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(Heb. šûšan; Akk. šušān)

Ancient Elamite Šušun (modern Shūsh), located in the Susiana Plain in southwestern Iran. The site, comprising five mounds scattered over 250 ha. (615 a.), was noted by many early travelers and excavated by William K. Loftus in 1851-52 and Marcel and Jane Dieulafoy in 1884-86. French excavations worked each year at the site from 1897-1979, except during the wars.

The site was founded in the early 5th millennium as one of the dominant sites in Susiana. The settlement of this period was dominated by a large platform, upon which stood a temple or elite residence. A cemetery containing more than 1000 burials, possibly the result of some catastrophe, dates to this period.

Little architecture from the periods between the 5th and 1st millennium has been successfully excavated at Susa, although its historical role is better known. Beginning in the 3rd millennium Susa, along with Anshan, was a capital of Elam. Susa was in constant conflict with states in Sumer and Akkad, ultimately being incorporated into the Akkadian and Ur III empires. During the early 2nd millennium Susa and Anshan again ruled Elam (one of the major powers in the Near East at that time), negotiating alliances with Šamši-adad of Assur, Hammurabi of Babylon, and Zimri-lim of Mari. In the late 2nd millennium, the Elamite ruler Šutruk-nahhunte briefly conquered Babylonia and brought back as spoils of war such relics as the stela of Hammurabi. After a period of collapse, Susa became a capital in a Neo-Elamite state, which was to be conquered by Assurbanipal in 646.

Susa was next conquered by Cyrus II in 539 and used as a capital the Achaemenid Empire. Darius I (521-486) rebuilt the city, constructing a palace and audience hall (apadana) as well as a city wall. His successor Artaxerxes II (404-359) built a palace to the west of the mounds. These Achaemenid palaces are notable for their friezes of glazed bricks depicting archers.

Susa was conquered again in 331 by Alexander the Great, who used the city as the site of a mass marriage between Macedonian soldiers and Persian women. The city never again functioned as a capital, but continued to be occupied under Seleucid, Parthian, Sassanian, and Islamic rule. A medieval tomb on the top of the site — apocryphally the tomb of Daniel — remains a modern pilgrimage center.

Biblical references to Susa (Neh. 1:1; Esther; Dan. 8:2) concern the Jewish community living in the city during the Achaemenid period.

Bibliography. P. O. Harper, J. Aruz, and F. Tallon, ed., The Royal City of Susa (New York, 1992).

Geoff Emberling

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

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Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)