. Persia past and present; a book of travel and research, with more than two hundred illustrations and a map . f Ecbatana,the capital of ancient Media.^ About five oclock in the afternoon my train of tired animalsslowly entered Hamadan, weary from almost a fortnight ofuninterrupted marching from Urumiah. Not a sign of the ancient glory of Ecbatana, that was oncethe home of kings, struck my eye, nor was there a trace of thatsolemn grandeur which is noble in its decay at Persepolis andPasargadse. I saw instead only crooked streets, alleys where 1 The name Alvand or Elvend is as pilgrimages to th
. Persia past and present; a book of travel and research, with more than two hundred illustrations and a map . f Ecbatana,the capital of ancient Media.^ About five oclock in the afternoon my train of tired animalsslowly entered Hamadan, weary from almost a fortnight ofuninterrupted marching from Urumiah. Not a sign of the ancient glory of Ecbatana, that was oncethe home of kings, struck my eye, nor was there a trace of thatsolemn grandeur which is noble in its decay at Persepolis andPasargadse. I saw instead only crooked streets, alleys where 1 The name Alvand or Elvend is as pilgrimages to the grave of one of the old as the Avesta, where it is found as followers of the Prophet, named Sahib Aurvant; see Yt. 19. 3, asta aurvanto Zaman, who is buried on the top of fdnkavo, the eight spurs (?) of Aur- Alvand, and near the grave is a spring vant. In the Pahlavi Bundahishn it known as Chashmah-i Malik, Foun- is Alvand (Bd. 19. 3, alvant). The tain of the called it Mount Orontes 2 gee the description of Herodotus, (0/)6Knjs). The Mohammedans make p. 152, below. MT. ALVAND IN THE DISTANCE. HV/W/ HiyoN THE MODERN CITY 147 ran channels of dirty water, rows of shabby houses with flatmud roofs, and not a vestige of beauty anywhere. The wind-ing street which I followed led past a Mohammedan burying-ground located in the heart of the town. I shall never forgetthe stench from the shallow graves. Nothing but the severityof the winters and the healthy position of the town itself savesHamadan from pest. Street-cleaning ordinances appear not toexist, and natures scavengers, the birds of prey, seem sadly toneglect their duty, for the carcass of a dead dog was lying inone of the frequented lanes during the entire time of my twovisits at Hamadan. The outline of the city is roughly that of a parallelogram,running from north to south.^ Mount Alvand lies at a dis-tance of about three miles on the southern side; the Musallah,or acropolis hill, is adjacent to the eastern section
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