The Archaeology of Elam: Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State

by D. T. Potts

Overview

Elam was an important state in southwestern Iran from the third millennium BC to the appearance of the Persian Empire and beyond. Less well-known than its neighbors in Mesopotamia, Anatolia, the Levant or Egypt, it was nonetheless a region of extraordinary cultural vitality. This book examines the formation and transformation of Elam's many identities through both archaeological and written evidence, and brings to life one of the most important regions of Western Asia, re-evaluates its significance, and places it in the context of the most recent archaeological and historical scholarship. The new edition includes material from over 800 additional sources, reflecting the enormous amount of fieldwork and scholarship on Iran since 1999. Every chapter contains new insights and material that have been seamlessly integrated into the text in order to give the reader an up-to-date understanding of ancient Elam.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521564960
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	07/29/1999
Series:	Cambridge World Archaeology
Pages:	524
Product dimensions:	7.44(w) x 9.69(h) x 1.06(d)

About the Author

D. T. Potts is Professor of Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology and History at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University. He is the editor of The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran (2013) and the author of Nomadism in Iran: From Antiquity to the Modern Era (2014), as well as numerous other books and articles in scholarly journals.

Table of Contents

1. Elam: what, when, where?; 2. Environment, climate, and resources; 3. The immediate precursors of Elam; 4. Elam and Awan; 5. The dynasty of Shimashki; 6. The grand regents of Elam and Susa; 7. The kingdom of Susa and Anshan; 8. The Neo-Elamite period; 9. Elam in the Achaemenid empire; 10. Elymais; 11. Elam under the Sasanians and beyond; 12. Conclusion.

Editorial Reviews

"...a very valuable study." Choice

From the Publisher

An excellent and exhaustively documented book...[brings] history, archaeology and ethnogenesis together, and his concluding interaction across the shifting mosaic of southwest Asian polities through the millennia, epitomizes Henri Berr's "terrible craving for synthesis," and finally satisfies both himself and us.
—The Times Literary Supplement

Alan D. Hammond