American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth
Edition - A city of ancient Media on the site of present-day
Hamadan in western Iran. It was captured by Cyrus the Great in
549 B.C. and plundered by Alexander, Seleucus I, and Antiochus
III. - From Latin Ecbatana, from Ancient Greek Ἐκβάτανα
(Ekbatana). (Wiktionary) “Now Arphaxad king of the Medes had
brought many nations under his dominions, and he built a very
strong city, which he called Ecbatana,” “And there was found in
Ecbatana, which is a castle in the province of Media, a book in
which this record was written.” “(Ezra 6: 2), called Ecbatana by
classical writers, the capital of northern Media.” “Gaza,
Gazaca, or Canzaca, is thought to have also been called
Ecbatana, and to have been occasionally mistaken by the Greeks
for the southern or real capital.” The Seven Great Monarchies Of
The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 3. (of 7): Media The History,
Geography, And Antiquities Of Chaldaea, Assyria, Babylon, Media,
Persia, Parthia, And Sassanian or N