
Elam 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, a name derived from its capital Susa.

The Assyrian conquest of Elam refers to the conquest of Elam in western Persia by the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The Elamite lands were finally ravaged beyond repair in 639 BC.

Awan was an ancient city-state or region of Elam in the western area of modern-day Iran. It often appears together with the cities of Susa and Anshan in the early history of Mesopotamia, having many conflictual interactions with Sumer. The city of Awan still has not been located archaeologically.

Banesh is a village in Beyza District, Sepidan County, Fars Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 2,904, in 688 families.

The Battle of Susa was a battle involving Assyrians and Elamites. The Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, had grown tired of the Elamites' attacks on the Mesopotamians, and he decided to destroy Susa as punishment.

The Battle of the Ulai River, also known as the Battle of Til-Tuba or the Battle of Tulliz, in c. 653 BCE, was a battle between the invading Assyrians, under their king Ashurbanipal, and the kingdom of Elam, which was a Babylonian ally. The result was a decisive Assyrian victory. Teumman, the king of Elam, and his son Tammaritu were killed in the battle.

Tappeh-ye Choghā Mīsh dating back to 6800 BC, is the site of a Chalcolithic settlement in Western Iran, located in the Khuzistan Province on the Susiana Plain. It was occupied at the beginning of 6800 BC and continuously from the Neolithic up to the Proto-Literate period, thus spanning the time periods from Archaic through Elamite. Later, the nearby Susa became culturally dominant in this area.

Ilam Province is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is located in the western part of the country, sharing 425 km (264 mi) of the border with Iraq, and also bordering on the provinces of Kermanshah, Lorestan, and Khuzestan. The largest city and also the provincial capital is the city of Ilam with a population 194,030. As of 2016 census, the population of the province was 580,158 people and is the least populated province in Iran. Majority of the population, about 80%, speak dialects of Kurdish, 10% speak Luri and 6% Laki.

Elam 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, a name derived from its capital Susa.

The Elamite rock relief in Naqsh-e Rostam is the oldest rock relief in Naqsh-e Rostam, belonging to the Elam culture. Bahram II, the Sasanian king, has destroyed this rock relief and carved his own relief on it. But small sections of the Elamite relief is still preserved. Scholars do not have consensus about the date of this relief. Ernst Herzfeld and Heidemarie Koch have suggested that the date of the relief is 4,000 years ago. However Alireza Shapour Shahbazi and Isa Behnam have suggested 1,200 BC as the date of this Elamite relief. The relief shows a god and a goddess seating on a throne. The legs of the throne are twisted with some snakes. On the right, there's a complete figure of a man with beard and long hairs. He has put his hands on his chest as a sign of respect to the god that once had existed in front of him, but now is completely destructed. On the left side, there's a figure of a woman with crown. It is believed that these man and woman are king and queen respectively and are worshiping the god and goddess. Small sections of God and Goddess figures are still visible, but can't be recognized duo to the destruction.


The Guennol Lioness [ˈɡwɛnɔl] is a 5,000-year-old Mesopotamian statue allegedly found near Baghdad, Iraq. Depicting a muscular anthropomorphic leonine-human, it sold for $57.2 million at Sotheby's auction house on December 5, 2007. The sculpture had been acquired by a private collector, Alastair Bradley Martin, in 1948 from the collection of Joseph Brummer, and had been on display at Brooklyn Museum of Art in New York City from that time to its sale in 2007. It is called "Guennol" after the Welsh name for "Martin", the name of the collector. In 1950 Edith Porada described it as a lioness "because of the feminine curves of her lower body and the absence of male organs" while conceding the possibility "that the figure represented a sexless creature".
Haft Tepe is an archaeological site situated in the Khuzestan Province in south-western Iran. At this site the remains of the Elamite city of Kabnak were discovered in 1908, and excavations are still carried out.

Hamanu was a city of Elam, which was razed by Ashurbanipal during his Assyrian conquest of Elam conquest of Elam in 645-635 BCE. Ashurbanipal wrote in his inscriptions:"The city of Hamanu, a royal city of the land of Elam, I besieged, I conquered, its booty I carried off."

The Kneeling Bull With Vessel is a small 6 3/8 inches (16.3 cm) tall statue made of silver with an animal upper part of a bull holding a vessel with pebbles inside and a lower part shaped in the body of a kneeling human wearing a patterned article of clothing. The artist is unknown and it is also not known if it has any spiritual connotations. Art such as this show vigorously developing cultural environments, including the building of cities and development of writing, around the Southern Mesopotamia region in South West Iran and border regions of Iraq around the 3100–2900 B.C. The statue is on display at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in the Ancient Near Eastern Art section.


Marhaši was a 3rd millennium BC polity situated east of Elam, on the Iranian plateau. It is known from Mesopotamian sources, but its precise location has not been identified, though some scholars link it with Jiroft. Francfort and Tremblay on the basis of the Akkadian textual and archaeological evidence, proposed to identify the kingdom of Marhashi and Ancient Margiana.

Pashime, also Bashime, was an ancient region of southern Mesopotamia. It has recently been identified with Tell Abu Sheeja, Iraq, about 7 km from Iraq's border with Iran. Pashime corresponded to an area of interaction between Mesopotamia and Elam. Its patron god was Shuda. The city of Pashime was previously thought to be located on the Persian Gulf.

Susa was an ancient city in the lower Zagros Mountains about 250 km (160 mi) east of the Tigris River, between the Karkheh and Dez Rivers. One of the most important cities of the Ancient Near East, Susa served as the capital of Elam and the Achaemenid Empire, and remained a strategic centre during the Parthian and Sasanian periods.

Tapeh Yahya is an archaeological site in Kermān Province, Iran, some 220 kilometres (140 mi) south of Kerman city, 90 kilometres (56 mi) south of Baft city and 90 km south-west of Jiroft.