Important state in southern Iran with its capital at Susa. The development of civilization in this area closely paralleled that in Mesopotamia proper; for instance, writing appeared almost as early (see ProtoElamite), before 3000 bc, though later the Elamites were to take over cuneiform and adapt it to their language. The Elamites usually appear in the Mesopotamian texts as enemies, and indeed it was Elamite incursions that brought down the Third Dynasty of Ur late in the 3rd millennium bc. The high point of Elamite civilization was reached in the reign of Untash-gal, who extended the kingdom and invaded Kassite Babylonia. He also built a royal city at Choga Zanbil. The kingdom of Elam fell to the Assyrians when Ashurbani-pal sacked the city of Susa, c640 BC. The sculpture, bronze work and jewellery of the Elamites were of a high standard and demonstrate strong local styles, while sharing an overall similarity with Mesopotamian work. Little is known about the Elamite language, which is not related to any known tongue and still not fully deciphered.
The Macmillan dictionary of archaeology, Ruth D. Whitehouse, 1983Copied