The origin of the Elamites were most likely the indigenous people of the Iranian Plateau whose culture first began to develop during the Mesopotamian Ubaid Period (c. 5000-4100 BC).
Elam's history can be traced, with certainty, to about 3200 B.C. and thus roughly corresponds with the chronologies of Egypt, Sumer, and the Harappan high-culture of the Indus Valley.
The area occupied for millennia by the Elamite Empire was a known trade hot spot. Located along the Persian Gulf with access to major shipping routes across land and sea, Elam was a mainstay in getting numerous resources wherever they needed to go throughout the Middle East and Asia.
Elamite rulers of the second and first millenia traditionally took the title King of Anzan (Anshan) and Shushan (Susa).
Among the most famous kings of the Elamites were Untash-Napirisha (r. c. 1275-1240 BC) who built the ziggurat and temple complex of Dur Untash.
Elamite strength was based on an ability to hold various areas together under a coordinated government that permitted the maximum interchange of the natural resources unique to each region. Traditionally this was done through a federated governmental structure.
In 639 BC, the entire western army of Assyria moved to destroy the Elamites, and the Assyrians defeated Elamite offensives as Elam was torn apart by civil wars. The Assyrian conquest of Susa in the 7th century BC marks the end of Elamite history and the rise of the Persian empire is often taken as the beginning of a new era.
Ancient civilization of Elam (3200 – 539 BC)
