Power and Politics in the Neo-Elamite Kingdom

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Within the field of Elamite studies, the history of the Neo-Elamite kingdom (c. 1100-520 BC), is the most difficult period to grasp, leaving only breadcrumbs of evidence for modern scholars. Nevertheless, the aim of this study is to improve our understanding on three themes (Elamite rulers, Neo-Elamite geopolitical limits and the state formation) in order to provide essential pieces of the puzzle that will contribute to a comprehensive history of the Neo-Elamite kingdom (Western Iran). The first part of this research focuses on the chronological sequence and the genealogy of the Neo-Elamite kings. A reassessment of all sources, being textual, archaeological and iconographic material from Mesopotamia and Elam itself, has allowed me to group the presently known Neo-Elamite kings into two royal dynasties (pre-645 BC) and to make a chronological sequence of the late Neo-Elamite kings (post-645 BC). The second part of this study revises the geopolitical power of the Neo-Elamite kings. Although any reconstruction on the extent of the Neo-Elamite kingdom remains tentative, the Elamite regions were divided into the Elamite heartland (Susiana, Ram Hormuz, Behbehan, Izeh & Mamasani) and the border regions (Trans-Tigridian corridor, Southern Luristan, Bakhtiari mountains and Fars). Elamite borders often shifted as a result of military confrontations between Elam and its neighbouring states (Assyria, Babylonia, Media and Persia). Especially on the border with Babylonia and Assyria, small border kingdoms (Zari, Zamin, Haran) governed by sheikhs depending on the Elamite crown, arose to serve as buffer zones. The third part gives a preliminary reconstruction of the Neo-Elamite state formation, its governmental structure and its officials. The king of Anshan and Susa did not govern a unitary or a fragmented state, but Elam had a decentralized system in which the regional officials and local kings had a reasonable amount of power.