Elam: the Elamite civilization of ancient Iran

Play c. 3500–3400 BCEThe Earliest Known OrchestraThe ancient site of Chogha Mish in southwestern Iran is home to the earliest known visual depiction of an organized orchestra in human history. Discovered by American archaeologists Helene J. Kantor and Pinhas Delougaz during excavations conducted between 1961 and 1978, this remarkable find appears on a tiny clay cylinder seal impression dating to 3400–3100 BCE, during the Late Uruk period and the transition toward the Proto-Elamite period. Archaeological discoveries reveal that music played an important role in everyday life, religious ceremonies, and royal court traditions.

Source: Roi, Philippe, and Tristan Girard. “Analogie entre la harpe urukéenne et le système auditif.” In La Théorie Sensorielle. I – Les Analogies Sensorielles, 83–100. First Edition Design Publishing, 2013. HAL: hal-03204714.

Write 3300 BCE–2900 BCEProto ElamiteProto-Elamite is one of the earliest writing systems, alongside Proto-Cuneiform in Sumer. It dates to approximately 3300–2900 BCE, before the emergence of Linear Elamite. Proto-Elamite remains largely undeciphered. Dr. François Desset is currently studying the script and working to decipher it. Although the script as a whole remains undeciphered, we understand its numerical systems. In this tool, you will learn how to write Proto-Elamite numerals in a very basic form.

Source: Shafiee, S. Early Iran: The Definitive Visual History. Cyan Publishing, 2024. https://www.academia.edu/125313646/Early_Iran_the_Definitive_Visual_History.

Write 2900 BCE–1850 BCELinear ElamiteThe oldest phonetic writing system, deciphered by Dr. François Desset. Get familiar with the Linear Elamite writing system, check its pronunciation, and see how it differs from the cuneiform writing system.

Sources: Desset, François, Kambiz Tabibzadeh, Matthieu Kervran, Gian Pietro Basello, and Gianni Marchesi. “The Decipherment of Linear Elamite Writing.” Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie 112, no. 1 (2022): 11–60. https://doi.org/10.1515/za-2022-0003.

Eskandari, Nasir, Jebrael Nokandeh, Massimo Vidale, and Gianni Marchesi. “New Radiocarbon Evidence from Shahdad and the Earliest Datable Linear Elamite Text.” Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie 115, no. 2 (2025): 123–36. https://doi.org/10.1515/za-2025-0012.

Explore c. 1250 BCEChogha ZanbilChogha Zanbil, once called Dur-Untash, is an ancient Elamite religious site located in Iran’s Khuzestan province. It was established around 1250 BCE by Elamite king Untash-Napirisha and is renowned for its impressive ziggurat, which is considered the largest and best-preserved structure of its kind outside Mesopotamia.

Sources: Mofidi-Nasrabadi, Behzad. “Reconstruction of the Ziqqurrat of Chogha Zanbil.” Elamica 5 (2015): 37–51.

Shafiee, S. Early Iran: The Definitive Visual History. Cyan Publishing, 2024. https://www.academia.edu/125313646/Early_Iran_the_Definitive_Visual_History.

Make 1300 BCEMake Statue of Napir-AsuElamite bronze work was very impressive for its time. Ancient Elamite craftsmen were skilled at making bronze sculptures, statues, religious objects, and tools using advanced metalworking techniques. One famous example is the statue of Queen Napir-Asu, which shows how talented they were and how much they understood about working with metal. This application lets you experience the process of making the bronze statue of Queen Napir-Asu in ancient Elam, step by step.

Source: Shafiee, S. Early Iran: The Definitive Visual History. Cyan Publishing, 2024. https://www.academia.edu/125313646/Early_Iran_the_Definitive_Visual_History.

Cook c. 1730 BCECook Elamite FoodThe one surviving recipe is “Elamite broth” (mê elamūtim). It comes from a Babylonian clay tablet, not an Elamite one. No recipes written by the Elamites themselves have been found. It’s on tablet YBC 4644, the best-preserved of the Yale culinary tablets, which date to around 1730 BC. The dish shows that Babylonians sometimes ate foreign food, and this one was named for Elam, in what is now Iran.

Source: Barjamovic, Gojko, Patricia Jurado Gonzalez, Chelsea A. Graham, Agnete W. Lassen, Nawal Nasrallah, and Pia M. Sörensen. “Food in Ancient Mesopotamia: Cooking the Yale Babylonian Culinary Recipes.” In Ancient Mesopotamia Speaks: Highlights of the Yale Babylonian Collection, edited by A. Lassen, E. Frahm, and K. Wagensonner, 108–125. New Haven: Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, 2019. https://www.academia.edu/40639453.

Play 800 BCE–700 BCESusa GameDifferent types of games have been discovered in Elam, but this board game closely resembles games that are still played in both western and eastern Iran, known as Koush Char and Qaleh-Qows. As the original rules have been lost to history, this game has been reconstructed based purely on ludological principles and simplified for ease of play. The pieces and dice are modern additions and are not original; only the board is based on the historical game.

Source: Schädler, Ulrich, and Anne-Elizabeth Dunn-Vaturi. “Board Games in Pre-Islamic Persia.” In Encyclopaedia Iranica Online. December 15, 2009. Last updated November 30, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1163/2330-4804_EIRO_COM_606.

Play 647–646 BCEEscape From ElamThe Elamites and Assyrians fought many wars against each other. In 647–646 BC, the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal invaded Elam and destroyed its capital, Susa. These attacks weakened Elam, and it never fully recovered its former power. As Elam falls and Ashurbanipal destroys its cities, the spirit of Elam is in danger. You play as a survivor who must escape the ruins, avoid enemies, and survive dangerous paths to save Elam’s thousand-year-old legacy and preserve its stories for future generations. Inspired by classic Pac-Man-style gameplay, your mission is to survive, escape the destruction, and carry Elam’s history into the future. Can you survive and save Elam’s legacy? Later, the Assyrian Empire itself fell in 612–609 BC after attacks by the Babylonians and Medes.

Source: Shafiee, S. Early Iran: The Definitive Visual History. Cyan Publishing, 2024. https://www.academia.edu/125313646/Early_Iran_the_Definitive_Visual_History.