Ecbatana (Achmetha)

Ecbatana, called Achmetha in the KJV, was the old capital of the Medes and later a summer residence of the Persian kings. It appears once in Scripture, at a crucial moment in the rebuilding of the temple. When the Jews' right to rebuild was challenged, King Darius ordered a search of the royal archives. The record was found not in Babylon but 'at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of the Medes': a roll recording that Cyrus, in his first year, had decreed that the house of God at Jerusalem be built, with the expenses given out of the king's house and the gold and silver vessels restored. Darius confirmed the decree, the work went forward, and the house was finished in the sixth year of his reign. A forgotten scroll in a distant palace became the means God used to keep His promise.

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Details

Region: Persia
Modern Location: Hamadan, western Iran

Strongest connections in Scripture

Ezra 6 2×

Key Passages

The Decree Found at Achmetha

Ezra 6:1-5

A search of the archives turns up Cyrus's forgotten order to rebuild the temple.

T¹hen Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in the house of the rolls, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon.

² And there was found at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of the Medes, a roll, and therein was a record thus written: ³ In the first year of Cyrus the king the same Cyrus the king made a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, Let the house be builded, the place where they offered sacrifices, and let the foundations thereof be strongly laid; the height thereof threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof threescore cubits; ⁴ With three rows of great stones, and a row of new timber: and let the expenses be given out of the king’s house: ⁵ And also let the golden and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took forth out of the temple which is at Jerusalem, and brought unto Babylon, be restored, and brought again unto the temple which is at Jerusalem, every one to his place, and place them in the house of God.

The House Finished

Ezra 6:14-15

With the decree confirmed, the elders build and finish the temple in the sixth year of Darius.

A¹⁴nd the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.