Elam - Crisis Period

  General Description   The period between c. 1100 and the mid-8th century BCE has been seen as one of decline for the Elamite civilization, ^{[1] [2]} which had by that time occupied the highlands of the south-western Iranian plateau and the fertile lowlands of the Susiana plain for over a millennium. These historically obscure centuries represent a transitional phase between the Middle Elamite and Neo-Elamite Kingdoms. Following M.-J. Steve, we have split the period at 900 BCE, resulting in a ’crisis phase’ between 1100 and 900 and an early Neo-Elamite period between 900 and 744 BCE. ^[3]
In his ’Elamite war’ of 1125-1104 BCE, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar I invaded Elam and forced the Elamite king Hutelutush-Inshushinak to abandon Susa. ^{[4] [5]} After this date, there is a drastic reduction in written sources for the history of Elam, both in Mesopotamian documents (either Babylonian or Assyrian) and in inscriptions and tablets from Elam itself. ^[2] The traditional interpretation has been that there was a disintegration of centralized authority in Elam between the Babylonian invasion and the reemergence of well-attested Elamite kings in the 8th century BCE. ^[6] However, some scholars question this, pointing out that systematic archaeological excavation of many Elamite sites has yet to be carried out. ^[7] Further, the gaps in the Mesopotamian historical sources, instead of reflecting the disappearance of Elam as a political entity, may be a function of the political crises and famine that affected Assyria and Babylonia during this period. ^[2]
Population and political organization
Due to a scarcity of evidence, the political organization of Elam in the centuries between c. 1100 and 744 BCE remain unclear. Some archaeologists and historians argue that Elam split into multiple autonomous chiefdoms after the Babylonian invasion, ^[8] while others believe it maintained its unity as an organized and centralized state. ^[7] Documents excavated at the site of Anshan dating to the 11th century BCE hint at the survival of some form of royal administration, at least in the highlands. ^[9]
Secure population estimates for the area under Elamite control in this period are lacking.

[1]: (Liverani 2014, 461) Liverani, Marco. 2014. The Ancient Near East: History, Society and Economy. Translated by Soraia Tabatabai. Abingdon: Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7DRZQS5Q.

[2]: (Diakonoff 1985, 18) Diakonoff, I. M. 1985. "Elam." In The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. II: The Median and Achaemenian Periods, edited by I. Gershevitch, 1-24. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/IIDGFEPA.

[3]: (Steve 1992, 21-22) Steve, M.-J. 1992. Syllabaire élamite: Histoire et Paléographie. Civilisations Du Proche-Orient 2. Neuchâtel: Recherches et Publications. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/NVMM9G55.

[4]: (Carter and Stolper 1984, 43) Carter, Elizabeth, and Matthew W. Stolper. 1984. Elam: Surveys of Political History and Archaeology. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/2SDF8S3B.

[5]: (Vallat 1998) Vallat, F. 1998. "Elam I: The History of Elam." Encyclopaedia Iranica. London: Mazda Publishers. http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/elam-i. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/3ACKKUDJ.

[6]: (Liverani 2014, 527-28) Liverani, Marco. 2014. The Ancient Near East: History, Society and Economy. Translated by Soraia Tabatabai. Abingdon: Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7DRZQS5Q.

[7]: Wouter Henkelman 2016, personal communication.

[8]: (Hansman 1985, 30) Hansman, J. 1985. "Anshan in the Median and Achaemenian Periods." In The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol II: The Median and Achaemenian Periods, edited by I. Gershevitch, 25-35. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/IXD6RNNR.

[9]: (Waters 2000, 10) Waters, Matthew W. 2000. A Survey of Neo-Elamite History. Helsinki: The Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/JH4EIDJU.