Elam was a region in the Near East corresponding to the modern-day provinces of Ilam and Khuzestan in southern Iran (though it also included part of modern-day southern Iraq) whose civilization spanned thousands of years from circa 3200 to circa 539 BCE.
More about: Elam10 days left
Server Costs Fundraiser 2026
It costs $20,000 a year to run our servers, and we need your help to pay for them!
$10582 / $20000
Definition
Timeline
-
c. 4200 BCEFounding of the city of Susa.
-
c. 3200 BCE - c. 2700 BCEProto-Elamite period.
-
c. 2700 BCE - c. 1600 BCEOld Elamite period.
-
2700 BCEFirst war in recorded history between Elam and Sumer; Sumer wins.
-
c. 1750 BCEElam conquers Ur.
-
c. 1500 BCE - c. 1100 BCEMiddle Elamite period.
-
c. 1275 BCE - 1240 BCEReign of the Elamite king Untash-Napirisha; Construction of the great temple complex of Dur-Untash (Chogha Zanbil).
-
1184 BCE - 1155 BCEReign of the Elamite king Shutruk-Nakhkunte who establishes the Elamite Empire.
-
c. 1100 BCE - c. 539 BCENeo-Elamite period.
-
648 BCEWar between Assyria and the Elamites.
-
c. 646 BCEDestruction of the Elamite city of Susa by Ashurbanipal of the Neo-Assyrian Empire
-
c. 539 BCEElam is absorbed into the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus the Great.
-
187 BCE - 224 CEElamite culture is continued by the Elamite nation-state of Elymais until it is absorbed by the Persian Sassanian Empire.
