ELAM
![](555px-Elam_Map-en.svg.png)
Map
showing the area of the Elamite Empire (in orange) and the neighboring
areas. The approximate Bronze Age extension of the Persian Gulf
is shown
Alternative
names : Elamites, Susiana
Geographical range : Iran
Period : Pre-Iranic
Dates : 3300 – 539 BC
Preceded by : Proto-Elamite
Followed by : Achaemenid Empire
To
view List of rulers of Elam click
here.
Elam
(Elamite: haltamti; Sumerian: NIM.MAki; Hebrew: Êlam; Old
Persian: Uvja) was an ancient civilization centered in the far west
and southwest of modern-day Iran, stretching from the lowlands of
what is now Khuzestan and Ilam Province as well as a small part
of southern Iraq. The modern name Elam stems from the Sumerian transliteration
elam(a), along with the later Akkadian elamtu, and the Elamite haltamti.
Elamite states were among the leading political forces of the Ancient
Near East. In classical literature, Elam was also known as Susiana,
a name derived from its capital Susa.
Elam
was part of the early urbanization during the Chalcolithic period
(Copper Age). The emergence of written records from around 3000
BC also parallels Sumerian history, where slightly earlier records
have been found. In the Old Elamite period (Middle Bronze Age),
Elam consisted of kingdoms on the Iranian plateau, centered in Anshan,
and from the mid-2nd millennium BC, it was centered in Susa in the
Khuzestan lowlands. Its culture played a crucial role during
the Persian Achaemenid dynasty that succeeded Elam, when the Elamite
language remained among those in official use. Elamite is generally
considered a language isolate unrelated to any other languages.
In accordance with geographical and archaeological matches, some
historians argue that the Elamites comprise a large portion of the
ancestors of the modern day Lurs whose language, Luri, split from
Middle Persian.
Etymology
:
The Elamite language endonym of Elam as a country appears to have
been Haltamti. [failed verification]
Exonyms
included the Sumerian names NIM. MAki and ELAM, the Akkadian Elamû
(masculine/neuter) and Elamitu (feminine) meant "resident of
Susiana, Elamite".
In
prehistory, Elam was centered primarily in modern Khuzestan and
Ilam. The name Khuzestan is derived ultimately from the Old Persian
Hujiya meaning Susa/Elam. In Middle Persian this became Huz
"Susiana", and in modern Persian Xuz, compounded with
the toponymic suffix -stån "place".
Geography
:
![](Pre-Achaemenid_Era.gif)
Timeline
of Elam
In geographical terms, Susiana basically represents the Iranian
province of Khuzestan around the river Karun. In ancient times,
several names were used to describe this area. The great ancient
geographer Ptolemy was the earliest to call the area Susiana, referring
to the country around Susa.
Another
ancient geographer, Strabo, viewed Elam and Susiana as two different
geographic regions. He referred to Elam ("land of the Elymaei")
as primarily the highland area of Khuzestan.
Disagreements
over the location also exist in the Jewish historical sources says
Daniel T. Potts. Some ancient sources draw a distinction between
Elam as the highland area of Khuzestan, and Susiana as the lowland
area. Yet in other ancient sources 'Elam' and 'Susiana' seem equivalent.
The
uncertainty in this area extends also to modern scholarship. Since
the discovery of ancient Anshan, and the realization of its great
importance in Elamite history, the definitions were changed again.
Some modern scholars argued that the centre of Elam lay at Anshan
and in the highlands around it, and not at Susa in lowland Khuzistan.
Potts
disagrees suggesting that the term 'Elam' was primarily constructed
by the Mesopotamians to describe the area in general terms, without
referring specifically either to the lowlanders or the highlanders,
"Elam is not an Iranian term and has no relationship to the
conception which the peoples of highland Iran had of themselves.
They were Anshanites, Marhashians, Shimashkians, Zabshalians, Sherihumians,
Awanites, etc. That Anshan played a leading role in the political
affairs of the various highland groups inhabiting southwestern Iran
is clear. But to argue that Anshan is coterminous with Elam is to
misunderstand the artificiality and indeed the alienness of Elam
as a construct imposed from without on the peoples of the southwestern
highlands of the Zagros mountain range, the coast of Fars and the
alluvial plain drained by the Karun-Karkheh river system.
History
:
Knowledge of Elamite history remains largely fragmentary, reconstruction
being based on mainly Mesopotamian (Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian
and Babylonian) sources. The history of Elam is conventionally
divided into three periods, spanning more than two millennia. The
period before the first Elamite period is known as the proto-Elamite
period :
•
Proto-Elamite : c. 3200 – c. 2700 BC (Proto-Elamite
script in Susa)
• Old Elamite period : c. 2700 – c. 1500 BC
(earliest documents until the Sukkalmah Dynasty)
• Middle Elamite period : c. 1500 –
c. 1100 BC (Anzanite dynasty until the Babylonian invasion of Susa)
• Neo-Elamite period : c. 1100 – 540
BC (characterized Assyrian and Median influence. 539 BC marks the
beginning of the Achaemenid period.)
Proto-Elamite (c. 3200 – c. 2700 BC) :
![](Proto-Elamite_kneeling_bull_holding_a_spouted_vessel.jpg)
Kneeling
Bull with Vessel. Kneeling bull holding a spouted vessel, Proto-Elamite
period, (3100–2900 BC) Metropolitan Museum of Art, ref. 66.173
Proto-Elamite civilization grew up east of the Tigris and Euphrates
alluvial plains; it was a combination of the lowlands and the immediate
highland areas to the north and east. At least three proto-Elamite
states merged to form Elam: Anshan (modern Fars Province), Awan
(modern Lorestan Province) and Shimashki (modern Kerman). References
to Awan are generally older than those to Anshan, and some scholars
suggest that both states encompassed the same territory, in different
eras (see Hanson, Encyclopædia Iranica). To this core Shushiana
(modern Khuzestan) was periodically annexed and broken off. In addition,
some Proto-Elamite sites are found well outside this area, spread
out on the Iranian plateau; such as Warakshe, Sialk (now a suburb
of the modern city of Kashan) and Jiroft in Kerman Province. The
state of Elam was formed from these lesser states as a response
to invasion from Sumer during the Old Elamite period. Elamite
strength was based on an ability to hold these various areas together
under a coordinated government that permitted the maximum interchange
of the natural resources unique to each region. Traditionally, this
was done through a federated governmental structure.
![](640px-Susa_III_or_Proto-Elamite_cylinder_seal_3150-2800_BC_Louvre_Museum_Sb_6166.jpg)
Proto-Elamite (Susa III) cylinder seal, 3150–2800
BC. Louvre Museum, reference Sb 6166
The Proto-Elamite city of Susa was founded around 4000 BC in the
watershed of the river Karun. It is considered to be the site of
Proto-Elamite cultural formation. During its early history, it fluctuated
between submission to Mesopotamian and Elamite power. The earliest
levels (22—17 in the excavations conducted by Le Brun, 1978)
exhibit pottery that has no equivalent in Mesopotamia, but for the
succeeding period, the excavated material allows identification
with the culture of Sumer of the Uruk period. Proto-Elamite influence
from the Mesopotamia in Susa becomes visible from about 3200 BC,
and texts in the still undeciphered Proto-Elamite writing system
continue to be present until about 2700 BC. The Proto-Elamite period
ends with the establishment of the Awan dynasty.
![](525px-Map_of_Ur_III.svg.png)
Location
of Kish
The
earliest known historical figure connected with Elam is the king
Enmebaragesi of Kish (c. 2650 BC?), who subdued it, according to
the Sumerian king list. Elamite history can only be traced from
records dating to beginning of the Akkadian Empire (2335–2154
BC) onwards.
The
Proto-Elamite states in Jiroft and Zabol (not universally accepted),
present a special case because of their great antiquity.
In
ancient Luristan, bronze-making tradition goes back to the mid-3rd
millennium BC, and has many Elamite connections. Bronze objects
from several cemeteries in the region date to the Early Dynastic
Period (Mesopotamia) I, and to Ur-III period c. 2900–2000
BC. These excavations include Kalleh Nisar, Bani Surmah, Chigha
Sabz, Kamtarlan, Sardant, and Gulal-i Galbi.
Old Elamite period (c. 2700 – c. 1500 BC) :
![](Elam1.png)
Polities
during the Old Elamite period, and northern tribes of the Lullubi,
Simurrum and Hurti
![](Elam_cool.jpg)
Silver
cup with linear-Elamite inscription on it. Late 3rd millennium BC.
National Museum of Iran
The Old Elamite period began around 2700 BC. Historical records
mention the conquest of Elam by Enmebaragesi, the Sumerian king
of Kish in Mesopotamia. Three dynasties ruled during this period.
Twelve kings of each of the first two dynasties, those of Awan (or
Avan; c. 2400 – c. 2100 BC) and Simashki (c. 2100 –
c. 1970 BC), are known from a list from Susa dating to the Old Babylonian
period. Two Elamite dynasties said to have exercised brief control
over parts of Sumer in very early times include Awan and Hamazi;
and likewise, several of the stronger Sumerian rulers, such as Eannatum
of Lagash and Lugal-anne-mundu of Adab, are recorded as temporarily
dominating Elam.
Awan
dynasty :
![](512px-Cubist_orant_Louvre_Sb77.jpg)
Orant figure, Susa IV, 2700–2340 BC
The Awan dynasty (2350–2150 BC) was partly contemporary with
that of the Mesopotamian emperor Sargon of Akkad, who not only defeated
the Awan king Luh-ishan and subjected Susa, but attempted to make
the East Semitic Akkadian the official language there. From this
time, Mesopotamian sources concerning Elam become more frequent,
since the Mesopotamians had developed an interest in resources (such
as wood, stone, and metal) from the Iranian plateau, and military
expeditions to the area became more common. With the collapse of
Akkad under Sargon's great great-grandson, Shar-kali-sharri, Elam
declared independence under the last Awan king, Kutik-Inshushinak
(c. 2240 – c. 2220 BC), and threw off the Akkadian language,
promoting in its place the brief Linear Elamite script. Kutik-Inshushinnak
conquered Susa and Anshan, and seems to have achieved some sort
of political unity. Following his reign, the Awan dynasty collapsed
as Elam was temporarily overrun by the Guti, another pre-Iranic
people from what is now north west Iran who also spoke a language
isolate.
Shimashki
dynasty :
About a century later, the Sumerian king Shulgi of the Neo-Sumerian
Empire retook the city of Susa and the surrounding region. During
the first part of the rule of the Simashki dynasty, Elam was under
intermittent attack from the Sumerians of Mesopotamia and also Gutians
from northwestern Iran, alternating with periods of peace and diplomatic
approaches. The Elamite state of Simashki at this time also extended
into northern Iran, and possibly even as far as the Caspian Sea.
Shu-Sin of Ur gave one of his daughters in marriage to a prince
of Anshan. But the power of the Sumerians was waning; Ibbi-Sin in
the 21st century did not manage to penetrate far into Elam, and
in 2004 BC, the Elamites, allied with the people of Susa and led
by king Kindattu, the sixth king of Simashki, managed to sack Ur
and lead Ibbi-Sin into captivity, ending the third dynasty of Ur.
The Akkadian kings of Isin, successor state to Ur, managed to drive
the Elamites out of Ur, rebuild the city, and to return the statue
of Nanna that the Elamites had plundered.
Sukkalmah
dynasty :
![](640px-Seal_of_King_Ebarat_Louvre_Museum_Sb_6225.jpg)
Seal
impression of King Ebarat, founder of the Sukkalmah Dynasty (also
called Epartid Dynasty after his name). Louvre Museum, reference
Sb 6225. King Ebarat appears enthroned. The inscription reads "Ebarat
the King. Kuk Kalla, son of Kuk-Sharum, servant of Shilhaha".
The succeeding dynasty, often called the Sukkalmah dynasty (c. 1970
– c. 1770 BC) after "Great regents", the title borne
by its members, also called the Epartid dynasty after the name of
its founder Ebarat/ Eparti, was roughly contemporary with the Old
Assyrian Empire, and Old Babylonian period in Mesopotamia, being
younger by approximately sixty years than the Akkadian speaking
Old Assyrian Empire in Upper Mesopotamia, and almost seventy-five
years older than the Old Babylonian Empire. This period is confusing
and difficult to reconstruct. It was apparently founded by Eparti
I. During this time, Susa was under Elamite control, but Akkadian
speaking Mesopotamian states such as Larsa and Isin continually
tried to retake the city. Around 1850 BC Kudur-mabuk, apparently
king of another Akkadian state to the north of Larsa, managed to
install his son, Warad-Sin, on the throne of Larsa, and Warad-Sin's
brother, Rim-Sin, succeeded him and conquered much of southern Mesopotamia
for Larsa.
Notable
Eparti dynasty rulers in Elam during this time include Sirukdukh
(c. 1850 BC), who entered various military coalitions to contain
the power of the south Mesopotamian states; Siwe-Palar-Khuppak,
who for some time was the most powerful person in the area, respectfully
addressed as "Father" by Mesopotamian kings such as Zimrilim
of Mari, Shamshi-Adad I of Assyria, and even Hammurabi of Babylon;
and Kudur-Nahhunte, who plundered the temples of southern Mesopotamia,
the north being under the control of the Old Assyrian Empire. But
Elamite influence in southern Mesopotamia did not last. Around 1760
BC, Hammurabi drove out the Elamites, overthrew Rim-Sin of Larsa,
and established a short lived Babylonian Empire in Mesopotamia.
Little is known about the latter part of this dynasty, since sources
again become sparse with the Kassite rule of Babylon (from c. 1595
BC).
Trade
with the Indus Valley civilization :
Many archaeological finds suggest that maritime trade along the
shores of Africa and Asia started several millennia ago. Trade between
the Indus Valley Civilization and the cities of Mesopotamia and
Elam, can be inferred from numerous find of Indus artifacts, particularly
in the excavation as Susa. Various objects made with shell
species that are characteristic of the Indus coast, particularly
Trubinella Pyrum and Fasciolaria Trapezium, have been found in the
archaeological sites of Mesopotamia and Susa dating from around
2500–2000 BC. Carnelian beads from the Indus were found in
Susa in the excavation of the tell of the citadel. In particular,
carnelian beads with an etched design in white were probably imported
from the Indus Valley, and made according to a technique of acid-etching
developed by the Harappans.
Exchanges
seem to have waned after 1900 BC, together with the disappearance
of the Indus valley civilization.
![](640px-Indus_round_seal_with_impression_Elongated_buffalo_with_Harappan_scrpit_imported_to_Susa_in_2600-1700_BCE_LOUVRE_Sb5614.jpg)
Indus round seal with impression. Elongated buffalo with Harappan
script imported to Susa in 2600–1700 BC. Found in the tell
of the Susa acropolis. Louvre Museum, reference Sb 5614
![](640px-Indus_carnelian_beads_with_white_design_imported_to_Susa_in_2600-1700_BCE_LOUVRE_Sb_13099.jpg)
Indian
carnelian beads with white design, etched in white with an acid,
imported to Susa in 2600–1700 BC. Found in the tell of the
Susa acropolis. Louvre Museum, reference Sb 17751. These beads are
identical with beads found in the Indus Civilization site of Dholavira.
![](640px-Indus_bracelet_made_of_Fasciolaria_Trapezium_or_Xandus_Pyrum_imported_to_Susa_in_2600-1700_BCE_LOUVRE_Sb14473.jpg)
Indus
bracelet made of Fasciolaria Trapezium or Turbinella pyrum imported
to Susa in 2600–1700 BC. Found in the tell of the Susa acropolis.
Louvre Museum, reference Sb 14473. This type of bracelet was manufactured
in Mohenjo-daro, Lothal and Balakot. It is engraved with a chevron
design which is characteristic of all shell bangles of the Indus
Valley, visible here.
![](640px-Indus_Valley_Civilization_weight_excavated_in_Susa._Louvre_Museum_Sb_17774.jpg)
Indus
Valley Civilization weight in veined jasper, excavated in Susa in
a 12th-century BC princely tomb. Louvre Museum Sb 17774
Middle
Elamite period (c. 1500 – c. 1100 BC) :
Anshan and Susa :
![](640px-Goatfishes_Louvre_Sb19.jpg)
An
ornate design on this limestone ritual vat from the Middle Elamite
period depicts creatures with the heads of goats and the tails of
fish (1500–1110 BC)
The Middle Elamite period began with the rise of the Anshanite dynasties
around 1500 BC. Their rule was characterized by an "Elamisation"
of Susa, and the kings took the title "king of Anshan
and Susa".
While the first of these dynasties, the Kidinuids continued to use
the Akkadian language frequently in their inscriptions, the succeeding
Igihalkids and Shutrukids used Elamite with increasing regularity.
Likewise, Elamite language and culture grew in importance in Susiana.
The Kidinuids (c. 1500 – 1400 BC) are a group of five rulers
of uncertain affiliation. They are identified by their use of the
older title, "king of Susa and of Anshan", and by calling
themselves "servant of Kirwashir", an Elamite deity, thereby
introducing the pantheon of the highlands to Susiana. The city of
Susa itself is one of the oldest in the world dating back to around
4200 BC. Since its founding Susa was known as a central power location
for the Elamites and for later Persian dynasties. Susa's power would
peak during the Middle Elamite period, when it would be the region's
capital.
Kassite
invasions :
![](504px-Untash_Napirisha_stele_Louvre_Sb12.jpg)
Stele
of Untash Napirisha, king of Anshan and Susa. Sandstone, ca. 1340–1300
BC
Of the Igehalkids (c. 1400 – 1210 BC), ten rulers are known,
though their number was possibly larger. Some of them married Kassite
princesses. The Kassites were also a Language Isolate speaking
people from the Zagros Mountains who had taken Babylonia shortly
after its sacking by the Hittite Empire in 1595 BC. The Kassite
king of Babylon Kurigalzu II who had been installed on the throne
by Ashur-uballit I of the Middle Assyrian Empire (1366–1020
BC), temporarily occupied Elam around 1320 BC, and later (c. 1230
BC) another Kassite king, Kashtiliash IV, fought Elam unsuccessfully.
Kassite-Babylonian power waned, as they became dominated by the
northern Mesopotamian Middle Assyrian Empire. Kiddin-Khutran of
Elam repulsed the Kassites by defeating Enlil-nadin-shumi in 1224
BC and Adad-shuma-iddina around 1222–1217 BC. Under the Igehalkids,
Akkadian inscriptions were rare, and Elamite highland gods became
firmly established in Susa.
Elamite
Empire :
![](640px-Tchogha_Zanbil.jpg)
The
Chogha Zanbil ziggurat site, built circa 1250 BC
Under the Shutrukids (c. 1210 – 1100 BC), the Elamite empire
reached the height of its power. Shutruk-Nakhkhunte and his three
sons, Kutir-Nakhkhunte II, Shilhak-In-Shushinak, and Khutelutush-In-Shushinak
were capable of frequent military campaigns into Kassite Babylonia
(which was also being ravaged by the empire of Assyria during this
period), and at the same time were exhibiting vigorous construction
activity—building and restoring luxurious temples in Susa
and across their Empire. Shutruk-Nakhkhunte raided Babylonia, carrying
home to Susa trophies like the statues of Marduk and Manishtushu,
the Manishtushu Obelisk, the Stele of Hammurabi and the stele of
Naram-Sin. In 1158 BC, after much of Babylonia had been annexed
by Ashur-Dan I of Assyria and Shutruk-Nakhkhunte, the Elamites defeated
the Kassites permanently, killing the Kassite king of Babylon, Zababa-shuma-iddin,
and replacing him with his eldest son, Kutir-Nakhkhunte, who held
it no more than three years before being ejected by the native Akkadian
speaking Babylonians. The Elamites then briefly came into conflict
with Assyria, managing to take the Assyrian city of Arrapha (modern
Kirkuk) before being ultimately defeated and having a treaty forced
upon them by Ashur-Dan I.
Kutir-Nakhkhunte's
son Khutelutush-In-Shushinak was probably of an incestuous relation
of Kutir-Nakhkhunte's with his own daughter, Nakhkhunte-utu.[citation
needed] He was defeated by Nebuchadnezzar I of Babylon, who sacked
Susa and returned the statue of Marduk, but who was then himself
defeated by the Assyrian king Ashur-resh-ishi I. He fled to Anshan,
but later returned to Susa, and his brother Shilhana-Hamru-Lagamar
may have succeeded him as last king of the Shutrukid dynasty. Following
Khutelutush-In-Shushinak, the power of the Elamite empire began
to wane seriously, for after the death of this ruler, Elam disappears
into obscurity for more than three centuries.
Neo-Elamite
period (c. 1100 – 540 BC) :
Neo-Elamite I (c. 1100 – c. 770 BC) :
Very little is known of this period. Anshan was still at least partially
Elamite. There appear to have been unsuccessful alliances of Elamites,
Babylonians, Chaldeans and other peoples against the powerful Neo
Assyrian Empire (911–605 BC); the Babylonian king Mar-biti-apla-ushur
(984–979 BC) was of Elamite origin, and Elamites are recorded
to have fought unsuccessfully with the Babylonian king Marduk-balassu-iqbi
against the Assyrian forces under Shamshi-Adad V (823–811
BC).
Neo-Elamite
II (c. 770 – 646 BC) :
![](646px-Last_arrow_of_King_Teuman_and_his_son.jpg)
Elamite
archer fighting against the Neo-Assyrian troops of Ashurbanipal,
and protecting wounded king Teumman, at the Battle of Ulai, 653
BC
![](Destruction_of_the_Elamite_city_of_Hamanu_645-635_BCE.jpg)
Ashurbanipal's
campaign against Elam is triumphantly recorded in this relief showing
the sack of Hamanu in 647 BC. Here, flames rise from the city as
Assyrian soldiers topple it with pickaxes and crowbars and carry
off the spoils.
The later Neo-Elamite period is characterized by a significant
migration of Indo-European speaking Iranians to the Iranian plateau.
Assyrian sources beginning around 800 BC distinguish the "powerful
Medes", i.e. the actual Medes, Persians, Parthians, Sagartians,
Margians, Bactrians, Sogdians etc.. Among these pressuring tribes
were the Parsu, first recorded in 844 BC as living on the southeastern
shore of Lake Urmiah, but who by the end of this period would cause
the Elamites' original home, the Iranian Plateau, to be renamed
Persia proper. These newly arrived Iranian peoples were also conquered
by Assyria, and largely regarded as vassals of the Neo-Assyrian
Empire until the late 7th century.
More
details are known from the late 8th century BC, when the Elamites
were allied with the Chaldean chieftain Merodach-baladan to defend
the cause of Babylonian independence from Assyria. Khumbanigash
(743–717 BC) supported Merodach-baladan against Sargon II,
apparently without success; while his successor, Shutruk-Nakhkhunte
II (716–699 BC), was routed by Sargon's troops during an expedition
in 710, and another Elamite defeat by Sargon's troops is recorded
for 708. The Assyrian dominion over Babylon was underlined by Sargon's
son Sennacherib, who defeated the Elamites, Chaldeans and Babylonians
and dethroned Merodach-baladan for a second time, installing his
own son Ashur-nadin-shumi on the Babylonian throne in 700.
Shutruk-Nakhkhunte
II, the last Elamite to claim the old title "king of Anshan
and Susa", was murdered by his brother Khallushu, who managed
to briefly capture the Assyrian governor of Babylonia Ashur-nadin-shumi
and the city of Babylon in 694 BC. Sennacherib soon responded by
invading and ravaging Elam. Khallushu was in turn assassinated by
Kutir-Nakhkhunte, who succeeded him but soon abdicated in favor
of Khumma-Menanu III (692–689 BC). Khumma-Menanu recruited
a new army to help the Babylonians and Chaldeans against the Assyrians
at the battle of Halule in 691. Both sides claimed the victory in
their annals, but Babylon was destroyed by Sennacherib only two
years later, and its Elamite allies defeated in the process.
The
reigns of Khumma-Khaldash I (688–681 BC) and Khumma-Khaldash
II (680–675 BC) saw a deterioration of Elamite-Babylonian
relations, and both of them raided Sippar. At the beginning of Esarhaddon's
reign in Assyria (681–669 BC), Nabu-zer-kitti-lišir,
an ethnically Elamite governor in the south of Babylonia, revolted
and besieged Ur, but was routed by the Assyrians and fled to Elam
where the king of Elam, fearing Assyrian repercussions, took him
prisoner and put him to the sword.
Urtaku
(674–664 BC) for some time wisely maintained good relations
with the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (668–627 BC), who sent
wheat to Susiana during a famine. But these friendly relations were
only temporary, and Urtaku was killed in battle during a failed
Elamite attack on Assyria.
![](Woman_spinning-Sb_2834-IMG_0921-black.jpg)
Relief of a woman being fanned by an attendant while she
holds what may be a spinning device before a table with a bowl containing
a whole fish (700–550 BC)
His successor Tempti-Khumma-In-Shushinak (664–653 BC) attacked
Assyria, but was defeated and killed by Ashurbanipal following the
battle of the Ulaï in 653 BC; and Susa itself was sacked and
occupied by the Assyrians. In this same year the Assyrian vassal
Median state to the north fell to the invading Scythians and Cimmerians
under Madius, and displacing another Assyrian vassal people, the
Parsu (Persians) to Anshan which their king Teispes captured that
same year, turning it for the first time into an Indo-Iranian kingdom
under Assyrian dominance that would a century later become the nucleus
of the Achaemenid dynasty. The Assyrians successfully subjugated
and drove the Scythians and Cimmerians from their Iranian colonies,
and the Persians, Medes and Parthians remained vassals of Assyria.
During
a brief respite provided by the civil war between Ashurbanipal and
his own brother Shamash-shum-ukin whom their father Esarhaddon had
installed as the vassal king of Babylon, the Elamites both gave
support to Shamash-shum-ukin, and indulged in fighting among themselves,
so weakening the Elamite kingdom that in 646 BC Ashurbanipal devastated
Susiana with ease, and sacked Susa. A succession of brief reigns
continued in Elam from 651 to 640, each of them ended either due
to usurpation, or because of capture of their king by the Assyrians.
In this manner, the last Elamite king, Khumma-Khaldash III, was
captured in 640 BC by Ashurbanipal, who annexed and destroyed the
country.
In
a tablet unearthed in 1854 by Henry Austin Layard, Ashurbanipal
boasts of the destruction he had wrought :
Susa,
the great holy city, abode of their Gods, seat of their mysteries,
I conquered. I entered its palaces, I opened their treasuries where
silver and gold, goods and wealth were amassed … I destroyed
the ziggurat of Susa. I smashed its shining copper horns. I reduced
the temples of Elam to naught; their gods and goddesses I scattered
to the winds. The tombs of their ancient and recent kings I devastated,
I exposed to the sun, and I carried away their bones toward the
land of Ashur. I devastated the provinces of Elam and on their lands
I sowed salt.
Neo-Elamite
III (646–539 BC) :
![](Xerxes_I_tomb_Elamite_soldier_circa_470_BCE.jpg)
Elamite
soldier in the Achaemenid army circa 470 BC, Xerxes I tomb relief
The devastation was a little less complete than Ashurbanipal boasted,
and a weak and fragmented Elamite rule was resurrected soon after
with Shuttir-Nakhkhunte, son of Humban-umena III (not to be confused
with Shuttir-Nakhkhunte, son of Indada, a petty king in the first
half of the 6th century). Elamite royalty in the final century preceding
the Achaemenids was fragmented among different small kingdoms, the
united Elamite nation having been destroyed and colonised by the
Assyrians. The three kings at the close of the 7th century (Shuttir-Nakhkhunte,
Khallutush-In-Shushinak and Atta-Khumma-In-Shushinak) still called
themselves "king of Anzan and of Susa" or "enlarger
of the kingdom of Anzan and of Susa", at a time when the Achaemenid
Persians were already ruling Anshan under Assyrian dominance.
The
various Assyrian Empires, which had been the dominant force in the
Near East, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, North Africa, Arabian peninsula
and East Mediterranean for much of the period from the first half
of the 14th century BC, began to unravel after the death of Ashurbanipal
in 627 BC, descending into a series of bitter internal civil wars
which also spread to Babylonia. The Iranian Medes, Parthians, Persians
and Sagartians, who had been largely subject to Assyria since their
arrival in the region around 1000 BC, quietly took full advantage
of the anarchy in Assyria, and in 616 BC freed themselves from Assyrian
rule.
The
Medians took control of Elam during this period. Cyaxares the king
of the Medes, Persians, Parthians and Sagartians entered into an
alliance with a coalition of fellow former vassals of Assyria, including
Nabopolassar of Babylon and Chaldea, and also the Scythians and
Cimmerians, against Sin-shar-ishkun of Assyria, who was faced with
unremitting civil war in Assyria itself. This alliance then attacked
a disunited and war weakened Assyria, and between 616 BC and 599
BC at the very latest, had conquered its vast empire which stretched
from the Caucasus Mountains to Egypt, Libya and the Arabian Peninsula,
and from Cyprus and Ephesus to Persia and the Caspian Sea.
The
major cities in Assyria itself were gradually taken; Arrapha (modern
Kirkuk) and Kalhu (modern Nimrud) in 616 BC, Ashur, Dur-Sharrukin
and Arbela (modern Erbil) in 613, Nineveh falling in 612, Harran
in 608 BC, Carchemish in 605 BC, and finally Dur-Katlimmu by 599
BC. Elam, already largely destroyed and subjugated by Assyria,
thus became easy prey for the Median dominated Iranian peoples,
and was incorporated into the Median Empire (612–546 BC) and
then the succeeding Achaemenid Empire (546–332 BC), with Assyria
suffering the same fate.
![](320px-Behistun_Relief,_Assina.jpg)
ššina, one of the last kings of Elam circa
522 BC was toppled, enchained and killed by Darius the Great. The
label over him says: "This is ššina. He lied,
saying "I am king of Elam.""
The prophet Ezekiel describes the status of their power in the 12th
year of the Hebrew Babylonian Captivity in 587 BCE :
There
is Elam and all her multitude, All around her grave, All of them
slain, fallen by the sword, Who have gone down uncircumcised to
the lower parts of the earth, Who caused their terror in the land
of the living; Now they bear their shame with those who go down
to the Pit. (Ezekiel 32:24)
Their
successors Khumma-Menanu and Shilhak-In-Shushinak II bore the simple
title "king", and the final king Tempti-Khumma-In-Shushinak
used no honorific at all. In 540 BC, Achaemenid rule began in Susa.
Elymais
(187 BC - 224 AD) :
Elymaïs was the location of the death of Antiochus III the
Great who was killed while pillaging a temple of Bel in 187 BC.
Following the rise and fall of the Achaemenid Empire and the Seleucid
Empire, a new dynasty of Elamite rulers established Elymais from
147 BC to 224 AD, usually under the suzerainty of the Parthian Empire,
until the advent of the unified Sasanian Empire in 224 AD.
Art
:
![](Elamite_worshipper.jpg)
Golden
statuette of a man (probably a king) carrying a goat. Susa, Iran,
c. 1500–1200 BC (Middle Elamite period)
Statuettes :
Dated to approximately the 12th century BC, gold and silver figurines
of Elamite worshippers are shown carrying a sacrificial goat. These
divine and royal statues were meant to assure the king of the enduring
protection of the deity, well-being and a long life. Works which
showed a ruler and his performance of a ritual action were intended
to eternalize the effectiveness of such deeds. Found near the Temple
of Inshushinak in Susa, these statuettes would have been considered
charged with beneficial power.
While
archaeologists cannot be certain that the location where these figures
were found indicates a date before or in the time of the Elamite
king Shilhak-Inshushinak, stylistic features can help ground the
figures in a specific time period. The hairstyle and costume of
the figures which are strewn with dots and hemmed with short fringe
at the bottom, and the precious metals point to a date in the latter
part of the second millennium BC rather than to the first millennium.
In
general, any gold or silver statuettes which represent the king
making a sacrifice not only served a religious function, but also
revealed the significance of displaying wealth that should not be
overlooked.
Seals
:
![](640px-Cylinder_seal_and_modern_impression-_worshiper_before_a_seated_ruler_or_deity;_seated_female_under_a_grape_arbor_MET_DP370181.jpg)
Cylinder
seal and modern impression- worshiper before a seated ruler or deity;
seated female under a grape arbor MET DP370181
Elamite seals reached their peak of complexity in the 4th millennium
BC when their shape became cylindrical rather than stamp-like. Seals
were primarily used as a form of identification and were often made
out of precious stones. Because seals for different time periods
had different designs and themes, seals and seal impressions can
be used to track the various phases of the Elamite Empire and can
teach a lot about the empire in ways which other forms of documentation
cannot.
The
seal pictured shows two seated figures holding cups with a man in
front of them wearing a long robe next to a table. A man is sitting
on a throne, presumably the king, and is in a wrapped robe. The
second figure, perhaps his queen, is draped in a wide, flounced
garment and is elevated on a platform beneath an overhanging vine.
A crescent is shown in the field.
Statue
of Queen Napir-Asu :
![](495px-Statue_of_Napirasu.jpg)
Statue
of Napirasu
This life-size votive offering of Queen Napir-Asu was commissioned
around 1300 BC in Susa, Iran. It is made of copper using the lost-wax
casting method and rests on a solid bronze frame that weighs 1750
kg (3760 lb). This statue is different from many other Elamite
statues of women because it resembles male statues due to the wide
belt on the dress and the patterns which closely resemble those
on male statues.
The
inscription on the side of the statue curses anyone, specifically
men, who attempts to destroy the statue: "I, Napir-Asu, wife
of Untash-Napirisha. He who would seize my statue, who would smash
it, who would destroy its inscription, who would erase my name,
may he be smitten by the curse of Napirisha, of Kiririsha, and of
Inshushinka, that his name shall become extinct, that his offspring
be barren, that the forces of Beltiya, the great goddess, shall
sweep down on him. This is Napir-Asu's offering."
Stele
of Untash Napirisha :
The stele of the Elamite king, Untash-Napirisha was believed to
have been commissioned in the 12th century BC. It was moved from
the original religious capital of Chogha Zanbil to the city of Susa
by the successor king, Shutruk-Nahnante. Four registers of the stele
are left. The remains depict the god Inshushinak validating the
legitimacy of who is thought to be Shutruk-Nahnante. In the periphery
are two priestesses, deity hybrids of fish and women holding streams
of water, and two half-man half-mouflon guardians of the sacred
tree. The names of the two priestesses are carved on their arms.
King
Untash Napirisha dedicated the stele to the god Ishushinak. Like
other forms of art in the ancient Near East, this one portrays a
king ceremonially recognizing a deity. This stele is unique in that
the acknowledgement between king and god is reciprocal.
Religion
:
![](Two_horned_elam.jpg)
A
carved chlorite vase decorated with a relief depicting a "two-horned"
figure wrestling with serpent goddesses. The Elamite artifact was
discovered by Iran's border police in the possession of historical
heritage traffickers, en route to Turkey, and was confiscated. Style
is determined to be from "Jiroft".[citation needed]
The Elamites practised polytheism. Knowledge about their religion
is scant, and it appears to have been characterized by the "ill-defined
character of the individual gods and goddesses. ...Most of them
were not only ineffable beings whose real name was either not uttered
or was unknown, but also sublime ideas, not to be exactly defined
by the human race." :403 Worship also varied between localities.
:401
In
the later period, Elam worshipped a supreme triad consisting of
Inshushinak (originally the civic protector god of Susa, eventually
the leader of the triad :401 and guarantor of the monarchy), Kiririsha
(an earth/mother goddess in southern Elam :406), and Khumban (a
sky god). Other deities include Pinikir (a mother goddess, and possibly
originally chief deity, in northern Elam, :400 later supplanted
by or identified with Kiririsha) and Jabru (a god of the underworld).
There were also imported deities, such as Beltiya.
Language
:
Elamite is traditionally thought to be a language isolate, and completely
unrelated to the neighbouring Semitic languages, Sumerian and Kassite,
Hurrian (also isolates), and the later arriving Indo-European Iranian
languages that came to dominate the region of Elam from the 6th
century BC. It was written in a cuneiform adapted from the Semitic
Akkadian script of Assyria and Babylonia, although the very earliest
documents were written in the quite different "Linear Elamite"
script. In 2006, two even older inscriptions in a similar script
were discovered at Jiroft to the east of Elam, leading archaeologists
to speculate that Linear Elamite had originally spread from further
east to Susa. It seems to have developed from an even earlier writing
known as "proto-Elamite", but scholars are not unanimous
on whether or not this script was used to write Elamite or another
language, as it has not yet been deciphered. Several stages of the
language are attested; the earliest date back to the third millennium
BC, the latest to the Achaemenid Empire.
The
Elamite language may have survived as late as the early Islamic
period (roughly contemporary with the early medieval period in Europe).
Among other Islamic medieval historians, Ibn al-Nadim, for instance,
wrote that "The Iranian languages are Fahlavi (Pahlavi), Dari
(not to be confused with Dari Persian in modern Afghanistan), Khuzi,
Persian and Suryani (Assyrian)", and Ibn Moqaffa noted that
Khuzi was the unofficial language of the royalty of Persia, "Khuz"
being the corrupted name for Elam.
Suggested
relations to other language families :
While Elamite is viewed as a language isolate by the vast majority
of linguists, a minority of scholars have proposed that the Elamite
language could be related to the Dravidian languages. David McAlpine
believes Elamite may be related to the living Dravidian languages.
This hypothesis is considered under the rubric of Elamo-Dravidian
languages.
Legacy
:
Ancient
history |
Preceded
by prehistory |
Near
East |
Sumer · Egypt · Elam · Akkad · Assyria
· Babylonia · Mitanni · Hittites
· Sea Peoples · Anatolia · Israel
and Judah · Arabia · Berbers · Phoenicia · Persia |
Europe |
Minoans · Greece · Illyrians · Argaric
· Nuragic · Tartessos · Iberia
· Celts · Germanics · Etruscans
· Rome · Slavs · Daco-Thracians |
Eurasian
Steppe |
Proto-Indo-Europeans · Afanasievo
· Indo-Iranians · Scythia · Tocharians
· Huns · Xionites · Turks |
East
Asia |
China · Japan · Korea · Mongolia |
South
Asia |
Indus
Valley Civilisation · Vedic
period · Mahajanpads · Nand
Empire · Maurya Empire · Sangam
period · Middle Kingdoms · Gupta
Empire |
Mississippi and Oasisamerica |
Adena · Hopewell · Mississippian
· Puebloans |
Mesoamerica |
Olmecs · Epi-Olmec · Zapotec
· Mixtec · Maya · Teotihuacan
· Toltec Empire |
Andes |
Norte
Chico · Sechin · Chavín
· Paracas · Nazca · Moche
· Lima · Tiwanaku · Wari |
West
Africa |
Dhar
Tichitt · Oualata · Nok · Senegambia
· Djenné-Djenno · Bantu
· Ghana Empire |
Southeast
Asia and Oceania |
Vietnam · Austronesians · Australia
· Polynesia · Funan · Tarumanagara |
The
Assyrians had utterly destroyed the Elamite nation, but new polities
emerged in the area after Assyrian power faded. Among the nations
that benefited from the decline of the Assyrians were the Iranian
tribes, whose presence around Lake Urmia to the north of Elam is
attested from the 9th century BC in Assyrian texts. Some time
after that region fell to Madius the Scythian (653 BC), Teispes,
son of Achaemenes, conquered Elamite Anshan in the mid 7th century
BC, forming a nucleus that would expand into the Persian Empire.
They were largely regarded as vassals of the Assyrians, and the
Medes, Mannaeans, and Persians paid tribute to Assyria from the
10th century BC until the death of Ashurbanipal in 627 BC. After
his death, the Medes played a major role in the destruction of the
weakened Assyrian Empire in 612 BC.
The
rise of the Achaemenids in the 6th century BC brought an end to
the existence of Elam as an independent political power "but
not as a cultural entity" (Encyclopædia Iranica, Columbia
University). Indigenous Elamite traditions, such as the use of the
title "king of Anshan" by Cyrus the Great; the "Elamite
robe" worn by Cambyses I of Anshan and seen on the famous winged
genii at Pasargadae; some glyptic styles; the use of Elamite as
the first of three official languages of the empire used in thousands
of administrative texts found at Darius’ city of Persepolis;
the continued worship of Elamite deities; and the persistence of
Elamite religious personnel and cults supported by the crown, formed
an essential part of the newly emerging Achaemenid culture in Persian
Iran. The Elamites thus became the conduit by which achievements
of the Mesopotamian civilizations were introduced to the tribes
of the Iranian plateau.
Conversely,
remnants of Elamite had "absorbed Iranian influences in both
structure and vocabulary" by 500 BC, suggesting a form of cultural
continuity or fusion connecting the Elamite and the Persian periods.
The
name of "Elam" survived into the Hellenistic period and
beyond. In its Greek form, Elymais, it emerges as designating a
semi-independent state under Parthian suzerainty during the 2nd
century BC to the early 3rd century AD. In Acts 2:8–9 in the
New Testament, the language of the Elamites is one of the languages
heard at the Pentecost. From 410 onwards Elam (Beth Huzaye) was
the senior metropolitan province of the Church of the East, surviving
into the 14th century. Indian Carmelite historian John Marshal has
proposed that the root of Carmelite history in the Indian subcontinent
could be traced to the promise of restoration of Elam (Jeremiah
49:39). [unreliable source]
![](Kaftar_elam.jpg)
A 4.5 inch long lapis lazuli dove is studded with gold pegs.
Dated 1200 BC from Susa, a city later on shared with the Achaemenids
![](640px-Eshkaft-e_Salman_II.jpg)
Elamite
reliefs at Eshkaft-e Salman. The picture of a woman with dignity
shows the importance of women in the Elamite era
In
modern Iran, Ilam Province and Khuzestan Province are named after
Elam civilization. Khuzestan means land of the Khuzis and Khuzi
itself is a Middle Persian name for Elamites.
Source
:
https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Elam