Socio-Political Complexity Process in Elamite World

Subject Areas : Prehistoric Archaeology

Abbas  Alizadeh ¹ (Director of the Iranian Prehistoric Project at the University of Chicago, USA.)

Received: 2023-07-09 Accepted : 2023-07-09 Published : 2012-08-22

Keywords: Elam, Proto Elamite, Socio-Political Complexity, Early State, Federal State,

Abstract :

In the numerous books and articles written on the Elamites, scholars rarely, if ever, have advanced any hypothesis on the formation of the early Elamite state organizations and how these organizations and the archaeological and historical landscapes of Elam, both in the highlands and lowlands, have differed from the contemporary political landscape of their Mesopotamian neighbors. Similarity, scholars simply ignore the tremendous difference between the natural landscape of Elam and southern Mesopotamia. This article focuses on these differences and traces them from the prehistoric era to the time when the long-lasting Elamite state was eclipsed in the first millennium BC. In doing so, the author pays close attention to the broad patterns revealed in the numerous archaeological surveys in southwestern Iran.