Despite a history of 7000 years, Damghan, a city in Semnan province, has been forgotten beneath desert sand dunes, whilst it is one of the most ancient metropolises in the Iranian plateau and conceals many of its mysteries in the sand.

Damghan is sitting still for many years like a seaport without shore on the periphery of the scorching desert and has even refused to beg for rain from heaven. With over a history stretching 7,000 years and a many historical monuments — including Tappeh Hessar from the Medes, Parthian and Sassanid periods, Tarikhaneh from the Sassanid period and beginning of Islam and many other historical buildings from the Seljuk period.

Historiographers ascribe the construction of Damghan to Houshang, Kioumars' great grandson and the founder of the legendary Pishdadi dynasty. The historical city has inherited various names such as Qoumes that was a province stretching from Sabzevar to Garmsar, from north up to Alborz Mountain Range and to the Lut Desert in the south.

Up to the first century CE, Damghan was the capital of that great province. During Alexander's invasion of Iran, the Greeks called it Hecatompylos. In fact, the Greeks called every big and important city 'hecatompylos' and they have recorded a similar big and bustling Egyptian city with that appellation.