The History of Susa, The Persian Capitol.
Research Term Paper on the city of Susa History of the Middle East & Africa November 21, 2005
Introduction:
The city of Susa has had a profound influence in the development of our modern history in the way that its existence has influenced past history. It has also heavily influenced our understanding of the ancient civilizations in the area, because there are many artifacts that have been found there. Susa has had a long and varied history, with the start of the city well before 3000 BC, and the ending of the city as an entity being 1218, when it was finally destroyed for good by the Mongols. Susa has been a capitol city for the kingdom of Elam, and the massive Persian Empire, as well as being reduced to no more than a village. It exists as both paradise and a burning oven. The existence of Susa has had a major effect on the shaping of Ancient History, and its artifacts have greatly assisted us in our understanding of that history.
Chronological History:
Pottery shards have been found from around the area of Susa that have dated to 5000 BC, and at the site of Susa itself, other pottery has been found that dates to 3500 BC. The pottery found at Susa was buried 36 feet below ground. From these pottery shards, as well as other textual evidence, we have been able to determine that the land was Elamite. These people controlled the region surrounding Susa, basically the entire area between the mountains and the Persian gulf. According to Persia and the Bible, Elam covered 42,000 square miles, or about the size of Denmark. These Elamite kings ruled in Susa for a very long time, up to when the Sumerian king of Ur, Shulgi, conquered Susa in 2067 BC. Thereafter, The Old Babylonian Dynasty overtook Elam, and the Kassites conquered Susa in 1330 BC Note 1.
Untash-Gal was able to defeat the Kassites between 1266-1245, and his grandson overtook Babylon and removed the Stele of Naram-Sin and the Hammurabi Code. He also took the god Marduk from Babylon to Susa in about 1160 BC. Several years later, Nebuchadnezzar was able to recover this statue from Susa. Elam began to oppose the growing power of the Assyrians, and in 640 Susa was devastated by Ashurbanipal, the Assyrian king. Ashurbanipal carried out a policy of obliteration, removing the Elemites from the area and placing them in Summaria. He broke open the tombs, removing the bones, and completely demolished a Ziggurat that was at Susa. When Cyrus captured Babylon in 539, he retuned many of the items that were removed during the previous years. When Darius took the throne, he made Susa his administrative capitol. Later, Susa became one of three capitols that the Persian kings used in the year. Typically, they would use Susa as their residence during the winter months while it was mostly pleasant. At some point and time, the Royal Road was made, with Susa at the south east end, and Sardis (Ephesus) at the north west. This allowed for quick movement by currier from one end of the empire to the other Note 2. Darius modified Susa heavily to fit his needs as a Persian capitol, because of its position as being close to both the homelands of the Persians, as well as closer to his new empire. Later, Xerxes, after his great loss in Greece, retired to Susa, and it is there that Esther was chosen to be his new head wife. The Persian empire continued up to the time of Alexander, who conquered Susa without a fight, (after first capturing Babylon), Alexander left the Santrap there in charge, and the Garrison commander control of the enormous treasury found there. According to accounts, Alexander found 9,000 talents of gold coin and 40,000 talents of silver ingots (none of which was intended for currency). This is equivalent to finding many billions of dollars. (12 talents of gold is equivalent to 800 lbs, according to History of the Persian Empire Note 3)
Rome was unable to penetrate to Susa any more than being able to take it once (in 116 AD Note 4) but being forced to retreat soon after, therefore, Susa remained an important city for the Sassanid kings east of the Roman Empire. The Muslims overtook it in 638 AD, and the city was finally abandoned when the Mongols destroyed it in 1218 AD. Thus, the City was continually occupied from before 3500BC until 1218 AD, or over 4,500 years. When you look at a city existing over such a long time frame, it is easy to realize the great archeological significance of the city, as there is bound to be many artifacts in the area.
Climate:
Susa has a very interesting climate, as it is uniquely positioned between desert and ocean. During the winter months, the city was used by the Persian kings as their capitol, but left for the summer, as the temperature rose to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. During the summer there are reports by Greeks that if lizards crossed the road during the day, they were roasted alive Note 5. Also, you could lay out barley seeds and they would roast as if in an oven. To protect themselves, the people who lived in Susa constructed houses with three feet of earth between themselves and the sun, with palm-tree roofs supporting that weight. During the summer, no cooling breezes were able to penetrate the mountains, and thus only the hot air from the Arabian Desert blew through. Interestingly enough, this area was not a desert wasteland, since for two months out of the year monsoon rains flooded the very fertile soil (they, the ancients, reported that barley and wheat produced 100 to 200 times what was sown Note 6). During the rest of the growing season, the Elemites and other people of the area were able to utilize massive irrigation from the snow that melted off the mountains.
Archeology:
As mentioned previously, there have been numerous artifacts that have been found at the site of Susa. This includes the stela of Hammurabi Note 7, which was inscribed with his laws, the Naram-Sin stelae Note 8, as well as the Sargon stelae Note 9. How did these important artifacts come to be found in Susa? Apparently, nearly 1000 years after the reigns of these kings, the Elamites conquered and took these stela as booty back to Susa where they remained for millennia.
The French have had exclusive excavation rights of the city from the early 1900’s up to the revolution in Iran. The contracts that the French had with the Persians (Iran) allowed for half of all excavated artifacts to go to France. It is for this reason that so many of the various artifacts found at Susa exist in France today. The Frenchman Jacques de Morgan used 1200 workmen during his excavation, each of which would remove one yard per day Note 10. (His main goal seemed to be collecting as much material for the French museum as possible.) Because of all this excavation, a massive amount of dirt has been removed from the area Note 11. The early French archeologists utilized multiple methods of excavation, including tunneling and digging trenches. The more modern method for this site includes excavation on a level-by-level basis.
It is nearly imposable to mention all of the material that has been recovered from the area around Susa as well as the city itself. There have been artifacts found relating to the Ionians who were resettled here by the Persians. Many of the artifacts from this area have helped us immensely in our understanding of the cultures surrounding the city. Two of the more important of these cultures include the Babylonians and the Persians.
Linguistics:
The language of Elam is very interesting in that it is not related to the Indo- European or Sumerian language. Because of this, it was very common to find Persian Royal Inscriptions written in a trilingual form, Elamite, Old Persian, and Babylonian cuneiforms. This was incredibly helpful in deciphering the language since no modern form of the language now exists Note 12. The first written language of Elam was a semi-pictographic script, which we call Proto-Elamite. It was at about 2300 that the cuneiform script replaced this form Note 13. According to a Microsoft Encarta entry by Samuel Kramer, Elam was used administratively until the fourth century BC, and until the 10th century AD, was a spoken language Note 14.Architecture:
When Darius transformed the city into his financial capitol, he also spent several years in site preparation. From his palace, an article (Palatial inscription) was found which outlined the order of his building as well as what people groups worked on what sections. The inscription states that he dug down to solid rock (going through an old Elamite cemetery while he did so), and packed it down with rubble, then a terrace was built (49 feet high) upon which his palace was built. Here is part of the inscription
The cedar timber, […] the Assyrian people brought it to Babylon; from Babylon the Carians and Ionians brought it to Susa. The yaka-timber was brought from Gandhara and from Carmania.
[…] The silver and ebony were brought from Egypt. The ornamentation with which the wall was adorned, that from Ionia was brought. The ivory which was wrought here, was brought from Ethiopia and from Sind and from Arachosia.
[…] The stone-cutters who wrought the stone, those were Ionians and Sardians. The men who wrought the backed brick, those were Babylonians. The men who adorned the wall, those were the Medes and Egyptians. [...] Note 15
As you can easily see, it seems that nearly every major people group participated in the construction of his palace. It is therefore quite obvious that these people groups would have had a presence in this capitol as its population and thus each culture has it’s influence on the culture of the Persians as a whole. According to Yamauchi (quoting Hinz), this trilingual inscription is “among the most important documents contributing to our knowledge […] of ancient civilizations” Note 16. Darius also enclosed the entire city with the entire area within covering 173 acres (70 hectares) Note 17. According to Yamauchi, more than million cubic meters were moved in order to build the terrace.
Biblical references:
Interestingly enough, there are several events recorded in the Bible that take place in Susa. Specifically, when Esther was chosen as the new head wife for Xerxes, she was chosen at Susa (probably after the bad Greece campaign). Also, while Nehemiah was a cup bearer for Araxerxes, he desired to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and received permission from the king to do so as in the book Nehemiah. According to the book History of the Persian Empire (as well as the Bible), Nehemiah had access to the king, and therefore power, and was wise in the ways of court. The author also notes that for Nehemiah to have the access he did, he was probably a eunuch. On a final note, Daniel also lived in Susa Note 18 after his capture by the Persians Note 19.
Effect of the city’s finds on today:
This city has provided us with so many artifacts, that our understanding of ancient history would be severely limited without them. If nothing else, the artifacts of the three stelaes, Hammurabi, Naram-Sin and Sargon, do so much for our understanding of ancient law. As previously mentioned, the Palatial inscription has helped us understand what people groups were under the direct authority of the Persian empire. The many statues found there also are among the best found anywhere. At Susa, many different types of pottery has been found that is vary elaborate and indicates trade and these pottery pieces may have been gifts for the burial of important people Note 20.
Because of the long occupation of the city of Susa, it is very difficult to do archeological excavations, since you have the debris from millennia of habitation. You can dig up palaces and temples and you are only looking at one era of that city’s history, thus it is a layering event that takes an incredible amount of time to excavate effectively Note 21. This is why the early digging by Jacques de Morgan is rather unfortunate, since he was not as meticulous as he should have been in his digging. There is no possible way that he could have been keeping track of everything if he used 1,200 men in his excavating.
Even with those early mistakes by the French archeologist, the items that he found have influenced our understanding of the Elamite culture as well as that of the Persians and Babylonian. There are potter shards, stele, statues, and the foundations of buildings abounding from the site.
Conclusion:
Susa is an amazing city, with a long history expanding over 4,500 years. There have been several people groups that have lived in this city including the Elamites, the Persians, some Ionians, Christians, and Muslims. Each group has left their mark on the soil of the city. Who knows what may be found at this site in the future that will help us further in our understanding of these ancient peoples and civilizations.
1: See page 289 of Persia and the Bible. 2: See page 301 of History of the Persian Empire. 3: See page 237 of History of the Persian Empire. 4: See web site : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susa. 5: See page 164 of History of the Persian Empire, or Persia and the Bible, page 281 (Greek author is Strabo) 6: See page 164 of History of the Persian Empire. 7: See plate 59 of The Ancient Near East. 8: See plate 86 of The Ancient Near East. 9: See page 184 of Ancient Mesopotamia. 10: See Page 16 Ancient Mesopotamia. 11: If you are able to get a copy of Ancient Mesopotamia look at the picture on page 18, it will show you how much dirt has been moved… (Look especially at the “witness block.”) 12: See entry Cuneiform of Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia, 2003, or page 286 of Persia and the Bible. 13: See entry Elam of Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia, 2003. 14: See last paragraph of #12. 15: See page 296 of Persia and the Bible for the full inscription. 16: See page 296 of Persia and the Bible. 17: See page 293 of Persia and the Bible. 18: See page 281 of Persia and the Bible. 19: Interesting to note is that Josef Wiesehöfer places the book of Daniel as being written in the second century BC. (See page 57 of Ancient Persia). 20: See page 107 of The Archaeology of Mesopotamia. 21: See page 135 of The Archaeology of Mesopotamia.Bibliography
Güterbock, H. (2003). Cuneiform. Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Standard 2003.
Kramer, S. (2003). Elam. Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Standard 2003.
Matthews, R. (2003). The Archaeology of Mesopotamia. New York: Routledge.
Olmstead, A. (1978). History of the Persian Empire. (7th ed.) Chicago: U. of Chicago Press.
Pollock, S. (1999). Ancient Mesopotamia. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Pritchard, J. (1973). The Ancient Near East. (6th ed.). (Vol. 1) Princeton U. Press.
Susa, retrieved 11-19-05, from (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susa).
Wiesehöfer, J. (1996). Ancient Persia. New York: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd.
Yamauchi, E. (2003). Persia and the Bible. (3rd ed.) Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.