kingdom · Mesopotamia and Iran
Middle Elamite kingdom
Origins
After the obscure end of the Sukkalmah dynasty, a new line, the Kidinuids, ruled Susa and Anshan from about 1500 BCE with the title 'king of Susa and Anshan'. From around 1400 BCE the Igihalkid dynasty consolidated the kingdom, using Elamite rather than Akkadian for royal inscriptions and marrying into the Kassite royal house.
Rule and society
Untash-Napirisha built a new religious capital, Dur-Untash, with the great ziggurat of Chogha Zanbil, dedicated to Inshushinak and Napirisha. In the 12th century the Shutrukid kings made Elam a military power: Shutruk-Nahhunte I raided Babylonia in 1158 BCE and brought monuments including the stele of Hammurabi and Naram-Sin's victory stele to Susa, where French excavators found them. Shilhak-Inshushinak campaigned widely and left many glazed-brick inscriptions.
Decline and legacy
Around 1110 BCE Nebuchadnezzar I of the Second Dynasty of Isin defeated Hutelutush-Inshushinak and recovered the statue of Marduk. Elam then entered a poorly documented period until the rise of the Neo-Elamite kingdom.
Lineage
On the connections map
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- Middle Elamite kingdom was part of Elamite Confederation1500 BCE – 1100 BCE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Middle Elamite kingdom. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/middle-elamite-kingdom
- MLA
- “Middle Elamite kingdom.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/middle-elamite-kingdom. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Middle Elamite kingdom.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/middle-elamite-kingdom.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Middle Elamite kingdom’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/middle-elamite-kingdom (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻