RAGES . The modern Rei , 6 miles S.E. of Teheran, one of the seats of the ancient Iranian civilization, but now a mass of fallen walls and stupendous ruins covered with mounds of débris . Its position near the Caspian Gates gave it great strategic importance. It was the capital of Media before Ecbatana, and has the distinction of having been the home of the mother of Zoroaster. It is frequently mentioned in the Apocrypha. In Tobit ( Tob 1:14; Tob 4:1; Tob 4:20; Tob 5:5; Tob 6:13; Tob 9:2 ) it was visited by the angel Raphael, and there he recovered for Tobias the deposit of silver which his father had placed there. In Judith ( Jdt 1:5; Jdt 1:15 ) it is said that in Ragau (evidently the same place) Nebuchadnezzar slew in battle ‘Arphaxad’ prince of the Medes. In Tob 6:9 read Ecbatana for Rages .
J. F. M‘Curdy.