they have made pilgrimages from time immemorial.  In the centre of the Jewish quarter there is to be seen a low building with a cupola, on the top of which a stork has built its nest.  The entrance is walled up for the greater part; there only remains below a small aperture which can be closed by a movable flat stone serving the purpose of a door and affording some protection from attacks, which are not uncommon.  In the entrance hall, which has but a low ceiling, are recorded the names of pilgrims; also the year when the building was restored.  Thence one gains access into a small four-cornered chamber in which there are two high sarcophagi made of oak, which are the monuments of Esther and Mordecai.  On both of them are inscribed in Hebrew the words of the last chapter of the Book of Esther, as well as the names of three Physicians at whose expense the tomb was repaired.”  Dr. Polak states that in the Middle Ages the Jewish population of Persia was very large, especially in the southern provinces.  In recent years it has greatly diminished in consequence of dire persecution.  He was assured that not more than 2,000 Jewish families remained in the country.  Eighty years ago the entire community at Meshed were forcibly converted to Islam.  Cf.  E.N.  Adler, Jews in Many Lands, p. 214.]

[Footnote 161:  Referring to Benjamin’s statement that Mordecai and Esther are buried at Hamadan, an interesting article by Mr. Israel Abrahams upon the subject, with an illustration of the traditional tomb, as well as a picture of ancient Susa, will be found in the Jewish Chronicle of March 19, 1897.  In the issue of March 4, 1898, Mr. Morris Cohen, of Bagdad, furnished a full copy of the inscriptions in the Mausoleum, but they possess no historical value.  The reputed Prayer of Esther seen there by former travellers is no longer extant.

The statement of E. Jehiel Heilprin, in the Seder Hadoroth, that Mordecai and Esther are buried at Shomron is devoid of foundation, and may have arisen through reading here [Hebrew:] for [Hebrew:].  For information derived from the works of mediaeval Arab writers respecting Persia and the adjacent countries the reader should consult Mr. Guy Le Strange’s book, The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate.  The maps will be found most useful.]

[Footnote 162:  The British Museum version omits this passage.  An inspection of the map will show that Tabaristan lies a long distance to the north of the trade route which leads from Hamadan to Ispahan.]

[Footnote 163:  The great extent of Ispahan is accounted for by the fact that it consisted of two towns; the one called Jay, measured half a league across; the other, Al Yahudiyah, the “Jew Town” two miles to the westward, was double the size of Jay.  Mukadassi states that the city had been originally founded by the Jews in the time of Nebuchadnezzar, because its climate resembled that of Jerusalem.