The Elamite World: (Routledge Worlds)

Amongst the civilizations to participate in the dynamic processes of contact and interchange that gave rise to complex societies in the ancient Near East, Elam has remained one of the most obscure, at times languishing in the background of scholarly inquiry. In recent years, however, an increasing body of academic publications have acknowledged its relevance and suggested that its legacy was more considerable and long-lasting than previously estimated. The Elamite World assembles a group of 40 international scholars to contribute their expertise to the production of a solid, lavishly illustrated, English language treatment of Elamite civilization. It covers topics such as its physical setting, historical development, languages and people, material culture, art, science, religion and society, as well as the legacy of Elam in the Persian empire and its presence in the modern world. This comprehensive and ambitious survey seeks for Elam, hardly a household name, a noteworthy place in our shared cultural heritage. It will be both a valuable introductory text for a general audience and a definitive reference source for students and academics.

Table of Contents:
Introduction; Part I Imagining Elam: The History of Research and its Sources; 1. Ælam regio: Elam in Western Scholarship from the Renaissance to the Late 19th Century; 2. Elam and the Bible; 3. France and Elam; 4. Between Orientalism and Persomania: the Presentation of the Iranian Collections at the Louvre; 5. Elamite Forgeries and the Antiquities Market; Part II The Land and Peoples of Elam; 6. Physical Geography and Environment of Elam; 7. Metals and Mining; 8. The Peoples of Elam; 9. Elamites and Iranians; Part III Elam through History; 10. The Birth of Elam in History; 11. The Old Elamite Period; 12. Elam in the Middle Elamite Period; 13. The Last Centuries of Elam: The Neo-Elamite Period; Part IV Close Encounters on the Eastern and Western Fronts; 14. Great Domino Games: From Elam, Looking Eastwards; 15. Elam and Babylonia c. 1400-1100 BC; 16. Elam and Assyria; 17. Propaganda and Symbolism: Representations of the Elamites at the Time of Ashurbanipal; Part V Language and Writing in Elam; 18. Prehistoric Administrative Technologies and the Ancient Near Eastern Redistribution Economy: The Case of Greater Susiana; 19. The Proto-Elamite Writing System; 20. Linear Elamite Writing; 21. The Elamite Language; 22. Writing in Elam; 23. Elamite Royal Inscriptions; 24. Elamite Administration; Part VI The Material Culture of Elam; 25. Elamite Architecture; 26. Elamite Ceramics; 27. The Metal Arts of Elam; 28. The Industry of Vitreous Materials in Elam; 29. Origins of Monumental Sculpture in Elam: Two Case Studies; 30. The Sculptural Arts of Elam; 31. Glyptic in the 4th-2nd Millennium; 32. Glyptic in the 1st Millennium; 33. Elamite Dress and Textiles; Part VII Elamite Society; 34. Cuneiform Culture and Science, Calendars, and Metrology in Elam; 35. Elamite Religion and Ritual; 36. Elamite Funerary Practices; 37. Women of Elam; 38. Music; Part VIII The Legacy of Elam; 39. Elamite Administrative and Religious Heritage in the Persian Heartland; 40. The Elamite Artistic Heritage of Persia; 41. Elam in Achaemenid Studies

About the Author :
Javier Álvarez-Mon, a native of Spain, holds degrees in ancient Near Eastern art and archaeology from the École du Louvre (Paris) and the University of California at Berkeley, respectively. A 2003 Fullbright-Hays Fellow, he is presently Associate Professor in Near Eastern Archaeology and Art at Macquarie University (Australia) and 2014–18 Future Fellow (Australian Research Council). His primary research interests are the ancient Iranian civilizations of Elam and early Achaemenid Persia. He has two forthcoming books, Monumental Reliefs of the Elamite Highlands and The Art and Culture of Elam. Gian Pietro Basello (PhD in the Ancient Near East 2005) is Tenured Lecturer (2018–) at "L’Orientale" University of Naples, Italy, where he has been teachin Elamite language since 2010. He has worked since 2003 on the Iranian–Italian joint Project DARIOSH (Digital Achaemenid Royal Inscription Open Schema Hypertext). His researches are also devoted to ancient calendars and systems for recording time. His website is www.elamit.net. Yasmina Wicks completed her PhD entitled "'Alas, Short is the Joy of Life!': Elamite Funerary Practice in the First Half of the First Millennium BCE" at the University of Sydney, Australia, where she remains a research affiliate. She has authored a monograph, Bronze ‘Bathtub’ Coffins in the Context of 8th-6th Century BC Babylonian, Assyrian and Elamite Funerary Practices (2015), and several articles on the material culture of first millennium Elam.

Review :
"This much-needed book provides a comprehensive and up-to-date survey of scholarship on one of the more enigmatic cultures of the ancient world, which dominated western Iran from the late fourth millennium BC to the mid-first: Elam. It is a necessary research tool for anyone with an interest in the history, philology, and archaeology of the ancient Near East and beyond." Marc Van De Mieroop, Columbia University, USA