Elams

Elams, or Elamites, were an ancient people and civilization of the southwestern Iranian plateau, centered in the region known as Elam, with Susa as its most prominent city. The Elamite heartland lay in the Susiana plain near the modern city of Shush in Iran, and the civilization flourished from the late 4th millennium BCE through the 6th century BCE, interacting with Mesopotamian societies to the west and south. The Elamite state comprised a sequence of polities that at times rivaled or allied with Mesopotamian powers.

The Elamite language is generally regarded as a language isolate. Writing developed from the Proto-Elamite system in the late 4th millennium BCE to Linear Elamite and later Elamite cuneiform scripts, with inscriptions found at Susa, Chogha Zanbil and other sites. The most famous monumental site is the ziggurat-temple at Chogha Zanbil, dating to the Middle Bronze Age and recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In political terms, Elam interacted extensively with Mesopotamian states, experiencing periods of conflict and exchange. By the first millennium BCE, Elam became increasingly integrated into broader Near Eastern polities. The Neo-Elamite period (roughly 12th–6th centuries BCE) ended with incorporation into the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus the Great in the 6th century BCE.

Today, Elam is studied through archaeological remains and inscriptions at sites such as Susa and Chogha Zanbil. The Elamites left a distinct cultural and linguistic legacy that influenced subsequent Iranian civilizations and contributed to the broader history of the ancient Near East.