Near East Kingdoms

Anshan / Anzan (City State) (Western Iran)

Ancient Mesopotamia (Intro) Canaanite States & Groups Islamic Empire Israelites & Israel Mesopotamian States & Groups Rome Syrian States & Groups

The city states of Sumer formed one of the first great civilisations in human history (see feature link). This Near Eastern civilisation emerged a little way ahead of that of Africa's ancient Egypt, and up to a millennium before that of the Indus Valley culture.

Southern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq and the western edge of Iran) was subjected to permanent settlement during the Pottery Neolithic and, by the late fourth millennium BC, Sumer was divided into approximately a dozen city states, by which time other regions were emerging as population centres in their own right. Elam was located to the east of Sumer, with its own selection of city states at its core (and see feature link).

This region was located on an alluvial plan below the Zagros mountains, and its remoteness meant that it took some time for it to assimilate Sumer's groundbreaking social, agricultural, and administrative inventions. Access to Sumer was in the Zagros foothills, circling the marshes, but this meant difficulties in communication, and a feeling in Sumer of there being comparative barbarians on their eastern flank.

Culturally, Elamite kingdoms achieved less than their more advanced neighbours, and imported much of what they needed, including writing from Sumer and architecture from the later city and empire of Babylon. Elamite records are also extremely sparse in recording local events, and large areas of its history are almost totally unknown except through Sumerian records.

Anshan was located in the southern highlands of Elam, today's archaeological site of Tal-i Malyan (or Tall-e Malyan). It was established in the late fourth millennium BC, to the north-west of today's city of Shiraz, in the centre of a wide and fertile valley. In fact the area was so fertile that at least seventy-seven other settlements are known to have thrived here at the same time as Anshan.

The discovery of Tal-i Malyan in 1971 was a sensation. The find suggested that the growth of urban life during and after the Neolithic was not an isolated phenomenon in Mesopotamia but instead took place across a much wider area. This idea has since been corroborated by excavations in Jiroft and the 'Burnt City'.

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(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information from Mesopotamia: The Invention of the City, Gwendolyn Leick (Penguin Books, 2001), from Encyclopaedia Britannica (Eleventh Edition, Cambridge (England), 1910), from The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character, Samuel Noah Kramer ('List 1' of Sumerian rulers, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1963), from Historical Atlas of the Ancient World, 4,000,000 to 500 BC, John Heywood (Barnes & Noble, 2000), from The Ancient Near East, c.3000-330 BC, Amélie Kuhrt (Routledge, 2000, Vol I & II), from Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East, Michael Road (Facts on File, 2000), from Mesopotamia: Assyrians, Sumerians, Babylonians, Enrico Ascalone (Dictionaries of Civilizations 1, University of California Press, 2007), from The Archaeology of Mesopotamia, S Lloyd (Revised Ed, London, 1984), from Early Mesopotamia: Society and Economy at the Dawn of History, J N Postgate (Routledge, 1994), from History of the Ancient Near East c.3000-323 BC, Marc van der Mieroop (Blackwell Publishing, 2004, 2007), from Mesopotamia, Chris Scarre (Ed, Past Worlds - The Times Atlas of Archaeology, Guild Publishing, London 1989), from The Archaeology of Elam, D T Potts (Cambridge University Press, 1999), from The Elamite World, Javier Álvarez-Mon, Gian Pietro Basello, & Yasmina Wick (Eds, Routledge, 2018), and from External Links: Some Thoughts in Neo-Elamite Chronology, Jan Tavernier (PDF), and the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, and Early Kings of Kish, Albrecht Goetze (Journal of Cuneiform Studies, Vol 15, No 3, 1961, pp 105-111 and available to read via University of Chicago Press Journals), and Archaeology.org, and Anšan (Tell Malyan) (Livius.org).)

c.3900 BC

Already occupied for three millennia, Susa now emerges as an important regional centre at the start of the Uruk IV cultural period in Sumer.

Elamite cities on the plain to the east of Sumer benefited from direct contact, but cities with more easterly locations also swiftly caught up, connected into a network of trading routes which stretched east to the Indus and north to Hissar and the BMAC (click or tap on map to view at an intermediate size)

This period lasts between about 3900-3100 BC, during which the city of Uruk flourishes as the only real urban centre in Sumer, perhaps at the expense of the nearby town of Chogha Mish. Susa sits at the heart of a great trading and cultural centre.

The city thoroughly absorbs Sumer's material culture and soon begins using it with an Elamite twist. The bevelled-rim bowl begins appearing across a wide geographical area in Iran, and the city of Anshan now emerges in the Elamite highlands as a rival urban centre, having been occupied for at least a couple of centuries, and perhaps a millennium.

c.3100 - 2700 BC

The Uruk IV influence suddenly fades around 3100 BC (or 3200 BC in some modern sources) for reasons unknown. Older traditions re-emerge in places which had previously taken on board Uruk influences.

The site of Tal-i Malyan (ancient Anshan) as seen from the west, with not much visibly remaining when compared to the mound settlements of Mesopotamia and the Susa plain (External Link: Creative Commons Licence 4.0 International)

The Uruk-inspired centre at Susa in Elam seems to be taken over by immigrants from the Zagros mountains. A new political entity emerges which discards Uruk IV cuneiform and language to replace it with 'Proto-Elamite', a precursor to the usage of all later Elamite city states.

Approximately four hundred kilometres to the south in the modern province of Fars, the city of Anshan becomes prominent and expands in size, dominating the highlands of the southern mountain range.

c.2700 - 2600 BC

The elevation of Anshan from a smaller settlement coincides with other regional changes, such as the abandonment of the 'Susa III'-related, Period IVC enclave at Tepe Yahya. However, Anshan's initial flourish is brief, with the city being abandoned around 2600 BC.

This ends its 'Banshan' period of cultural occupation, coincidentally (or not) as the city of Awan arises to its north.

c.2240? BC

Both Marhashi and Kutik-Inshushinnak of Awan declare independence from Akkad - although perhaps not immediately as it seems that Elam is re-conquered for a time. When they do succeed though, they eventually throw off Akkadian language influences and Anshan finds itself having been reoccupied. This begins its long Kaftari cultural period which lasts until about 1600 BC.

Recent archaeology at the ancient site of Susa has confirmed traces of a village which was inhabited around 7000 BC, and painted pottery dating from about 5000 BC, along with previous finds at later levels which include carved cylinder seals, jewellery, clay balls, and clay tablets with cuneiform inscriptions which record business transactions, political history, and mathematical calculations

fl c.2240 BC

Unnamed ruler in Anshan. Defeated and removed.

Before that, Susa's rulers do retain some autonomy. Naram-Sin of Akkad concludes a treaty with an unnamed ruler or high official there, and the document is written in Elamite, not Akkadian. It specifies no submission to Akkad but does confirm that Akkad's enemies are Susa's enemies.

The treaty could be a reaction to building events in the region which result in Kutik-Inshushinnak's takeover. From Awan he also conquers Susa and Anshan, forming a centralised and unified kingdom which is entirely outside Akkad's control. He still seems to retain Susa's Akkadian titles alongside his claim of kingship of Awan.

fl c.2230 - 2210 BC

Governor and general of Susa & king of Awan.

c.2210 BC

Marhashi overruns Elam for a time, and unites eastern efforts in fighting against the Akkadian empire (Sabum is also counted as an opponent). A battle is fought between the two states near Akshak, at the confluence of the Diyala and Tigris rivers. The Akkadian name for the following year suggests that Shar-kali-sharri of Agade claims the victory.

Akshak was dominated by Lagash for a time, so figurines like this example from Lagash which is dated about 2500 BC may well have been found in both cities

One of the daughters of the ruler of Marhashi is married either to Shar-kali-sharri of Agade or his son, perhaps as a consequence of the battle, and as a sign of renewed ties of peace.

c.2193 BC

Elam is overthrown by the Gutians as they sweep through southern Mesopotamia from the Zagros highlands, also destroying the Akkadian empire as they go. The Gutians largely concentrate across upper southern Mesopotamia.

They govern the southernmost cities from a distance and seemingly exercise little direct control over Elamite lands. There, the Simashki kings eventually come to power across Elam in the wake of this period of instability.

c.2094 BC

Shulgi of Ur extends his father's empire to include all of the Assyrian city states and their at-present non-Assyrian neighbours such as the Lullubi. He also re-conquers Susa (and Urua) from Elam and its Simashki rulers, and may be responsible for finishing off rebuilding work at Nippur.

About a hundred and fifty kilometres to the south of Baghdad lies a great archaeological mound which is about eighteen metres high and almost 1.5 kilometres across: Nippur, the city of Enlil the 'mooring-rope' of heaven and earth which served as Sumer's primary religious centre

The vassal kings of Kisurra are removed entirely, while at various times Ur's governors are in place at Anshan, Eresh, Sabum, Susa, Urum, and Urusagrig, part of the dynasty's firmly-established administrative system.

In his twenty-sixth year, around 2068 BC, Shulgi attempts to forge an alliance between himself and Libanukshabash, king of Marhashi and the dominant opposition in Elam.

Perhaps this is to renew forty year-old ties of peace, but perhaps it is also to ward off a decline in relations (and Der has been destroyed by unknown circumstances just five years previously). He gives his daughter, Nialimmidashu, in marriage to the king.

fl c.2064 BC

Unnamed ensi (governor) for Shulgi of Ur (Year 30).

c.2064 - 2060 BC

Year 30 of the reign of Shulgi of Ur is named as the year 'the king's daughter was married to the ensi (governor) of Anshan'. Given that the post at the smaller city of Anshan on the Iranian plateau is highly likely to be less senior than the equivalent post at Susa, this marriage must be classed as an important political manoeuvre. The move seemingly fails as Anshan has to be destroyed just four years later.

The ruins of the once-vast city of Ur were excavated in 1922 by Sir Leonard Woolley, which is when the 'Royal Tombs' were discovered (External Link: Creative Commons Licence 4.0 International)

c.2019 - 2014 BC

The ninth year of the reign of Ibbi-Sin of Ur is named as the year 'Ibbi-Sin, the king of Ur, went with massive power to Huhnur, [and struck a] bolt [in]to the land of Anshan...'.

Ibbi-Sin in his fourteenth year (circa 2014 BC) has a year name for overwhelming 'Susa, Adamdun, and Awan like a storm, [so that he] subdued them in a single day and captured the lords of their people'.

fl c.2004 BC

Son of Kindattu of Simashki. Ruler of Anshan.

c.2004 BC

The fragmentary hymn to Ishbi-Erra of Isin mentions one 'Zinnum, he who had escaped' into the burnt earth of the steppe. Here he is forced to eat zubud-fish from the Euphrates, Tigris, the Mirsig, and the Kish canal but, haunted by spectres, he dies of thirst.

When he learns of this, Kindattu of Simashki and Elam pulls back into Anshan and disappears from history. An important earlier letter to Ibbi-Sin of Ur from Puzurnumushda of Kazallu identifies Zinnum as ensi of Kish. Speculation places him as a vital ally of Kindattu whose loss destroys his ability to hold Sumer.

The Zagros mountains in the vicinity of the modern city of Istfahan and the ancient city state of Simashki offer a wide variety of living environments

Even so, the great brick mausoleums and temples of the third dynasty kings of Ur have been destroyed and the king has been carried off into captivity, ending Sumerian civilisation.

Documentation from Umma now ceases. Isin now enjoys a period of dominance in Sumer, while now-Amorite-dominated cities of Kazallu, Kish, and Ur re-emerge under reduced circumstances.

c.1970? BC

With the fall of the Simashki rulers, their replacements are the stronger Eparti rulers. Under them the Elamites swiftly rise to become a regional power, one which is contemporaneous with the Old Babylonian empire. They often threaten conquest both against it and the other Amorite city states of Mesopotamia, such as Isin.

Elam is more closely involved in Mesopotamian affairs than at any other time in its history. It incorporates the lowlands which surrounded Susa and also the Zagros highlands around Anshan, a bipolar domain which is reflected in the ruler's joint title of 'king of Anshan and Susa'.

Babylon began life as a modest town which had been seized from Kazallu, but was quickly fortified by the building of a city wall in the nineteenth century BC

The Anshanite court now adopts BMAC-related images, symbols and, presumably, formal Oxus (BMAC) court garments. Possibly the use of Linear Elamite writing may be part of a wider picture in which Elam enjoys strong relations with the Oxus civilisation at the expense of Marhashi's waning importance.

fl c.1970 BC

Eparti ruler of Susa & Anshan. Superseded the Simashki kings?

c.1970? BC

Eparti, or Ebarat, is king and priest of Anshan and Susa. His son is Shilhaha, sukkal-mah (see below). Adda-hushu is his regent and scribe of the people of Susa.

Eparti is the son of Kuk-sharum, a figure who is not claimed as one of the now-marginalised Simashki rulers. Power may have shifted from them to Anshan and Susa (albeit with some Simashki blood and influence), and Eparti may or may not be one of their number, although he and Shilhaha are certainly part of a new Eparti-led ruling establishment.

Ancient Merv, the capital of Persian and Greek Merv/Margiana, was eventually abandoned just like its even more ancient forebear shown here, Gonur Tepe (Gonordepe), which was a major city of the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex until the River Murghab changed its course to leave it high and dry (click or tap on image to view full sized)

Son?

c.1929 - 1927 BC

For reasons unknown and pursuing a more aggressive foreign policy than that of his predecessors, Gungunum of Larsa attacks and destroys Pashime in his third year (circa 1929 BC) and Anshan in his fifth year (circa 1927 BC). He may also be in control of Susa in his sixteenth year (circa 1916 BC), depending upon how a Susa text is interpreted.

c.1920? BC

Isin suddenly and rapidly begins to decline. The precise events are not known but, around this time, Gungunum, Isin's governor of the province of Lagash (and apparently based at Larsa), seizes Ur. This move cuts Isin's vital trade route, economically crippling the city. It also loosens Isin's previously iron control over the entire region.

Anshan (Kidinuid Dynasty of Elam) (Western Iran)

Ancient Mesopotamia (Intro) Canaanite States & Groups Islamic Empire Israelites & Israel Mesopotamian States & Groups Rome Syrian States & Groups

The land of Elam neighboured Sumer along that region's eastern flank. Its first city state (Awan) arose by around 2700 BC, located on an alluvial plain below the Zagros mountains like many Elamite cities. The later 'Middle Elamite' period began in the mid-second millennium BC with poor records and plenty of gaps in modern knowledge of people and events, thanks largely to the Kassite rule of Babylonia.

This hazy beginning was followed by a slow Elamite ascendancy into an empire under three dynasties of kings from the city of Anshan. Although Elamite lands were late to arrive on the international scene, and had limited influence outside of Babylonia and Assyria, they could not be ignored as a significant force. An international system was soon in place during this period, with rulers of equal status referring to one another as 'brother' in their frequent correspondence.

The lack of international correspondence to mention Elam is probably due to the fact that it only became a significant domain after the period in which the Egyptian Amarna archive was laid down, along with its distance from Syria. To be able date any of the rulers of this period, events have to be relied upon which are noted in Babylonia.

The Anshanite dynasties of Elam began with the Susa-based Kidinuids who oversaw the 'Elamisation' of that city while continuing to use the Akkadian language on their inscriptions. The kings of this period were titled 'king of Anshan and Susa', indicating a renewed political unity within Elam, or at least a claim to it. However, this is the most obscure of the three 'Middle Elamite' dynasties.

c.1500 - ? BC

King of Anshan & Susa, based at Susa.

King of Anshan & Susa. Some lists place him last.

King of Anshan & Susa, based at Susa?

King of Anshan & Susa, based at Susa?

? - c.1400 BC

King of Anshan & Susa, based largely at Kabnak.

The best-attested act of this period is Tepti-ahar's building of a new settlement, called Kabnak, approximately twenty kilometres from Susa. The Kidinuid kings leave no mark outside of the western lowlands though.

Several hundred people were massacred in this period and their bodies piled into a mass grave behind one of Kabnak's city walls, for archaeologists to find in 2014-2015, although the circumstances surrounding the massacre are unknown

With Elam in general decline, Kabnak also declines. Some of its temples and palaces are abandoned, and their materials are reused to build simple dwellings. The remains of several hundred massacre victims of this period are found by archaeologists, piled on top of one another behind one of the city's internal walls.

Anshan (Unified Elam) (Western Iran)

Ancient Mesopotamia (Intro) Canaanite States & Groups Islamic Empire Israelites & Israel Mesopotamian States & Groups Rome Syrian States & Groups

The ancient land of Elam neighboured Sumer, with its earliest advanced city state - Awan - arising by around 2700 BC. The later 'Middle Elamite' period began in the mid-second millennium BC with poor records and plenty of gaps in modern knowledge of people and events, thanks largely to the Kassite rule of Babylonia.

The Elamite dynasties from Anshan began with the Susa-based Kidinuids who oversaw the 'Elamisation' of that city while continuing to use the Akkadian language on their inscriptions. The kings of this period were titled 'king of Anshan and Susa', indicating a renewed political unity within Elam, or at least a claim to it.

However, this was the most obscure of the three 'Middle Elamite' dynasties. Even so, it did begin a period of Elamite unification which remained in place for some centuries, with the Igehalkid kings succeeding the Kidinuids.

c.1250 BC

The largest project to be undertaken by the Igehalkid dynasty of Elamite kings is the construction of a new city which is located forty kilometres from Susa. The city of Untash-Napirisha is named after its founder, Untash-Naprisha. It is devoted to Napirisha, the great god of Elam, and Inshushinak, the patron deity of Susa. Following the king's death his city assumes secondary status to Susa.

c.1230 BC

Kiddin-Khutran of the Igehalkid dynasty twice enters Babylonia to attack Assyria's puppet rulers there. On the first campaign, Nippur is taken, while on the second Isin is attacked. When Kiddin-Khutran dies there is a change of dynasty in Elam under the Shutrukids.

The Elamite city of Untash-Napirisha (the later Dur-Untash) is located in what is now Khuzestan province in south-western Iran, being better known as the archaeological site of Tchogha Zanbil or Chogha Zanbil, founded by the Elamite king of the same name around 1250 BC

c.1190 -1160 BC

Shutruk-Nahhunte I of Elam's Shutrukid dynasty of kings states in one of his inscriptions that he brings to Susa several stelae which King Untash-Naprisha of the Igehalkid dynasty had previously placed in the city of Untash-Napirisha.

Several such items have been discovered through archaeology and are presumed to be those which originally stood in Untash-Napirisha. Other inscriptions mention further objects which have come to Susa from Anshan, and Tikni.

Shutruk-Nahhunte's passion for collecting monuments in his capital city results in the gathering of a vast number of them there, including many which have come from various parts of Mesopotamia.

c.1125 BC

The presence of some inscribed bricks and glazed wall knobs from the reign of the Shutrukid king, Khutelutush-In-Shushinak (otherwise shown as Khutelutush-Inshushinak or Hutelutush-Inshushinak), at Susa and Anshan give evidence for this king’s building activities in both major Elamite centres, but not in Untash-Napirisha.

Whilst Babylon in the eighth century BC was perhaps not the great city it once had been and would again be, it was still one of the biggest, most heavily-populated centres of population in the ancient world of the early first millennium (click or tap on image to view full sized)

c.1120 - 760 BC

'Neo-Elamite Period I' sees Elam's capital, Susa, sacked by the Babylonian king, Nebuchadrezzar. The Elamite kingdom is badly damaged, and is absorbed into Babylonia. The early Parsua begin to arrive to the immediate east of Elam by the middle of the ninth century BC.

c.760 - 644 BC

'Neo-Elamite Period II' sees Elam, under its Babylonian masters, controlling the Parsua to the east of Elam. They have settled in increasing numbers to provide a sizable force which in part makes itself available to Elam. In this period Elam and Babylonia often fight side by side against external threats, especially that posed by the Assyrians.

692/691 BC

Khumma-Menanu of Elam leads a coalition of states against Assyrian king Sennacherib at the Battle of Halule on the Tigris. With him is Babylon, the minor kingdom of Ellipi (roughly located in Luristan, to the immediate west of Elam), and the state of Anshan which seems able to be able to call on the Parsua.

Anshan has often - but not always - been part of Elam itself, but it may be ruled by a subsidiary line at this time. The location of the battle suggests a march by the allies towards the heart of Assyrian-dominated territory.

Ashurbanipal is illustrated during a lion hunt, almost a ritual in the Assyrian royal search for order amidst the seemingly everyday chaos of life

The outcome is not decisive, and does not prevent Sennacherib from devastating Babylon itself following a fifteen month-long siege, although it does protect Elam. Sippar also suffers Sennacherib's wrath for having provided a base for the Elamites. The temple of Annunitu is destroyed and the cult statue of Shamash is taken away along with other Babylonian deities.

644 BC

'Neo-Elamite Period III' begins as Elam is devastated by Assyria, although not as badly as had previously been believed from inscriptions left by the Assyrians themselves. The populace suffers greatly, but it is not massacred.

Instead, the fragmented and weakened Elamites rule an increasingly shrinking domain which eventually passes into the hands of the Parsua.

They gain Anshan (Anzan) even while the last seventh century BC Elamite kings are still claiming it within their title, possibly as a result of the Assyrian attack on the Elamites in this year as it ties in with Achaemenes of the Parsua being acclaimed as king of Anshan.

The final resting place for Cyrus the Great, creator of the Achaemenid empire, was in this stone tomb at his imperial capital of Pasargardae (modern Fārs Province)

539 BC

The Parsua assume full control of Elam as part of their increasing dominance of the region, leading to the Elamites fading from history as a recognisable people and culture - although they clearly do survive.

The Achaemenid Persians preserve later Elamite culture for at least the period of their first dynasty, although what seems to be a semi-independent fragment of Elamite civilisation does seem to persist for several centuries in the form of Elymais, its people known as Elymaeans.

On the Behistun inscription of Darius 'the Great' in the later years of the sixth century BC the land of Elam is known as Uwja or Ūja. This is part of the satrapy of Persis, while Susa forms the capital of its own eponymous satrapy.