The Art of Elam

583 Pages·2020·26.785 MB·English

by  Javier Álvarez-Mon

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THE ART OF ELAM

ca. 4200– 525 BC
The Art of Elam CA. 4200– 525 BC offers a view of, and a critical reflection on, the art history
of one of the world’s first and least- known civilizations, illuminating a significant chapter of
our human past.
Not unlike a gallery of historical paintings, this comprehensive treatment of the rich heritage
of ancient Iran showcases a visual trail of the evolution of human society, with all its leaps and
turns, from its origins in the earliest villages of southwest Iran at around 4200 BC to the rise
of the Achaemenid Persian empire in ca. 525 BC. Richly illustrated with 1,450 photographs,
190 line drawings, and digital reconstructions of hundreds of artefacts— some of which have
never before been published—T he Art of Elam goes beyond formal and thematic boundaries to
emphasize the religious, political, and social contexts in which art was created and functioned.
Such a magisterial study of Elamite art has never been written, making The Art of Elam ca.
4200– 525 BC a ground- breaking publication essential to all students of ancient art and to our
current understanding of the civilizations of the ancient Near East.
Javier Álvarez- Mon, a native of Spain, holds degrees in ancient Near Eastern art and archae-
ology from the École du Louvre (Paris) and the University of California at Berkeley (USA), and
in Religious Studies and Theology from the Graduate Theological Union and Jesuit School of
Theology at Berkeley. A 2003 Fullbright- Hays (DDRA) Fellow and 2014– 2018 Future Fellow
(Australian Research Council), he has taught at the University of Sydney (Australia) and is
presently Professor in Near Eastern Archaeology and Art at Macquarie University, Sydney
(Australia). He is author and co- editor of numerous articles dedicated to the ancient Iranian
civilizations of Elam and early Achaemenid Persia, as well as several books: The Arjan Tomb
(2010), Elam and Persia (2011), The Elamite World (with Basello and Wicks, 2018), and The
Monumental Reliefs of the Elamite Highlands: A Complete Inventory and Analysis (from the Seventeenth
to the Sixth Century BC) (2019).
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“Elam was the starting point for arts, which were to be influential east, west and north.
In many ways they represent in some detail the beginning of descriptive and narrative art
for a major part of the ancient world. A thorough new study incorporating the latest finds
and theories has long been needed, to blow the dust off old theories and look again at the
sometimes startling and always engaging evidence. Alvarez-M on does just that and earns
our gratitude.” 
– Sir John Boardman, University of Oxford, UK
“In The Art of Elam Javier Álvarez- Mon provides an unrivalled, comprehensive description
of one of the more neglected, major artistic traditions of the ancient world. Thanks to his
exceptional efforts, the millennial time- honored art of Elam – the distinctive art of pre-
Achaemenid southwestern Iran – is at last given its proper due. In this ground-b reaking work,
new standards of commentary and analysis and a stunning array of pertinent illustrations give
life to the religious and political messages that were transmitted through the centuries by
the signal arts of Elam. All students of ancient art owe a substantial debt to the author of this
magisterial study.” 
– David Stronach, University of California at Berkeley, USA
“Javier Álvarez-M on has produced a work combining deep knowledge, judicious com-
mentary, and extraordinary graphics that reveals the art of Elam in a way never before
seen. His comprehensive survey of every genre of material culture displaying the artistic
creativity of the Elamites, from small objects to monumental rock- reliefs, is staggering in
its breadth. He has put every student of the ancient Near East, and indeed of ancient art,
in his debt. This work sets an entirely new standard in the field.”
– D.T. Potts, New York University, USA
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THE ART OF ELAM

ca. 4200– 525 BC
Javier Álvarez- Mon
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First published 2020
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2020 Javier Álvarez- Mon
The right of Javier Álvarez- Mon to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Álvarez-Mon, Javier, author.
Title: The art of Elam, ca. 4200–525 BC / Javier Álvarez-Mon.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019049035 (print) | LCCN 2019049036 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780415814744 (hardback) | ISBN 9781003018254 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Art, Elamite. | Elam–Antiquities. | Elam–History.
Classification: LCC N5370 .A44 2020 (print) | LCC N5370 (ebook) |
DDC 700.935/76409013–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019049035
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019049036
ISBN: 978-0 - 415- 81474- 4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978- 1-0 03- 01825- 4 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Newgen Publishing UK
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For my parents
Mercedes Sánchez Ortiz and Manuel Álvarez- Mon García y Güell
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We should not concern ourselves with Elamite art purely for intellectual reasons
and for what it has to teach about the remains of a civilization past,
the stuff of lives long gone.
We should also care about it because of the wonders it unveils,
the pleasures it holds.
In the course of this walk through the visual grove of Elam,
give free rein to your imagination,
pilgrim, take shade under the palm t ree,
inhale the past and become intoxicated by the story.
Perhaps you will find reason to agree with the poet Hafez and hear the whisper:
“imagination does not exist”.
Sketch of the tomb of the Prophet Daniel and the ruins of Susa in the background. By H.A. Churchill.
First published view of Susa (Loftus 1857)
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CONTENTS

List of plates ix

Preface and acknowledgments xxvi

List of abbreviations, text sigla, and other abbreviations xxix

About this book xxxii

The land of Elam xxxiii

The Elamite collections xxxvi

Art historical considerations: Past and present xxxix

Chronological table xli

PART I
Elam before Elam (ca. 4200– 2900 BC) 1
1 The birth of Susa (ca. 4200– 3800 BC) 3

2 From village to city (ca. 3800– 3100 BC) 34

3 The Proto- Elamite period: Susa and the highlands (ca. 3100– 2900 BC) 59

PART II
The rise of Elam (ca. 2900– 1880 BC) 79
4 The age of city states (ca. 2900– 2340 BC) 81

5 Susa and Akkad (ca. 2340– 2100 BC) 130

6 Puzur- Inshushinak and his time (ca. 2100– 2050 BC) 142

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Contents
7 The Shimashki and the downfall of Ur (ca. 2050– 1880 BC) 163

PART III
The Golden Age (ca. 1880– 1050 BC) 181
8 The Sukkalmahs: Reign of the “Great Kings” (ca. 1880– 1500 BC) 185

9 The Kidinuid era (ca. 1500– 1400 BC) 231

10 Untash- Napirisha and his city of gods (fourteenth century BC) 258

11 The Shutrukid House (ca. 1190– 1050 BC) 319

PART IV
Between Golden Age and Empire (ca. 1050– 525 BC) 363
12 Elam in the first millennium: Resilience and renaissance 365

Conclusion: The legacy of Elamite art and its future 499

Bibliography 502

Index 533

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LIST OF PLATES

Note on photographs and line drawings
While most of the photographs and line drawings presented in this book were produced by the
present author during the past 16 years, some are courtesy of the following friends, colleagues,
and institutions. Here I duly acknowledge their assistance: Agnes Spycket, Alireza Bakhtyar,
ANF/ Archives Nationales de France, Behzad Mofidi- Nasrabadi, BM/B ritish Museum
(London, UK), Cameron Petrie (ArchAtlas 2005; www.archatlas.org/ Petrie/ Izeh.php), CS/
Castle of Susa (Shush, Khuzestan, Iran), Darafsh Kaviyani (CC/ Creative Commons license),
Davide Salaris; DAI/ The Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Eurasien- Abteilung (Berlin,
Germany), DG/D igital Globe (Google Earth, courtesy of “Map data”), François Bridey (Louvre
Museum, Paris), Gian Pietro Basello and the DARIOSH Project, ISMEO (Naples, Italy), HT/
Haft Tepe (Museum, Haft Tepe, Khuzestan, Iran), Kaisu Raasakka (www.flickr.com/ people/
ninara/) , Loukas Koungoulos, ML/L ouvre Museum (Paris, France), Mark B. Garrison, NASA
(Goddard Space Flight Center and U.S. Geological Survey), NMI/ National Museum of Iran
(Tehran), Neda Dehnad, OI/O riental Institute (Chicago, USA), Patrick C. Pentocello (CC/
Creative Commons license), Peter Calmeyer (DAI), Pierre Amiet (CC/ Creative Commons
license, www.Persée.fr, and ANF), Roland de Mecquenem (ANF, France), SM/ Susa Museum
(Shush, Khuzestan, Iran), Ursula Seidl (DAI), William M. Sumner, and Yasmina Wicks.
1 Map of southwest Iran (after Hansman 1972: 103, fig. 1,
with modifications by the author); Landsat photograph of Iran
(courtesy of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and US
Geological Survey). xxxiv

2 City of Susa from the air with principal mounds (Google Earth,
courtesy of DG “Map data”, with modifications by the author). 4

3 City of Susa [a] Sketch of the tomb of the prophet Daniel and
the ruins of Susa in the background (by H. A. Churchill, in Loftus
1857) [b] Plan of the Acropole (after Morgan 1900, Pl. II) [c] 3D
reconstruction of the Acropole (by the author and A. Moghaddam,
based on Plan of the Acropole by Morgan 1900, Pl. II). 5

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