Esther's Tomb Draws Pilgrims from All Faiths

Helen Eliassian / Teresa Neumann : Mar 25, 2005
Haaretz, Israel News

The biblical Queen Esther was not only a Jew, she was also the wife of King Ahasuerus (Xerxes I), and as such, she continues to be honored this day as an icon of Iranian history.

Scholars believe that both Esther and Mordecai were buried in a shrine at Hamadan in northwest Iran in the fifth century B.C.E. The shrine is Islamic in architecture, but has walls adorned with Hebrew inscriptions describing Esther and Mordechai's origins.

According to one Persian legend, as reported in Haaretz, Esther's tomb and the land that surrounds it served as a refuge for Iranians during the Arab conquest of Persia in 621 C.E.

As the story goes, when the Arabs began to conquer the city of Hegmataneh, the people of Iran came to the gravesite so that the spirit of Esther and Mordechai would protect them. As a result, both Jewish and non-Jewish Iranians now believe that the site is holy and cannot be destroyed. Christians from around the world visit Esther's tomb and today, the shrine -- which is maintained by Iranian Jews -- is of particular importance to women.

Read the fascinating story of one woman's efforts to restore Esther's Tomb to its current state.