Hegmataneh. He believed that Semiramis, the legendary Assyrian queen, was the founder of this city, who ordered the construction of a water channel from the Alvand Mountains to Hegmataneh.

 

The inscriptions called Ganjnameh (treasure epistle) near Hamadan are relics of the Achaemenid Empire. The Hegmataneh mound and the Stone Lion have been attributed to the Parthians.

 

Hamadan is one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities and mentioned in the Bible. The tombs of Esther and Mordecai are major Jewish pilgrimage sites. According to the Old Testament, one day king Xerxes (Achaemenid king 466-486 BC) asked his queen to flaunt her beauty to the guests but the queen refused and he replaced her with a Jewish girl named Esther, the niece of Mordecai.

 

As a center of culture and science, Hamadan has produced many scientists, poets and artists. The tomb of Avicenna (Bu Ali Sina), the great Persian polymath, who is also known as the father of modern medicine, is also here. Endowed with such fantastic historical sites and natural beauty, Hamadan was duly awarded the title “The Capital of Iran’s History and Civilization” by the government in 2007.

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