Qualla: Hamadan: Where Civilization Gathered

Hamadan: Where Civilization Gathered: Introduction

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The name tells you everything. Hagmatana - the gathering place. Before Cyrus united the Persian tribes, before Alexander burned Persepolis, this city in the western Iranian highlands was already ancient. Hamadan sits at the foot of Mount Alvand, 1,850 meters above sea level, and its history stretches back at least three thousand years to when the Medes made it their capital under the name Ecbatana. Herodotus described its seven concentric walls, each painted a different color, the innermost plated in gold and silver. Whether that description was fact or legend, the city's importance was real. Ecbatana became the summer capital of the Achaemenid Empire, then the Parthians, then the Sassanids. Empires rose and fell around it. Hamadan gathered them all.

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Hamadan: Where Civilization Gathered: The Median Capital Beneath the Streets

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Archaeological excavations in the heart of modern Hamadan have uncovered layers of the ancient city of Ecbatana, now recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2024. The Medes established their capital here in the 7th century BC under Deioces, who united the scattered Media...

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Hamadan: Where Civilization Gathered: Treasure Letters on the Mountain

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Twelve kilometers southwest of Hamadan, carved into the granite face of Mount Alvand, two large inscriptions overlook a waterfall and valley. For centuries, locals called the site Ganj Nameh - treasure letter - believing the carvings contained directions to hidden Achaemenid gold...

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Hamadan: Where Civilization Gathered: A City of Scholars and Saints

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

In the early 11th century, the physician and philosopher Ibn Sina - known in the West as Avicenna - arrived in Hamadan when it served as the capital of the Buyid dynasty. Shams al-Dawla, the Buyid ruler, made him vizier. Between political duties and occasional imprisonment, Ibn S...

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Hamadan: Where Civilization Gathered: Poets and a Soldier Bear

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Hamadan has produced an unlikely roster of notable figures. Baba Taher, the 11th-century mystic poet, wrote quatrains in a local dialect that still resonate in Persian literature. Shirin Ebadi, born in Hamadan, became the first Muslim woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 200...

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Hamadan: Where Civilization Gathered: The Living City

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Modern Hamadan radiates outward from Imam Khomeini Square, six boulevards extending like spokes from a central hub designed by a German urban planner in the 1920s. The city is home to several universities, including Bu-Ali Sina University named after its most famous resident. The...

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