[ Tombs and Gunbads -Tombs]

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The Tomb of Esther and Mardocai

The present building of this mausoleum, which is visited by Jewish pilgrims from all over the world, has nothing to speak about from the architectural point of  view. Under its simple brick dome, there are two graves with some Hebrew inscriptions upon the plaster work of the wall. Two exquisite wooden tomb-boxes are also to be seen, one of which is of an earlier date and bears an inscription in Hebrew. The original structure dates from the 7th century A.H. (13th century A.D.) and it might have been erected over other and more ancient tombs. The exterior form of this mausoleum, built of brick and stone, resembles Islamic constructions, and the monument consists of an entrance, a vestibule, a sanctuary, an elevation and a "Shah-Nishin" (recess). Some believe that the mausoleum is the resting-place of Esther, the Achaemenian Queen and wife of Xeroxes, and that the second tomb belongs to her uncle, Merdocai.