Ecbatana accounts, and local informants. This theory was also promoted by other historians such as Sir William Jones and the chief French orientalists. Ecbatana is the supposed capital of Astyages ("Istuvegü"), which was taken by the Persian emperor Cyrus the Great in the sixth year of Nabonidus (550/549 BC). "Please update as needed." Ecbatana Ecbatana (; "Hagmatāna" or "Haŋmatāna", literally "the place of gathering", , in Aeschylus and Herodotus, Akkadian: "a-gam-ta-nu" in the Nabonidus Chronicle) was an ancient city in Media in western Iran. It is believed that Ecbatana is in Hagmatana Hill (Tappe-ye Hagmatāna), an archaeological mound in Hamedan. According
Ecbatana A badly-damaged stone lion sculpture is of disputed date: it may be Achaemenid or Parthian. Numerous Parthian-era constructions attest to Ecbatana's status as a summer capital for the Parthian rulers. In 2006, excavations in a limited area of Hagmatana hill failed to discover anything older than the Parthian period, but this does not rule out older archaeological layers existing elsewhere within the 35-hectare site. Ecbatana was first excavated in 1913 by Charles Fossey. Excavations have been limited due to the modern town covering most of the ancient site. In 1969 the Ministry of Culture and Art began buying property on