Elam is the Biblical designation of a
people and
a country in the southern area of the
Iranian
plateau in the Zagros mountains E and NE
of the
valley of the Tigris. It is approximately
equivalent
to the present Iranian province of
Khuzistan. The
name derives from the Elamite Haltamti. It
is the
Elamtu of the Assyrians and the
Babylonians and
the Elymais of the Greeks who also called
it
Susiana from the capital Susa (Shushan),
modern
Shush. Scholars are not agreed in regard
to the
relationship of the language of the
Elamites to the
other languages of the Near E. The earliest
stage
of the language is written in a script not
yet
completely deciphered, but from which
there
developed in c. 1600 b.c. a cuneiform
writing
which in its turn gave way at the end of
the 6th
cent. b.c. to the Elamite adaptation of the
writing
of the Achaemenid Pers. The language is
non-
Sem. The history of the Elamites is known
largely
from the records of other peoples which
makes
breaks in its continuity inevitable.
2. Early history. The Biblical record traces
the
Elamites back to Elam a son of Shem
(Gen 10:22;
1 Chron 1:17). Scholars classify them as
non-
Sem. Caucasians. Archeology and
anthropology
shed no particular light upon Elamite
origins but it
is clear that Elam was influenced by the
Jemdet
Nasr culture during the later period of the
fourth
millennium b.c. The dependence culturally
of
Elam upon Mesopotamia that began in
this early
period lasted through her entire history.
Elam’s
earliest appearance in Mesopotamian
records
shows it in subjection to the Sumer.
Eannatum of
Lagash in 2450 b.c. This further
strengthened the
influence of Sumer. culture upon the
Elamites.
Elamite dependence upon Mesopotamia
continued after hegemony in the Tigris-
Euphrates
valley shifted from the Sumerians to the
Akkadians under Sargon of Akkad (2360-
2305
b.c.). It was in this period that the Elamites
appropriated the Sumero-Akkad.
cuneiform script
with which they produced their inscrs. on
clay
tablets and stone. Elamites from Susa
participated in the building of the temple
of
Gudea of Lagash (c. 2000 b.c.).
With the decline of Akkad. power Elam
gained her
freedom and established an independent
dynasty.
But the third dynasty of Ur eventually
gained
control of much of Elam and dominated
many of
the country’s cities. However, the Elamites
were
eventually able to reassert their
independence
and to destroy their oppressor’s capital
city,
carrying back to Elam the last king of the
dynasty
of Ur, Ibbi-Sin (c. 2030 b.c.). The
destruction of
Ur by the Elamites is bewailed in a Sumer.
lamentation text.
At this time of Elamite history the rulers of
the
country were known as “governors” and
not as
kings in the Mesopotamian sense of the
term.
The rulers of Elam were actually feudal
lords who
were considered to be representatives of
Inshushinak, god of Susa. A unique
cultural form
appeared in this period which served to
determine the method of the transition of
power
from one ruler to another to the end of
Elamite
history. This was the principle of
matrilinear
succession in which the throne was
hereditary
through women so that the new ruler was
the son
of a sister of a member of the previous
ruler’s
family. The quality of the succession was
somewhat protected by the regulation that
the
successor was expected to have had
some
experience as viceroy, usually at Susa.
The power of Elam spread into
Mesopotamia
under King Kutir-Mabug who made Rim-
Sin king
of Larsa and through him controlled
southern
Babylonia as far N as Babylon. Larsa fell
to the
First Amorite Dynasty of Babylon under
Hammurabi (c. 1728-1686 b.c.) who made
Elam a
province of his empire, according to his
records,
in the thirtieth year of his reign. The
empire of
Hammurabi’s dynasty fell before the
Kassite
invasion (c. 1600 b.c.) and Elam was
delivered
from Babylonian domination. For the next
300
years practically nothing is known about
Elam. In
the last quarter of the fourteenth cent. b.c.
the
Kassite Kurigalzu III claims to have
conquered
Elam.
3. The classical period. This period begins
c.
1200 b.c. when Elam again gained
independence
and re-emerged as an international power.
A
succession of capable kings expanded
Elamite
power and an invasion of Babylon in 1160
b.c.
destroyed Kassite domination. Babylon
was
made a satellite of Elam. Scores of
temples were
built throughout the empire dedicated to
Elamite
deities and tribute flowed into Susa the
capital.
Archeological excavations at Susa have
disclosed
that the Elamites plundered several
Babylonian
cities. Among the trophies found at Susa
were the
stele of the Code of Hammurabi and the
victory
stele of Naram-Sin. Many of the captured
monuments were set up in the courts of
important city temples and dedicated to
the gods
of Elam. These Elamite successes were
abruptly
ended by Nebuchadnezzar I who captured
and
plundered Susa (c. 1130 b.c.) and once
more
made Elam subject to Babylon. And once
again
for nearly 300 years nothing is known of
Elamite
history.
The Babylonian Chronicle mentions Elam
as an
independent state in 742 b.c. and it is
described
in the same way in the inscrs. of the
Assyrian
kings Tiglath-pileser III (745-727 b.c.) and
Sargon
II (722-706 b.c.). The Assyrians
demonstrate
great diplomatic skill in playing the various
claimants to the Elamite throne against
each
other. Elamite inscrs. begin with Shutruk-
Nahhunte II (717-681 b.c.) and are an
important
supplement to the Assyrian inscrs. The
Elamites
cooperated with the Babylonian rebel
Merodach-
baladan against Sennacherib (705-681
b.c.)
which resulted only in Elam becoming a
refuge for
the rebellious Babylonians humiliated by
the
Assyrians. Sennacherib was unable to
gain a
decisive victory over Elam. In at least one
battle
the Elamites inflicted a defeat upon the
Assyrians.
The struggle between the two powers
continued
until the later years of the reign of the
Assyrian
Ashurbanipal (633-619 b.c.). Ashurbanipal
defeated King Teumman and in one of his
reliefs
shows the defeated Elamite monarch’s
head
dangling from a tree in the palace garden
where
he and his queen are feasting with other
nobles.
Ashurbanipal placed a puppet upon the
throne of
Elam but he proved disloyal with the result
that in
640 b.c. the Assyrian monarch invaded
Elam,
sacked Susa and deported many of the
population to Samaria. Elam as an
independent
nation thus comes to an end. At the rise of
the
Pers. empire 550 b.c. Elam was made a
satrapy
paying tribute to the Achaemenid kings.
Susa
was maintained as an important city and
was
used as the king’s residence for three
months of
the year. It was widely known for the
beauty of its
halls and palaces. The city was mentioned
by Gr.
writers such as Arrian, Ctesias, and
Herodotus.
4. Elam in the Bible. Elam, the progenitor
of the
Elamites, with Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud,
and
Aram, was a son of Shem (Gen 10:22). In
Genesis
14:1-17 Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, is
described
as the overlord of three other
Mesopotamian
kings. Cuneiform tablets discovered at
Mari
indicate that in this period Elamite
mercenaries
served in the armies of the kings of
Mesopotamia
and that Elamites traveled as emissaries
as far as
Aleppo and Hazor which may help to
understand
Genesis 14. It is impossible on the basis
of
present knowledge to synchronize
adequately the
rulers of the Mesopotamian cities and the
Elamite
kings.
Elam is listed among those who attacked
Jerusalem and is described as a land of
archers
(Isa 22:6; Jer 49:35). It also is listed with
the
Medes among the attackers of Babylon
under
Cyrus (Isa 21:2, 9). Elam is listed as one of
the
places to which Israelites were exiled (Isa
11:11).
Jeremiah lists Elam with the nations that
will be
forced to drink the cup of the wrath of
God (Jer
25:25; cf. 49:34-39). Ezekiel numbers
Elam
among the nations over whose graves a
lamentation shall be chanted (Ezek 32:16,
24).
The Elamites are listed among the peoples
settled
in Samaria by the Assyrians (Ezra 4:9, 10).
Cyrus
(Isa 44:28; 45:1) was from the Elamite
province of
Anshan. The episodes recorded in the
Book of
Esther occurred at Susa the ancient
capital of
Elam in the reign of Ahasuerus the Pers.
who is
identified by some as Xerxes I, and by
others as
Artaxerxes II. In Acts 2:9 the Elamites are
said to
have been present, along with Parthians,
Medes,
and others, in Jerusalem on the day of
Pentecost.
- (PH.0181)
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