Achmetha

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Ezra 6:2 , supposed to mean Ecbatana, a city of Media, inferior to none in the East but Babylon and Nineveh. It was surrounded by seven walls, of different heights and colors, and was a summer residence of the Persian kings after Cyrus. Travelers identify it with the modern Hamadan, in which many Jews still reside, and where they profess to point out the tomb of Mordecai and Esther.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Ezra 6:2

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

Ezra 6:2 Achmetha or Ecbatana. A title applied to cities with a fortress for protecting the royal treasures (Rawlinson, in Kitto's Cyclop.). (See ECBATANA.)

Holman Bible Dictionary

Ezra 6:2

No archeological work has been undertaken at Achmetha for the simple reason that it is now occupied by the modern city of Hamadan. Surface finds, two of which are a gold dagger and a gold tablet written in cuneiform, have been made, but the ruins of the ancient city await the archeologist's spade. Annual pilgrimages are made to the modern city to pay homage at the traditional burial places of Esther and Mordecai, though the historical basis of the tradition is open to question.

Bryce Sandlin

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

ACHMETHA . The Ecbatana of the Greeks and Romans, modern Hamadan . It was the capital of Media (in Old Persian Haghmatâna ). It is mentioned but once in the canonical books ( Ezra 6:2 ), as the place where the archives of the reign of Cyrus were deposited. It is several times mentioned in the Apocrypha ( 2Ma 9:3 Tob 3:7; Tob 6:7; Tob 14:13 f., Jdt 1:1 ff.).

J. F. McCurdy.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

This reads in the margin, "Ecbatana, or, in a coffer.' Ezra 6:2 . The LXX do not treat it as a proper name: the passage there reads "And there was found in the city (πόλει), in the palace, a volume." The Vulgate has "Et inventum est in Ecbatanis." Apparently history alludes to two cities named Ecbatana: one associated with the ruins at Takht-i-Suleiman, 36 28' N, 47 18' E; the other identified with the modern Hamadan, 34 48' N, 48 26' E, anciently the summer residence of Persian kings, and where the records of the kingdom were apparently kept. This is most probably the Achmetha of scripture. Travellers state that the Jews exhibit a tomb in their charge in the midst of the city, which is the reputed tomb of Mordecai and Esther.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Achmetha ( ăk'me-thah), strong box or press. Ezra 6:2. The Ecbatana of ancient Media, and the place where the records of the kingdom were preserved. The place is occupied, as it is supposed, by the modern city of Hamadan, in Persia. It was surrounded by seven walls, and at one period was considered the strongest and most beautiful city of the east, except Nineveh and Babylon.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Ach'metha. See Ecbatana .

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

See ECBATANA .

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ak´me -tha ( Ezra 6:2; אחמתא , 'aḥmethā ); Septuagint Ἀμαθά , Amathá  ; Peshitta aḥmāthān  ; in Tiglath Pileser's inscription circa 1100 bc Amadāna  : in Darius' Behistun Inscr ., II, 76-78, Hañgmatāna = "Place of Assembly"; Ἀγβάτανα , Agbátana , in Herodotus; Ἐκβάτανα , Ekbátana , Xenophon, etc.; so 1 Esdras 6:23; Tobit 3:7; 6:5; 7:1; 14:12, 14; Judith 1:1, 2, 14; 2 Macc 9:3; Talmud המדּן , hamdān  ; now hamadā̄n ).

1. Location

This, the ancient capital of Media, stood (lat 34 degrees 50´ North - long. 48 degrees 32´ East) near the modern Hamadan, 160 miles West-Southwest of Ṭĕhrān , almost 6,000 feet above the sea, circa 1 1/2 miles from the foot of Mt. Orontes (Alvand).

2. History

It was founded or rebuilt by Dēiokēs (Dayaukku) about 700 bc on the site of Ellippi an ancient city of the Mandā , and captured by Cyrus 549 bc who brought Croesus there as captive (Herodotus i.153). It was the capital of the 10th Nome under Darius I. Cyrus and other Persian kings used to spend the two summer months there yearly, owing to the comparative coolness of the climate. Herodotus describes it as a magnificent city fortified with seven concentric walls (i.98). Its citadel (, bı̄rethā ), Ezra 6:2 , wrongly rendered "palace" in the Revised Version (British and American)) is mentioned by Arrian, who says that, when Alexander took the city in 324 bc, he there stored his enormous booty. In it the royal archives were kept. It stood on a hill, where later was built a temple of Mithra. Polybius (x.27) speaks of the great strength of the citadel. Though the city was unwalled in his time, he can hardly find words to express is admiration for it, especially for the magnificent royal palace, nearly 7 stadia in circumference, built of precious kinds of wood sheathed in plates of grid and silver. In the city was the shrine of Ainē ( Nanaea , Anāhita ?). Alexander is said to have destroyed a temple of AEsculapius (Mithra?) there. Diodorus tells us the city was 250 stadia in circumference. On Mt. Alvand (10,728 feet) there have been found inscriptions of Xerxes. Doubtless Ecbatana was one of the "cities of the Medes" to which Israel was carried captive ( 2 Kings 17:6 ). It should be noted that Greek writers mention several other Ecbatanas. One of these, afterward called Gazaca (Takhti Sulaiman, a little South of Lake Urmi, lat. 36 degrees 28' North, long. 47 degrees 9' East) was capital of Atropatene. It was almost destroyed by the Mughuls in the 12th century. Sir H. Rawlinson identifies the Ecbatana of Tobit and Herodotus with this northern city. The southern and far more important Ecbatana which we have described is certainly that of 2 Macc 9:3. It was Cyrus' Median capital, and is doubtless that of Ezra 6:2 . Classical writers spoke erroneously of Ecbatăna (for Ecbatāna ) as moderns too often do of Hamadăn for Hamadān .

3. Present Condition

Hamadān has perhaps never fully recovered from the fearful massacre made there in 1220 ad by the Mongols, but its population is about 50,000, including a considerable number of descendants of the Israelites of the Dispersion (tracing descent from Asher, Naphtali, etc.). They point to the tombs of Esther and Mordecai in the neighborhood. It is a center for the caravan trade between Baghdād and Ṭĕhrān . There is an American Presbyterian mission at work.

Authorities (besides those quoted above): Ctesias, Curtius, Amm. Marcellinus, Pausanias, Strabo, Diod. Siculus; Ibnu'l Athı̄r , Yāqūt , Jahāngushā , Jâmi‛u't Tawārı̄kh , and modern travelers.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Achme´tha ( Ezra 6:2; in the Apocrypha 2 Maccabees 9:3; Judith 1:1-2; Tobit 3:7; Joseph. Antiq. x. 11, 7; xi. 4, 6; also, in Greek authors, Ecbatana), a city in Media. The name seems to have been applied exclusively to cities having a fortress for the protection of the royal treasures. In Ezra we learn that in the reign of Darius Hystaspes the Jews petitioned that search might be made in the king's treasure-house at Babylon, for the decree which Cyrus had made in favor of the Jews ( Ezra 5:17). Search was accordingly made in the record-office ('house of the rolls'), where the treasures were kept at Babylon ( Ezra 6:1): but it appears not to have been found there, as it was eventually discovered 'at Achmetha, in the palace of the province of the Medes' ( Ezra 6:2). In Judith 1:2-4, there is a brief account of Ecbatana, in which we are told that it was built by Arphaxad, king of the Medes, who made it his capital. It was built of hewn stones, and surrounded by a high and thick wall, furnished with wide gates and strong and lofty towers. Herodotus speaks of it in similar terms, and ascribes its foundation to Dejoces, who was probably the same with the Arphaxad of Judith.

Ecbatana has been usually identified with the present Hamadan, which is still an important town, and the seat of one of the governments into which the Persian kingdom is divided. It is situated in north lat. 34° 53´, east long. 40°, at the extremity of a rich and fertile plain, on a gradual ascent, at the base of the Elwund Mountains, whose higher summits are covered with perpetual snow. Some remnants of ruined walls of great thickness, and also of towers of sun-dried bricks, present the only positive evidence of a more ancient city than the present on the same spot. Heaps of comparatively recent ruins, and a wall fallen to decay, attest that Hamadan has declined from even its modern importance. The population is said by South-gate to be about 30,000, which, from what the present writer has seen of the place, he should judge to exceed the truth very considerably. It is little distinguished, inside, from other Persian towns of the same rank, save by its excellent and well-supplied bazaars, and the unusually large number of khans of rather a superior description. This is the result of the extensive transit trade of which it is the seat, it being the great center where the routes of traffic between Persia, Mesopotamia, and Persia converge and meet. Its own manufactures are chiefly in leather. Many Jews reside here, claiming to be descended from those of the Captivity who remained in Media. Benjamin of Tudela says that in his time the number was 50,000. Modern travelers assign them 500 houses; but the Rabbi David de Beth Hillel, who was not likely to understate the fact, and who had the best means of information, gives them but 200 families. He says they are mostly in good circumstances, having fine houses and gardens, and are chiefly traders and goldsmiths. In the midst of the city is a tomb, which is said to be that of Mordecai and Esther. As Ecbatana was then the summer residence of the Persian court, it is probable enough that Mordecai and Esther died and were buried there; and traditional testimony, taken in connection with this fact, and with such a monument in a place where Jews have been permanently resident, is better evidence than is usually obtained for the allocation of ancient sepulchers. The tomb is in charge of the Jews, and is one of their places in pilgrimage.

History notices another Ecbatana, in Palestine, at the foot of Mount Carmel, towards Ptolemais, where Cambyses died. It is not mentioned by this or any similar name in the Hebrew writings.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Heb. Achmetha', אִחְמְתָא , Ezra 6:2; Sept. Ἀμαθά, Vulg. Ecbatana), the ECBATANA (See Ecbatana) of classical writers ( τὰ Ε᾿κβάταυα, 2 Maccabees 9:3; Judith 11:1; Tobit 5:9; Josephus, Ant. 10:11, 7; 11:4, 6; also, in Greek authors, Ε᾿γβάτανα and Ἀγβάτανα ), a city in Media. The derivation of the name is doubtful (see Gesenius, Thes. Heb. p. 70); but Major Rawlinson (Geogr. Journal, 10, 134) has left little question that the title was applied exclusively to cities having a fortress for the protection of the royal treasures. The ancient orthography of this name is traced by Lassen (Jud. Biblioth. 3, 36) in the Sanscrit acradhana, i.e. ἱπποστασία, stable. In Ezra we learn that, in the reign of Darius Hystaspis, the Jews petitioned that search might be made in the king's treasure-house at Babylon for the decree which Cyrus had made in favor of the Jews ( Ezra 5:17). Search was accordingly made in the record-office ("house of the rolls"), where the treasures were kept at Babylon (6, 1); but it appears not to have been found there, as it was eventually discovered "at Achmetha, in the palace of the province of the Medes" (6, 2). Josephus (Ant. 10:11, 7; 11:4, 6), while retaining the proper name of Ecbatana, yet (like the Sept., which adds the generic name πόλις ) employs the word βάρις to express the Chaldee בַּירְתָא, Birtha' ("the palace"), which is used as the distinctive epithet of the city ( Ezra 6:2).

In Judith 1:2-4, there is a brief account of Ecbatana, in which we are told that it was founded by Arphaxad (Phraortes), king of the Medes, who made it his capital. It was built of hewn stones, and surrounded by a high and thick wall, furnished with wide gates and strong and lofty towers. Herodotus ascribes its foundation to Dejoces, in obedience to whose commands the Medes erected "that great and strong city, now known under the name of Agbatana, where the walls are built circle within circle, and are so constructed that each inner circle overtops its outer neighbor by the height of the battlements alone. This was effected partly by the nature of the ground — a conical hill — and partly by the building itself. The number of the circles was seven, and within the innermost was the palace of the treasury. The battlements of the first circle were white, of the second black, of the third scarlet, of the fourth blue, of the fifth orange; all these were brilliantly colored with different pigments; but the battlements of the sixth circle were overlaid with silver, and of the seventh with gold. Such were the palace and the surrounding fortification that Dejoces constructed for himself; but he ordered the mass of the Median nation to construct their houses in a circle around the outer wall" (Herodot. 1:98). It is contended by Rawlinson (Geogr. Jour. 10, 127) that this story of the seven walls is a fable of Sabaean origin — the seven colors mentioned being precisely those employed by the Orientals to denote the seven great heavenly bodies, or the seven climates in which they revolve.

This Ecbatana has been usually identified with the present Hamodan (see Journal of Education, 2, 305), which is still an important town, and the seat of one of the governments into which the Persian kingdom is divided. It is situated in north lat. 34o 53', east long. 40 o, at the extremity of a rich and fertile plain, on a gradual ascent, at the base of the Elwund mountains, whose higher summits are covered with perpetual snow. Some remnants of ruined walls of great thickness, and also of towers of sun-dried bricks, afford the only positive evidence of a more ancient city than the present on the same spot. Although still declining, it has a population of about 25,000, and contains excellent and well-supplied bazaars, and numerous khans of rather a superior description — it being the great center where the routes of traffic between Persia, Mesopotamia, and Persia converge and meet. Its own manufactures are chiefly in leather. Many Jews reside here, claiming to be descended from those of the captivity who remained in Media. Benjamin of Tudela says that in his time the number was 50,000. Rabbi David de Beth Hillel (Travels, p. 85-87, Madras, 1832) gives them but 200 families. The latest authority (J. J. Benjamin, Eight Years in Asia and Africa, Hanover, 1859, p. 204) reckons them at 500 families. They are mostly in good circumstances, having fine houses and gardens, and are chiefly traders and goldsmiths. They speak the broken Turkish of the country, and have two synagogues. They derive the name of the town from "Haman" and "Mede," and say that it was given to that foe of Mordecai by King Ahasuerus. In the midst of the city is a tomb, which is in their charge, and which is said to be that of Mordecai and Esther. It is a plain structure of brick, consisting of a small cylindrical tower and a dome (the whole about twenty feet high), with small projections or wings on three sides. An inscription on the wall in bass-relief describes the present tomb as having been built by two devout Jews of Kashan, in A.D. 714. The original structure is said to have been destroyed when Hamadan was sacked by Timour. As Ecbatana was anciently the summer residence of the Persian court, it is probable enough that Mordecai and Esther died and were buried there (see Kinneir's Persia, p. 126; Morier's Second Journey, p. 264 sq.; Southgate's Tour, 2, 102 sq.; Buckingham, Assyria, 1, 284 sq.; M'Culloch's Gazetteer, s.v. Hamadan).

The door of the tomb is very small, and consists of a single stone of great thickness, turning on its own pivot from one side. On passing through the little portal, the visitor is introduced into a small arched chamber, in which are seen the graves of several rabbis, some of which may contain the bodies of the first re-builders of the tomb, after the destruction of the original one by Timour. A second door, of very confined dimensions, is at the end of this vestibule, by which the entrance is made into a large apartment on hands and knees, and under the concave stand two sarcophagi, made of very dark wood, curiously and richly carved, with a line of Hebrew inscription running round the upper ledge of each. Other inscriptions, in the same language, are cut on the walls, while one of the most ancient, engraved on a white marble slab, is let into the wall itself. This slab is traditionally alleged to have been preserved from the ruins of the edifice destroyed by Timour, with the sarcophagi in the same consecrated spot. This last inscription is as follows: "Mordecai, beloved and honored by a king, was great and good. His garments were as those of a sovereign. Ahasuerus covered hin with this rich dress, and also placed a golden chain around his neck. The city of Susa (or Shushan) rejoiced at his honors, and his high fortune became the glory of the Jews." The inscription which encompasses the sarcophagus of Mordecai is to the following 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 griefs and sufferings were many at the first, but they became happy, because they always called upon thy 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 inscription carved round 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" (Ker Porter's Travels, 2, 88 sq.). (See Esther).

Ecbatana, or Hamadan, is not without other local traditions connected with sacred history. On the mountain Orontes, or Elwund, the body of a son of King Solomon is pretended to be buried, but what son is not mentioned. It is a large square platform, little raised, formed by manual labor out of the native rock, which is ascended by a few rugged steps, and is assuredly no covering of the dead. It is a very ancient piece of workmanship, but how it came to be connected with a son of the Jewish monarch does not appear. The Jewish natives of Hamadan are credulous as to the reputed story, and it is not unlikely that it was originally a mountain altar to the sun, illustrating what we often read in Scripture respecting the idolatrous sacrificial worship in "high places." The natives believe that certain ravines of the mountain produce a plant which can transform all kinds of metal into gold, and also cure every possible disease. They admit that no one had ever found it, but their belief in its existence is nevertheless unshaken. They also have a fabulous legend respecting a stone on the side of this mountain, which reminds the English reader of the celebrated story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves in the Arabian Nights. This stone contains an inscription in cabalistic characters, unintelligible to every one who has hitherto looked on it; but it is believed that if any person could read the characters aloud an effect would be produced which will shake the mountain to its center, it being the protecting spell of an immense hidden treasure; and these characters once pronounced, would procure instant admittance from the genii of this subterranean cavern, and the wealth it contains would be laid at the feet of the fortunate invoker of this golden." Sesame!" (See Ecbatana).

History mentions another Ecbatana, in Palestine, at the foot of Mount Carmel, toward Ptolemais, where Cambyses died (Herodot. 3, 64; Pliny 5:19). It is not mentioned by this or any similar name in the Hebrew writings. (See Reland, Paloest. p. 745.)