* at Achmetha. or, at Ecbatana, or, in a coffer.
[achmta [,] probably from the Persian
[chm,] {kham,} "a house for a summer residence," with a
prefix, [a,] {aleph,} and the Chaldee termination [ta,]
{tha,} most likely denotes Ecbatana, as the Vulgate and
Josephus read, the summer residence of the Persian monarchs.
It was situated in a mountainous region at the foot of mount
Orontes, or Jasonius, according to Ammianus, on the southern
confines of Media and Persia, and according to Pliny, 750
miles from Seleucia the Great, 20; miles from the Caspian
passes, 450; miles from Susa, and the same from Gaz(910a) Atropatene, and in lat. 37; degrees 45; min., long. 88; degrees,
according to Ptolemy. The building of the city is ascribed to
Semiramis by Diodorus, but to Deioces by Eusebius, (in Chron.
1.1,) and Herodotus, who states that it was surrounded by
seven walls, strong and ample, built in circles one within
another, rising each above each by the height of their
respective battlements; each being distinguished by a
different colour, the first white, the second black, the third
purple, the fourth blue, the fifth orange, the sixth plated
with silver, and the seventh with gold. The largest of these
was nearly the extent of Athens, i.e., 200; furlongs, according
to Dion Chrysostom; but Diodorus Siculus states the
circumference of Ecbatana to be 250; furlongs. Within the
inner circle stood the king's palace and the royal treasury,
so much celebrated for its splendour and riches by Polybius.
It is highly probable, as D'Anville and Major Rennel suppose,
that the present Hamadan, whose ruins attest its former
splendour, occupies the site of Ecbatana. It is situated in
Al Gebal, at the foot of the lofty mountain Alwend, about 80
leagues from Ispahan, and also from Bagdad.
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