The history and archaeology of Elam are marked by the intermittent reconfiguration of the entity which we call by that name. Although continuities can be observed, there is as much if not more evidence of transformation and disjuncture. This chapter considers the archaeological and historical trajectory of Elam in the light of discussions in the field of history which have emphasized both long-term continuities and short-term cycles. It also looks at the problem of centre and periphery within Elam, between Elam and her neighbours, and in the study of Elam vis-à-vis Mesopotamia in modern scholarship. The topic of ethnogenesis, introduced at the beginning of this study, is again broached, while the question is asked, whether the foregoing study should be classified as history or archaeology? Finally, some suggestions are made which might impact on the enhancement of Elamite studies, and topics for further work are touched upon.

From the era of Shimashki we move to the period of the sukkalmahs, a title of some antiquity in Mesopotamia which has been interpreted variously in its Iranian context. The mechanics of the transformation of the line of Shimashkian kings into the line of Susian sukkalmahs is obscure but one thing is certain: under the sukkalmahs, particularly those of the late nineteenth and early eighteenth centuries BC, the prestige and influence of Elam throughout Western Asia was unprecedented. The break-up of the Ur III empire witnessed the rise of independent, rival dynasties in the southern Mesopotamian cities of Isin and Larsa. Isin's power was greatest during the first three quarters of the twentieth century BC, and this was a period in which the Elamites suffered a series of political and military setbacks. But, beginning in the late twentieth century BC, the power of Isin waned as that of Larsa waxed, and the Elamites came to have substantial influence in the kingdom of Larsa. Ultimately we see Elam emerge as the major powerbroker in a web of relations which bound Assyria, Babylonia and other neighbouring regions, such as Eshnunna (in the modern Diyala River basin) and Mari (on the Middle Euphrates in Syria), often in uneasy alliances which eventually broke down. Elam provided the much sought after tin which Mari dispensed to the kingdoms of western Syria and Palestine.

The Parthian empire was brought down by Ardashir, a native of Istakhr in Fars who successfully overthrew Artabanus IV, last of the Parthian kings, in AD 224, and thereby laid the foundations for what has become known as the Sasanian empire. There is no shortage of important archaeological sites in Fars and Khuzistan dating to the Sasanian period (AD 224–642), such as Susa, Gundeshapur and Ivan-e Kerkha. But where are the Elamites? By the Sasanian period it is difficult to discern elements of distinctive Elamite identity in southwestern Iran, although there are some indications that the Elamite language survived in places. After the Islamic conquest, however, we see the name ‘Elam’ used to identify the ecclesiastical province of the Nestorian church, a major branch of Christianity widespread in the Sasanian empire, located in Khuzistan. Sources dating to between the eighth and fourteenth centuries AD make frequent reference to the Nestorian ecclesiastical province of Elam which seems to have eventually succumbed to conquest by Tamerlane in about AD 1400. In this case the revival of the name Elam can be attributed to religious usage.

Although Elam may be mentioned as early as 3000 BC in the so-called Archaic texts from Uruk in southern Mesopotamia, it is not attested unambiguously in the historical record until the middle of the third millennium BC when it appears, in the Sumerian King List, as an adversary of the Sumerian city-state of Kish. A second Iranian region, known as Awan, also makes its appearance in a similar context at this time. Thereafter, both Awan and Elam are mentioned in a variety of Mesopotamian sources dating to the mid- and late third millennium. After reviewing the literary evidence, we examine those contemporary archaeological remains from Khuzistan and the central western Zagros which have the greatest likelihood of representing the material equivalent of third millennium Elam and Awan. The use of the terms ‘Trans-Elam’ and ‘Trans-Elamite’ to describe a much more easterly portion of the Iranian Plateau and its material culture is also examined.

During the period from c. 2350 to 2150 BC we continue to see Elam largely through Mesopotamian eyes. This was the time of the Old Akkadian dynasty in southern Mesopotamia which was founded by Sargon of Agade and ruled from an as yet unidentified capital in central Iraq. Elam figures in Old Akkadian royal inscriptions and literary works, though some of these are only known from much later copies. Repeated acts of aggression against Elam and Susiana are recorded, and the subjugation of Susa by the Akkadians is confirmed by a number of sources.

The emergence of the Persians as a major power in western Iran must have been aided by the sustained Assyrian assault on Elam in the seventh century BC. But it is important to stress that, notwithstanding the severity of Assyrian aggression against Elam, the Elamites were neither annihilated nor reduced to a state of utter insignificance. Although it is not uncommon for historians and archaeologists to ignore the role of Elam and the Elamite population in the emergence of the better known Achaemenid Persian empire (539–331 BC), there is much to say on this matter. The very facts that Cyrus the Great established his capital in the heartland of what had been Anshan, that Elamite was the language of the earliest Achaemenid inscriptions and the language of the thousands of administrative texts found at Darius' city of Persepolis, that a number of Elamite rulers tried to rebel against Persian authority, and that Elamite deities continued to be worshipped in the Persian-controlled cities, point to the continuation of an Elamite tradition in southwestern Iran long after Cyrus came to power. Nor was Susa, an important city throughout all earlier periods of Elamite history, neglected by the Achaemenids, and it is from Susa that much of the archaeological evidence of the period comes.

The period of the sukkalmahs was followed by the Middle Elamite period. While details of the transition between these two eras are lacking, the onset of the Middle Elamite period is usually put at c. 1500 BC, its end c. 1100 BC. Three phases have been distinguished, each marked by a different dynasty named after its founder or most significant early leader (thus the Kidinuids, Igihalkids, and Shutrukids). This is the period when the title ‘king of Susa and Anshan’, as it is expressed in Akkadian texts, or ‘king of Anshan and Susa’, according to the usage of the Elamite sources, is attested.

The first phase of this period (Middle Elamite I, c. 1500–1400 BC) is notable not only for the wealth of evidence from Susa but for the foundation of a new and important site at Haft Tepe by a king named Tepti-ahar. The second phase (Middle Elamite II, c. 1400–1200 BC) is characterized by inter-marriage with the royal family of the contemporary Kassite dynasty in Babylonia. This was also the time when one of the Middle Elamite II period's most important rulers, Untash-Napirisha, founded yet another important new site at Choga Zanbil, ancient Al Untash-Napirisha, complete with a stepped temple tower or ziggurat, where the deities of the highlands were worshipped alongside those of the lowlands. Susa, too, provides abundant evidence of occupation at this time.

Puzur-Inshushinak's reign was followed by a period of renewed Mesopotamian control over Susa, this time by a dynasty established by Ur-Namma at Ur in southern Mesopotamia around 2100 BC which lasted for almost a century (the so-called Third Dynasty of Ur or Ur III empire). Apart from controlling Susa the Ur III state entered into relations with other Iranian regions such as Anshan and her neighbours on the Iranian Plateau through a pattern of dynastic inter-marriage with local elites.

But as texts from the mid- to late Ur III period show, a new power centred on the region of Shimashki was on the rise in western Iran, no doubt partly as a reaction against Ur's political imperialism. It is important therefore to investigate the role played by Elam in general and Shimashki in particular in the eventual downfall of the Third Dynasty of Ur around 2000 BC, particularly the contribution made by Kindattu, the sixth king mentioned in a list of the kings of Awan and Shimashki found at Susa. Shimashkian influence in the wake of Ur's collapse, while difficult to gauge accurately, clearly extended beyond the confines of Susiana. The difficulty of defining the boundaries of Shimashkian influence makes it awkward to point to specific archaeological assemblages from Fars and Khuzistan which can be associated with Shimashki, but it is important to keep the political history of the period in mind when assessing the material culture of the late third and early second millennium BC.

The survival of the Elamites as a distinct ethno-linguistic group is well-attested in the period following Alexander the Great's conquest of Western Asia. In Khuzistan we find continued occupation at major sites like Susa in the last centuries BC and first centuries AD, along with the foundation of important new sites like Masjid-i Solaiman, Tang-i Sarvak and Bard-e Nechandeh. Greek and Latin sources from the period speak of Elymais and the Elymaeans, in whom we can recognize without difficulty latter day Elamites. To a large extent the Elymaeans resisted the imposition of foreign rule by the successors of Alexander the Great, the Seleucid emperors (so named after the founder of the dynasty, Seleucus I). The geography of Elymaean territory was described by Strabo and attacks against them were made by several Seleucids, notably Antiochus III and IV.

With the demise of the Seleucid empire in the east, the major state in Iran was that of the Parthians. Originating in what is today the Khorassan province of northeastern Iran and adjacent portions of Turkmenistan, the Parthians appeared on the historical scene late in the third century BC when their first king, Arsaces I (c. 238–211 BC), began minting coins in his capital Nisa, near modern Ashgabat in Turkmenistan. By about 140 BC, the Parthian king Mithridates I had probably taken possession of Susa and was threatening Babylonia.

In order to discuss the origins and development of Elam we must first establish where the name comes from and what it signified. This chapter examines the etymology of the name and introduces the reader to the changing nature of its application. It also takes up the fundamental chronological issue which must be tackled before launching into an examination of the material and historical evidence covered here. When do we first find Elam mentioned? How late did Elam exist? Finally, where was Elam? Seeming contradictions between epigraphic, literary and archaeological evidence are investigated which bear on the problem of how ancient observers and modern scholars have located Elam in their treatments of the subject. Finally, the chapter closes with some observations on how and why the meanings of broad geographical and ethnic designations often change in the course of time. For us it is important to realize that the area identified as Elam in one period may not have been the same as that referred to by the same name in another period. These are some of the ambiguities which must be understood before the subject of Elam can be intelligently discussed.

The approximate geographical boundaries of Elam are set out in this chapter, and the topographic and environmental zones within those boundaries are described. The reader is introduced to the climate, rainfall and hydrology of the relevant portions of Fars, Khuzistan and Luristan in south-western Iran. Evidence for differences between the climate of the past and that of the present is examined and in that context the possibility of anthropogenic changes to the Elamite landscape is raised. Finally, the animal, mineral and vegetable resources of the region are surveyed, showing just what earlier inhabitants of southwestern Iran had at their disposal.

The Neo-Elamite period is dated from c. 1000 BC until the conquest of Babylonia in 539 BC by Cyrus the Great. For simplicity we have divided it into three phases. While the earliest phase (Neo-Elamite I, c. 1000–744 BC) is poorly known, the middle phase (Neo-Elamite II, 743–646 BC) is amply documented in Assyrian sources, for it was a period of intense conflict between the Assyrian kings and a series of Elamite rulers, often allied with insurrectionists in southern Babylonia. The inscriptions of Shutruk-Nahhunte II (c. 717–699 BC) from Susa reveal continuities with earlier periods in Elamite history, but much of the contemporary archaeological material from the site is badly disturbed. Similarly, it is impossible to correlate much of the military history of Assyria's aggression with Elamite archaeology for the simple reason that many of the towns in western Khuzistan which must have borne the brunt of Assyrian aggression have yet to be identified on the ground, let alone excavated. It is also likely that, under intense Assyrian pressure, Elam as it had existed in the Middle Elamite period was no longer a unified state linking the highlands of Fars and the lowlands of Khuzistan, and that individual cities, such as Hidalu or Madaktu, were no longer bound by the authority of a single Elamite king at any one time.