Rey

Rey is the capital of Rey County, Tehran Province, Iran, and is the oldest existing city in the province.

Variants of name

• Re
• Ray
• Rhages
• Rhagai
• Persian: شهر ری‎, Shahr-e-Ray, "City of Ray")
• Greek: Ῥάγαι,
• Latin: Rhagae or Rhaganae)
• Arsacia

Location

Ray today has been absorbed into the Greater Tehran metropolitan area. Ray is connected via the Tehran Metro to the rest of Tehran.

History

A settlement began here c 6,000 BCE as part of the Central Plateau Culture. The settlement was used as a capital by the Medes called Rhaga. In Classical Roman geography it was called Rhagae. It is mentioned several times in the Apocrypha. Its name dates back to the pre-Median. Some historians attribute its building to ancient mythological monarchs, and some others believe that Ray was the seat of a dynasty of Zoroastrian leader.

There is also a shrine there, dedicated to commemorate Princess Shahr Banu, eldest daughter of the last ruler of the Sassanid Empire. She gave birth to Ali Zayn al Abidin, the fourth holy Imam of the Shia faith. This was through her marriage to Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam. A nearby mountain is also named after her. However, some sources attribute the shrine to the goddess of water and fertility, Anahita, claiming it was renamed in Islamic times to protect it from any possible harm after the conversion of Iranians to Islam.