Women in Elam
"with the rise of the nuclear family by the end of the third millennium ... daughters attained equal inheritance rights with sons. Sometimes fathers even preferred to pass on their entire estates to their daughters rather than to their sons. A wide’s share of her husband’s estate also increased considerably in the later Elamite period."
[1]
Succession "sometimes passed from a man to his sister’s son. Succession through the sister suggests that royal women had greater political power than did royal women in Mesopotamia."
[2]
queen Nahhunte-utu of Elam "married two of her own brothers" and passed her claim to the throne to her eldest son. Also evidence for next-of-kin marriage within the royal family."
[2]
"Hinz argues that even after the sister’s son was no longer the major heir to the throne, brother-sister marriage did not disappear but continued until the end of the Elamite period, when ’even provincial rulers followed the "family custom" of Elamite kings in marrying their sisters."
[2]
[1]: (Nashat 2003, 14-15) Nashat, Guity. Women in Pre-Islamic and Early Islamic Iran. in Nashat, Guity. Beck, Lois. eds. 2003. Women in Iran: From The Rise Of Islam To 1800. University of Illinois Press. Urbana.
[2]: (Nashat 2003, 15) Nashat, Guity. Women in Pre-Islamic and Early Islamic Iran. in Nashat, Guity. Beck, Lois. eds. 2003. Women in Iran: From The Rise Of Islam To 1800. University of Illinois Press. Urbana.
| alliance with [---] | |
| nominal allegiance to [---] |
| uncoded |
| Akkadian Empire |
| Preceding: Susa III (ir_susa_3) [unknown] |
| confederated state |
| unknown |
| unknown |
| inferred present |
| absent |
| inferred absent |
| unknown |
| absent |
| inferred present |
| inferred absent |
| absent |
| Year Range | Elam - Awan Dynasty I (ir_elam_1) was in: |
|---|---|
| (2675 BCE 2251 BCE) | Susiana |
"Unfortunately, the centre of the Elamite confederation, the Awan region, from which the Elamite royal family took its name, has not yet been located. ... other Elamite centres, such as Susa (Which was in close contact with Mesopotamia) and Anshan (Tall-i Malyan), have been located."
[1]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 142) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
"Susa returned to the Mesopotamian orbit sometime around 2800-2750 B.C."
[1]
"Unfortunately, the centre of the Elamite confederation, the Awan region, from which the Elamite royal family took its name, has not yet been located."
[2]
[1]: (Amiet, Chevalier and Carter 1992, 5) 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.
[2]: (Leverani 2014, 142) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
alliance: revolts against Akkadians in Sumerian cities "possibly initiated and supported by Elam."
[1]
Elam-Barahshi-Zahara alliance.
[1]
"Sargon fought Elam and Barahshi, but they still managed to remain independent."
[1]
Akkadian ruler Naram-Sin "controlled the region of Elam, and not its broad confederation."
[1]
"The kings of Awan continued to rule, and relations between Akkad and Awan (described in the inscriptions as subjugated by Akkad) are recorded on an Elamite treaty found at Susa. The agreement was between Naram-Sin and the king of Elam, who is recognised as a political and legal representative of Elam. However, it is true that, after these last attestations, the dynasty of Awan seems to have disappeared. Susa had an Akkadian official in power and Susiana began to be significantly influenced by Akkadian culture."
[1]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 135) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
alliance: revolts against Akkadians in Sumerian cities "possibly initiated and supported by Elam."
[1]
Elam-Barahshi-Zahara alliance.
[1]
"Sargon fought Elam and Barahshi, but they still managed to remain independent."
[1]
Akkadian ruler Naram-Sin "controlled the region of Elam, and not its broad confederation."
[1]
"The kings of Awan continued to rule, and relations between Akkad and Awan (described in the inscriptions as subjugated by Akkad) are recorded on an Elamite treaty found at Susa. The agreement was between Naram-Sin and the king of Elam, who is recognised as a political and legal representative of Elam. However, it is true that, after these last attestations, the dynasty of Awan seems to have disappeared. Susa had an Akkadian official in power and Susiana began to be significantly influenced by Akkadian culture."
[1]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 135) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
Graves at Susa "show links not with Mesopotamia but with graves in the Pusht-i Kuh of Luristan and the Deh Luran plain of northern Khuristan." [1]
[1]: (Potts 2016, 85) Potts, D T. 2016. The Archaeology of Elam Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
The Susa III texts (sometimes called "Proto-Elamite") have not yet been deciphered, and Potts writes that "nothing suggests that either the writing system or the language of the Old Elamite texts was lineally descended from those of Susa III." [1] Indeed, the Awan Dynasty’s early centre of power was not at Susa but at an as-yet unidentified site somewhere east of Mesopotamia. [2] The absolute chronology of the Susa III period ... suggests that a major break in the sequence occurred around 2900 or 2800 BC." [2] Susa may have been abandoned, and subsequent graves at the site show links with the material culture of the Luristan and Khuzistan regions, which some scholars identify with the "shadowy" Awan polity. [3] Migration may thus have taken place, but the precise relationship of Old Elamite Awan to the Susa III period remains unclear.
[1]: (Potts 2016, 71) Potts, D T. 2016. The Archaeology of Elam Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[2]: (Potts 2016, 82) Potts, D T. 2016. The Archaeology of Elam Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[3]: (Potts 2016, 85, 89) Potts, D T. 2016. The Archaeology of Elam Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
Proto-Elamite reference says federal system especially in following period: "The geography of Iran, with its fertile lands surrounded by mountains, or on the margins of the central deserts, favoured the rise of local political entitites. The latter would eventually unit in a sort of federal system (especially in the following period). Among these various local entities, Susiana remains a unique case, due to its exposure to Mesopotamian influences."
[1]
first half of third millennium saw rise of powerful city-states in southern Mesopotamia.
[2]
"The conquest of Susiana [by Akkadians] also altered the confederate structure of the Elamite state."
[3]
"Established in the late fourth millennium B.C., the Elamite Empire was the first Iranian experience in empire building and state tradition. ... the federated state of Elam practiced public administration ... The federal system of Elam was composed of several major kingdoms (the Kassite, the Guti, the Lullubi, Susiana, and Elamite), all being of the same racial group of the pre-Aryan people."
[4]
Akkadian conquest: "The conquest of Susiana also altered the confederate structure of the Elamite state."
[5]
"Without exaggeration, the Elamite federated system of government can be considered as perhaps the earliest formal federalism on a large scale in history."
[6]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 91) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
[2]: (Amiet, Chevalier and Carter 1992, 5) 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, 132) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
[4]: (Farazmand 2001, 535) Farazmand, Ali in Farazmand, Ali ed. 2001. Handbook of Comparative and Development Public Administration. Marcel Dekker, Inc. New York.
[5]: (Leverani 2014, 142) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
[6]: (Farazmand 2009, 21-22) Farazmand, Ali. 2009. Bureaucracy and Administration. CRC Press. Boca Raton.
"Until Sargon, records from Akkad had been written in Sumerian. During his reign, however, the cuneiform writing of the Sumerians was adapted to fit the Akkadian language, and the resulting records have revealed Akkadian as the oldest known Semitic language. Cuneiform spread with the empire and was adopted in other states, including the kingdom of Elam, located to the west of Akkad." [1] Susa III texts c3000 BCE not related to Old Elamite inscriptions c2300 BCE. "simply indefensible to claim that Malyan was the site at which the Susa III writing system originated." It was a system derived from proto-cuneiform Susa II / Uruk IV. [2] "The fact that a number of the objects attributable to Puzur-Inshushinak were inscribed in Elamite as well as Akkadian suggests that, if he didn’t come from the highlands, then Puzur-Inshushinak was at pains to integrate both the highland and lowland regions to which he laid claim." [3]
[1]: (Middleton 2015) Middleton, John. 2015. World Monarchies and Dynasties. Routledge.
[2]: (Potts 2016, 71) Potts, D T. 2016. The Archaeology of Elam Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[3]: (Potts 2016, 114) Potts, D T. 2016. The Archaeology of Elam Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
"Until Sargon, records from Akkad had been written in Sumerian. During his reign, however, the cuneiform writing of the Sumerians was adapted to fit the Akkadian language, and the resulting records have revealed Akkadian as the oldest known Semitic language. Cuneiform spread with the empire and was adopted in other states, including the kingdom of Elam, located to the west of Akkad." [1] Susa III texts c3000 BCE not related to Old Elamite inscriptions c2300 BCE. "simply indefensible to claim that Malyan was the site at which the Susa III writing system originated." It was a system derived from proto-cuneiform Susa II / Uruk IV. [2] "The fact that a number of the objects attributable to Puzur-Inshushinak were inscribed in Elamite as well as Akkadian suggests that, if he didn’t come from the highlands, then Puzur-Inshushinak was at pains to integrate both the highland and lowland regions to which he laid claim." [3]
[1]: (Middleton 2015) Middleton, John. 2015. World Monarchies and Dynasties. Routledge.
[2]: (Potts 2016, 71) Potts, D T. 2016. The Archaeology of Elam Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[3]: (Potts 2016, 114) Potts, D T. 2016. The Archaeology of Elam Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
Inhabitants.
At Seshat standard rate of 50-200 persons per hectare 46 hectares makes Susa’s estimated population 2,300-9,200.
"Old Elamite I/Susa IV (ca. 2700-2200 B.C.) ... In central Khuzistan, the settlement system on the Susiana Plain is dominated by the urban center at Susa. During this period, it covered about 46 hectares. "
[1]
[1]: (Schacht 1987, 175) Schacht, Robert. in Hole, Frank ed. 1987. The Archaeology of Western Iran. Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington, D.C.
in squared kilometers
"The Akkadian expansion inevitably had to collide with Elam and its Awan dynasty. The latter ruled over an aggregation of smaller settlements spread across the Iranian plateau. In terms of size, demography and productivity, Elam was a worthy rival of the Akkadian empire."
[1]
at this time inhabitants of Tepe Yahya semi-nomadic had different culture, many of their cultural objects were popularly received in Susa and Ur.
[2]
"Overall, the Elamite state included a large part of Iran and interacted with other developed centres located further east, such as Tepe Yahya (in the land of Barahshi/Marhashi) and Shar-i Sokha (possibly the Aratta of Sumerian myths). These were crucial commercial junctions in the network, providing tin, lapis lazuli, diorite and other semiprecious stones to the west."
[3]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 135) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
[2]: (Amiet, Chevalier and Carter 1992, 6) 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, 142) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
levels.
"Old Elamite I/Susa IV (ca. 2700-2200 B.C.) ... The rank-size distribution (figure 46) shows that Susa was larger than predicted by the settlements in the local system, and it was therefore ’primate.’ The second largest settlement, Tepe Senjar, was smaller than predicted by the model. There were about 32 other sites ranging in size from 0.2 to 0.7 hectares. The gravity model for the interaction between sites shows that some of these sites fall into two major clusters or enclaves - one centered at Susa and the other at Chogha Pahn (KS-3) (figure 47). The rest of the sites can be considered as isolated, and they may have been relatively autonomous."
[1]
"The Akkadian expansion inevitably had to collide with Elam and its Awan dynasty. The latter ruled over an aggregation of smaller settlements spread across the Iranian plateau. In terms of size, demography and productivity, Elam was a worthy rival of the Akkadian empire."
[2]
[1]: (Schacht 1987, 175) Schacht, Robert. in Hole, Frank ed. 1987. The Archaeology of Western Iran. Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington, D.C.
[2]: (Leverani 2014, 135) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
levels.
1. Priest-king?
2. Priests appointed by king3. Lesser priests?
"Temple complexes, such as the temple of the goddess Inanna at Eana in Uruk (3200 BC), were large-scale enterprises, dealing in considerable quantities of goods and labor. A new system of recording and accounting needed to be devised. The accountants at the temple adapted a long-used system of accounting with clay tokens by impressing stylized outlines of tokens to denote numbers, with pictograms and other symbols to denote the objects that were being counted. A number of different numeration and metrological systems were used depending on the objects counted."
"The existence of at least one such temple of the Susian acropolis, known as the Acropole mound ... is attested by a collection of characteristic statueettes of worshippers, some indistinguisable in both form and execution from the ones recovered in Mesopotamian temples."
[1]
"During the third millennium B.C.E., the most important deity in Elam was the goddess Pinikir, ’the great mother of the gods to the Elamites’ and the great mistress of heaven. Later, another goddess, Kirrisha, surpassed her, but many goddesses were gradually demoted and replaced in rank by male gods. Yet Kirrisha never lost her title as the main goddess of Elam, and it is significant for later developments that she married two of her brothers who were major gods. Kings often built temples to honor her and appear to her for protection. Despite being demoted, Elamite goddesses retained a higher status than goddesses in Mesopotamia."
[2]
[1]: (Amiet, Chevalier and Carter 1992, 5) 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.
[2]: (Nashat 2003, 14) Nashat, Guity. Women in Pre-Islamic and Early Islamic Iran. in Nashat, Guity. Beck, Lois. eds. 2003. Women in Iran: From The Rise Of Islam To 1800. University of Illinois Press. Urbana.
levels. "Elam was a worthy rival of the Akkadian empire."
[1]
We have coded 5-6 levels for the Akkadian Empire so will use a large range to code this period.
Four-wheeled chariot in burial at Susa.
[2]
This might suggest a reasonable degree of military organization.
Earlier Uruk phase c3800-3000 BCE "monopoly of defence forces to protect internal cohesion. The wealth and technical knowledge accumulated in cities had to be defended against foreign attacks, both from other city-states and other enemies (for instance, nomadic tribes). This defence system then turned into an offensive tactic. ... Instrumental for these kinds of activities was the creation of an army, which was divided into two groups. One group was made of full-time workers, specialised in military activities (although this remains purely hypothetical for the Uruk period). In case of war, an army was assembled through military conscription, and was supported by mandatory provisions of military supplies."
[3]
Liverani notes of earlier Uruk phase "Urban Revolution therefore led to the formation of the Early State, not just in its decisional function, which already existed in pre-urban communities, but in the fullest sense of the term. The latter is to be understood as an organisation that solidly controls and defends a given territory (and its many communities) and manages the exploitation of resources to ensure and develop the survival of its population."
[4]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 135) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
[2]: (Potts 2016, 89) Potts, D T. 2016. The Archaeology of Elam Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[3]: (Leverani 2014, 80) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
[4]: (Leverani 2014, 79) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
levels.
1. King
2. Administration system - presumably temple based, run by accountants3. Lesser accountant4. Specialised workers who produced the stuff that accountants do accounting for e.g. shepherds
Puzur-Inshushniak ruler c.2100 BCE. Titles vary: governor (ensi) of Susa; governor (ensi) of Susa of the land of Elam, and son of Shimpi’ishhuk; the mighty (dannum), king (lugal) of Awan, and son of Shimpi’ishhuk.
[1]
first half of third millennium saw rise of powerful city-states in southern Mesopotamia.
[2]
Lower Mesopotamia at this time had city-states and inscriptions suggests unity from time of Ur III (Shu-Sin): "the celebratory tone was not directed against Mesopotamian cities or other urbanised centres (such as the ones in Elam and Syria) anymore. The inscriptions rather focused on those turbulent ’barbarian’ groups from the steppes and mountains, considered to be uncivilised and inhuman."
[3]
Before Ur III there were no provinces just tributary city-states: "The economy of earlier empires was predominantly based on commercial activities and political relations with states that were controlled by the centre and were dependent on it. However, the empires themselves did not directly control these resources. The direct management of resources was an innovation of the kings of Ur, who applied in throughout the centre of the empire, which was itself no longer divided into several tributary city-states, but into provinces governed by functionaries (the ensi) appointed by the kings of Ur. The bureaucratic management of these provinces was uniform and interchangeable, and could be applied throughout the land (although some some local variations remained in place)."
[4]
"Established in the late fourth millennium B.C., the Elamite Empire was the first Iranian experience in empire building and state tradition. ... the federated state of Elam practiced public administration ... The federal system of Elam was composed of several major kingdoms (the Kassite, the Guti, the Lullubi, Susiana, and Elamite), all being of the same racial group of the pre-Aryan people. The Elamite over-lordship in Susa was the main power of the federated states, the heads of which frequently assembled for political and military purposes. Decision making wa based on equality, and cooperation was key to the coordinated system of government in a federal structure."
[5]
"While internal independence of the member states was respected, intergovernmental relations on civil administration were regulated by various administrative rules and ordinances."
[6]
"Temple complexes, such as the temple of the goddess Inanna at Eana in Uruk (3200 BC), were large-scale enterprises, dealing in considerable quantities of goods and labor. A new system of recording and accounting needed to be devised. The accountants at the temple adapted a long-used system of accounting with clay tokens by impressing stylized outlines of tokens to denote numbers, with pictograms and other symbols to denote the objects that were being counted. A number of different numeration and metrological systems were used depending on the objects counted."
[1]: (Potts 2016, 113-114) Potts, D T. 2016. The Archaeology of Elam Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[2]: (Amiet, Chevalier and Carter 1992, 5) 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, 159) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
[4]: (Leverani 2014, 161) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
[5]: (Farazmand 2001, 535) Farazmand, Ali in Farazmand, Ali ed. 2001. Handbook of Comparative and Development Public Administration. Marcel Dekker, Inc. New York.
[6]: (Farazmand 2001, 536) Farazmand, Ali in Farazmand, Ali ed. 2001. Handbook of Comparative and Development Public Administration. Marcel Dekker, Inc. New York.
"Elam was a worthy rival of the Akkadian empire." [1] -- if so, surely must have had full-time, trained soldiers. Earlier Uruk phase c3800-3000 BCE "monopoly of defence forces to protect internal cohesion. The wealth and technical knowledge accumulated in cities had to be defended against foreign attacks, both from other city-states and other enemies (for instance, nomadic tribes). This defence system then turned into an offensive tactic. ... Instrumental for these kinds of activities was the creation of an army, which was divided into two groups. One group was made of full-time workers, specialised in military activities (although this remains purely hypothetical for the Uruk period). In case of war, an army was assembled through military conscription, and was supported by mandatory provisions of military supplies." [2]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 135) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
[2]: (Leverani 2014, 80) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
"Religion strongly flourished in ancient Elam, where the female Great Goddess was considered to be very powerful and equivalent to the male God. In addition, certain kings of Elam were also elevated to the level of ’Messenger of God,’ ’regent,’ and ruler on earth. It also appears that Elamites had some conceptions of an ’after-life, in which various burial gifts would be of use.’ Administration of Elam was developed and reflected both secular and religious aspects of law, politics and government." [1] -- period not specified. could be general reference to whole period.
[1]: (Farazmand 2009, 22) Farazmand, Ali. 2009. Bureaucracy and Administration. CRC Press. Boca Raton.
"While internal independence of the member states was respected, intergovernmental relations on civil administration were regulated by various administrative rules and ordinances." [1] "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." [2]
[1]: (Farazmand 2001, 536) Farazmand, Ali in Farazmand, Ali ed. 2001. Handbook of Comparative and Development Public Administration. Marcel Dekker, Inc. New York.
[2]: (Farazmand 2009, 21) Farazmand, Ali. 2009. Bureaucracy and Administration. CRC Press. Boca Raton.
"the Sumerian civilisation which flourished before 3500 BC. This was an advanced civilisation building cities and supporting the people with irrigation systems, a legal system, administration, and even a postal service. Writing developed and counting was based on a sexagesimal system, that is to say base 60."
[1]
[1]: J J O’Connor, J J. Robertson, E F. December 2000. http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Babylonian_mathematics.html
Temple complex based government. "Temple complexes, such as the temple of the goddess Inanna at Eana in Uruk (3200 BC), were large-scale enterprises, dealing in considerable quantities of goods and labor."
[1]
A "legal system" may have been present. Were there specialist judges or were judges priests? "the Sumerian civilisation which flourished before 3500 BC. This was an advanced civilisation building cities and supporting the people with irrigation systems, a legal system, administration, and even a postal service. Writing developed and counting was based on a sexagesimal system, that is to say base 60."
[2]
[1]: (Joseph 2011, 135) Joseph, George Gheverghese. The Crest of the Peacock: Non-European Roots of Mathematics (Third Edition). Princeton University Press.
[2]: J J O’Connor, J J. Robertson, E F. December 2000. http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Babylonian_mathematics.html
In neighbouring Mesopotamia: Ur-Nammu of Ur III (r. c2112-2094 BCE) or his son Shulgi (r. c. 2094-2047 BCE) "some scholars believe was the author of the first recorded set of law codes."
[1]
A "legal system" may have been present - not sure what this refers to. "the Sumerian civilisation which flourished before 3500 BC. This was an advanced civilisation building cities and supporting the people with irrigation systems, a legal system, administration, and even a postal service. Writing developed and counting was based on a sexagesimal system, that is to say base 60."
[2]
[1]: (Middleton 2015, 979) Middleton, John. 2015. World Monarchies and Dynasties. Routledge.
[2]: J J O’Connor, J J. Robertson, E F. December 2000. http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Babylonian_mathematics.html
In neighbouring Mesopotamia: Ur-Nammu of Ur III (r. c2112-2094 BCE) or his son Shulgi (r. c. 2094-2047 BCE) "some scholars believe was the author of the first recorded set of law codes."
[1]
A "legal system" may have been present - not sure what this refers to. "the Sumerian civilisation which flourished before 3500 BC. This was an advanced civilisation building cities and supporting the people with irrigation systems, a legal system, administration, and even a postal service. Writing developed and counting was based on a sexagesimal system, that is to say base 60."
[2]
[1]: (Middleton 2015, 979) Middleton, John. 2015. World Monarchies and Dynasties. Routledge.
[2]: J J O’Connor, J J. Robertson, E F. December 2000. http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Babylonian_mathematics.html
Temple complex based government. "Temple complexes, such as the temple of the goddess Inanna at Eana in Uruk (3200 BC), were large-scale enterprises, dealing in considerable quantities of goods and labor."
[1]
A "legal system" may have been present. Were there specialist courts or was this among the activities of the temple complexes? "the Sumerian civilisation which flourished before 3500 BC. This was an advanced civilisation building cities and supporting the people with irrigation systems, a legal system, administration, and even a postal service. Writing developed and counting was based on a sexagesimal system, that is to say base 60."
[2]
[1]: (Joseph 2011, 135) Joseph, George Gheverghese. The Crest of the Peacock: Non-European Roots of Mathematics (Third Edition). Princeton University Press.
[2]: J J O’Connor, J J. Robertson, E F. December 2000. http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Babylonian_mathematics.html
"Other major administrative achievements of the Elamites included ... the construction and maintenance of numerous public works and enterprises, such as roads, bridges, cities and towns, communication centers, and economic and commercial centers..." [1] -- which period?
[1]: (Farazmand 2009, 22) Farazmand, Ali. 2009. Bureaucracy and Administration. CRC Press. Boca Raton.
"the Sumerian civilisation which flourished before 3500 BC. This was an advanced civilisation building cities and supporting the people with irrigation systems, a legal system, administration, and even a postal service. Writing developed and counting was based on a sexagesimal system, that is to say base 60." [1]
[1]: J J O’Connor, J J. Robertson, E F. December 2000. http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Babylonian_mathematics.html
"Other major administrative achievements of the Elamites included ... the construction and maintenance of numerous public works and enterprises, such as roads, bridges, cities and towns, communication centers, and economic and commercial centers..." [1] -- which period?
[1]: (Farazmand 2009, 22) Farazmand, Ali. 2009. Bureaucracy and Administration. CRC Press. Boca Raton.
Certainly in neighbouring Mesopotamia c2000-1500 BCE: "It was an important task for the rulers of Mesopotamia to dig canals and to maintain them, because canals were not only necessary for irrigation but also useful for the transport of goods and armies. The rulers or high government officials must have ordered Babylonian mathematicians to calculate the number of workers and days necessary for the building of a canal, and to calculate the total expenses of wages of the workers." [1]
[1]: Muroi in J J O’Connor, J J. Robertson, E F. December 2000. http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Babylonian_mathematics.html
"Other major administrative achievements of the Elamites included ... the construction and maintenance of numerous public works and enterprises, such as roads, bridges, cities and towns, communication centers, and economic and commercial centers..." [1] -- which period?
[1]: (Farazmand 2009, 22) Farazmand, Ali. 2009. Bureaucracy and Administration. CRC Press. Boca Raton.
Susa III texts c3000 BCE not related to Old Elamite inscriptions c2300 BCE. [1] "Until Sargon, records from Akkad had been written in Sumerian. During his reign, however, the cuneiform writing of the Sumerians was adapted to fit the Akkadian language, and the resulting records have revealed Akkadian as the oldest known Semitic language. Cuneiform spread with the empire and was adopted in other states, including the kingdom of Elam, located to the west of Akkad." [2] )
[1]: (Potts 2016, 71) Potts, D T. 2016. The Archaeology of Elam Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[2]: (Middleton 2015) Middleton, John. 2015. World Monarchies and Dynasties. Routledge.
Linear Elamite. [1] Old Elamite. Susa III texts c3000 BCE not related to Old Elamite inscriptions c2300 BCE. [2] Elamites developed their own script [3]
[1]: (Potts 2016, 117) Potts, D T. 2016. The Archaeology of Elam Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[2]: (Potts 2016, 71) Potts, D T. 2016. The Archaeology of Elam Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[3]: (Farazmand 2009, 22) Farazmand, Ali. 2009. Bureaucracy and Administration. CRC Press. Boca Raton.
"From about 8000 BC, a system of recording involving small clay tokens was prevalent in the Near and Middle East. Tokens were small geometric objects, usually in the shape of cylinders, cones, and spheres." [1] "From about 3000 BC, among the Sumerians, tokens for different goods began appearing as impressions on clay tablets, represented by different symbols and multiple quantities represented by repetition. Thus three units of grain were denoted by three "grain marks," five jars of oil by five "oil marks," and so on." [2]
[1]: (Joseph 2011, 134) Joseph, George Gheverghese. The Crest of the Peacock: Non-European Roots of Mathematics (Third Edition). Princeton University Press.
[2]: (Joseph 2011, 135) Joseph, George Gheverghese. The Crest of the Peacock: Non-European Roots of Mathematics (Third Edition). Princeton University Press.
System of accounting used tokens. Some tokens might have been simple mnemonic devices. In neighbouring Mesopotamia c2200 BCE: "The Akkadians invented the abacus as a tool for counting" [1]
[1]: J J O’Connor, J J. Robertson, E F. December 2000. http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Babylonian_mathematics.html
Mathematics developed during this period. "there can be little doubt that the Mesopotamians knew and used the Pythagorean theorem. This is confirmed by a problem from a tablet found at Susa a couple of hundred miles from Babylon, belonging to the Old Babylonian period. It is one of the oldest examples of the use of the theorem in the history of mathematics." [1] "Other major administrative achievements of the Elamites included the development and use of a binary weight system, which had a major influence on the fraction systems of the whole Mesopotamia; a massive number of administrative and business documents; major architectural works; the development and management of a gigantic system of underground canals (Qanat) for irrigation, an Iranian invention that turned the arid land into an agricultural land" [2] -- which period?
[1]: (Joseph 2011, 165) Joseph, George Gheverghese. The Crest of the Peacock: Non-European Roots of Mathematics (Third Edition). Princeton University Press.
[2]: (Farazmand 2009, 22) Farazmand, Ali. 2009. Bureaucracy and Administration. CRC Press. Boca Raton.
"The great organisations of the first phase of urbanisation rose to prominence without writing. The latter developed relatively quickly as a response to these institutions’ needs." [1] Liverani says the so-called "urban revolution" of the Uruk phase was from 3800-3000 BCE. [2]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 73) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
[2]: (Leverani 2014, 69-70) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
Accounting documents. "The great organisations of the first phase of urbanisation rose to prominence without writing. The latter developed relatively quickly as a response to these institutions’ needs." [1] Liverani says the so-called "urban revolution" of the Uruk phase was from 3800-3000 BCE. [2]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 73) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
[2]: (Leverani 2014, 69-70) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
c2000-1500 BCE the neighbouring Babylonians "constructed tables to aid calculation." [1]
[1]: J J O’Connor, J J. Robertson, E F. December 2000. http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Babylonian_mathematics.html
"The great organisations of the first phase of urbanisation rose to prominence without writing. The latter developed relatively quickly as a response to these institutions’ needs." [1] Liverani says the so-called "urban revolution" of the Uruk phase was from 3800-3000 BCE. [2]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 73) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
[2]: (Leverani 2014, 69-70) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
"There were two main units of value in Mesopotamia: barley and silver (and sometimes copper). Barley was readily available, of low value, and thus often present in exchanges. On the contrary, silver was a precious and rare metal, but also non-perishable (since it could not be consumed), allowing its accumulation." [1]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 71) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
"There were two main units of value in Mesopotamia: barley and silver (and sometimes copper). Barley was readily available, of low value, and thus often present in exchanges. On the contrary, silver was a precious and rare metal, but also non-perishable (since it could not be consumed), allowing its accumulation. These were two very different materials, to be used as units on different occasions with different goods, and thus complementing each other." [1]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 71) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
"the Sumerian civilisation which flourished before 3500 BC. This was an advanced civilisation building cities and supporting the people with irrigation systems, a legal system, administration, and even a postal service. Writing developed and counting was based on a sexagesimal system, that is to say base 60." [1] -- presumably postal stations would have been necessary for an ancient postal service. "Other major administrative achievements of the Elamites included ... the construction and maintenance of numerous public works and enterprises, such as roads, bridges, cities and towns, communication centers, and economic and commercial centers..." [2]
[1]: J J O’Connor, J J. Robertson, E F. December 2000. http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Babylonian_mathematics.html
[2]: (Farazmand 2009, 22) Farazmand, Ali. 2009. Bureaucracy and Administration. CRC Press. Boca Raton.
"the Sumerian civilisation which flourished before 3500 BC. This was an advanced civilisation building cities and supporting the people with irrigation systems, a legal system, administration, and even a postal service. Writing developed and counting was based on a sexagesimal system, that is to say base 60." [1] -- presumably postal stations would have been necessary for an ancient postal service. "Other major administrative achievements of the Elamites included ... the construction and maintenance of numerous public works and enterprises, such as roads, bridges, cities and towns, communication centers, and economic and commercial centers..." [2]
[1]: J J O’Connor, J J. Robertson, E F. December 2000. http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Babylonian_mathematics.html
[2]: (Farazmand 2009, 22) Farazmand, Ali. 2009. Bureaucracy and Administration. CRC Press. Boca Raton.
‘early Neolithic settlements have proven difficult to document even in intensively surveyed regions.’ There is only evidence for mudbrick architecture [1]
[1]: Lloyd R. Weeks, ‘The Development and Expansion of a Neolithic Way of Life’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 56
Base camps with fortified walls are present, defending against animal or human attackers [1] Tell Areini and Tell Arad, fortified settlements in the South, suggesting they were in competition with each other for control of land and resources. [2]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 39-42) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
[2]: (Leverani 2014, 130) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
‘early Neolithic settlements have proven difficult to document even in intensively surveyed regions.’ There is only evidence for mudbrick architecture [1]
[1]: Lloyd R. Weeks, ‘The Development and Expansion of a Neolithic Way of Life’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 56
‘early Neolithic settlements have proven difficult to document even in intensively surveyed regions.’ There is only evidence for mudbrick architecture [1]
[1]: Lloyd R. Weeks, ‘The Development and Expansion of a Neolithic Way of Life’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 56
‘early Neolithic settlements have proven difficult to document even in intensively surveyed regions.’ There is only evidence for mudbrick architecture [1]
[1]: Lloyd R. Weeks, ‘The Development and Expansion of a Neolithic Way of Life’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 56
‘early Neolithic settlements have proven difficult to document even in intensively surveyed regions.’ There is only evidence for mudbrick architecture [1]
[1]: Lloyd R. Weeks, ‘The Development and Expansion of a Neolithic Way of Life’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 56
Copper/bronze arrowheads, daggers and knives in tombs at Susa. [1] "The majority of metal weaponry was likely made of arsenical copper in the first half of the 3rd millennium BCE. Tin bronzes, along with arsenical bronze alloys with a higher percentage of arsenic, are more common towards the middle of the 3rd millennium, which corresponds to the EDIII (Moorey 1985: 250–54; Malfoy and Menu 1987: 356–59; Potts 1997: 167; De Ryck et al. 2005: 263–66)." [2]
[1]: (Potts 2016, 89) Potts, D T. 2016. The Archaeology of Elam Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[2]: (Stefanski, Arthur. 2008. “The Material Culture of Early Dynastic Akkadian Period Conflict: Copper and Bronze Melee Weapons from Khafajah.” The Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Studies. 13: 16)
Copper/bronze arrowheads, daggers and knives in tombs at Susa. [1] "The majority of metal weaponry was likely made of arsenical copper in the first half of the 3rd millennium BCE. Tin bronzes, along with arsenical bronze alloys with a higher percentage of arsenic, are more common towards the middle of the 3rd millennium, which corresponds to the EDIII (Moorey 1985: 250–54; Malfoy and Menu 1987: 356–59; Potts 1997: 167; De Ryck et al. 2005: 263–66)." [2]
[1]: (Potts 2016, 89) Potts, D T. 2016. The Archaeology of Elam Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[2]: (Stefanski, Arthur. 2008. “The Material Culture of Early Dynastic Akkadian Period Conflict: Copper and Bronze Melee Weapons from Khafajah.” The Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Studies. 13: 16)
Base camps with fortified walls are present, defending against animal or human attackers. [1] In Anatolia siege warfare was mentioned in Old Hittite records. [2] Presumably at this time the catapult was not used? In India, according to Jain texts, Ajatashatru, a 5th century BCE king of Magadha in North India, used a catapult "capable of hurling huge pieces of stone". [3] Marsden (1969) said archaeological records exist before the 4th century BCE. [4] The Achaemenids (c400 BCE?) are assumed to have had the catapult because the Macedonians did. [5] Pollard and Berry (2012) say torsion catapults first came into widespread use in the Hellenistic period 4th - 1st centuries BCE. [6] The Syracuse Greek Dionysios I invented a form of crossbow called the gastraphetes in 399 BCE which encouraged the development of large tension-powered weapons. [7] There is no direct evidence for catapults for this time/location. The aforementioned evidence we currently have covering the wider ancient world suggests they were probably not used at this time, perhaps because effective machines had not been invented yet.
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 39-42) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
[2]: Siegelova I. and H. Tsumoto (2011) Metals and Metallurgy in Hittite Anatolia, pp. 278 [In:] H. Genz and D. P. Mielke (ed.) Insights Into Hittite History And Archaeology, Colloquia Antiqua 2, Leuven, Paris, Walpole MA: PEETERS, pp. 275-300
[3]: (Singh 2008, 272) Upinder Singh. 2008. A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Pearson Longman. Delhi.
[4]: (Marsden 1969, 5, 16, 66.) Marsden, E. W. 1969. Greek and Roman Artillery: The Historical Development. Toronto: Oxford University Press.
[5]: (Dandamaev 1989, 314) Dandamaev, M A. 1989. A Political History of the Achaemenid Empire. Brill.
[6]: (Pollard and Berry 2012, 45) Pollard, N, Berry, J (2012) The Complete Roman Legions, Thames and Hudson, London Rives, J (2006) Religion in the Roman Empire, Wiley
[7]: (Keyser and Irby-Massie 2006, 260) Paul T Keyser. Georgia Irby-Massie. Science, Medicine, And Technology. Glenn R Bugh. ed. 2006. The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
The counter-weight trebuchet was first used by the Byzantines in 1165 CE.
Slings had been present since the Chalcolithic. [1] "Round and ovoid sling pellets have been dug up in early Sumer and Turkestan. Ovoid sling pellets have been unearthed at the neolithic sites on the Iranian tableland. In later times, the sling was used in Palestine and Syria. It was introduced in Egypt at a still later date." [2] According to a military historian (a polity specialist needs to check this data): 4000 BCE in the Middle East and southeastern Europe: "sling, dagger, mace, and bow are common weapons". [3]
[1]: (Forouzan et al. 2012: 3534) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/ainsworth/items/itemKey/Q5RVEPUU.
[2]: (Singh 1997, 90) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi.
[3]: (Gabriel 2007, xii) Richard A Gabriel. 2007. Soldiers’ Lives Through History: The Ancient World. Greenwood Press. Westport.
Seal impressions from Susa ca 2350 BCE depicting Elamite deities have representations of bows. This seal is housed in Paris at the Musée du Louvre, Sb6680. [1] "The bow was probably between 6,000 and 10,000 years old by the dawn of the Bronze Age". [2] 4000 BCE in the Middle East and southeastern Europe: "sling, dagger, mace, and bow are common weapons". [3]
[1]: (Tallon 2013: 6) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/4HNKHM6E.
[2]: (Gabriel 2002, 27-28) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport.
[3]: (Gabriel 2007, xii) Richard A Gabriel. 2007. Soldiers’ Lives Through History: The Ancient World. Greenwood Press. Westport.
Bone harpoons found since the Paleolithic, but it is unclear if used for warfare or hunting. There is no reason to believe that other humans couldn’t be the target for these though [1] According to a military historian (a polity specialist needs to check this data): "Unlike other areas of the world where the spear developed into a thrown weapon, in the Middle East it remained primarily a stabbing weapon." [2]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 36) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
[2]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 59) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport.
Not present at this time: "the hand-held crossbow was invented by the Chinese, in the fifth century BC, and probably came into the Roman world in the first century AD, where it was used for hunting." [1] The crossbow also developed after the Syracuse Greek Dionysios I invented a form of crossbow called the gastraphetes in 399 BCE. [2]
[1]: (Nicholson 2004, 99) Helen Nicholson. 2004. Medieval Warfare: Theory and Practice of War in Europe, 300-1500. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke.
[2]: (Keyser and Irby-Massie 2006, 260) Paul T Keyser. Georgia Irby-Massie. Science, Medicine, And Technology. Glenn R Bugh. ed. 2006. The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
Recurved bows are depicted in seals, showing arrows being fired at humans in warfare. [1] "The first evidence of the composite bow appears on the victory stele of Naram Sin (2254-2218 B.C.E.)". [2] "Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE. The Scythian bow was different from the Mesopotamian one primarily in its overall dimensions - it was smaller so that it could be used from the horseback. At the same time, self bows were also in use, but because of their large size they were not suitable for use by horse riders." [3]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 75) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
[2]: (Gabriel 2002, 28) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport.
[3]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018.
According to a military historian (a polity specialist needs to check this data): Mace was the dominant weapon of war from 4000 BCE but had disappeared from Sumerian illustrations before 2500 BCE (a time when the helmet appears). [1] Inferred from the presence of war clubs in previous and subsequent polities in Susiana.
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 24) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport.
Copper swords have been found in the region. [1] According to a military historian (a polity specialist needs to check this data): In Sumer the first swords appeared about c3000 BCE but until c2000 BCE their use were restricted because the blade often became detached from the handle. The sickle-sword of c2500 BCE was cast whole but it was unable to break armour so the battle axe was preferred. [2] Late 3rd - early 2nd millennium BCE text: "Each girded with a sword belt, the strength of battle, they parade before her, holy Inana." [3]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 88) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
[2]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 63) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport.
[3]: A šir-namursaĝa to Ninsiana for Iddin-Dagan (Iddin-Dagan A): c.2.5.3.1. The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL). etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk.
Copper spearheads have been found in the region. [1] According to a military historian (a polity specialist needs to check this data): Spear-using phalanx first used in Sumer 2500 BCE. The phalanx was in use until the 1st century BCE. [2] "Metal weapons become more prevalent in the assemblage beginning in the EDIII period, with the appearance of daggers, battle axes, and a variety of spearheads" [3]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 88) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
[2]: (Gabriel 2002, 25) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport.
[3]: (Stefanski, Arthur. 2008. “The Material Culture of Early Dynastic Akkadian Period Conflict: Copper and Bronze Melee Weapons from Khafajah.” The Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Studies. 13: 16)
Daggers and knives in tombs at Susa. [1] According to a military historian (a polity specialist needs to check this data): 4000 BCE in the Middle East and southeastern Europe: "sling, dagger, mace, and bow are common weapons". [2] "Metal weapons become more prevalent in the assemblage beginning in the EDIII period, with the appearance of daggers, battle axes, and a variety of spearheads" [3]
[1]: (Potts 2016, 89) Potts, D T. 2016. The Archaeology of Elam Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[2]: (Gabriel 2007, xii) Richard A Gabriel. 2007. Soldiers’ Lives Through History: The Ancient World. Greenwood Press. Westport.
[3]: (Stefanski, Arthur. 2008. “The Material Culture of Early Dynastic Akkadian Period Conflict: Copper and Bronze Melee Weapons from Khafajah.” The Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Studies. 13: 16)
shafthole axes made of sheet bronze [1] "Metal weapons become more prevalent in the assemblage beginning in the EDIII period, with the appearance of daggers, battle axes, and a variety of spearheads" [2]
[1]: Daniel T. Potts, ‘Luristan and the Central Zagros in the Bronze Age’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 211
[2]: (Stefanski, Arthur. 2008. “The Material Culture of Early Dynastic Akkadian Period Conflict: Copper and Bronze Melee Weapons from Khafajah.” The Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Studies. 13: 16)
Four-wheeled chariot in burial at Susa. [1] but nothing to suggest this is pulled by horses and is more likely a cart pulled by donkey or Oxen [2]
[1]: (Potts 2016, 89) Potts, D T. 2016. The Archaeology of Elam Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[2]: Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina (2007). The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. p. 134.
According to a military historian (a polity specialist needs to check this data): "The first recorded instance of body armor is found on the Stele of Vultures in ancient Sumer, which shows Eannatum’s soldiers wearing leather cloaks on which are sewn spined metal disks. The disks do not appear to be arranged in any order, and we do not know if the disks were made of copper or bronze. By 2100 BCE the victory stele of Naram Sin appears to show plate armor, and it is likely that plate armor had been in wide use for a few hundred years. Plate armor was constructed of thin bronze plates sewn to a leather shirt or jerkin." [1]
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 21) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport.
Technology not yet available. According to a military historian (a polity specialist needs to check this data): "The first recorded instance of body armor is found on the Stele of Vultures in ancient Sumer, which shows Eannatum’s soldiers wearing leather cloaks on which are sewn spined metal disks. The disks do not appear to be arranged in any order, and we do not know if the disks were made of copper or bronze. By 2100 BCE the victory stele of Naram Sin appears to show plate armor, and it is likely that plate armor had been in wide use for a few hundred years. Plate armor was constructed of thin bronze plates sewn to a leather shirt or jerkin." [1] Coding this as scale armor so absent.
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 21) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport.
According to a military historian (a polity specialist needs to check this data): the earliest reference, for Greece c1600 BCE: "Early Mycenaean and Minoan charioteers wore an arrangement of bronze armor that almost fully enclosed the soldier, the famous Dendra panoply." [1] Closest reference is Mesopotamia (the Assyrians) c800 BCE?: iron plates used for shin protection. [2]
[1]: (Gabriel 2007, 78) Richard A Gabriel. 2007. Soldiers’ Lives Through History: The Ancient World. Greenwood Press. Westport.
[2]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 51) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport.
There is evidence for loincloths being used, but it would hardly count as armor and there is no evidence for warfare at this time:‘The early periods at Tepe Sialk (I-IV) were a time of important technological innovation. A carved bone knife handle representing a man wearing a cap and a loincloth found in a Sialk I context is one of the earliest known anthropomorphic representations from Iran’ [1]
[1]: Ali Mousavi, ’The History of Archaeological Research in Iran: A Brief Survey’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 7
Technology not yet available. According to a military historian (a polity specialist needs to check this data): Lamellar armour introduced by the Assyrians (9th century BCE?): "a shirt constructed of laminated layers of leather sewn or glued together. To the outer surface of this coat were attached fitted iron plates, each plate joined to the next at the edge with no overlap and held in place by stitching or gluing." [1]
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 21) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport.
According to a military historian (a polity specialist needs to check this data): Earliest known helmet dates to 2500 BCE in Sumer. After this time use of helmets became widespread. [1] The example from Sumer was "a cap of hammered copper" fitted onto a leather cap. [1]
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 22) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport.