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Concept
Elam
Summary
Elam (ˈiːləm; Linear Elamite: hatamti; Cuneiform Elamite: ; Sumerian: ; Akkadian: ; עֵילָם ʿēlām; 𐎢𐎺𐎩 hūja) was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of modern-day Iran, stretching from the lowlands of what is now Khuzestan and Ilam Province as well as a small part of southern Iraq. The modern name Elam stems from the Sumerian transliteration elam(a), along with the later Akkadian elamtu, and the Elamite haltamti. Elamite states were among the leading political forces of the Ancient Near East. In classical literature, Elam was also known as Susiana (USˌsuːʒiˈænə UKˌsuːziˈɑːnə; Σουσιανή Sousiānḗ), a name derived from its capital Susa.
Elam was part of the early urbanization of the Near East during the Chalcolithic period (Copper Age). The emergence of written records from around 3000 BC also parallels Sumerian history, where slightly earlier records have been found. In the Old Elamite period (Middle Bronze Age), Elam consisted of kingdoms on the Iranian plateau, centered in Anshan, and from the mid-2nd millennium BC, it was centered in Susa in the Khuzestan lowlands. Its culture played a crucial role during the 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 whose language, Luri, split from Middle Persian.
The Elamite language endonym of Elam as a country appears to have been Hatamti ( in Linear Elamite), or Haltami (Cuneiform Elamite: ).
Exonyms included the Sumerian names NIM.MAki𒉏𒈠𒆠 and ELAM, the Akkadian Elamû (masculine/neuter) and Elamītu (feminine) meant "resident of Susiana, Elamite".
In prehistory, Elam was centered primarily in modern Khuzestān and Ilam. The name Khuzestān is derived ultimately from 𐎢𐎺𐎩 (hūja) meaning Susa/Elam.
Official source
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