ECBATANA ('Eubáttena'). - Two cities of Media, one of which was the capital of northern Media (Media Atropatene), while the other, further south, was the capital of Greater Media. The first has been identified with the ruins of Taht-i Sulajmân; the second is supposed to be located at the present-day city of Hamaçân.
Herodotus says of the first that it is the city "of the seven encircling walls" and gives a long description of it. This resembles in part the one given in the deuterocanonical book of Jdt. 1:1-4.
In the times of Sargon II of Assyria, the Mede Deioces had gathered together many scattered tribes of Elamites, Samaritans, and Anšanites, had himself proclaimed king, and had chosen E. as his capital. Phraortes, ca. 647-25, succeeded him, brought other regions under his sway and won them over to his cause, and triumphed over Teispes, king of the Persians, who had taken advantage of the destruction of Susa (640) to seize the rest of Elam and proclaim himself king of Ansan. Phraortes (the Arphaxad of Jdt. 1:1) was established in his capital E. for only a few years, since he died in a war against Assyria.
The northern E. is also mentioned in Tob. 3:7; 7; 8. The text of the Vulgate, which gives the name Rages instead of E., stands alone against all the other versions and must therefore be corrected: this is also required by the context of chapters 7 to 8, where Raphael speaks of a city (not named) in order to go to Rages, where Gabelus lived.
The southern E. was the capital of the Parthian Empire. Earlier, under Darius I, it was the summer residence of the kings of Persia. The Bible probably alludes to it in Ezra 6:2, where the copy of the edict of Cyrus was found that permitted the Jews to return to their homeland and to rebuild the Temple and their capital.
Giustino Boson