Editing Ecbatana (section)

==Archaeology==
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| image1            = Coin of Artabanus II of Parthia.jpg
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| caption1          = [[Artabanus II]]
| caption2          = [[Phraates III]]
| image3            = Coin of Vonones I of Parthia.jpg
| caption3          = [[Vonones I]]
| image4            = Coin of Osroes I (cropped), Ecbatana mint.jpg
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| image6            = Coin of Vologases V, Ecbatana mint.jpg
| caption6          = [[Vologases V]]
| image7            = Coin of Mithridates V of Parthia, Ecbatana mint.jpg
| caption7          = [[Mithridates V of Parthia|Mithridates V]]
| image8            = Drachm of Phraates V and his mother Musa, Ecbatana mint.jpg
| caption8          = [[Phraates V]] and his mother [[Musa of Parthia|Musa]]
| image5            = The portrait of Phraates V on the obverse of a drachm, Ecbatana mint.jpg
| image9            = Coin_of_Vologases_VI_of_Parthia_%28cropped%29,_Ecbatana_mint.jpg
| caption5          = [[Phraates V]]
| caption9          = [[Vologases VI]]
| image10           = Roundel with winged lion - Achaemenid gold, said to have been found at Hamadan at Tepe Hagmatana, the site of ancient Ecbatana, 550-330 BC - Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago - DSC07984.JPG
| caption10         = Roundel with winged lion, Achaemenid gold
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Topographically, Hamadan is characterized by three hills, Mosalla (place of prayer), Tell Hagmatana (Tappa-ye Hagmatana), Sang-e Sir, and the Alusjerd river, which flows from north to south, separates the city into two parts.<ref name=":3" />

The summit of the Moṣallā, an {{convert|80|m|abbr=on}}-high rock hill in the southeast sector, contains stone and brick remnants of a rectangular [[citadel]] marked by towers. It is believed to be the Median citadel, which dates back no earlier than the Parthian era.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Flandin |first=Eugène |title=Voyage en Perse |publisher=Paris, Gide et J. Baudry |year=1851 |page=390}}</ref><ref name=":3" />

The Tell Hagmatana, also called Tepe Hegmataneh (thought to correspond to the ancient citadel of Ecbatana) has a circumference of {{convert|1.4|km|abbr=on}} and an area of about 40 hectares, which corresponds to a report from [[Polybius]], although the ancient Greek and Roman accounts likely exaggerate Ecbatana's wealth, splendor, and extravagance.{{sfn|Brown|1997|pp=80–84}}

Relatively few finds thus far can be firmly dated to the Median era. There is a "small, open-sided room with four corner columns supporting a domed ceiling, similar to a Median-era structure from [[Noushijan Tappe|Tepe Nush-i Jan]], interpreted as a [[Zoroastrian]] [[fire temple]].<ref>Michael Stausberg, Yuhan Sohrab-Dinshaw Vevaina (eds.), [https://books.google.com/books?id=cm_-CAAAQBAJ&pg=PA394&dq=Hagmatana ''The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Zoroastrianism''] (2015), p. 394</ref> Excavations have revealed a massive defensive wall made of mud-bricks, and dated to the Median period based on a comparison to Tepe Nush-i Jan and [[Godin Tepe]]. There are also two column bases from the Achaemenid period, and some mud-brick structures thought to be from the Median or Achaemenid periods. A badly-damaged stone lion sculpture is of disputed date: it may be Achaemenid or Parthian. Numerous Parthian-era constructions attest to Ecbatana's status as a summer capital for the Parthian rulers.{{sfn|Brown|1997|pp=80–84}} In 2006, excavations in a limited area of Hagmatana hill failed to discover anything older than the Parthian period, but this does not rule out older archaeological layers existing elsewhere within the 35-hectare site.<ref>[http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=2&id=6905 CHN | News<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070218163944/http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=2&id=6905|date=2007-02-18}}</ref>

Ecbatana was first excavated in 1913 by [[Charles Fossey]].<ref name="Chevalier1989">{{cite journal |last1=Chevalier |first1=N |title=Hamadan 1913: Une mission oubliée in Mélanges P. Amiet II |journal=Iranica Antiqua |date=1989 |volume=24 |pages=245–253 |id={{INIST|11836944}} {{ProQuest|1297871996}} |doi=10.2143/ia.24.0.2014036 }}</ref>  Fossey discovered fragments of column bases adorned with arabesques and inscriptions, glazed bricks, and faience tiles during the course of the six-week excavation of Mosalla. Based on his chance discoveries, it looks like the {{convert|30|m|abbr=on}}-high mound, Tell Hagmatana, is the site of the Median citadel and the Achaemenid royal construction. The sculptured head of a prince was found during the three months-long excavation of the eastern section.<ref name="Chevalier1989" />

Excavations have been limited due to the modern town covering most of the ancient site.<ref>Neil Asher Silberman (ed.), [https://books.google.com/books?id=xeJMAgAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA121&dq=ecbatana ''The Oxford Companion to Archaeology, Volume 1''] (2012), p. 121]</ref> In 1969, the Ministry of Culture and Art began buying property on the [[Tell (archaeology)|tell]] in support of archaeology, though excavation did not begin until 1983. By 2007, 12 seasons of excavation had occurred.<ref>Azarnoosh, Masoud, The Report of Stratigraphic Excavations in Hegmataneh, Hamedan. The Ninth Annual Congress of Archaeology (In Persian). Tehran: Iranian Center for Archaeological Research, 2007</ref> In 1974, the Iranian Centre for Archeological Research performed some excavation in the Parthian cemetery located at southeast of Hamedan.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kleiss |first1=Wolfram |last2=Delougaz |first2=P. P. |last3=Kantor |first3=Helene J. |last4=Dollfus |first4=G. |last5=Smith |first5=Philip E. L. |last6=Bivar |first6=A. D. H. |last7=Fehérvári |first7=G. |last8=Azarnoush |first8=Massoud |last9=Dyson |first9=Robert H. |last10=Pigott |first10=Vincent C. |last11=Tosi |first11=Maurizio |last12=Sumner |first12=William M. |last13=Whitehouse |first13=David |last14=Stronach |first14=David |last15=Naumann |first15=Rudolf |last16=Mortensen |first16=Peder |last17=T. C. Young |first17=Jr. |last18=Zagarell |first18=A. |title=Survey of Excavations in Iran: 1973-74 |journal=Iran |date=1975 |volume=13 |pages=172–193 |doi=10.2307/4300535 |jstor=4300535 }}</ref> The work on the tell is ongoing.<ref>[http://ijas.usb.ac.ir/article_1450_667b2a8e8e37495ff452d7ec681b7d2b.pdf], Yaghoub Mohammadifar et al, Preliminary Report of the 16th Season of Excavations at Tepe Hegmataneh; Hamedan, Iranian Journal of Archaeological Studies 2: 2 (2012)</ref>