Elam: Highland, the son of Shem
(Genesis 10:22) and the name of the country
inhabited by his descendants
(Genesis 14:1,9; Isaiah 11:11; 21:2) etc., lying to
the east of Babylonia, and extending to the shore of the
Mediterranean, a distance in a direct line of about 1,000 miles. The
name Elam is an Assyrian word meaning "high." "The inhabitants of
Elam, or 'the Highlands,' to the east of Babylon, were called
Elamites. They were divided into several branches, speaking different
dialects of the same agglutinative language. The race to which they
belonged was brachycephalic, or short-headed, like the pre-Semitic
Sumerians of Babylonia. "The earliest Elamite kingdom seems to have
been that of Anzan, the exact site of which is uncertain; but in the
time of Abraham, Shushan or Susa appears to have already become the
capital of the country. Babylonia was frequently invaded by the
Elamite kings, who at times asserted their supremacy over it (as in
the case of Chedorlaomer, the Kudur-Lagamar, or 'servant of the
goddess Lagamar,' of the cuneiform texts). "The later Assyrian
monarchs made several campaigns against Elam, and finally
Assur-bani-pal (about B.C. 650) succeeded in conquering the country,
which was ravaged with fire and sword. On the fall of the Assyrian
Empire, Elam passed into the hands of the Persians" (A.H. Sayce).
This country was called by the Greeks Cissia or Susiana.
