“And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellaser, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations. . .”
So opens one of the most enigmatic chapters in the Bible — Genesis 14. It is in this chapter that we read of Lot being captured by these four Mesopotamian kings and of Abraham’s heroic rescue of his nephew.
Scholars have puzzled over Genesis 14 for generations. Some even said it was mythological — that is, until W. F. Albright researched it and found that it is very much authentic. Albright found that the names mentioned are authentic place names and personal names and the language throughout is very archaic. He concluded that it records an actual historical event during the days of Abraham.
We don’t know very much about these kings or their kingdoms. Recent excavations, however, are shedding new light on one of the nations — Elam, land of Chedorlaomer the leader of the Mesopotamian coalition.
Elam In History
Elam is mentioned a number of times in the Bible and it appears frequently in Assyrian and Babylonian clay tablet texts. The Elamites developed a high culture during the third and second millenia before Christ. They occupied a rich plain and the adjacent
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hill country east of the Tigris River and the Persian Gulf. Known as a warlike people, the Elamites periodically threatened the Babylonians and the Assyrians.
Early in the second millenium B.C., around the time of Abraham, the Elamites invaded Mesopotamia and established a dynasty at Larsa. Shortly afterward they became masters of Erech, Babylon, and Isin, although Hammurabi of Babylon was able to check further expansion. By the 14th century B.C. the Elamites had reached the peak of their culture. Their power came to an abrupt end in about 1130 B.C. when Nebuchadnezzar I reduced Elam to the status of a Babylonian dependency.
After the turn of the millenium, the policy of Elam was dominated by its alliance with Babylonia against Assyria. The Assyrian kings Sargon, Sennacherib, and Esarhaddon all waged campaigns against the Elamites. Ashurbanipal completely destroyed their power and almost exterminated the Elamites about 645 B. C. Although Elamite history ends at this time, the territory of Elam became a favored part of the later Persian Empire.
A Lost City Found
Accounts of relations between Elam and Mesopotamia occasionally mention an Elamite city named Anshan, one of their four major cities. In the 19th century B.C. the founder of a new Elamite dynasty was titled “King of Anshan and of Susa” — placing Anshan on a par with the Elamite capital Susa. Following a period of obscurity, the name reappears in the 13th and 12th centuries B.C. when, at the height of their power, Elamite rulers periodically raided Babylonian cities, again as “kings of Anshan and of Susa.” Mention of Anshan disappears after the first millennium B.C., however, and for centuries the mystery of its exact location has been buried in the Iranian soil.
The secret was finally unlocked by Dr. Erica Reiner of the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute, whose reading of cuneiform inscribed bricks unearthed in Iran has re-established Anshan’s locale. The site, near the ancient Persian capital of Persepolis in Southwest Iran east of the Persian Gulf, is being excavated by an expedition from the University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania. Work began there in 1971 and in late 1972, during the first full season of digging, the inscribed bricks were found which led to the identification of the site as the long lost city of Anshan.
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Iranian workmen and a member of the expedition staff remove fragments of a fragile wall painting from what was probably one of Anshan’s earliest buildings. The building and fragments are thought to date from the late fourth millennium B.C.
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“Excavations have shown that Anshan was a great city fully justifying its ancient reputation,” said Dr. William M. Sumner, director of the dig and assistant professor of archaeology at Ohio State University. Anshan was occupied almost continuously from before 4, 000 B.C. to the first millennium B.C. Writings, monumental architecture, a city wall, indications of long-distance trade, and a number of outlying settlements all appear to be part of the Anshan legacy.
Valuable Tablets Recovered
The most important historical discoveries to date are inscribed tablets representing three periods of Elamite history. The oldest group of seven tablets, dating from the early third millennium B.C., were found in a large building made of sun-dried mud bricks and thought to have been a warehouse. Made of unbaked clay, the tablets are written in the still undeciphered Proto-Elamite script. They are inscribed with various symbols, probably representing warehouse goods, and a numerical notation composed of circular and semi-circular impressions.
Several broken lumps of clay with seal impressions — used to safeguard contents and identify owners — and 13 immense painted
Anshan excavations of a large building, thought to have been a warehouse, and probably dating from the Proto-Elamite period of the early third millennium B.C. The remains of large storage jars are visible in the foreground.
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A close-up view of a late Anshan tablet, probably dating from the end of the second millennium B.C.
pottery storage jars too heavy to move were found in the same building. Further clues to the building’s history include a heap of small pieces of cut mica and mother of pearl, probably from an inlay decoration, and several hundred dentalium shells like those found on Persian Gulf beaches.
The second group of inscribed tablets come from the Old Elamite period of about 1800 B.C., roughly the time of Abraham. These tablets are written in Sumerian rather than Elamite — an indication of powerful Mesopotamian influence. No buildings of this period have been found, but the deposits are rich in broken pottery, domestic debris and bones. Artifacts include several cylinder seals depicting enthroned kings with attendants, and animal friezes. Numerous small clay figurines of women as well as bulls and other animal figurines were also found.
From the final Elamite occupation during the last centuries of the second millennium (period of the Conquest), a cache of some 30 tablets was recovered. They are written in Elamite using a cuneiform script.
Anshan is providing a wealth of information as the spade of the archaeologist brings to life another mysterious people from the pages of the Bible.
(University of Pennsylvania news release dated March 22, 1973.)
(Scripture references to Elam — Genesis 14:1, 9; Ezra 4:9; Isaiah 11:11; 21:2; 22:6; Jeremiah 25:25; 49:34–39; Ezekiel 32:24; Daniel 8:2; Acts 2:9)
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