Also spelled
RAY, REY, OR RAI, OLD Persian RAGHA, Latin RHAGAE, formerly one of the great cities of
Iran. The remains of the ancient city lie on the eastern outskirts of the modern city of
Shahr-e-Ray, which itself is located just a few miles southeast of Tehran.A settlement at
the site dates from the 3rd millennium BC. Ray is featured in the Avesta (the original
document of Zoroastrianism, an Iranian religion) as a sacred place, and it is also
mentioned in the book of Tobit, of the biblical Apocrypha, and by classical authors. Ray
was captured by the Muslim Arabs in AD 641. During the reign of the Muslim caliph al-Mahdi
in the 8th century, the city grew in importance until it was rivaled in western Asia only
by Damascus and Baghdad. Islamic writers described it as a city of extraordinary beauty,
built largely of fired brick and brilliantly ornamented with blue faience (glazed
earthenware). It continued to be an important city under the rule of the Seljuqs, but in
the 12th century it was weakened by the fierce quarrels of rival religious sects. In 1220
the city was almost entirely destroyed by the Mongols, and its inhabitants were massacred.
Most of the survivors of the massacre moved to nearby Tehran, and the deserted
remnants of Ray soon fell into complete ruin.Ray was famous
for its decorated silks, of unsurpassed artistic perfection, and for ceramics. Only two
architectural monuments survive: the tower of Toghrïl (1139) and a partially ruined
tower.
