Hamadan is a pleasant provincial capital with a number of interesting places to visit within and close by the city. On the western edge of town is Ganjnameh, whose Achaemenid cuneiform inscriptions include the famous line: “I am Darius, King of Kings”, while to the north Lalejin is a village renowned for its skilful execution of decorative pottery. Near the city centre the remains of Ecbatana are gradually being unearthed; built by the Medes as their capital in the seventh or eighth century BC most of Ectabana unfortuanely lies inaccessible under modern Hamadan. Bu Ali Sina (980-1037), the most influential of all Islamic philosopher-scientists, is commemorated with a mausoleum in the town centre, and Esther (of Old Testament fame) and her uncle, Mordecai, warrant a thirteenth century tomb which was at one time Iran’s top Jewish pilgrimage site; today, women of all religious backgrounds still visit the site to pray for children.