Editing Ecbatana (section)

===Historical descriptions===

==== Herodotus's description ====
[[File:Khorsabad_Salle_II_bas_relief_22_attaque_d'une_cité_mède.jpg|right|thumb|[[Assyria|Assyrian-era]] relief of a Median city built with walls forming concentric circles on a hill, similarly to how Greek authors later described Ecbatana.]]
The Greeks thought Ecbatana to be the capital of the [[Medes|Median empire]] and credited its foundation to [[Deioces]] (the ''Daiukku'' of the [[cuneiform]] inscriptions). It is alleged that he surrounded his palace in Ecbatana with seven concentric walls of different colors.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bienkowski |first1=Piotr |title=Dictionary of the Ancient Near East |last2=Millard |first2=Alan |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-8122-2115-2 |location=Philadelphia, PA |page=99 |language=en}}</ref> There are some indications that the walls of this complex might be an ancient [[ziggurat]], which was a type of temple tower with multiple stories that were common in the [[ancient Near East]].<ref name="Lendering 1996">{{Cite web |last=Lendering |first=Jona |date=1996 |title=Ecbatana (Hamadan) |url=https://www.livius.org/articles/place/ecbatana-hamadan/}}</ref>

In the 5th century BC, [[Herodotus]] wrote of Ecbatana:<blockquote>"The Medes built the city now called Ecbatana, 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 arrangements in some degree but it is 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 very nearly the same with that of [[Athens]]. On this wall the battlements are white, of the next black, of the third scarlet, of the fourth blue, the fifth orange; all these colors with paint. The last two have their battlements coated respectively with silver and gold. All these fortifications [[Deioces]] had caused to be raised for himself and his own palace."</blockquote>
[[File:Raguel's Reception of Tobias at Ecbatana MET DP801095.jpg|thumb|Raquel's reception of Tobias at Ecbatana]]
Herodotus's description is corroborated in part by stone reliefs from the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]], depicting Median citadels ringed by concentric walls. Other sources attest to the historical importance of Ecbatana based on the terms used by ancient authors to describe it such as ''Caput Mediae'' (capital of Media), the Royal Seat, and the Great City.<ref name=":02" /> It is said that Alexander the Great deposited the treasures he took from [[Persepolis]] and [[Pasargadae]] and that one of the last acts of his life was to visit the city.<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last=Balfour |first=Edward |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.283118 |title=The Cyclopædia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia |publisher=Bernard Quartitch |year=1885 |location=London |page=1027}}</ref>

The citadel of Ecbatana is also mentioned in the [[Bible]] in [[Ezra 6]]:2, in the time of [[Darius I]], as part of the national archives.

==== Description in the Chronicle of Nabonidus ====
The [[Nabonidus Chronicle]], an ancient Babylonian text from the 5th century BC, describes how [[Astyages]], the last Median king, was dethroned and how [[Cyrus the Great|Cyrus]] conquered Ecbatana.<blockquote>"King [[Astyages]] called up his troops and marched against [[Cyrus the Great|Cyrus]], king of [[Anshan (Persia)|Anšan]] [''i.e., Persis''], in order to meet him in battle. The army of Astyages revolted against him and delivered him in fetters to Cyrus. Cyrus marched against the country of Ecbatana; the royal residence he seized; silver, gold, other valuables of the country Ecbatana he took as booty and brought to Anšan."<ref name="Lendering 1996"/></blockquote>

==== Polybius of Megalopolis's description ====
[[File:Andrea_Vaccaro_-_Raguel's_Blessing_of_her_Daughter_Sarah_before_Leaving_Ecbatana_with_Tobias_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg|thumb|Raguel's Blessing of her Daughter Sarah before Leaving Ecbatana with Tobias, by [[Andrea Vaccaro]]]]
In the 2nd century BC, [[Polybius]] writes about Ecbatana. He mentions that the wealth and magnificence of its buildings make it stand out among all other cities. It has no walls but an artificial citadel with amazing fortifications. Underneath this is the palace which is about seven stories in circumference, and its magnificence shows the wealth of its founders. During his time, no parts of the woodwork were left exposed. There were silver or gold-plated rafters, compartments in the ceiling, and columns in the porticos and colonnades, and silver tiles were used throughout the structure. In the invasion by [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]], most precious metals were stripped, while the remainder were stripped during [[Antigonus I Monophthalmus|Antigonus]]'s and [[Seleucus I Nicator|Seleucus]]'s reigns. However, Antiochus found that the columns of the temple of Aene were still gilded and that several silver tiles were piled up around the temple along with some gold bricks (Polybius, 10.27).<ref>{{Cite web |last= |last2= |title=Polybius Histories |script-title= |url=http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Polybius/10*.html#27 |access-date=2022-12-03 |website=penelope.uchicago.edu |edition=Book 10-27}}</ref>