Chapter 61 Open the History of Iran

According to our intention, when we enter Iran, we should go straight to the capital Tehran, and then use Tehran as the base point to radiate around every day.This is to minimize the number of places to stay, because it is really tiring to move so many equipment and luggage from the car every time you change to a place.According to the security situation along this road, even if the car is parked in the garage of the hotel, if the equipment and luggage are not unloaded, it will inevitably be stolen. Yesterday, customs clearance was delayed until evening. According to locals, it takes nine hours to drive from the border to Tehran, and there are a lot of mountain roads.After thinking again and again, I can only stay in Baha Talan for one night. I will set off early today and arrange breakfast on the way.After driving for more than two hours, I was really hungry. I stopped to have breakfast when I saw a small town called Hamadan.

Chatting with the locals during breakfast, I discovered that this small town that I bumped into by accident also has some monuments to see.Calculating that the time for traveling today is still relatively loose, let’s take a look at it by the way, and it is right to make an adaptive preparation for going deep into Iran.This is also because I was frightened by the lesson of Iraq: I plunged into the ancient city of Babylon unprepared, and I was so frustrated that I couldn't even speak a word.Iran should be better off, right? The first monument is in the city, an excavation site of an ancient city, and there is an exhibition hall nearby.We asked the staff some questions, and the staff thought it was more professional, so they immediately invited a thin scholar wearing glasses, who introduced himself as Reggie Barron, an archaeologist.After he briefly said, I immediately became serious. Could it be that our occasional stop this time really stopped at such an important place?

He said it was the capital of the kingdom of Medea, which was only discovered five years ago.I think that alone will excite any student of Iranian history.Medes was the first kingdom established by the Iranians. This kingdom unified the various tribes of Iran, eliminated the brutal Assyrian Empire, and itself perished in the middle of the sixth century BC.Little is known about this kingdom, except for some records in cuneiform writing found in Babylon, and the Greek historian Herodotus also mentioned it, but it was all indirect.We only know roughly that the Medes were originally a nomadic people in the north, they developed to the south, and established their capital in a place called Hekmatana.According to records, this is a valley where the four directions meet, and the water from the melting snow mountains can be used for irrigation.Who would have thought that what we stepped into by chance today was the ancient city of Heikematana, which was discovered not long ago!I don't know what power it is, let us read from the first page of Iran's history.

I looked around, and it was indeed a valley, and the snow-capped mountains not far away were very dazzling in the sun. Bow your head and walk into the excavation site. A large shed has been set up here, with a wooden aisle in the middle. Below the aisle is the ruins of the capital of the Medes Kingdom two or three thousand years ago.The dense houses and small streets are all carefully designed.After coming out of the shed, not far away is the excavation site of the city gate of Media. Layers of city bricks are clearly visible, and the base of a watchtower was excavated beside it. I asked Mr. Reggie Baron, at the archaeological site, has the reason for the annihilation of this ancient city been found, such as military disasters, fires or earthquakes?

Mr Regis Barron said: "Nothing was found.In fact, it did not disappear in a sudden way, but people lived here from generation to generation, experienced countless dynasties, dismantled, buried, filled, and rebuilt, completely forgetting what it was before.During the excavation process, cultural relics from later eras were also discovered, from the Persian Empire era, Alexander era, Parthian and Sasanian eras, to the Islamic era.Until 30 or 40 years ago, there were still people building houses on it. How did they know that the Hekmatana that historians were looking for was right under their feet!

I asked about the process of the discovery five years ago, and he said that it was a scene of underground collision during road construction, so an archeology professor immediately presided over the excavation.The professor of archeology was Iranian with a very long name, which I did not remember.So far, I have understood in my heart that it is impossible for the farce of the ancient city of Babylon to appear in Iran. After having breakfast, I saw Hekmatana, and I bid farewell to it with great joy.I really don't want the second monument to dilute the impression of it, but our convoy has stopped in a street according to the guidance of local enthusiasts, saying that it is to see a Jewish grave.

This small street is very old, and within a short walk, you can see a masonry building with a dome, which is where the tomb is.Enter the door, pass through a small courtyard, and see a very low stone cave.There is a stone door in the stone cave, and there is a small hole on the stone door. The old gatekeeper reached in with his hand, touched it, and the stone door opened.The old man asked us to take off our shoes and bowed to enter. After entering, we stepped on the thick carpet and looked straight up. There were two shiny black coffins. The process was so mysterious that it finally drew my attention.

The old gatekeeper looked at us with bright eyes and started to introduce.Unexpectedly, as soon as he introduced it, I was surprised by what power was driving me just like before, and I stood there stupidly without moving, because what I opened in front of me was the second page of Iranian history, and this page was the second page of Iranian history. It is so brilliant! Media, with Heqmatana as its capital, was eventually conquered by a young ruler from the Montenegro region in Persia. He was Cyrus (or spelled Kurus), who was famous in world history.We have known him for a long time, because historians agree that he was a particularly generous and benevolent conqueror in the history of the ancient world.No matter what place he conquered, he always respected the religion of that place, even to the point of respect, which surprised the people of the conquered place.After he invaded Babylon, he liberated the tens of thousands of Jews who had been taken captive from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, and announced that these famous Babylonian prisoners could return to their hometown freely.

And here begins a touching fact: Ancient Persia became a place of special courtesy to Jews.The tomb in front of us is buried with a queen of the descendant ruler of the dynasty he founded. Her name is Ester, and she is a Jew.Her husband died in battle and could not be buried together.Beside her buried in the coffin was her uncle Mordhai, a well-known prophet of wisdom among the Jewish people. The old gatekeeper was very excited, saying that he himself was a Jew, and that he was honored to watch the witnesses and witnesses of the friendship between the Jews and the Persians 2,300 years ago.He said that the small stone gate, the beams and the skylight in the coffin chamber were all original objects more than 2,000 years ago, and he also said that Jews from all over the world still come here to worship.

I asked his name, and he said it was Reshad; I asked the name of the street where the cemetery was located, and he said it was Chariott Street.I said I would remember and tell others because this place touches on a theme I've been looking for.It thrills me that this subject appears so early on on the second page of Iranian history. Thank you so much for your short stay in Hamadan.Get in the car, I have already made up my mind about the trip to Iran. November 20, 1999, Iran, from Bakhtaran to Ramadan, arrived in Tehran at night, stayed at Laleh Hotel