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71-566: Susa ( / ˈ s uː s ə / SOO -sə ; Middle Elamite : 𒀸𒋗𒊺𒂗 , romanized:  Šušen ; Middle and Neo- Elamite : 𒋢𒋢𒌦 , romanized:  Šušun ; Neo- Elamite and Achaemenid Elamite : 𒀸𒋗𒐼𒀭 , romanized:  Šušan ; Achaemenid Elamite : 𒀸𒋗𒐼 , romanized:  Šuša ; Persian : شوش Šuš [ʃuʃ] ; Hebrew : שׁוּשָׁן Šūšān ; Ancient Greek : Σοῦσα Soûsa ; Syriac : ܫܘܫ Šuš ; Middle Persian : 𐭮𐭥𐭱𐭩 Sūš or 𐭱𐭥𐭮 Šūs ; Old Persian : 𐏂𐎢𐏁𐎠 Çūšā )

142-444: A compromise on their part and therefore avoid an armed confrontation. Nabonidus was staying in the city at the time and soon fled to the capital, Babylon, which he had not visited in years. Cyrus' conquest of Susa and the rest of Babylonia commenced a fundamental shift, bringing Susa under Persian control for the first time. Strabo stated that Cyrus made Susa an imperial capital though there was no new construction in that period so this

213-521: A grant from the Shelby White Levy Program. Roman Ghirshman took over direction of the French efforts in 1946, after the end of the war. Together with his wife Tania Ghirshman , he continued there until 1967. The Ghirshmans concentrated on excavating a single part of the site, the hectare sized Ville Royale, taking it all the way down to bare earth. The pottery found at the various levels enabled

284-541: A large portion of the current structure is actually a much later construction dated to the late nineteenth century, c.  1871 . Susa is further mentioned in the Book of Jubilees (8:21 & 9:2) as one of the places within the inheritance of Shem and his eldest son Elam ; and in 8:1, "Susan" is also named as the son (or daughter, in some translations) of Elam. The site was examined in 1836 by Henry Rawlinson and then by A. H. Layard . In 1851, some modest excavation

355-567: A meaning of anteriority (perfect and pluperfect tense). The negative particle is in- ; it takes nominal class suffixes that agree with the subject of attention (which may or may not coincide with the grammatical subject): first-person singular in-ki , third-person singular animate in-ri , third-person singular inanimate in-ni / in-me . In Achaemenid Elamite, the inanimate form in-ni has been generalized to all persons, and concord has been lost. Nominal heads are normally followed by their modifiers, but there are occasional inversions. Word order

426-403: A nominalizing suffix and indicate nomen agentis or just members of a class. The inanimate third-person singular suffix -me forms abstracts. Some examples of the use of the noun class suffixes above are the following: Modifiers follow their (nominal) heads. In noun phrases and pronoun phrases, the suffixes referring to the head are appended to the modifier, regardless of whether the modifier

497-470: A non-past infinitive. The corresponding conjugations ( conjugation II and III ) are: In Achaemenid Elamite, the Conjugation 2 endings are somewhat changed: There is also a periphrastic construction with an auxiliary verb ma- following either Conjugation II and III stems (i.e. the perfective and imperfective participles), or nomina agentis in -r , or a verb base directly. In Achaemenid Elamite, only

568-482: A serving dish, and a small jar—implies the consumption of three types of food, apparently thought to be as necessary for life in the afterworld as it is in this one. Ceramics of these shapes, which were painted, constitute a large proportion of the vessels from the cemetery. Others are coarse cooking-type jars and bowls with simple bands painted on them and were probably the grave goods of the sites of humbler citizens as well as adolescents and, perhaps, children. The pottery

639-489: A stratigraphy to be developed for Susa. From 1969 until 1979 excavations were conducted under Jean Perrot . In 2019 the Susa salvage project was launched to counter the construction of a transportation underpass in the vicinity of the site. In urban history , Susa is one of the oldest-known settlements of the region. Based on calibrated carbon-14 dating , the foundation of a settlement there occurred as early as 4395 BC. In

710-464: A verbal noun, or “infinitive”. The verb distinguishes three forms functioning as finite verbs , known as “conjugations” . Conjugation I is the only one with special endings characteristic of finite verbs as such, as shown below. Its use is mostly associated with active voice, transitivity (or verbs of motion), neutral aspect and past tense meaning. Conjugations II and III can be regarded as periphrastic constructions with participles; they are formed by

781-638: Is subject–object–verb (SOV), with indirect objects preceding direct objects, but it becomes more flexible in Achaemenid Elamite. There are often resumptive pronouns before the verb – often long sequences, especially in Middle Elamite ( ap u in duni-h "to-them I it gave"). The language uses postpositions such as -ma "in" and -na "of", but spatial and temporal relationships are generally expressed in Middle Elamite by means of "directional words" originating as nouns or verbs. They can precede or follow

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852-446: Is another noun (such as a possessor) or an adjective. Sometimes the suffix is preserved on the head as well: This system, in which the noun class suffixes function as derivational morphemes as well as agreement markers and indirectly as subordinating morphemes, is best seen in Middle Elamite. It was, to a great extent, broken down in Achaemenid Elamite, where possession and, sometimes, attributive relationships are uniformly expressed with

923-412: Is carefully made by hand. Although a slow wheel may have been employed, the asymmetry of the vessels and the irregularity of the drawing of encircling lines and bands indicate that most of the work was done freehand. Copper metallurgy is also attested during this period, which was contemporary with metalwork at some highland Iranian sites such as Tepe Sialk . As many as 40 copper axes have been found at

994-592: Is considered the “classical” period of Elamite, but the best attested variety is Achaemenid Elamite, which was widely used by the Achaemenid Persian state for official inscriptions as well as administrative records and displays significant Old Persian influence. Persepolis Administrative Archives were found at Persepolis in 1930s, and they are mostly in Elamite; the remains of more than 10,000 of these cuneiform documents have been uncovered. In comparison, Aramaic

1065-406: Is found at Susa. According to some scholars, Susa may have been a colony of Uruk. There is some dispute about the comparative periodization of Susa and Uruk at this time, as well as about the extent of Uruk influence in Susa. Recent research indicates that Early Uruk period corresponds to Susa II period. Daniel T. Potts, argues that the influence from the highland Iranian Khuzestan area in Susa

1136-680: Is hard to think of any colonial system lasting that long. The spread of Uruk material is not evidence of Uruk domination; it could be local choice". Susa III (3100–2700 BC) is also known as the ' Proto-Elamite ' period. At this time, Banesh period pottery is predominant. This is also when the Proto-Elamite tablets first appear in the record. Subsequently, Susa became the centre of Elam civilization. Ambiguous reference to Elam ( Sumerian : 𒉏 , romanized:  NIM ) appear also in this period in Sumerian records. Susa enters recorded history in

1207-610: Is in dispute. Under Cyrus' son Cambyses II , Susa became a center of political power as one of four capitals of the Achaemenid Persian empire, while reducing the significance of Pasargadae as the capital of Persis. Following Cambyses' brief rule, Darius the Great began a major building program in Susa and Persepolis , which included building a large palace . During this time he describes his new capital in an inscription: "This palace which I built at Susa, from afar its ornamentation

1278-454: Is located on the site of ancient Susa. The English name Susa is derived from Ancient Greek Soûsa ( Σοῦσα ), which is ultimately derived from an original Elamite name, which was written as Šušen ( 𒀸𒋗𒊺𒂗 ) in its Middle Elamite form, Šušun ( 𒋢𒋢𒌦 ) in its Middle and Neo-Elamite forms, Šušan ( 𒀸𒋗𒐼𒀭 ) in its Neo- Elamite and Achaemenid forms, and Šuša ( 𒀸𒋗𒐼 ) in its Achaemenid Elamite form. Susa

1349-564: Is represented by only 1,000 or so original records. These documents represent administrative activity and flow of data in Persepolis over more than fifty consecutive years (509 to 457 BC). Documents from the Old Elamite and early Neo-Elamite stages are rather scarce. Neo-Elamite can be regarded as a transition between Middle and Achaemenid Elamite, with respect to language structure. The Elamite language may have remained in widespread use after

1420-967: Is uncommon in Middle Elamite, but gradually becomes dominant at the expense of the nominal class suffix construction in Achaemenid Elamite. Middle Elamite (Šutruk-Nahhunte I, 1200–1160 BC; EKI 18, IRS 33): Transliteration: (1) ú šu-ut-ru-uk- nah-hu-un-te ša-ak hal-lu-du-uš- in-šu-ši- (2) -na-ak-gi-ik su-un-ki-ik an-za-an šu-šu-un-ka 4 e-ri-en- (3) -tu 4 -um ti-pu-uh a-ak hi-ya-an in-šu-ši-na-ak na-pír (4) ú-ri-me a-ha-an ha-li-ih-ma hu-ut-tak ha-li-ku-me (5) in-šu-ši-na-ak na-pír ú-ri in li-na te-la-ak-ni Transcription: U Šutruk-Nahhunte, šak Halluduš-Inšušinak-(i)k, sunki-k Anzan Šušun-k(a). Erientum tipu-h ak hiya-n Inšušinak nap-(i)r u-r(i)-me ahan hali-h-ma. hutta-k hali-k u-me Inšušinak nap-(i)r u-r(i) in lina tela-k-ni. Translation: William Loftus (archaeologist) William Kennett Loftus (13 November 1820, in Linton, Kent – 27 November 1858, at sea)

1491-617: The Babylonian empire plundered Susa around fifty years later. In 647 BC, Neo-Assyrian king Ashurbanipal leveled the city during a war in which the people of Susa participated on the other side. A tablet unearthed in 1854 by Austen Henry Layard in Nineveh reveals Ashurbanipal as an "avenger", seeking retribution for the humiliations that the Elamites had inflicted on the Mesopotamians over

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1562-547: The Early Dynastic period of Sumer . A battle between Kish and Susa is recorded in 2700 BC, when En-me-barage-si is said to have "made the land of Elam submit". In the Sumerian period, Susa was the capital of a state called Susiana (Šušan), which occupied approximately the same territory of modern Khūzestān Province centered on the Karun River . Control of Susiana shifted between Elam , Sumer, and Akkad . During

1633-503: The Elamite monarchy , many riches and materials were brought to Susa from the plundering of other cities. This was mainly due to the fact of Susa's location on Iran's South Eastern region, closer to the city of Babylon and cities in Mesopotamia. The use of the Elamite language as an administrative language was first attested in texts of ancient Ansan, Tall-e Mal-yan, dated 1000 BC. Previous to

1704-547: The Sasanian period (224–642 AD). Between the 8th and 13th centuries AD, various Arabic authors refer to a language called Khuzi or Xūz spoken in Khuzistan , which was unlike any other Iranian language known to those writers. It is possible that it was "a late variant of Elamite". The last original report on the Xūz language was written circa 988 AD by Al-Muqaddasi , characterizing

1775-548: The Sumerian king of Kish in Mesopotamia . Three dynasties ruled during this period. Twelve kings of each of the first two dynasties, those of Awan (or Avan ; c. 2400–2100 BC) and Simashki (c. 2100–1970 BC), are known from a list from Susa dating to the Old Babylonian period . Two Elamite dynasties said to have exercised brief control over parts of Sumer in very early times include Awan and Hamazi ; and likewise, several of

1846-644: The history of theatre . Events mentioned in the Old Testament book of Esther are said to have occurred in Susa during the Achaemenid period. The King Ahasuerus mentioned in that book may refer to Xerxes I (486-465 BC). Elamite language A sizeable number of Elamite lexemes are known from the Achaemenid royal inscriptions – trilingual inscriptions of the Achaemenid Empire , in which Elamite

1917-547: The Achaemenid period. Several rulers of Elymais bore the Elamite name Kamnaskires in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. The Acts of the Apostles (c. 80–90 AD) mentions the language as if it was still current. There are no later direct references, but Elamite may be the local language in which, according to the Talmud , the Book of Esther was recited annually to the Jews of Susa in

1988-561: The British government's Turco-Persian Boundary Commission , under Colonel Fenwick Williams (Royal Artillery). The work of the mission gave Loftus and his friend Henry Adrian Churchill the chance to visit ancient sites and, in 1850, to excavate for a month at Uruk (Warka) and Larsa (Senkereh), discovering the Ziggurat of Ur . Briefly, in February to April 1851, Loftus was released from the work of

2059-462: The Great during his conquest of Elam (Susiana), of which Susa was the capital. The Nabonidus Chronicle records that, prior to the battle(s), Nabonidus had ordered cult statues from outlying Babylonian cities to be brought into the capital, suggesting that the conflict over Susa had begun possibly in the winter of 540 BC. It is probable that Cyrus negotiated with the Babylonian generals to obtain

2130-519: The Khuzi as bilingual in Arabic and Persian but also speaking an "incomprehensible" language at the town of Ramhormoz . The town had recently become prosperous again after the foundation of a market, and as it received an influx of foreigners and being a "Khuzi" was stigmatized at the time, the language probably died in the 11th century. Later authors only mention the language when citing previous work. Because of

2201-637: The Middle Elamite period began with the rise of the Anshanite dynasties. Their rule was characterized by an "Elamisation" of Susa, and the kings took the title "king of Anshan and Susa". While, previously, the Akkadian language was frequently used in inscriptions, the succeeding kings, such as the Igihalkid dynasty of c. 1400 BC, tried to use Elamite. Thus, Elamite language and culture grew in importance in Susiana. This

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2272-699: The Museum of the Louvre throughout the late 1890s and early 1900s. De Morgan's most important work was the excavation of the Grande Tranchée in the Acropole mound, where he found the stele of Naram-Sin , a collection of Babylonian kudurrus (boundary stones), the stele bearing the Code of Hammurabi , an ornamented bronze table of snakes, the bronze statue of Queen Napir-Asu , and thousands of inscribed bricks. His finds showed Susa to be

2343-596: The Susa cemetery, as well as 10 round discs probably used as mirrors. Many awls and spatulas were also found. The cemetery of Chega Sofla , from the same timeframe, provides a lot of similar material, with many sophisticated metal objects. Chega Sofla is located in the same geographical area. Susa came within the Uruk cultural sphere during the Uruk period . An imitation of the entire state apparatus of Uruk, proto-writing , cylinder seals with Sumerian motifs, and monumental architecture

2414-595: The University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia says, "they Susanians are participating entirely in an Uruk way of life. They are not culturally distinct; the material culture of Susa is a regional variation of that on the Mesopotamian plain". Gilbert Stein, director of the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute, says that "An expansion once thought to have lasted less than 200 years now apparently went on for 700 years. It

2485-405: The addition of the nominal personal class suffixes to a passive perfective participle in -k and to an active imperfective participle in -n , respectively. Accordingly, conjugation II expresses a perfective aspect , hence usually past tense, and an intransitive or passive voice, whereas conjugation III expresses an imperfective non-past action. The Middle Elamite conjugation I is formed with

2556-475: The books of Ezra (Ezra 4:9), Nehemiah (Nehemiah 1:1) and Daniel (Daniel 8:2). According to these texts, Nehemiah lived in Susa during the Babylonian captivity of the 6th century BC (Daniel mentions it in a prophetic vision), while Esther became queen there, married to King Ahasuerus , and saved the Jews from genocide . A tomb presumed to be that of Daniel is located in the area, known as Shush-Daniel . However,

2627-446: The centuries: "Susa, the great holy city, abode of their gods, seat of their mysteries, I conquered. I entered its palaces, I opened their treasuries where silver and gold, goods and wealth were amassed. . . .I destroyed the ziggurat of Susa. I smashed its shining copper horns. I reduced the temples of Elam to naught; their gods and goddesses I scattered to the winds. The tombs of their ancient and recent kings I devastated, I exposed to

2698-671: The commission to excavate at Susa on behalf of the British Museum , but was in June replaced by Hormuzd Rassam , together with whom Loftus subsequently explored the sites and collaborated on a report on the work at Susa. He is credited with the discovery of the Apadana , later excavated by the French amateur archaeologist Marcel-Auguste Dieulafoy . Engaged in 1853 by the newly founded Assyrian Excavation Fund to conduct excavations in Warka, Loftus worked at

2769-496: The construction with the noun class suffixes. Nevertheless, a set of separate third-person animate possessives -e (sing.) / appi-e (plur.) is occasionally used already in Middle Elamite: puhu-e “her children”, hiš-api-e “their name”. The relative pronouns are akka “who” and appa “what, which”. The verb base can be simple ( ta- “put”) or “ reduplicated ” ( beti > bepti “rebel”). The pure verb base can function as

2840-551: The course of excavation. Almost all of the excavations at Susa, post-1885, were organized and authorized by the French government. In two treaties in 1894 and 1899, the French gained a monopoly on all archaeological excavations in Iran indefinitely. Jacques de Morgan , after visiting the site in 1891, conducted major excavations from 1897 until 1911. The excavations that were conducted in Susa brought many artistic and historical artifacts back to France. These artifacts filled multiple halls in

2911-415: The era of Elamites, the Akkadian language was responsible for most or all of the text used in ancient documents. Susiana was incorporated by Sargon the Great into his Akkadian Empire in approximately 2330 BC. The main goddess of the city was Nanaya , who had a significant temple in Susa. The Old Elamite period began around 2700 BC. Historical records mention the conquest of Elam by Enmebaragesi ,

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2982-482: The following suffixes: In Achaemenid Elamite, the loss of the /h/ reduces the transparency of the Conjugation I endings and leads to the merger of the singular and plural except in the first person; in addition, the first-person plural changes from -hu to -ut . The participles can be exemplified as follows: perfective participle hutta-k “done”, kulla-k “something prayed”, i.e. “a prayer”; imperfective participle hutta-n “doing” or “who will do”, also serving as

3053-514: The governed nouns and tend to exhibit noun class agreement with whatever noun is described by the prepositional phrase: i-r pat-r u-r ta-t-ni "may you place him under me", lit. "him inferior of-me place-you-may". In Achaemenid Elamite, postpositions become more common and partly displace that type of construction. A common conjunction is ak "and, or". Achaemenid Elamite also uses a number of subordinating conjunctions such as anka "if, when" and sap "as, when". Subordinate clauses usually precede

3124-405: The imperative. The prohibitative is formed by the particle anu/ani preceding Conjugation III. Verbal forms can be converted into the heads of subordinate clauses through the addition of the nominalising suffix -a , much as in Sumerian : siyan in-me kuši-hš(i)-me-a “the temple which they did not build”. -ti / -ta can be suffixed to verbs, chiefly of conjugation I, expressing possibly

3195-400: The limitations of the language's scripts, its phonology is not well understood. Its consonants included at least stops /p/ , /t/ and /k/ , sibilants /s/ , /ʃ/ and /z/ (with an uncertain pronunciation), nasals /m/ and /n/ , liquids /l/ and /r/ and fricative /h/ , which was lost in late Neo-Elamite. Some peculiarities of the spelling have been interpreted as suggesting that there

3266-449: The most important center of Elamite civilization , which was effectively discovered by the French mission at Susa. Excavation efforts continued under Roland De Mecquenem until 1914, at the beginning of World War I . French work at Susa resumed after the war, led by De Mecquenem, continuing until World War II in 1940. To supplement the original publications of De Mecquenem the archives of his excavation have now been put online thanks to

3337-754: The neighbouring territories and became the king of Elam . He encouraged the use of the Linear Elamite script, that remains undeciphered. The city was subsequently conquered by the neo-Sumerian Third Dynasty of Ur and held until Ur finally collapsed at the hands of the Elamites under Kindattu in ca. 2004 BC. At this time, Susa was ruled by Elam again and became its capital under the Shimashki dynasty. Numerous artifacts of Indus Valley civilization origin have been found in Susa from this period, especially seals and etched carnelian beads , pointing to Indus-Mesopotamia relations during this period. Around 1500 BC,

3408-599: The organization of the society that commissioned them. Painted ceramic vessels from Susa in the earliest first style are a late, regional version of the Mesopotamian Ubaid ceramic tradition that spread across the Near East during the fifth millennium BC. Susa I style was very much a product of the past and of influences from contemporary ceramic industries in the mountains of western Iran. The recurrence in close association of vessels of three types—a drinking goblet or beaker,

3479-460: The region around Susa were a number of towns (with their own platforms) and villages that maintained a trading relationship with the city, especially those along the Zagro frontier. The founding of Susa corresponded with the abandonment of nearby villages. Potts suggests that the settlement may have been founded to try to reestablish the previously destroyed settlement at Chogha Mish , about 25 km to

3550-474: The site from January to April 1854, uncovering the famous coloured clay cone wall and some tablets written in cuneiform script. In October of the same year he transferred to Nineveh , and also worked at Nimrud , where in February 1855 he found the so-called "Burnt Palace" of the Assyrian king Assurnasirpal II and a hoard of exquisite ivories. In 1854 he briefly excavated at Tell Sifr . In September 1856 Loftus

3621-500: The site is still recognizable today in the artistry of the ceramic vessels that were placed as offerings in a thousand or more graves near the base of the temple platform. Susa's earliest settlement is known as the Susa I period (c. 4200–3900 BC). Two settlements named by archaeologists the Acropolis (7 ha) and the Apadana (6.3 ha), would later merge to form Susa proper (18 ha). The Apadana

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3692-452: The stronger Sumerian rulers, such as Eannatum of Lagash and Lugal-anne-mundu of Adab , are recorded as temporarily dominating Elam. Susa was the capital of an Akkadian province until ca. 2100 BC, when its governor, Kutik-Inshushinak , rebelled and made it an independent state and a literary center. Also, he was the last from the Awan dynasty according to the Susa kinglist. He unified

3763-471: The sun, and I carried away their bones toward the land of Ashur. I devastated the provinces of Elam and, on their lands, I sowed salt." Assyrian rule of Susa began in 647 BC and lasted till Median capture of Susa in 617 BC. Susa underwent a major political and ethnocultural transition when it became part of the Persian Achaemenid empire between 540 and 539 BC when it was captured by Cyrus

3834-430: The third option exists. There is no consensus on the exact meaning of the periphrastic forms with ma- , but durative, intensive or volitional interpretations have been suggested. The optative is expressed by the addition of the suffix -ni to Conjugations I and II. The imperative is identical to the second person of Conjugation I in Middle Elamite. In Achaemenid Elamite, it is the third person that coincides with

3905-404: The verb of the main clause. In Middle Elamite, the most common way to construct a relative clause is to attach a nominal class suffix to the clause-final verb, optionally followed by the relativizing suffix -a : thus, lika-me i-r hani-š-r(i) "whose reign he loves", or optionally lika-me i-r hani-š-r-a . The alternative construction by means of the relative pronouns akka "who" and appa "which"

3976-413: The west. Previously, Chogha Mish was a very large settlement, and it featured a similar massive platform that was later built at Susa. Another important settlement in the area is Chogha Bonut , which was discovered in 1976. Shortly after Susa was first settled over 6000 years ago, its inhabitants erected a monumental platform that rose over the flat surrounding landscape. The exceptional nature of

4047-480: The “ genitive case ” suffix -na appended to the modifier: e.g. šak X-na “son of X”. The suffix -na , which probably originated from the inanimate agreement suffix -n followed by the nominalizing particle -a (see below), appeared already in Neo-Elamite. The personal pronouns distinguish nominative and accusative case forms. They are as follows: In general, no special possessive pronouns are needed in view of

4118-469: Was a British geologist, naturalist, explorer and archaeological excavator. He discovered the ancient Sumerian city of Uruk in 1849. Loftus was brought up in Rye , East Sussex , and went to school at Newcastle Royal Grammar School . In Cambridge, where from 1840 he studied geology, he was a student at Caius College . In 1845 he married Charlotte Thulbourne. From 1849 he served as geologist and naturalist with

4189-401: Was a contrast between two series of stops ( /p/ , /t/ , /k/ as opposed to /b/ , /d/ , /ɡ/ ), but in general, such a distinction was not consistently indicated by written Elamite. Elamite had at least the vowels /a/ , /i/ , and /u/ and may also have had /e/ , which was not generally expressed unambiguously. Roots were generally CV, (C)VC, (C)VCV or, more rarely, CVCCV (the first C

4260-477: Was also the period when the Elamite pantheon was being imposed in Susiana. This policy reached its height with the construction of the political and religious complex at Chogha Zanbil , 30 km (19 mi) south-east of Susa. In ca. 1175 BC, the Elamites under Shutruk-Nahhunte plundered the original stele bearing the Code of Hammurabi and took it to Susa. Archeologists found it in 1901. Nebuchadnezzar I of

4331-737: Was an ancient city in the lower Zagros Mountains about 250 km (160 mi) east of the Tigris , between the Karkheh and Dez Rivers in Iran. One of the most important cities of the Ancient Near East , Susa served as the capital of Elam and the winter capital of the Achaemenid Empire , and remained a strategic centre during the Parthian and Sasanian periods. The site currently consists of three archaeological mounds, covering an area of around 1 square kilometre (0.39 sq mi). The city of Shush

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4402-422: Was brought. Downward the earth was dug, until I reached rock in the earth. When the excavation had been made, then rubble was packed down, some 40 cubits in depth, another part 20 cubits in depth. On that rubble the palace was constructed." The city forms the setting of The Persians (472 BC), an Athenian tragedy by the ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus that is the oldest surviving play in

4473-424: Was characterized by an extensive and pervasive nominal class system. Animate nouns have separate markers for first, second and third person. It can be said to display a kind of Suffixaufnahme in that the nominal class markers of the head are also attached to any modifiers, including adjectives, noun adjuncts , possessor nouns and even entire clauses. The history of Elamite is periodised as follows: Middle Elamite

4544-468: Was done by William Loftus , accompanied by Fenwick Williams , who identified it as Susa. Among his finds was a jar containing around 110 coins, the earliest of which was dated to 697-98 AD. In 1885 and 1886 Marcel-Auguste Dieulafoy and Jane Dieulafoy began the first French excavations, discovering glazed bricks, column bases, and capitals from the palace of the Achaemenid kings. However, they failed to identify mudbrick walls, which were then destroyed in

4615-453: Was enclosed by 6 metre thick walls of rammed earth (this particular place is named Apadana because it also contains a late Achaemenid structure of this type). Nearly two thousand pots of Susa I style were recovered from the cemetery, most of them now in the Louvre . The vessels found are eloquent testimony to the artistic and technical achievements of their makers, and they hold clues about

4686-557: Was far larger than Susa at the time, Susa was not its colony, but still maintained some independence for a long time, according to Potts. An architectural link has also been suggested between Susa, Tal-i Malyan, and Godin Tepe at this time, in support of the idea of the parallel development of the Proto-Cuneiform and proto-elamite scripts. Some scholars believe that Susa was part of the greater Uruk culture. Holly Pittman, an art historian at

4757-414: Was more significant at the early period, and also continued later on. Thus, Susa combined the influence of two cultures, from the highland area and from the alluvial plains . Potts also stresses the fact that the writing and numerical systems of Uruk were not simply borrowed in Susa wholesale. Rather, only partial and selective borrowing took place, that was adapted to Susa's needs. Despite the fact that Uruk

4828-657: Was one of the most important cities of the Ancient Near East . In historic literature , Susa appears in the very earliest Sumerian records: for example, it is described as one of the places obedient to Inanna , patron deity of Uruk , in Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta . Susa is mentioned in the Ketuvim of the Hebrew Bible by the name Shushan, mainly in the Book of Esther , but also once each in

4899-442: Was used from c. 2500 on. Elamite cuneiform was largely a syllabary of some 130 glyphs at any one time and retained only a few logograms from Akkadian but, over time, the number of logograms increased. The complete corpus of Elamite cuneiform consists of about 20,000 tablets and fragments. The majority belong to the Achaemenid era, and contain primarily economic records. Elamite is an agglutinative language , and its grammar

4970-580: Was usually a nasal). Elamite is agglutinative but with fewer morphemes per word than, for example, Sumerian or Hurrian and Urartian . It is mostly suffixing. The Elamite nominal system is thoroughly pervaded by a noun class distinction, which combines a gender distinction between animate and inanimate with a personal class distinction, corresponding to the three persons of verbal inflection (first, second, third, plural). The suffixes that express that system are as follows: Animate: Inanimate: The animate third-person suffix -r can serve as

5041-557: Was written using Elamite cuneiform (circa 5th century BC), which is fully deciphered. An important dictionary of the Elamite language, the Elamisches Wörterbuch was published in 1987 by W. Hinz and H. Koch. The Linear Elamite script however, one of the scripts used to write the Elamite language circa 2000 BC, has remained elusive until recently. The following scripts are known or assumed to have encoded Elamite: Later, Elamite cuneiform , adapted from Akkadian cuneiform ,

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