ANSHAN
(PERSIA)
![](555px-Elam_Map-en.svg.png)
Location
of Anshan within the Elamite empire. The approximate Bronze Age
extension of the Persian Gulf is shown
Anshan
(Sumerian: Anzan), modern Tall-e Malyan, was an ancient city in
Persia. It was located in the Zagros Mountains in southwestern
Iran, approximately 46 kilometres (29 mi) north of Shiraz and
43 kilometres (27 mi) west of Persepolis in the Beyza/Ramjerd plain,
in the province of Fars. Its location serves as a landmark for Elamite
studies.
It
was one of the earliest urban states of the Mesopotamian area and
one of the earliest capitals of Elam from the late 4th millennium
BC. It fell under the rule of the Persians in the 7th century BC
and then became one of the early capitals of Persia.
Most
of what is known about Anshan has been discovered through ancient
artifacts discovered in archaeological digs at Tall-e Malyan and
passages in early Elamite texts.
History
:
Anshan is considered to be the origin of one of the world's oldest
known civilizations. It was occupied consistently from before 4000
BC to 1000 BC and was politically tied to the Elamites at Susa,
as well as the Mesopotamians. Its exact location was unknown
to scholars until 1973 when artifacts, uncovered through archaeological
digs at Tall-i Malyan, confirmed its location. Prior to that
scholars only knew of it to be somewhere in the central Zagros mountain
range.
During
the Proto-Elamite period (late fourth millennium BC), this becomes
one of the main cities of the Elamite region, thanks to its location
on important trade routes. During the 'Banesh period' (3400-2800),
at 50 hectares (120 acres), it was 5 times the size of Susa.
The
Marv Dasht area, where the highland city of Anshan is located, is
a complex of several interconnected valleys and plains. During the
mid-late Banesh Period (3100-2800 BC) Anshan also had a walled area
of 200 hectares. It also featured a number of subsidiary villages
and campsites.
According
to G. Wright :
Comprehensive
studies of Banesh plant (Miller 1990) and animal (Zeder 1988, 1991)
remains show that Banesh people focused on intensive cultivation
of wheat and herding of sheep. Some craft activity, particularly
ceramic and some stone vessel manufacture, was concentrated in specialized
villages, at least earlier in the period (Alden 1982). In the main
center, however, other craft activity, specifically copper processing,
is attested only as small production areas in domestic contexts
(Nicholas 1990).
The
Elamite city makes an appearance in the early Sumerian epic Enmerkar
and the Lord of Aratt as being en route between Uruk and the legendary
Aratt, supposedly around
the time writing was developed. At various times, Anshan provided,
in its own right, the source for a number of Elamite dynasties that
sometimes competed for extent and influence with other prominent
Elamite cities.
The
earliest evidence of Anshan can be found in the Sumerian King list
where many references are made to rulers of Awan.
Manishtushu
claimed to have subjugated Anshan, but as the Akkadian empire weakened
under his successors, the native governor of Susa, Kutik-Inshushinak,
a scion of the Awan dynasty, proclaimed his independence from Akkad
and captured Anshan. Following this, Gudea of Lagash claimed to
have subjugated Anshan in 2200 BC and the Neo-Sumerian rulers Shulgi
and Shu-Sin of Ur are said to have maintained their own governors
over the place. However their successor, Ibbi-Sin, seems to have
spent his reign engaged in a losing struggle to maintain control
over Anshan, ultimately resulting in the Elamite sack of Ur in 2004
BC, at which time the statue of Nanna, and Ibbi-Sin himself, were
captured and removed to Anshan. In the Old Babylonian period, king
Gungunum of Larsa dated his 5th regnal year after the destruction
of Anshan.
During
the early Elamite period, the rulers were known as the kings of
Awan, but later on, they are referred to as the kings of Anzan,
Susa, and Elam. There is also evidence that advocates Awan may have
been a political district that was a part of a larger Anshan. Particularly
since it has been discovered that Anshan was politically and culturally
advanced. From the 15th century BC, Elamite rulers at Susa began
using the title "King of Anshan and Susa" (in Akkadian
texts, the toponyms are reversed, as "King of Susa and Anshan"),
and it seems probable that Anshan and Susa were in fact unified
for much of the "Middle Elamite period". The last king
to claim this title was Shutruk-Nahhunte II (ca. 717-699 BC).
Cradle
of Achaemenid Persia :
Anshan fell under Persis Achaemenid rule in the 7th century BC,
having been captured by Teispes (675–640 BC), who was an ancestor
of Cyrus the Great and styled himself "the great king, king
of Anshan". For another century during the period of Elamite
decline, Anshan was a minor kingdom, until the Achaemenids in the
6th century BC embarked on a series of conquests from Anshan, which
became the nucleus of the Persian Empire. The most famous conqueror
who rose from Anshan was Cyrus the Great
Evidence
of the connection to the Achaemenid Empire can be linked through
writings on the Cyrus Cylinder which trace the lineage of Cyrus
the Great. Cyrus is referred to as the "king of the city of
Anshan" and his ancestors as "the great king, king of
the city of Anshan".
Anshan
continued to be inhabited through the Achaemenid period, but its
importance declined greatly in favor of Pasargadae and Persepolis;
it was merely a minor village by Parthian and Sasanian times.
Archaeology
:
The site of Anshan covers around 200 hectares. It dates back over
6,000 years and is considered a landmark in both an Elamite studies
and Iranian architecture. The main feature is a low flat-topped
mound of about 130 hectares running 4–6 metres (13–20
ft) in height. On three sides are the remains of a city wall, 5
kilometres (3.1 mi) in length, which dates from the Late Banesh
and Kaftari periods. Finds at Tall-i Malyan included primarily Proto-Elamite
and Middle Elamite cuneiform tablets, seals, and a pottery sequence
important to dating the chronology of the region.
The
site was first worked by Fereidoon Tavallali of the Archaeological
Service of Iran in 1961. No records or publications of that effort
appear to exist, though some artifacts ended up in the Persepolis
Museum.
Scientific
excavation began in 1971 with a team, led by William Sumner, from
the University of Pennsylvania and Ohio State University after a
survey in 1968. The dig continued for several seasons, until 1978,
when the Iranian Revolution intervened. Most recently, Tal-i Malyan
was excavated by Kamyar Abdi in 1999. A further six week dig was
conducted in 2004 by the Cultural Heritage Organization of Iran
and Dartmouth College.
The
most notable find was that of a building brick found at an unspecified
location in Iran in 1971. A photograph was discovered in a French
archaeological publication which contained inscriptions from this
brick that were key to identifying the lost city. These inscriptions
were written in Elamite and believed to be part of a temple built
by the Elamite kings to the gods at Anshan. After translating a
group of tablets that were found at the Tall-i Maylan site the following
fall, Erica Reiner, from the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute,
was able to match these writings to those on the brick. They also
matched the writings on tablets discovered by the Pennsylvania team
which did, specifically, name Anshan. In 1973, it was confirmed
that this site was the lost city of Anshan.
Three
separate groups of tablets were found by the Pennsylvania team at
the site. The oldest group contains seven tablets made of unbaked
clay that date back to the third millennium BC. That set of tablets
has not been translated because the writing is Proto-Elamite or
possibly a script version of Elamite. The next set of tablets are
inscribed in Sumerian and date back to 1800 BC. These tablets signify
a Mesopotamian influence. The third set of tablets are the ones
used by Erica Reiner to positively identify Anshan's location. An
agreement was made between the researchers and the Iranian government
that the Iranian government could choose ten artifacts and the remaining
items would be divided between evenly between the two parties. The
Iranian government chose to take several of the tablets in their
choice of the original ten items.
Source
:
https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Anshan_(Persia)