Ancient Greek: ΣουσιανήSousiānḗ), a name derived from its capital Susa.[4]
Elam was part of the early
Persian Achaemenid dynasty that succeeded Elam, when the Elamite language remained among those in official use. Elamite is generally considered a language isolate unrelated to any other languages. In accordance with geographical and archaeological matches, some historians argue that the Elamites comprise a large portion of the ancestors of the modern-day Lurs[8] whose language, Luri, split from Middle Persian
Exonyms included the Sumerian names ELAM.MAki𒉏𒈠𒆠 and ELAM, the AkkadianElamû (masculine/neuter) and Elamītu (feminine) meant "resident of Susiana, Elamite".[12] The Sumerian term elam also referred to the highlands.[13]
In prehistory, Elam was centered primarily in modern
Middle Persian: 𐭧𐭥𐭰 (hūz) "Susiana", and in modern Persian: خوز (xuz), compounded with the toponymic suffix -stån
"place".
Geography
In geographical terms, Susiana basically represents the Iranian province of
Khuzestan around the river Karun. In ancient times, several names were used to describe this area. The ancient geographer Ptolemy
was the earliest to call the area Susiana, referring to the country around Susa.
Another ancient geographer, Strabo, viewed Elam and Susiana as two different geographic regions. He referred to Elam ("land of the Elymaei") as primarily the highland area of Khuzestan.[15]
Disagreements over the location also exist in the Jewish historical sources says Daniel T. Potts. Some ancient sources draw a distinction between Elam as the highland area of Khuzestan, and Susiana as the lowland area. Yet in other ancient sources 'Elam' and 'Susiana' seem equivalent.[15]
The uncertainty in this area extends also to modern scholarship. Since the discovery of ancient Anshan, and the realization of its great importance in Elamite history, the definitions were changed again. Some modern scholars[16] argued that the center of Elam lay at Anshan and in the highlands around it, and not at Susa in lowland Khuzistan.
Potts disagrees suggesting that the term 'Elam' was primarily constructed by the Mesopotamians to describe the area in general terms, without referring specifically either to the lowlanders or the highlanders,
Elam is not an Iranian term and has no relationship to the conception which the peoples of highland Iran had of themselves. They were Anshanites, Marhashians, Shimashkians, Zabshalians, Sherihumians, Awanites, etc. That Anshan played a leading role in the political affairs of the various highland groups inhabiting southwestern Iran is clear. But to argue that Anshan is coterminous with Elam is to misunderstand the artificiality and indeed the alienness of Elam as a construct imposed from without on the peoples of the southwestern highlands of the Zagros mountain range, the coast of Fars and the alluvial plain drained by the Karun-Karkheh river system.[17]
History
Prehistorically the area was well settled during the Ubaid period and shared many aspects of Ubaid cultures.
Knowledge of Elamite history remains largely fragmentary, reconstruction being based on mainly Mesopotamian (Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian) sources. The history of Elam is conventionally divided into three periods, spanning more than two millennia. The period before the first Elamite period is known as the proto-Elamite period:
Proto-Elamite
: c. 3200 – c. 2700 BC (Proto-Elamite script in Susa)
Sukkalmah Dynasty
)
Middle Elamite period: c. 1500 – c. 1100 BC (Anzanite dynasty until the Babylonian invasion of Susa)
Neo-Elamite period
: c. 1100 – 540 BC (characterized by Assyrian and Median influence. 539 BC marks the beginning of the Achaemenid period.)
Proto-Elamite (c. 3200 – c. 2700 BC)
Main article:
Proto-Elamite
Proto-Elamite civilization grew up east of the
Kerman Province. The state of Elam was formed from these lesser states as a response to invasion from Sumer during the Old Elamite period. Elamite strength was based on an ability to hold these various areas together under a coordinated government that permitted the maximum interchange of the natural resources unique to each region. Traditionally, this was done through a federated
governmental structure.
The Proto-Elamite city of Susa was founded around 4000 BC in the watershed of the river
Sumerian king list. Elamite history can only be traced from records dating to beginning of the Akkadian Empire
(2335–2154 BC) onwards.
The Proto-Elamite states in Jiroft and Zabol (not universally accepted), present a special case because of their great antiquity.
In ancient
Ur-III period c. 2900–2000 BC. These excavations include Kalleh Nisar, Bani Surmah, Chigha Sabz, Kamtarlan, Sardant, and Gulal-i Galbi.[21]
Old Elamite period (c. 2700 – c. 1500 BC)
The Old Elamite period began around 2700 BC. Historical records mention the conquest of Elam by
Old Babylonian period. Two Elamite dynasties said to have exercised brief control over parts of Sumer in very early times include Awan and Hamazi; and likewise, several of the stronger Sumerian rulers, such as Eannatum of Lagash and Lugal-anne-mundu of Adab
Rim-Sin, succeeded him and conquered much of southern Mesopotamia for Larsa
.
Notable Eparti dynasty rulers in Elam during this time include
Babylonian Empire in Mesopotamia. Little is known about the latter part of this dynasty, since sources again become sparse with the Kassite
rule of Babylon (from c. 1595 BC).
Trade with the Indus Valley civilization
Many archaeological finds suggest that maritime trade along the shores of Africa and Asia started several millennia ago.
Indus Valley civilization and the cities of Mesopotamia and Elam, can be inferred from numerous find of Indus artifacts, particularly in the excavation at Susa. Various objects made with shell species that are characteristic of the Indus coast, particularly Trubinella pyrum and Fasciolaria trapezium, have been found in the archaeological sites of Mesopotamia and Susa dating from around 2500–2000 BC.[33]Carnelian beads from the Indus were found in Susa in the excavation of the tell of the citadel.[34] In particular, carnelian beads with an etched design in white were probably imported from the Indus Valley, and made according to a technique of acid-etching developed by the Harappans.[35][36][37]
Exchanges seem to have waned after 1900 BC, together with the disappearance of the Indus valley civilization.[38]
Indus round seal with impression. Elongated buffalo with Harappan symbol imported to Susa in 2600–1700 BC. Found in the tell of the Susa acropolis.
Louvre Museum, reference Sb 17751.[40][41][42] These beads are identical with beads found in the Indus Civilization site of Dholavira.[43]
Indus bracelet made of Fasciolaria trapezium or Turbinella pyrum imported to Susa in 2600–1700 BC. Found in the tell of the Susa acropolis. Louvre Museum, reference Sb 14473.[44] This type of bracelet was manufactured in Mohenjo-daro, Lothal and Balakot.[35] It is engraved with a chevron design which is characteristic of all shell bangles of the Indus Valley, visible here.[45]
Indus Valley Civilization weight in veined jasper, excavated in Susa in a 12th-century BC princely tomb. Louvre Museum Sb 17774.[46]
Middle Elamite period (c. 1500 – c. 1100 BC)
Anshan and Susa
The Middle Elamite period began with the rise of the Anshanite dynasties around 1500 BC. Their rule was characterized by an "Elamisation" of Susa, and the kings took the title "king of Anshan and Susa". While the first of these dynasties, the Kidinuids continued to use the Akkadian language frequently in their inscriptions, the succeeding Igihalkids and Shutrukids used Elamite with increasing regularity. Likewise, Elamite language and culture grew in importance in Susiana. The Kidinuids (c. 1500 – 1400 BC) are a group of five rulers of uncertain affiliation. They are identified by their use of the older title, "king of Susa and of Anshan", and by calling themselves "servant of Kirwashir", an Elamite deity, thereby introducing the pantheon of the highlands to Susiana. The city of Susa itself is one of the oldest in the world dating back to around 4200 BC. Since its founding Susa was known as a central power location for the Elamites and for later Persian dynasties. Susa's power would peak during the Middle Elamite period, when it would be the region's capital.[47]
Kassite invasions
Of the Igehalkids (c. 1400 – 1210 BC), ten rulers are known, though their number was possibly larger.
Akkadian
inscriptions were rare, and Elamite highland gods became firmly established in Susa.
Kutir-Nakhkhunte's son Khutelutush-In-Shushinak was probably born of Kutir-Nakhkhunte and his own daughter, Nakhkhunte-utu.[49][50] He was defeated by Nebuchadnezzar I of Babylon, who sacked Susa and returned the statue of Marduk, but who was then himself defeated by the Assyrian king Ashur-resh-ishi I. He fled to Anshan, but later returned to Susa, and his brother Shilhana-Hamru-Lagamar may have succeeded him as last king of the Shutrukid dynasty. Following Khutelutush-In-Shushinak, the power of the Elamite empire began to wane seriously, as after the death of this ruler, Elam disappears into obscurity for more than three centuries.
Neo-Elamite period (c. 1100 – 540 BC)
Neo-Elamite I (c. 1100 – c. 770 BC)
Very little is known of this period. Anshan was still at least partially Elamite. There appear to have been unsuccessful alliances of Elamites, Babylonians,
Mar-biti-apla-ushur (984–979 BC) was of Elamite origin, and Elamites are recorded to have fought unsuccessfully with the Babylonian king Marduk-balassu-iqbi against the Assyrian forces under Shamshi-Adad V
(823–811 BC).
Neo-Elamite II (c. 770 – 646 BC)
The later Neo-Elamite period is characterized by a significant migration of
Lake Urmiah, but who by the end of this period would cause the Elamites' original home, the Iranian Plateau, to be renamed Persia proper. These newly arrived Iranian peoples were also conquered by Assyria, and largely regarded as vassals of the Neo-Assyrian Empire until the late 7th century.[citation needed
]
More details are known from the late 8th century BC, when the Elamites were allied with the
Ashur-nadin-shumi
on the Babylonian throne in 700.
Shutruk-Nakhkhunte II, the last Elamite to claim the old title "king of Anshan and Susa", was murdered by his brother Khallushu, who managed to briefly capture the Assyrian governor of Babylonia Ashur-nadin-shumi and the city of Babylon in 694 BC. Sennacherib soon responded by invading and ravaging Elam. Khallushu was in turn assassinated by Kutir-Nakhkhunte, who succeeded him but soon abdicated in favor of Khumma-Menanu III (692–689 BC). Khumma-Menanu recruited a new army to help the Babylonians and Chaldeans against the Assyrians at the battle of Halule in 691. Both sides claimed the victory in their annals, but Babylon was destroyed by Sennacherib only two years later, and its Elamite allies defeated in the process.
The reigns of Khumma-Khaldash I (688–681 BC) and Khumma-Khaldash II (680–675 BC) saw a deterioration of Elamite-Babylonian relations, and both of them raided Sippar. At the beginning of Esarhaddon's reign in Assyria (681–669 BC), Nabu-zer-kitti-lišir, an ethnically Elamite governor in the south of Babylonia, revolted and besieged Ur, but was routed by the Assyrians and fled to Elam where the king of Elam, fearing Assyrian repercussions, took him prisoner and put him to the sword.[51]
Urtaku (674–664 BC) for some time wisely maintained good relations with the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal
(668–627 BC), who sent wheat to Susiana during a famine. But these friendly relations were only temporary, and Urtaku was killed in battle during a failed Elamite attack on Assyria.
A brief respite to the Elamites was provided by the civil war between
Khumma-Khaldash III, was captured in 640 BC by Ashurbanipal, who annexed and destroyed the country.[52]
In a tablet unearthed in 1854 by Austen Henry Layard, Ashurbanipal boasts of the destruction he had wrought:
Susa, the great holy city, abode of their Gods, seat of their mysteries, I conquered. I entered its palaces, I opened their treasuries where silver and gold, goods and wealth were amassed ... I destroyed the ziggurat of Susa. I smashed its shining copper horns. I reduced the temples of Elam to naught; their gods and goddesses I scattered to the winds. The tombs of their ancient and recent kings I devastated, I exposed to the sun, and I carried away their bones toward the land of Ashur. I devastated the provinces of Elam and on their lands I sowed salt.[53]
Neo-Elamite III (646–539 BC)
The devastation was a little less complete than Ashurbanipal boasted, and a weak and fragmented Elamite rule was resurrected soon after with Shuttir-Nakhkhunte, son of Humban-umena III (not to be confused with Shuttir-Nakhkhunte, son of Indada, a petty king in the first half of the 6th century). Elamite royalty in the final century preceding the Achaemenids was fragmented among different small kingdoms, the united Elamite nation having been destroyed and colonised by the Assyrians. The three kings at the close of the 7th century (Shuttir-Nakhkhunte, Khallutush-In-Shushinak and Atta-Khumma-In-Shushinak) still called themselves "king of Anzan and of Susa" or "enlarger of the kingdom of Anzan and of Susa", at a time when the Achaemenid Persians were already ruling Anshan under Assyrian dominance.[citation needed]
The various
East Mediterranean for much of the period from the first half of the 14th century BC, began to unravel after the death of Ashurbanipal in 627 BC, descending into a series of bitter internal civil wars which also spread to Babylonia. The IranianMedes, Parthians, Persians and Sagartians
, who had been largely subject to Assyria since their arrival in the region around 1000 BC, quietly took full advantage of the anarchy in Assyria, and in 616 BC freed themselves from Assyrian rule.
The Medians took control of Elam during this period.
The major cities in Assyria itself were gradually taken;
Median Empire (612–546 BC) and then the succeeding Achaemenid Empire (546–332 BC), with Assyria suffering the same fate. (see Achaemenid Assyria, Athura).[54]
The prophet Ezekiel describes the status of their power in the 12th year of the Hebrew
Babylonian Captivity
in 587 BC:
There is Elam and all her multitude, All around her grave, All of them slain, fallen by the sword, Who have gone down uncircumcised to the lower parts of the earth, Who caused their terror in the land of the living; Now they bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit. (Ezekiel 32:24)[56]
Their successors Khumma-Menanu and Shilhak-In-Shushinak II bore the simple title "king", and the final king Tempti-Khumma-In-Shushinak used no honorific at all. In 540 BC, Achaemenid rule began in Susa.
Dated to approximately the 12th century BC, gold and silver figurines of Elamite worshippers are shown carrying a sacrificial goat. These divine and royal statues were meant to assure the king of the enduring protection of the deity, well-being and a long life. Works which showed a ruler and his performance of a ritual action were intended to eternalize the effectiveness of such deeds. Found near the Temple of Inshushinak in Susa, these statuettes would have been considered charged with beneficial power.[58]
While archaeologists cannot be certain that the location where these figures were found indicates a date before or in the time of the Elamite king Shilhak-Inshushinak, stylistic features can help ground the figures in a specific time period. The hairstyle and costume of the figures which are strewn with dots and hemmed with short fringe at the bottom, and the precious metals point to a date in the latter part of the second millennium BC rather than to the first millennium.[58]
In general, any gold or silver statuettes which represent the king making a sacrifice not only served a religious function, but was also a display of wealth.[58]
Seals
Elamite seals reached their peak of complexity in the 4th millennium BC when their shape became cylindrical rather than stamp-like. Seals were primarily used as a form of identification and were often made out of precious stones. Because seals for different time periods had different designs and themes, seals and seal impressions can be used to track the various phases of the Elamite Empire and can teach a lot about the empire in ways which other forms of documentation cannot.[59]
The seal pictured shows two seated figures holding cups with a man in front of them wearing a long robe next to a table. A man is sitting on a throne, presumably the king, and is in a wrapped robe. The second figure, perhaps his queen, is draped in a wide, flounced garment and is elevated on a platform beneath an overhanging vine. A crescent is shown in the field.[59]
Statue of Queen Napir-Asu
This life-size votive offering of Queen
lost-wax casting method and rests on a solid bronze frame that weighs 1750 kg (3760 lb). This statue is different from many other Elamite statues of women because it resembles male statues due to the wide belt on the dress and the patterns which closely resemble those on male statues.[60]
The inscription on the side of the statue curses anyone, specifically men, who attempts to destroy the statue: "I, Napir-Asu, wife of Untash-Napirisha. He who would seize my statue, who would smash it, who would destroy its inscription, who would erase my name, may he be smitten by the curse of Napirisha, of Kiririsha, and of Inshushinka, that his name shall become extinct, that his offspring be barren, that the forces of Beltiya, the great goddess, shall sweep down on him. This is Napir-Asu's offering."[61]
Stele of Untash Napirisha
The stele of the Elamite king, Untash-Napirisha was believed to have been commissioned in the 12th century BC. It was moved from the original religious capital of Chogha Zanbil to the city of Susa by the successor king, Shutruk-Nahnante. Four registers of the stele are left. The remains depict the god Inshushinak validating the legitimacy of who is thought to be Shutruk-Nahnante. In the periphery are two priestesses, deity hybrids of fish and women holding streams of water, and two half-man half-mouflon guardians of the sacred tree. The names of the two priestesses are carved on their arms.[62]
King Untash Napirisha dedicated the stele to the god Ishushinak. Like other forms of art in the ancient Near East, this one portrays a king ceremonially recognizing a deity. This stele is unique in that the acknowledgement between king and god is reciprocal.[62]
Inscriptions of many Elamite kings indicate that a concept of a supreme triad consisting of Inshushinak (originally the civic protector god of Susa, eventually the leader of the triad[63]: 401 and guarantor of the monarchy[62]), Kiririsha (an earth/mother goddess in southern Elam[63]: 406 ), and Napirisha existed.[65] In the Neo-Elamite period Humban, previously a deity of limited relevance in known sources, emerged as a divine source of royal power.[66]
Another significant deity was
Ishtar.[67] Some researchers, especially in the 1960s and 1970s, saw her as a mother goddess, and possibly originally chief deity, in northern Elam,[63]: 400 [68] later supplanted by or identified with Kiririsha, but this view is no longer supported by scholars.[69][70]
There were also imported deities, such as Beltiya,[62]Nergal or Nanaya; some native Elamite deities had Akkadian or Sumerian names as well (ex. Manzat, Inshushinak and his attendants), indicating a long history of interchange. Some Elamite deities were also venerated outside Elam: Pinikir was known to the Hurrians and Hittites,[71]Simut appeared in Babylonian personal names,[72] and an Assyrian text mentions Khumban, Napirisha and Yabru (Jabru) as protectors of the king.[73][74]
Adad, under the Akkadian name and alongside his wife Shala, was himself worshiped in Elam (ex. in Chogha Zanbil)[89] and none of these 3 names are attested outside Mesopotamian god lists, unless the ideogram dIM refers to more than one weather god in Elamite sources (ex. in personal names). Wouter Henkelman proposes Kunzibami, Šihhaš and Šennukušu are either locally used Elamite epithets of Adad or local (rather than national) weather gods, and notes that Šennukušu is a Sumerian rather than Elamite name.[90]
One of the supreme gods, possibly linked to water.[99]
Formerly incorrectly believed to be a "taboo name" of Humban.[100] There is some evidence that in Elam Inshushinak, rather than Napirisha, was associated with Ea, as well as with the god Enzag from Dilmun.[101]
A goddess described as "lady who dipenses the light" by Huteltush-Inshushinak[107]
Language
Main articles:
Origin of the name Khuzestan
Elamite is traditionally thought to be a
"Linear Elamite" script. In 2006, two even older inscriptions in a similar script were discovered at Jiroft to the east of Elam, leading archaeologists to speculate that Linear Elamite had originally spread from further east to Susa. It seems to have developed from an even earlier writing known as "proto-Elamite", but scholars are not unanimous on whether or not this script was used to write Elamite or another language, as it has not yet been deciphered. Several stages of the language are attested; the earliest date back to the third millennium BC, the latest to the Achaemenid Empire.[citation needed
]
The Elamite language may have survived as late as the early
Ibn Moqaffa noted that Khuzi was the unofficial language of the royalty of Persia, "Khuz" being the corrupted name for Elam.[citation needed
]
Suggested relations to other language families
While Elamite is viewed as a language isolate by the vast majority of linguists, a minority of scholars have proposed that the Elamite language could be related to the Dravidian languages.[108] David McAlpine believes Elamite may be related to the living Dravidian languages. This hypothesis is considered under the rubric of Elamo-Dravidian languages.[citation needed][109]
Legacy
The Assyrians had utterly destroyed the Elamite nation, but new polities emerged in the area after Assyrian power faded. Among the nations that benefited from the decline of the Assyrians were the Iranian tribes, whose presence around
Mannaeans, and Persians paid tribute to Assyria from the 10th century BC until the death of Ashurbanipal
in 627 BC. After his death, the Medes played a major role in the destruction of the weakened Assyrian Empire in 612 BC.
The rise of the Achaemenids in the 6th century BC brought an end to the existence of Elam as an independent political power "but not as a cultural entity" (Encyclopædia Iranica,
genii at Pasargadae; some glyptic styles; the use of Elamite as the first of three official languages of the empire used in thousands of administrative texts found at Darius’ city of Persepolis
; the continued worship of Elamite deities; and the persistence of Elamite religious personnel and cults supported by the crown, formed an essential part of the newly emerging Achaemenid culture in Persian Iran. The Elamites thus became the conduit by which achievements of the Mesopotamian civilizations were introduced to the tribes of the Iranian plateau.
Conversely, remnants of Elamite had "absorbed Iranian influences in both structure and vocabulary" by 500 BC,[110] suggesting a form of cultural continuity or fusion connecting the Elamite and the Persian periods.[111]
The name of "Elam" survived into the
Carmelite history in present day India could be traced to the promise of restoration of Elam (Jeremiah 49:39).[112][unreliable source?
]
A 4.5 inch long
dove is studded with gold pegs. Dated 1200 BC from Susa
, a city later on shared with the Achaemenids.
Elamite
reliefs at Eshkaft-e Salman. The picture of a woman with dignity shows the importance of women in the Elamite era.[opinion
]
In modern Iran,
Khuzestan Province are named after Elam civilization. Khuzestan means land of the Khuzis and Khuzi itself is a Middle Persian name for Elamites.[113]
^De Graef, Katrien. 2018. "In Taberna Quando Sumus: On Taverns, Nadītum Women, and the Cagum in Old Babylonian Sippar." In Gender and Methodology in the Ancient near East: Approaches from Assyriology and beyond, edited by Stephanie Lynn Budin et al., 136. Barcino monographica orientalia 10. Barcelona: University of Barcelona.
^Potts, Daniel T. 2012. "The Elamites." In The Oxford Handbook of Iranian History, edited by Touraj Daryaee and Tūraǧ Daryāyī, 43-44. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press.
^Charpin, Dominique. 2012a. "Ansi parle l' empereur' à propos de la correspondance des sukkal-mah." In Susa and Elam. Archaeological, Philological, Historical and Geographical Perspectives: Proceedings of the International Congress Held at Ghent University, December 14–17, 2009, edited by Katrien De Graef and Jan Tavernier, 352. Leiden: Brill.
^Kenneth Anderson Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2003, p. 321
. ANTIOCHUS III THE GREAT c242–187 BC Seleucid king Antiochus III the Great was the sixth king (223–187 BC) ... Antiochus landed on the mainland of Greece posing as a champion of Greek freedom against the Romans (192 BC).
^The Archaeology of Elam: Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. D.T.Potts, second edition
^ abcdBorne interactive du département des Antiquités orientales. Malbran-Labat Florence, Les Inscriptions de Suse : briques de l'époque paléo-élamite à l'empire néo-élamite, Paris, Éditions de la Réunion des musées nationaux, 1995, p.168–169. Miroschedji Pierre de, "Le Dieu élamite au serpent", in : Iranica antiqua, Vol.16, 1981, Gand, Ministère de l'Éducation et de la Culture, 1989, p.13–14, pl.8.
^L. Murat, Goddess Išhara, Ankara Üniversitesi Dil ve Tarih-Coğrafya Fakültesi Tarih Bölümü Tarih Araştırmaları Dergisi 45, 2009, p. 160
^ abcW. M. F. Henkelman, Ruhurater [in:] Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie vol 11, 2008, p. 449
^H. Koch, Theology and Worship in Elam and Achaemenid Iran, Civilizations of the ancient Near East 3, 1995, p. 1961
^W. M. F. Henkelman, The Other Gods who are: Studies in Elamite-Iranian Acculturation Based on the Persepolis Fortification Texts, 2008, p. 372
^F. Wiggermann, Transtigridian Snake Gods [in:] I. L. Finkel, M. J. Geller (eds.), Sumerian Gods and their Representations, 1997, p. 34
^W. G. Lambert, Išme-karāb [in] Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie vol 5, 1980, p. 196-197
^H. Koch, Theology and Worship in Elam and Achaemenid Iran, Civilizations of the ancient Near East 3, 1995, p. 1961
^W. G. Lambert, Jabnu [in:] Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie, vol. 5, 1980, p. 229: "Jabnu is equated with Enlil in BA 5 (1906) 655 8 (from which An = Anum 1162 may be restored)"
^W. G. Lambert, Jabnu [in:] Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie, vol. 5, 1980, p. 229
^W. M. F. Henkelman, The Other Gods who are: Studies in Elamite-Iranian Acculturation Based on the Persepolis Fortification Texts, 2008, p. 330
^W. M. F. Henkelman, The Other Gods who are: Studies in Elamite-Iranian Acculturation Based on the Persepolis Fortification Texts, 2008, p. 354, footnote 824: "In addition to Napiriša, Hinz (1976/80b) surmised that Kiririša also was a taboo-name (for Pinigir). This theory has been convincingly discredited by Grillot & Vallat 1984: 27-9."
^W. M. F. Henkelman, The Other Gods who are: Studies in Elamite-Iranian Acculturation Based on the Persepolis Fortification Texts, 2008, p. 331
^Vallat, F. (13 December 2011) [December 15, 1998]. "Elam vi. Elamite religion". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Archived from the original on 8 November 2023. Several divinities from the plateau can be connected to the pantheons of the principal geopolitical entities that constituted Elam (...), for example (...) Kirmašir in Awan
^Vallat, F. (13 December 2011) [December 15, 1998]. "Elam vi. Elamite religion". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Archived from the original on 8 November 2023. In the space between this wall and a second wall the temples of several gods were built. In order from the southeast to the northeast they were the temples of Pinikir, Adad and Šala, Šimut and Nin-ali, the Napratep gods, and after a wide interval that of Hišmitik and Ruhuratir
^W. M. F. Henkelman, The Other Gods who are: Studies in Elamite-Iranian Acculturation Based on the Persepolis Fortification Texts, 2008, p. 307-308, in particular "It seems therefore more likely that the three names (if they are not epithets) refer to deities in some of the local pantheons that must have existed in Elam but that remain virtually unknown to us."
^W. G. Lambert, Lāgamāl [in] Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie vol 6, 1983, p. 418-419
^Vallat, F. (13 December 2011) [December 15, 1998]. "Elam vi. Elamite religion". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Archived from the original on 8 November 2023. Kiririša and Mašti were "mothers of the gods."
^Wiggermann, F. "Siebengötter A (Sebettu)". Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie. Vol. 12. p. 462 – via Academia.edu.
^Vallat, F. (13 December 2011) [December 15, 1998]. "Elam vi. Elamite religion". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Archived from the original on 8 November 2023. Ešpurm, governor of Susa for Maništusu, dedicated a statue to the goddess Narundi
^V. Haas, H.Koch, Religionen des alten Orients: Hethiter und Iran, 2011, p. 63
^W. M. F. Henkelman, The Other Gods who are: Studies in Elamite-Iranian Acculturation Based on the Persepolis Fortification Texts, 2008, p. 330, footnote 770: "In Mesopotamia, Napiriša was considered to be "the Ea of Elam" (Commentary B l.3 to Šurpu II.163 in Reiner 1958: 50). Ea or Enki ("Lord Earth") resided in the Apsû and from there controlled the waters that fertilise the lands.
^W. M. F. Henkelman, The Other Gods who are: Studies in Elamite-Iranian Acculturation Based on the Persepolis Fortification Texts, 2008, p. 215
^W. M. F. Henkelman, The Other Gods who are: Studies in Elamite-Iranian Acculturation Based on the Persepolis Fortification Texts, 2008, p. 307, footnote 702: "Inšušinak is indeed equated with a Mesopotamian god, (...) Ninurta (...); in Elam he seems to have been associated, if not equated, with Ea and the Dilmunite Enzag"
^"There is much evidence, both archaeological and literary/epigraphic, to suggest that the rise of the Persian empire witnessed the fusion of Elamite and Persian elements already present in highland Fars". The Archaeology of Elam: Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. Cambridge World Archaeology. Chap 9 Introduction.
Khačikjan, Margaret: The Elamite Language, Documenta Asiana IV, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche Istituto per gli Studi Micenei ed Egeo-Anatolici, 1998
Zohouriyan, Maryam, Seyyed Mehdi Mousavi Kouhpar, Javad Neyestani, and Alireza Hozhabri Nobari. "Semiology of the Gryphon Motif in Ancient Elamite Architecture". In: Central Asiatic Journal 62, no. 2 (2019): 227–32.