King Darius then issued an order, and they searched in the archives stored in the treasury at Babylon. A scroll was found in the citadel of Ecbatana in the province of Media, and this was written on it … - Ezra 6:1-2

Today's Scripture Reading (September 30, 2023): Ezra 6

Hamadan. The modern city is the capital of the Iranian province that bears the same name. The city sits in a green mountainous region and exists at an altitude of 1,850 meters or 6,069 feet. In comparison, Denver, Colorado, often called the Mile High City, exists at an elevation of 1,610 meters or 5280 feet. (The peak elevation of a Denver neighborhood is 1730 meters or 5,690 feet.) All of this means that the highest part of Denver is still lower than the city of Hamadan. The population of the Modern city of Hamadan is just short of 800,000 people (again, compared to the 715,000 that make their home in Denver, Colorado.)

But Hamadan is also an ancient city. Continuing the comparison with Denver, Colorado, the North American city, like virtually all North American cities, is relatively young. Denver was first named on November 17, 1858, as Denver City, Kansas Territory, named after the Kansas Territory Governor James W. Denver. Hamadan has been in existence since the 600s B.C.E. but may have been inhabited from as far back as the 1100s B.C.E. Hamadan is a city that was also known as Ecbatana.

Ecbatana or Hamadan in ancient times was important because of its elevation. The city's elevation made it an excellent place to preserve leather, the documents on which important decrees and events were recorded. And so, essential documents would often be transferred from lower elevations to Hamadan so that they could be preserved.

Ezra says that King Darius ordered a search for a document concerning the rebuilding of Jerusalem at the request of Governor Tattenai in Babylon. The reality is that at least forty years have passed since the passing of the decree and this search. (Cyrus reigned from 559 to 530 B.C.E., and Darius reigned from 522 to 486 B.C.E.) But Darius didn't treat this as an unimportant matter. It would have been easy to do a cursory search in Babylon and then send a message back that no documents could be found. However, in a day when there were no computers to make a search like this a little easier, Darius appears to have made a diligent attempt to find any documents concerning Jerusalem that a previous administration had authored.

And when nothing was found in Babylon, Darius went beyond. He sent word for the same kind of search to be conducted at Hamadan or Ecbatana on the chance that the document had been considered important enough to be transferred there. And sure enough, the records were found because of the diligent search commanded by Darius. After the meticulous investigation, Darius had a message to send to Governor Tattenai, the person leading the province in the area of the Trans-Euphrates.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Haggai 1