Mausoleum of Esther and Mordkhāi

The mausoleum of Esther and Mordkhāi is located in the center of the city of Hamedān. It is said that the tomb of Esther, Jewish queen wife of the Achaemenid king Xerxes, and of her uncle Mordkhāi who was employed at court, is in this place and that they, through mutual collaboration, helped to improve the situation of the Jews.

This mausoleum is one of the important pilgrimage destinations of the guides and its location in the city of Hamedan has influenced the formation of the Jewish community and the continuity of this presence.

The current building was built in the seventh century of the lunar Hegira at the behest of Orghun Mongol king, in the Islamic architectural style in the place of the previous mausoleum (third century of the lunar Hegira).

The entrance consists of a low stone door that opens and closes through a wooden bolt and has a seven-by-three-meter corridor leading to the square-shaped mausoleum of 3,5 size for 3,5 meters.

In addition to iwān and shāhneshin (a secluded spot on the main side of a tālār, a iwān, etc., suitable for sitting and often reserved for guests), two carved wooden boxes are placed in the center of the tombs.

Above the sepulcher placed to the south that they say belong to Esther, there is a carved wooden case, ancient and precious and the second which is on the tomb of Mordekhāi, is very similar to the first and was built around the year 1300 (Egira solar).

On the Esther chest there is a Hebrew inscription, and even on the wall of the mausoleum an epigraph has been stuccoed in the same language in relief. The writings on the Esther chest and the raised stucco belong to the eighth-ninth century of the lunar Hegira. Also the dome on the mausoleum was built in the Islamic architectural style. In the decade 1350-60 (solar egira) a synagogue was built near this mausoleum.