Susa II

  General Description   ^[1]
Uruk (IrSusa1)"Sometime during the fourth millennium, in the urban center of Uruk (for which the archaeological period is named), southern Mesopotamia acquired a specifically Sumerian historical identity. With the introduction of a system of writing, a gradual development from an earlier accounting system, a radical change occurred in the social organization and in the very foundations of thought. ... Susa, in its earliest period (Susa I) attached to the world of the Iranian plateau, was now (in Susa II) integrated into the early Sumerian civilization of Mesopotamia, which it interpreted with originality. Precise stratigraphic excavations conducted in recent decades have allowed us to trace developments at Susa in the Uruk phase, notably of an accounting system that preceded the slightly later appearance of writing." ^[2]

Chronology for Iran ^[3]
Uruk colonies
Proto-Elamite period 3100-2700 BCE
Awan 2350-2200 BCE (contemporaneous with Akkad in Lower Mesopotamia)
Simash 2050-1950 BCE
Sukkalmah 1900-1750 BCE
Middle Elamite kingdom c1300-1100 BCE
Neo-Elamite kingdom 750-650 BCE
Media 650-550 BCE
Susa - Tal-i Malyan (Anshan, Anzan) [450-550] KM2.

Liverani 2014 chronology for Isin-Larsa period 2000-1750 BCE ^[4] Elam ^[5]
2000 BCE Shimashki dynasty, Kindattu c2000 BCE ... Indattu II c1925 BCE (last or last known)
1900 BCE Sukkalmah dynasty, Ebarat c1900 BCE ... Kuduzulush c1765 BCE (last or last known)


"Susa ... began its political life around 6000 BC, first as a city-state, then as an empire rivaling Sumer in Mesopotamia, and subsequently as the capital of one of the oldest empires of antiquity, Elam, around 3000 BC." ^[6]
"Thus the earliest experience of state tradition and administrative functions on a massive scale in Iran began around 6000 BC." ^[6]
"The main instrument of public administration and governance under the long history of the federal state of Elam was the bureaucracy, which also played a powerful role under the Median and the Persian empires." ^[6]
"Unlike the small city-state of Sumer, the Elamite empire was formed and administered on a massive scale and governed a large territory comprising present Iran and a major part of the Near East, at times including Babylonia and Assyria, for over 2500 years." ^[6]
"Their bureaucratic contacts with the Assyrians and Babylonians gave them useful insights. However, being a rival to Sumer, Babylon, and Assyria, the Elamite federal government developed the first Iranian tradition of public administration on a massive scale, though that tradition originated much earlier in the great city-state of Susa." ^[6]
"development of an active intergovernmental management and federalism, perhaps the earliest in history." ^[7]
"In the cities, thriving activities reigned, where along with the villages, professions of all kinds flourished, showing clear evidence of variety and stratification of professional and, hence, social classes in ancient Elam." ^[7]
"The development of centers on the Susiana plane, beginning with Middle Cha1colithic Chogha Mish and culminating in the rise of Susa during the Late Chalcolithic. suggests a trend towards regional control in some economic and administrative activities (Delougaz and Kantor 1996, Hole 1987b: 89-90). This trend towards centralization may also be suggested by the presence of possible elite or "Khan’s" houses during this time at several sites (Hole 1987a: 41). In spite of these trends, Chalcolithic society throughout Khuzistan presents a strong egalitarian appearance. During the Middle and Late Chalcolithic, differential access to resources may have involved less archaeological1y visible items such as staples. access to water, and control over labor, as it appears to have done at this time in Mesopotamia (Stein 1994)." ^[8] The Middle Chalcolithic corresponds to 4800-3900 BCE and the Late Chalcolithic corresponds to 3900-3500 BCE in this book.

[1]: (Johnson 1987, 131) Johnson, Gregory A. in Hole, Frank ed. 1987. The Archaeology of Western Iran. Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington, D.C.

[2]: (Amiet, Chevalier and Carter 1992, 4) Amiet, Pierre. Chevalier, Nicole. Carter, Elizabeth. in Harper, Prudence O. Aruz, Joan. Tallon, Francoise. eds. 1992. The Royal City of Susa: Ancient Near Eastern Treasures in the Louvre. Metropolitan Museum of Art.

[3]: (Leverani 2014, 513) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.

[4]: (Leverani 2014, 192-193) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.

[5]: (Leverani 2014, 193) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.

[6]: (Farazmand 2009, 21) Farazmand, Ali. 2009. Bureaucracy and Administration. CRC Press. Boca Raton.

[7]: (Farazmand 2009, 22) Farazmand, Ali. 2009. Bureaucracy and Administration. CRC Press. Boca Raton.

[8]: (Peasnall in Peregrine and Ember 2002, 173)