Elam
A civilisation in southwest Iran with its own script, rivalling Mesopotamia for two millennia.
- When
- —
- Duration
- 1.5 thousand years
- Known to
- ± 100 years
- Era
- Bronze Age, Holocene
Elam, centred on Susa and Anshan, is contemporary with Sumer and in constant contact and conflict with it — Elamites sack Ur and carry off Hammurabi's law stele, which is why it was found in Iran rather than Iraq. Proto-Elamite, from around 3100 BCE, is one of the earliest writing systems and remains largely undeciphered. Elamite is a language isolate with no established relatives.