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]
c1800 BCE? "the Elamite sukkal-mah, who invaded Mesopotamia. At first Mari and Babylon supported Elam in its siege of their old rival Eshnunna. However, the situation completely changed when Elam threatened Babylon and the Sinjar region. This lead to the formation of a coalition between Mari and Babylon, along with their allies Larsa, Yamhad, Zalmaqum and all the kings in the Jezira. Within a few years, Elam was forced to retreat, although it still managed to plunder Eshnunna."
[3]
"The documentation on Elam predominantly comes from Susa. The city had a central role as the residence of the sukkal-mah, but also a marginal one from an Elamite perspective due to its proximity to the Lower Mesopotamian border. Therefore, it is hypothetically possible that other Elamite regions and cities had a similar triad of offices, sharing the same sukkal-mah, but with different people in the other two roles."
[4]
"the Sukkal-mah Dynasty replaced the one of Shimashki perhaps as a repercussion of the incursion of Gungunum of Larsa against Susa. Eparti and Shilhaka, founders of the new dynasty, took on the title of ’king of Anshan and Susa’ and made Susa their capital."
[4]
"Elam remained politically independent from the Mesopotamian kingdoms and even relatively superior to them. During the Mari Age, the sukkal-mah (probably Shiruduh I) was engage in diplomatic and commercial relations with Mari and even more distant Qatna. ... Elam’s influence extended all over the Zagros, reaching Shemshara, which was very close to Assyria. At the death of Shamshi-Adad ... the anti-Babylonian front along the Tigris was under the supremacy of Elam. Hammurabi’s victory, however, helped in lowering the expansionistic ambitions ... The Babylonians never conquered Elam and the local dynasty continued to rule, leaving only Susiana vulnerable to the consequences of the military developments taking place in Mesopotamia."
[4]
"Just like in the rest of the Near East, even in the case of Elam there is a lack of documentation for the sixteenth century BC."
[4]
"At the time of the sukkal-mah, the choice of Susa as capital showed a clear intention of becoming a constitutive part of the Mesopotamian political system and of Babylonian culture."
[5]
Babylonian official language at this time: "The official language (also for royal inscriptions) was once again Elamite, and not Babylonian, as it had been before the dark age."
[5]
"Among the major administrative achievements of the Elamite Iran were the development and management of a gigantic system of underground irrigation, qanats, an earlier Iranian invention turning an unworked country into an agricultural land; the invention and development of the written language of Elamite and its extensive use in the administration of the federated state; and the construction and maintenance of numerous public enterprises like roads, bridges, cities and towns, communication centers, and economic trade centers with the neighboring states. Elamite Iran was relatively prosperous because of its rich minerals and precious metals, as well as other industries and arts."
[6]
"The earliest experiences of state tradition and administrative functions on a massive scale began around 6000 B.C. in Susa. As one of the oldest sites of ancient civilization, Susa began political and administrative life first as a city-state contemporary and rival to Sumer in the Mesopotamia, then as the capital of one of the oldest empires of antiquity, Elam. 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."
[7]
"While internal independence of the member states was respected, intergovernmental relations on civil administration were regulated by various administrative rules and ordinances."
[6]
16th-14th centuries BCE: The Elamites were concentrated in the Susiana plain but maintained their ancestral ties with the highlands, where Anshan was progressively deserted."
[8]
The Elamite polity was ruled by three main officials: sukkalmah (grand regent, grand vizier), sukkal of Elam and Shimaski (usually brother of the sukkalmah) and sukkal of Susa (prince, heir to the throne). The power was transmitted inside the royal family. The marriages between brothers and sisters were common practices in Old Elamite Period. When the sukkalmah died, his younger brother became a king, the next was sukkalmah’s son or son of sukkal of Elam and Shimaski
[9]
[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.
[3]: (Leverani 2014, 229) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
[4]: (Leverani 2014, 254) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
[5]: (Leverani 2014, 376) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
[6]: (Farazmand 2001, 536) Farazmand, Ali in Farazmand, Ali ed. 2001. Handbook of Comparative and Development Public Administration. Marcel Dekker, Inc. New York.
[7]: (Farazmand 2001, 535) Farazmand, Ali in Farazmand, Ali ed. 2001. Handbook of Comparative and Development Public Administration. Marcel Dekker, Inc. New York.
[8]: (Amiet, Chevalier and Carter 1992, 9) 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.
[9]: Liverani 2014, 253
| vassalage to [---] |
| Amorite world |
| Elam - Late Sukkalmah |
| Preceding: Ur - Dynasty III (iq_ur_dyn_3) [secession] | |
| Preceding: Elam - Shimashki Period (ir_elam_2) [continuity] | |
| Succeeding: Elam - Late Sukkalmah (ir_elam_4) [continuity] |
| quasi-polity | |
| confederated state |
| absent |
| absent |
| inferred present |
| present |
| inferred present |
| absent |
| absent |
| absent |
| inferred present |
| absent |
| inferred present |
| unknown |
| unknown |
| inferred absent |
| unknown |
| inferred present |
| inferred absent |
| present |
| absent |
| unknown |
| Year Range | Elam - Early Sukkalmah (ir_elam_3) was in: |
|---|---|
| (1900 BCE 1701 BCE) | Susiana |
: "The Mari Age is undoubtedly a period for which it is possible to reconstruct the network of political relations of the ’Amorite’ world ... which can be considered as a cultural and linguistic continuum that spread from Syria to Elam with an unprecedented intensity and breadth of interaction. Akkadian became the preferred language for diplomatic relations and the administration of all the palaces of the area, even where the main spoken language was Hurrian or Amorite. Messengers and ambassadors had to travel extensively to deliver information, requests, gifts, and to prepare the route for merchants or troops."
[1]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 229) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
The Third Dynasty of Ur controlled Susa and surrounding areas under the kings from Shulgi from Ibbi-Sin (roughly, the 21st century BCE). The rest of Elam remained independent. When the Third Dynasty of Ur fell, partly due to Elamite invasions, the whole of Elam regained independence, so we can code this as a secession. [1] Mario Liverani explains that Ur III control of the regions south of the Iranian Plateau "was largely marginal. Only during Shulgi’s reign, the ruler conquered Susiana, which would remain a province of the empire until the reign of Ibbi-Sin. Under Ur III control, Susiana was governed by an ensi appointed by the king. The area was therefore included in the Mesopotamian nucleus of the empire and fully integrated both on a political and administrative level. However, in the surrounding areas, the rest of Elam remained independent. In fact, from an Elamite perspective, Susa was only a marginal city bordering with Sumer. The kings of Ur interacted with the regions of Anshan (Fars), Shimashki and Zabshali (north of Susiana) through a series of peace treaties, containment policies and threats. At times this interaction was expressed through marriages between the daughters of the kings of Ur and the Elamite kings, or military expeditions. However, the kings of Ur never reached a stable control of the area.On the contrary, the necessity to face the Sumerian threat was one of the main catalysts behind the rise of the ‘dynasty of Shimashki’. The latter managed to remain independent, and even had a crucial role in the fall of Ur." [2]
[1]: (Liverani 2014: 168-9, 173-4) Liverani, Marco. 2014. The Ancient Near East: History, Society and Economy. Translated by Soraia Tabatabai. Abingdon: Routledge. Zotero ID: 7DRZQS5Q.
[2]: (Liverani 2014: 168-9) Liverani, Marco. 2014. The Ancient Near East: History, Society and Economy. Translated by Soraia Tabatabai. Abingdon: Routledge. Zotero ID: 7DRZQS5Q.
Despite the Ur III occupation of Susa and surrounding regions, there was continuity in large parts of the Elamite realm between the Shimashki period and the Early Sukkalmah period. [1] The population of Early Elam polity stayed the same as in the previous periods, there was no traces of migrations. Likewise, the elite and royal family was Elamite, and they were completely independent from Sumerian polities. [2]
[1]: (Liverani 2014: 168-9) Liverani, Marco. 2014. The Ancient Near East: History, Society and Economy. Translated by Soraia Tabatabai. Abingdon: Routledge. Zotero ID: 7DRZQS5Q.
[2]: Potts 1999, 161
: "In the kingdom of Elam during this time (about 1700 B.C.), the people of the southeastern plateau, whose princes had controlled Susiana, fell back into a semi-nomadic state. The trans-Elamite culture that extended across the plateau similarly collapsed, and India too was overwhelmed in a general crisis about which little is known." [1]
[1]: (Amiet, Chevalier and Carter 1992, 8) 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.
[1]
[2]
"The Iranologist Walther Hinz once described late third millennium Elam as ’a federal state’, and wrote, ’In an attempt to unite the very diverse areas of the federation, the kings, being sovereign, strove to bind the minor princelings to themselves by ties of blood relationship. The result was a body politic constructed on lines that were unusual, complicated, and indeed unparalleled elsewhere. The ruling houses most adept at this task all seem to have sprung from the high land and not from Susiana, although Susa itself early attained the status of capital’ (Hinz 1972: 69). ... Steinkeller described the six Shimaskian lands defeated by Shu-Sin as a ’confederation’ (Steinkeller 1988a: 119), while Stolper called them ’an extensive interregional union’ (Stolper 1982: 49)."
[3]
"Without exaggeration, the Elamite federated system of government can be considered as perhaps the earliest formal federalism on a large scale in history."
[4]
"Elam’s political structure was characterised by its confederate nature. This aspect was typical of the region from as early as the Early Dynastic period. Therefore, the role of the sukkal-mah corresponded to the Elamite confederation and the single sukkal correspond to the individual regional districts. Among these, the role of the sukkal of Elam and Shimashki maintained its privilege as a legacy of the former supremacy of the dynasty of Shimashki at the beginning of the second millennium BC."
[5]
[1]: Hinz 1971, 256-7
[2]: Liverani 2014, 253
[3]: (Potts 2016, 145) Potts, D T. 2016. The Archaeology of Elam Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[4]: (Farazmand 2009, 21-22) Farazmand, Ali. 2009. Bureaucracy and Administration. CRC Press. Boca Raton.
[5]: (Leverani 2014, 253-254) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
[1]
[2]
"The Iranologist Walther Hinz once described late third millennium Elam as ’a federal state’, and wrote, ’In an attempt to unite the very diverse areas of the federation, the kings, being sovereign, strove to bind the minor princelings to themselves by ties of blood relationship. The result was a body politic constructed on lines that were unusual, complicated, and indeed unparalleled elsewhere. The ruling houses most adept at this task all seem to have sprung from the high land and not from Susiana, although Susa itself early attained the status of capital’ (Hinz 1972: 69). ... Steinkeller described the six Shimaskian lands defeated by Shu-Sin as a ’confederation’ (Steinkeller 1988a: 119), while Stolper called them ’an extensive interregional union’ (Stolper 1982: 49)."
[3]
"Without exaggeration, the Elamite federated system of government can be considered as perhaps the earliest formal federalism on a large scale in history."
[4]
"Elam’s political structure was characterised by its confederate nature. This aspect was typical of the region from as early as the Early Dynastic period. Therefore, the role of the sukkal-mah corresponded to the Elamite confederation and the single sukkal correspond to the individual regional districts. Among these, the role of the sukkal of Elam and Shimashki maintained its privilege as a legacy of the former supremacy of the dynasty of Shimashki at the beginning of the second millennium BC."
[5]
[1]: Hinz 1971, 256-7
[2]: Liverani 2014, 253
[3]: (Potts 2016, 145) Potts, D T. 2016. The Archaeology of Elam Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[4]: (Farazmand 2009, 21-22) Farazmand, Ali. 2009. Bureaucracy and Administration. CRC Press. Boca Raton.
[5]: (Leverani 2014, 253-254) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
"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] After mid-14th BCE: "The official language (also for royal inscriptions) was once again Elamite, and not Babylonian, as it had been before the dark age." [2] "The Mari Age is undoubtedly a period for which it is possible to reconstruct the network of political relations of the ’Amorite’ world ... which can be considered as a cultural and linguistic continuum that spread from Syria to Elam with an unprecedented intensity and breadth of interaction. Akkadian became the preferred language for diplomatic relations and the administration of all the palaces of the area, even where the main spoken language was Hurrian or Amorite. Messengers and ambassadors had to travel extensively to deliver information, requests, gifts, and to prepare the route for merchants or troops." [3]
[1]: (Middleton 2015) Middleton, John. 2015. World Monarchies and Dynasties. Routledge.
[2]: (Leverani 2014, 376) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
[3]: (Leverani 2014, 229) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
"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] After mid-14th BCE: "The official language (also for royal inscriptions) was once again Elamite, and not Babylonian, as it had been before the dark age." [2] "The Mari Age is undoubtedly a period for which it is possible to reconstruct the network of political relations of the ’Amorite’ world ... which can be considered as a cultural and linguistic continuum that spread from Syria to Elam with an unprecedented intensity and breadth of interaction. Akkadian became the preferred language for diplomatic relations and the administration of all the palaces of the area, even where the main spoken language was Hurrian or Amorite. Messengers and ambassadors had to travel extensively to deliver information, requests, gifts, and to prepare the route for merchants or troops." [3]
[1]: (Middleton 2015) Middleton, John. 2015. World Monarchies and Dynasties. Routledge.
[2]: (Leverani 2014, 376) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
[3]: (Leverani 2014, 229) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
"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] After mid-14th BCE: "The official language (also for royal inscriptions) was once again Elamite, and not Babylonian, as it had been before the dark age." [2] "The Mari Age is undoubtedly a period for which it is possible to reconstruct the network of political relations of the ’Amorite’ world ... which can be considered as a cultural and linguistic continuum that spread from Syria to Elam with an unprecedented intensity and breadth of interaction. Akkadian became the preferred language for diplomatic relations and the administration of all the palaces of the area, even where the main spoken language was Hurrian or Amorite. Messengers and ambassadors had to travel extensively to deliver information, requests, gifts, and to prepare the route for merchants or troops." [3]
[1]: (Middleton 2015) Middleton, John. 2015. World Monarchies and Dynasties. Routledge.
[2]: (Leverani 2014, 376) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
[3]: (Leverani 2014, 229) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
"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] After mid-14th BCE: "The official language (also for royal inscriptions) was once again Elamite, and not Babylonian, as it had been before the dark age." [2] "The Mari Age is undoubtedly a period for which it is possible to reconstruct the network of political relations of the ’Amorite’ world ... which can be considered as a cultural and linguistic continuum that spread from Syria to Elam with an unprecedented intensity and breadth of interaction. Akkadian became the preferred language for diplomatic relations and the administration of all the palaces of the area, even where the main spoken language was Hurrian or Amorite. Messengers and ambassadors had to travel extensively to deliver information, requests, gifts, and to prepare the route for merchants or troops." [3]
[1]: (Middleton 2015) Middleton, John. 2015. World Monarchies and Dynasties. Routledge.
[2]: (Leverani 2014, 376) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
[3]: (Leverani 2014, 229) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
"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] After mid-14th BCE: "The official language (also for royal inscriptions) was once again Elamite, and not Babylonian, as it had been before the dark age." [2] "The Mari Age is undoubtedly a period for which it is possible to reconstruct the network of political relations of the ’Amorite’ world ... which can be considered as a cultural and linguistic continuum that spread from Syria to Elam with an unprecedented intensity and breadth of interaction. Akkadian became the preferred language for diplomatic relations and the administration of all the palaces of the area, even where the main spoken language was Hurrian or Amorite. Messengers and ambassadors had to travel extensively to deliver information, requests, gifts, and to prepare the route for merchants or troops." [3]
[1]: (Middleton 2015) Middleton, John. 2015. World Monarchies and Dynasties. Routledge.
[2]: (Leverani 2014, 376) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
[3]: (Leverani 2014, 229) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
Malyan 130 ha. Based on rate of 50-200 people per hectare applied consistently across the Seshat database to cover 90% of the variablity, Malyan had between 6500 and 26,000 inhabitants.
Susa had c. 85 ha in Early Elamite period. Based on the rate of 50-200 people per hectare that has been applied consistently across the Seshat database to cover 90% of the variability, Susa had between 4250-17,000 inhabitants.
"Susa is thought to have covered an area of c. 85 ha by the sukkalmah period, when roughly twenty new villages were founded as well (Carter and Stolper 1984: 150)."
[1]
"The historical phases at Susa ... - Old Akkadian, Ur III and Shimashki period - are not discernible at Anshan itself. Abandoned at the end of the Banesh period c.2600 BC, Tal-i Malyan was resettled c. 2200 BC, and the entire time span down to 1600 BC is characterized by a fairly uniform material culture referred to as ’Kaftari’ (Sumner 1989)."
[2]
Tal-i Malyan 39 ha during Early Kaftari (2200-1900 BCE).
[2]
Tal-i Malyan expanded to 130 ha during Middle Kaftari (1900-1800 BCE)
[2]
Tal-i Malyan 98 ha during Late Kaftari (1800-1600 BCE).
[2]
Sukkalmah, 2000-1475 BC, "sedentary population reached a new peak, with settlements in all regions clustered around small centers (10-15 ha). Both Susa (85 ha) and Malyan (130 ha) were dominant regional centers although Schacht finds evidence that the Susiana settlement system, with many isolated sites, was perhaps less well integrated than the Malyan hinterland, with its hierarchically organized settlement clusters."
[3]
[1]: (Potts 2016, 167) 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, 143) Potts, D T. 2016. The Archaeology of Elam Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[3]: (Sumner 1988) Sumner, William. 1988. Frank Hole, (ed.) - 1987. The Archaeology of Western Iran, Settlement and Society From Prehistory to the Islamic Conquest. Paleorient. Volume 14. Number 1. pp.177-179.
levels.
1. Capital. Susa
2. Provincial capitals and towns3. Villages4. Hamlets.
levels.
No data. This is the estimate for the early periods and temples existed in this period e.g. temple of Ishmekarab in Apadana
[1]
[2]
"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."
[3]
[1]: Hinz 1971, 262
[2]: Potts 1999, 172
[3]: (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. Inferred that military organization would be roughly similar to that of the Akkadian Empire for which we have data.
’Shuruhtuh raised an army of 12,000 as contribution to coalition with Assyria, Eshnunna and perhaps Turukkeans (of the Zagros) versus the Guti.
[1]
[1]: (Potts 2016, 156-157) Potts, D T. 2016. The Archaeology of Elam Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
levels.
Akkadian Empire had at least 5 levels. Ur III at least 4. Range reflects uncertainty, taking into account that the governor-level bureaucracy would have had at least one level.
"Old Elamite III (ca. 2000-1475 B.C.) ... Elam was ruled during most of the Old Elamite III period by a triumvirate: a sukkal or sharrum of Susa, a sukkal of Elam and Shimashki, and a sukkalmah, who was the highest official. The offices sukkal (minister or vizier) and sukkalmah (prime minister or grand vizier) originated as aides to the rulers of Mesopotamia and sometimes Elam (cf. Hinz 1971:650) during the Early Dynastic III and Akkadian periods (Hallo 1957:112-21). Cameron (1936:71-72) showed that these offices were closely related and were often occupied by a succession of relatives."
[1]
1. Sukkal-mah - supreme leader of the confederation based in Susa
_Palatial government_
2. Viceroy (Sakanakkun)"The federal structure of the Elamite empire was organized into three administrative layers of governance, and the various provinces were ruled over by: (1) the governors’ (Halmenik), who were under the control of (2) a ’viceroy’ (Sakanakkun), who was subject to (3) the great king of Elam (Zunkir)."
[2]
-- does not specify which period
_Provincial government_
2. Sukkal of Elam and Shimashki based in Shimashki (the occupant of this post inherited the throne)
2. Sukkal of Susa (this post was less important than the Sukkal of Elam, its occupant was third in line to the throne)3. Other members of the royal family with inferior appointments eg. Lord of a town.
"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."
[3]
Akkadian Empire possible influence. Kingdom of Elam i.e. bureaucracy adopted Akkadian cuneiform so possibly also adopted bureaucracy on Akkadian template. "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."
[4]
"The Elamite state, ruled by the so-called Sukkal-mah Dynasty (the title designating the role of a king), was characterised by a particular administrative structure. Power was distributed among three officials. Firstly, there was the sukkal-mah, the supreme leader of the confederation, who resided in Susa. Then, there was the sukkal of Elam and Shimashki. He usually was the younger brother of the sukkal-mah and resided in Shimashki. Thirdly, there was the sukkal of Susa, normally the sukkal-mah’s son. The three offices were of decreasing importance. After the death of the sukkal-mah, his place was taken by the sukkal of Elam, his brother, whose place was in turn taken by either a brother or by the son of the deceased sukkal-mah, namely the sukkal of Susa. In other words, power was transferred from brother to brother. Only after having gone through one generation of brothers it was possible to move on to the son of the first brother, namely, to the next generation."
[5]
"Elam’s political structure was characterised by its confederate nature. This aspect was typical of the region from as early as the Early Dynastic period. Therefore, the role of the sukkal-mah corresponded to the Elamite confederation and the single sukkal correspond to the individual regional districts. Among these, the role of the sukkal of Elam and Shimashki maintained its privilege as a legacy of the former supremacy of the dynasty of Shimashki at the beginning of the second millennium BC."
[6]
“En las tablillas de Susa,junto al sukkalmah y el sukkal, se hace también mención de otros miembros de la casa real, que o bien no llevan título alguno, o bien aparecen nombrados con cargos inferiores, como alcaldes, etc. »
[7]
[1]: (Schacht 1987, 177-178) Schacht, Robert. in Hole, Frank ed. 1987. The Archaeology of Western Iran. Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington, D.C.
[2]: (Farazmand 2009, 22) Farazmand, Ali. 2009. Bureaucracy and Administration. CRC Press. Boca Raton.
[3]: (Farazmand 2009, 21) Farazmand, Ali. 2009. Bureaucracy and Administration. CRC Press. Boca Raton.
[4]: (Middleton 2015) Middleton, John. 2015. World Monarchies and Dynasties. Routledge.
[5]: (Leverani 2014, 253) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
[6]: (Leverani 2014, 253-254) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
[7]: (Quintana 2007, 42)
"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.
In a discussion of the early 2nd millennium BCE: "Elaborate administrative and religious buildings of the second millennium once crowned the Susian Acropole and possibly the Apadana area. These Elamite structures were pillaged by the Assyrians, then damaged by deeply implanted Achaemenid-Seleucid period foundations. Thus, few remains of Elamite public buildings have survived at Susa." [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]: (Carter and Stolper 1984, 147)
[2]: (Farazmand 2009, 21) Farazmand, Ali. 2009. Bureaucracy and Administration. CRC Press. Boca Raton.
"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." [1] "Public administration flourished under the 2500 years of the strong federated state of Elam, which made significant contributions to Iranian and world civilizations. The organization of the federated state of Elam was based on two pillars, the military and civil administrations, and there was a generally respected separation of these two functions. The civil administration was headed by a coordinating body of appointed functionaries who discharged the administrative responsibilities of the ’federal state’ at Susa. The administrative body handled the financial, regulatory, and other civil affairs, and coordinated the intergovernmental relations with the member states in the system. Thus its experience in federalism and intergovernmental relations administration was perhaps the oldest in recorded history". [2] what time period?
[1]: (Farazmand 2009, 21) Farazmand, Ali. 2009. Bureaucracy and Administration. CRC Press. Boca Raton.
[2]: (Farazmand 2001, 536) Farazmand, Ali in Farazmand, Ali ed. 2001. Handbook of Comparative and Development Public Administration. Marcel Dekker, Inc. New York.
A few hundreds tablets regarding the law regulation and civil law were discovered.
[1]
[2]
This region was once occupied by Ur III: 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."
[3]
These laws were novel in that they mostly imposed financial punishments as opposed to harsh physical retribution.
[3]
"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; the construction and maintenance of numerous public works and enterprises, such as roads, bridges, cities and towns, communication centers, and economic and commercial centers; and the development and use of an advanced legal system - Elamite Penal Law, Civil Law, and Administrative Law. In addition, Elamites were the first to introduce the role of witnesses in the elaborate judicial proceedings with and ’ordeal trial’."
[4]
"The scribal practices and forms of royal interventions were directly modellled on the Babylonian example. However, the Elamite legal documentation still displays several unique traits and an increased archaism... Firstly, punishments were physical and not financial, cruel and discouraging rather than realistic. Moreover, the evidence used in disputes could be of a magical or religious nature (such as river ordeals). A sworn testimony was more common than the provision of written evidence..."
[5]
"The whole conception of justice was based on the religious idea of the kitin, or ’divine protection’, which could be lost when committing sins and perjuries. Consequently the divine is strongly present in Elamite legal documentation."
[6]
"Other major administrative achievements of the Elamites included ... the development and use of an advanced legal system - Elamite Penal Law, Civil Law, and Administrative Law."
[4]
[1]: Hinz 1971, 271
[2]: Liverani 2014, 254
[3]: (Middleton 2015, 979) Middleton, John. 2015. World Monarchies and Dynasties. Routledge.
[4]: (Farazmand 2009, 22) Farazmand, Ali. 2009. Bureaucracy and Administration. CRC Press. Boca Raton.
[5]: (Leverani 2014, 254) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
[6]: (Leverani 2014, 254-255) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
[1] "Apart from few royal inscriptions, the evidence on the Sukkal-mah period is mainly based on legal documents. Apart from the use of the Babylonian language, the Elamite legal system adopted several instruments typical of the Old Babylonian period. At Susa, a fragment of a code has been found, though it is too small for a reconstruction of Elamite society. However, this fragment is clear enough to attest to the royal practice, copied from Eshnunna or Babylon, of producing legal or celebratory texts. For instance, we know that Attahushu (nineteeth century BC), one of the first sukkal-mah, placed a stele in the market place with a list of fair prices." [2]
[1]: Potts 1999, 174
[2]: (Leverani 2014, 254) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
"Other major administrative achievements of the Elamites included ... 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; 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] Kaftari culture, irrigation agriculture practised using water from Kur River and nearby springs. [2]
[1]: (Farazmand 2009, 22) Farazmand, Ali. 2009. Bureaucracy and Administration. CRC Press. Boca Raton.
[2]: (Potts 2016, 144) Potts, D T. 2016. The Archaeology of Elam Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
"At Tepe Farukhabad, 60 km northwest of Susiana in the Deh Luran plain, part of a rampart overlooking the banks of the Mehmeh River and dating to the first centuries of the second millennium has been excavated. THis installation may have controlled traffic moving along the foothill road linking Susiana and central Mesopotamia." [1] "Susa’s scribes used Akkadian not only for diplomatic correspondence, but also for local legal texts, a large number of which have been found in Susa and some in Malamir (possibly ancient Huhnur), along the route from Susiana to Fars." [2] Connection between cities in the region?
[1]: (Carter and Stolper 1984, 148)
[2]: (Leverani 2014, 254) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
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
[1] "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]: Hinz 1971, 262
[2]: (Farazmand 2009, 22) Farazmand, Ali. 2009. Bureaucracy and Administration. CRC Press. Boca Raton.
[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 1999, 172
[2]: (Middleton 2015) Middleton, John. 2015. World Monarchies and Dynasties. Routledge.
glyptic [1] "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." [2] "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." [3]
[1]: Hinz 1971, 261
[2]: (Joseph 2011, 134) Joseph, George Gheverghese. The Crest of the Peacock: Non-European Roots of Mathematics (Third Edition). Princeton University Press.
[3]: (Joseph 2011, 135) Joseph, George Gheverghese. The Crest of the Peacock: Non-European Roots of Mathematics (Third Edition). Princeton University Press.
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
"The reigns of the Elamite sukkal-mah continued to be characterised by a strong political, military and cultural interest in Mesopotamia. Therefore, despite its peripheral location near the border of Elam, Susa became the political centre of this composite kingdom. Similar, Akkadian became the main language used in administrative texts." [1] "Susa’s scribes used Akkadian not only for diplomatic correspondence, but also for local legal texts, a large number of which have been found in Susa and some in Malamir (possibly ancient Huhnur), along the route from Susiana to Fars." [2]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 195-196) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
[2]: (Leverani 2014, 254) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
[1] c2000-1500 BCE the neighbouring Babylonians "constructed tables to aid calculation." [2] "To relieve the tedium of long calculations, the Mesopotamians made extensive use of mathematical tables. These included tables for finding reciprocals, squares, cubes, and square and cube roots, as well as exponential tables and even tables of values of n3 + n2, for which there is no modern equivalent." [3]
[1]: Potts 1999, 163
[2]: J J O’Connor, J J. Robertson, E F. December 2000. http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/Babylonian_mathematics.html
[3]: (Joseph 2011, 142) Joseph, George Gheverghese. The Crest of the Peacock: Non-European Roots of Mathematics (Third Edition). Princeton University Press.
"The Mari Age is undoubtedly a period for which it is possible to reconstruct the network of political relations of the ’Amorite’ world ... which can be considered as a cultural and linguistic continuum that spread from Syria to Elam with an unprecedented intensity and breadth of interaction. Akkadian became the preferred language for diplomatic relations and the administration of all the palaces of the area, even where the main spoken language was Hurrian or Amorite. Messengers and ambassadors had to travel extensively to deliver information, requests, gifts, and to prepare the route for merchants or troops." [1]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 229) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London.
Late 3rd - early 2nd millennium BCE Sumerian text (perhaps for the region of Mesopotamia rather than Elamite Susiana): "Its walls were built from stone." [1] Mortar existed at the time of Sumer because they also built with brick which would have required mortar. Late 3rd - early 2nd millennium BCE Sumerian text: "Now Aratta’s battlements are of green lapis lazuli, its walls and its towering brickwork are bright red, their brick clay is made of tinstone dug out in the mountains where the cypress grows." [2]
[1]: The death of Gilgameš: c.1.8.1.3. The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL). etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk.
[2]: Lugalbanda and the Anzud bird: c.1.8.2.2. The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL). etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk.
Late Bronze, Early Iron Age: ‘Large fortresses occupied mountain spurs at strategic points, and smaller forts were built along important lines of communication’. [1] Late 3rd - early 2nd millennium BCE Sumerian text: "the fortress is too high and cannot be reached". [2] If forts were positioned on hills were a feature of the fortified architectural landscape in c2000 BCE and in Elam in c1000 BCE it is likely they also were used between times, and possibly after.
[1]: Michael D. Danti, ‘The Late Bronze and Early Iron Age in Northwestern Iran’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 368
[2]: Ninurta’s exploits: a šir-sud (?) to Ninurta: c.1.6.2. The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL). etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk.
Ur III (c2000 BCE) inscription mentions the construction of a moat and rampart in the region of Elam. [1] The Achaemenids built a moat at Susa. [2] It is not much of a stretch to suggest that if moats were a feature of the fortified architectural landscape in c2000 BCE and c500 BCE they also were used between times. However, since I have not yet found a reference to a moat specific to the Elamite period I will leave an expert to make the decision on if/when to code inferred present.
[1]: (? 2018) Author?. Title?. Javier Alvarez-Mon. Gian Pietro Basello. Yasmina Wicks. ed. 2018. The Elamite World. Routledge. Abingdon.
[2]: (Root 2015, 49) Margaret Cool Root. 2015. Achaemenid Imperial Architecture: Performative Porticoes of Persepolis. Sussan Babaie. Talinn Grigor. Persian Kingship and Architecture: Strategies of Power in Iran from the Achaemenids to the Pahlavis. I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd.
Ur III (c2000 BCE) inscription mentions the construction of a moat and rampart in the region of Elam. [1] Late 3rd - early 2nd millennium BCE Sumerian text: "My master: the Asag has constructed a wall of stakes on an earthen rampart". [2] The unfinished city of Chogha Zanbil began by Elamite king Untash-napirisha (1275-1240 BCE) had a section "designated as the royal city, covers an area of c. 85 ha, lying to the east of the temenos, and protected by a rampart." [3] Later, after c500 BCE?, the Achaemenids built a long rammed mud defensive wall (the Kam Pirak). [4] Earth ramparts are a known defensive fortification c2000 BCE and c500 BCE and there is also a reference to them being used during the Elamite period. They seem to be a consistent feature of the architectural landscape over the period. "At Tepe Farukhabad, 60 km northwest of Susiana in the Deh Luran plain, part of a rampart overlooking the banks of the Mehmeh River and dating to the first centuries of the second millennium has been excavated. This installation may have controlled traffic moving along the foothill road linking Susiana and central Mesopotamia." [5]
[1]: (? 2018) Author?. Title?. Javier Alvarez-Mon. Gian Pietro Basello. Yasmina Wicks. ed. 2018. The Elamite World. Routledge. Abingdon.
[2]: Ninurta’s exploits: a šir-sud (?) to Ninurta: c.1.6.2. The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL). etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk.
[3]: (Bryce 2009, 160-163). Trevor Bryce. The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia: The Near East from the Early Bronze Age to the Fall of the Persian Empire. Routledge. Abingdon.
[4]: (Ball 2001, 315) Warwick Ball. 2001. Rome in the East: The Transformation of an Empire. Routledge. London.
[5]: (Carter and Stolper 1984, 148)
In the north-west of Persia by c800 BCE: "Double and triple stone walls, with a thickness of 3.6 m and a height of 12 m, surrounded some cities" [1] - present for that region at that time; however this is not a direct reference to the Elamite region.
[1]: (Hejazi and Saradj 2015, 6) Mehrdad Hejazi. Fatemeh Mehdizadeh Saradj. 2015. Persian Architectural Heritage: Architecture, Structure and Conservation. WITPress. Southampton.
Luristan borders Susiana region to the NW. Here Vanden Berghe divided the Iron Age into three periods 1000-800/750 BCE in which bronze and iron used together and 800/750-600 BCE when weapons were made from iron and ritual articles from bronze. At this early time we can only code present for bronze (and its constituent copper) with iron and steel both absent.
[1]
[1]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 368) Elena E Kuz’mina. J P Mallory ed. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. BRILL. Leiden.
Luristan borders Susiana region to the NW. Here Vanden Berghe divided the Iron Age into three periods 1000-800/750 BCE in which bronze and iron used together and 800/750-600 BCE when weapons were made from iron and ritual articles from bronze. At this early time we can only code present for bronze (and its constituent copper) with iron and steel both absent. [1]
[1]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 368) Elena E Kuz’mina. J P Mallory ed. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. BRILL. Leiden.
In Anatolia siege warfare was mentioned in Old Hittite records. [1] 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". [2] Marsden (1969) said archaeological records exist before the 4th century BCE. [3] The Achaemenids (c400 BCE?) are assumed to have had the catapult because the Macedonians did. [4] Pollard and Berry (2012) say torsion catapults first came into widespread use in the Hellenistic period 4th - 1st centuries BCE. [5] 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. [6] 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]: 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
[2]: (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.
[3]: (Marsden 1969, 5, 16, 66.) Marsden, E. W. 1969. Greek and Roman Artillery: The Historical Development. Toronto: Oxford University Press.
[4]: (Dandamaev 1989, 314) Dandamaev, M A. 1989. A Political History of the Achaemenid Empire. Brill.
[5]: (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
[6]: (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.
"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." [1] In his discussion of weapons used by the Achaemenid army Gabriel (2002) mentions the "noncomposite" simple bow directly for light cavalry and chariots and the ’bow’ for light infantry and heavy infantry and notably does not mention use of the composite bow by Persian forces. [2] Earlier Gabriel mentions the composite bow was used from the late third millennium BCE but that it was difficult to manufacture and it was "very susceptible to moisture, which rendered it useless." [3] This suggests the simple bow was most likely the standard weapon. Hypothesis: nomads who were full-time warriors were able maintain their composite bows every day. Agricultural polities who did not wanted to store the weapons. This may have meant they probably relied most on their stocks of easy to preserve simple bows, even though arrows shot from them carried less range.
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018.
[2]: (Gabriel 2002, 162-164) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport.
[3]: (Gabriel 2002, 28) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport.
"Unlike other areas of the world where the spear developed into a thrown weapon, in the Middle East it remained primarily a stabbing weapon." [1] This passage does not say the javelin had no role at all. The weapon may have had a secondary role. The last reference for the military use of the javelin in this region was Ur. The lament for Sumer and Ur mentions javelins in the battle for Ur c2000 BCE. [2]
[1]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 59) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport.
[2]: Hamblin, W. J. 2006. Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC. New York: Routledge.
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.
"The effective range of the simple bow varied from 50 to 100 yards. And the arrow shot by a simple bow was unable to penetrate leather or bronze armour. The effective range of the composite bows varied between 250 and 300 yards." [1] However, the composite bow itself could not penetrate armour more than 2mm thick [all designs or just the early designs?] and was susceptible to rotting in high-moisture environments. [2] "The composite bow was a recurve bow made of wood, horn and tendons from oxen, carefully laminated together. These bows were probably invented by the nomads of the Eurasian steppe and brought into Sumer by the mercenary nomads." [1] "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] In his discussion of weapons used by the Achaemenid army Gabriel (2002) mentions the "noncomposite" simple bow directly for light cavalry and chariots and the ’bow’ for light infantry and heavy infantry and notably does not mention use of the composite bow by Persian forces. [4] Earlier Gabriel mentions the composite bow was used from the late third millennium BCE but that it was difficult to manufacture and it was "very susceptible to moisture, which rendered it useless." [2] This suggests the simple bow was most likely the standard weapon. Hypothesis: nomads who were full-time warriors were able maintain their composite bows every day. Agricultural polities who did not wanted to store the weapons. This may have meant they probably relied most on their stocks of easy to preserve simple bows, even though arrows shot from them carried less range.
[1]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. 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.
[4]: (Gabriel 2002, 162-164) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport.
Gabriel says the 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] Almost certainly the technology was still present but the weapon may have been used less frequently. Coded present for Ur III and Akkad and could possibly be ’inferred present’ at this time.
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 24) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport.
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. [1] "All armies after the seventeenth century B.C.E. carried the sword, but in none was it a major weapon of close combat; rather, it was used when the soldier’s primary weapons, the spear and axe, were lost or broken." [2]
[1]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 63) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport.
[2]: (Gabriel 2002, 26-27) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport.
Present. [1] Spear-using phalanx first used in Sumer 2500 BCE. The phalanx was in use until the 1st century BCE. [2] "Unlike other areas of the world where the spear developed into a thrown weapon, in the Middle East it remained primarily a stabbing weapon." [3]
[1]: Potts 1999, 177
[2]: (Gabriel 2002, 25) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport.
[3]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 59) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport.
Present. [1] What explanation accompanied this reference? The war axe evolved after the development of body and head armour. Invented by the Sumerians, the socketed penetrating axe was "one of the most devastating close-combat weapons of the Bronze and Iron ages." [2] The last reference was have is c2000 BCE in Sumer. The lament for Sumer and Ur states: ’large axes were sharpened in front of Ur’. [3]
[1]: Potts 1999, 177
[2]: (Gabriel and Metz 1991, 61) Richard A Gabriel. Karen S Metz. 1991. The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Press. Westport.
[3]: Hamblin, W. J. 2006. Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC. New York: Routledge.
The donkey was probably domesticated from the African wild ass ’in more than one place’ but for the Nubian subspecies 5500-4500 BCE in the Sudan. [1] Donkey herder was a profession in Akkadian (c2200 BCE) period Mesopotamia. [2] "During the Bronze Age the standard mechanism of transport was the donkey (Egypt) or the solid-wheeled cart drawn by the onager (Sumer)." [3] The Achaemenids used donkeys (e.g. Darius III) and camels (e.g. Cyrus I) in their baggage train. [4] Likely to have been used as donkeys appear to have been raised in the wider region at least since Akkadian times. It is possible they were not used frequently, however, as there were other options.
[1]: (Mitchell 2018, 39) Peter Mitchell 2018. The Donkey in Human History: An Archaeological Perspective. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[2]: (Foster 2016, 73-74) Foster, Benjamin R. 2016. The Age of Agade. Inventing Empire In Ancient Mesopotamia. Routledge. London
[3]: (Gabriel 2002, 7) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport.
[4]: (Mayor 2014, 289-290) Adrienne Mayor. Animals in Warfare. Gordon Lindsay Campbell. ed. 2014. The Oxford Handbook of Animals in Classical Thought and Life. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
Almost certainly could be coded present if there is evidence the polity used the shield. At this time it is unlikely the warriors went into battle completely unarmoured. The Archaemenids used cane: "From ancient times the peoples of Persia favoured a light, tough shield made of withies or cane. As remarked on at the beginning of this chapter, Herodotus describes the soldiers of Xerxes who carry targes of wicker. Large and deeply convex shields built up of concentric rings of cane or withies are carried by the Sacae (Scythian) guards in the reliefs from the great staircase of the Achaemenid, from the Palace of Persepolis, now in the Berlin Museum. All but the caps of these guards are in the Persian fashion. The large shields are not those of nomadic horsemen, but are a foot soldier’s defence." [1]
[1]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York.
Last reference to shields present is during Ur III c2000 BCE. [1] Next reference for shields is the Archaemenids: "From ancient times the peoples of Persia favoured a light, tough shield made of withies or cane. As remarked on at the beginning of this chapter, Herodotus describes the soldiers of Xerxes who carry targes of wicker. Large and deeply convex shields built up of concentric rings of cane or withies are carried by the Sacae (Scythian) guards in the reliefs from the great staircase of the Achaemenid, from the Palace of Persepolis, now in the Berlin Museum. All but the caps of these guards are in the Persian fashion. The large shields are not those of nomadic horsemen, but are a foot soldier’s defence." [2] Likely to be inferred present but will leave this one for an expert to confirm.
[1]: (Rutkowski 2007 24)Rutkowski, Ł. 2007. Problematyka militarna w Państwie Ur III. In: D. Szeląg (ed.), Historia i kultura państwa III dynastii z Ur. Warszawa: Instytut Archeologii Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, 17-28.
[2]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York.
"Of the Medes and Persians as a whole, only a few wore armour. Some had body armour of iron scales and wicker targes and only some of the cavalry wore helmets of bronze or iron. As both Greek mercenaries and Assyrians were amongst the best armed in this great force, one may assume that any armour worn by Persians was inspired by one or the other of these militant peoples." [1] Higher ranks in the Assyrian army (9th century CE?) wore scale armour. [2] "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." [3] Coding this as scale armor.
[1]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York.
[2]: (Chadwick 2005, 77) Chadwick, R (2005) First Civilizations: Ancient Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt, 2nd Edition, Equinox, London.
[3]: (Gabriel 2002, 21) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport.
No mention of plate armour until the Archaemenids who used iron breastplates. [1] "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." [2] Coding this as scale armor.
[1]: (Farrokh 2007, 76) Farrokh, K. 2007. Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War. Osprey Publishing.
[2]: (Gabriel 2002, 21) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport.
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] Reference for Mesopotamia (the Assyrians) c800 BCE?: iron plates used for shin protection. [2] Reference for ’Etruscan Rome’ (400 BCE?): "bronze greaves to protect the shins and forearms of the soldier were standard items of military equipment." [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.
Almost certainly could be coded present if there is evidence the polity used the shield. At this time it is unlikely the warriors went into battle completely unarmoured.
"Of the Medes and Persians as a whole, only a few wore armour. Some had body armour of iron scales and wicker targes and only some of the cavalry wore helmets of bronze or iron. As both Greek mercenaries and Assyrians were amongst the best armed in this great force, one may assume that any armour worn by Persians was inspired by one or the other of these militant peoples." [1] No mentioned of laminar armour up to the Medes (715-550 BCE). 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." [2]
[1]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York.
[2]: (Gabriel 2002, 21) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport.
Earliest known helmet dates to 2500 BCE in Sumer. After this time use of helmets became widespread. [1] Earliest known helmet dates to 2500 BCE in Sumer. [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.
Late 3rd - early 2nd millennium BCE text: "May Ninurta, Enlil’s son, set the helmet Lion of Battle on your head, may the breastplate (?) that in the great mountains does not permit retreat be laid on your breast!" [1] In India, cuirasses or breastplates of copper, iron, silver and gold are referenced in the Vedic epic literature. [2] Breastplates are known to have been worn by early Romans [3] and the advanced Greek Cairan armour c600 BCE included the breastplate. [4] In Persia, the Archaemenids (c5th century CE?) are known to have used iron breastplates [5] - did the cavalry of the Medes (715-550 BCE), who preceded them, wear breastplates? Physical evidence for the breastplate does not appear to be common in the ancient world though there appears to be some text references. We also code present on the basis of fabric/textile breastplates which are least likely to survive in archaeological contexts. For that reason a code of suspected unknown may be best at least back to the late bronze age.
[1]: Lugalbanda and the Anzud bird: c.1.8.2.2. The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL). etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk.
[2]: Singh, Sarva Daman. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1989. p. 116
[3]: (Cornell 1995, 179) Cornell, T.J. 1995. The Beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c. 1000-264 BC). London: Routledge.
[4]: (J G Manning 2015, Personal Communication to Seshat Databanak)
[5]: (Farrokh 2007, 76) Farrokh, K. 2007. Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War. Osprey Publishing.
At the time of Ur III c2000 BCE Gu’abba was a seaport on the Persian Gulf that built ships and had a textile manufacturing sector. A trade route from Guabba ran east to the Karun River and beyond (the region of Susiana). The route was also used for the transport of troops. [1] The Achaemenids (from c500 BCE?) possessed possibly the first large-scale militarised naval force [2] (one imagines largely based in the Mediterranean but presumably also some craft in the Persian Gulf) - the fleet consisted of over 600 tiremes that had 170 oarsmen and 30 fighters. [3] Have not found any earlier reference to naval operations occurring on the Persian Gulf that would require fighting ships. Did the Achaemenid fleet come out of nowhere or did it have some smaller-scale precedents in the Neo-Elamite civilization or Sumerian before that? Perhaps most unlikely before the Neo-Elamite Period.
[1]: (? 2018) Author?. Title?. Javier Alvarez-Mon. Gian Pietro Basello. Yasmina Wicks. ed. 2018. The Elamite World. Routledge. Abingdon.
[2]: (Gabriel 2002, 8) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport.
[3]: (Shahbazi 2012, 129) Shahbazi, A Shapour. The Archaemenid Persian Empire (550-330 BCE) Daryaee, Touraj. ed. 2012. The Oxford Handbook of Iranian History. Oxford University Press.
At the time of Ur III c2000 BCE Gu’abba was a seaport on the Persian Gulf that built ships and had a textile manufacturing sector. A trade route from Guabba ran east to the Karun River and beyond (the region of Susiana). The route was also used for the transport of troops. [1] The Karun River runs inland into Khuzestan which was the Elamite heartland. It would be logical for there to have been boats that sailed down this river to the Persian Gulf in all periods. The boats on the Karun could also have ferried troops. In earlier times rivers were used in military campaigns "to transport supplies and people". [2]
[1]: (? 2018) Author?. Title?. Javier Alvarez-Mon. Gian Pietro Basello. Yasmina Wicks. ed. 2018. The Elamite World. Routledge. Abingdon.
[2]: Hamblin, W. J. 2006. Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC. New York: Routledge.
At the time of Ur III c2000 BCE Gu’abba was a seaport on the Persian Gulf that built ships and had a textile manufacturing sector. A trade route from Guabba ran east to the Karun River and beyond (the region of Susiana). The route was also used for the transport of troops. [1] The Karun River runs inland into Khuzestan which was the Elamite heartland. It would be logical for there to have been boats that sailed down this river to the Persian Gulf. The boats on the Karun could also have ferried troops.
[1]: (? 2018) Author?. Title?. Javier Alvarez-Mon. Gian Pietro Basello. Yasmina Wicks. ed. 2018. The Elamite World. Routledge. Abingdon.