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Near Eastern Art :
Elamite Art : Elamite Silver Head of an Ape
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Elamite Silver Head of an Ape - cb.2968
Origin: Central Asia
Circa: 1100
BC
to 600
BC
Collection: Near Eastern
Style: Elamite
£6,000.00
Location: Great Britain
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| Description |
Neo-Elamite Period 1100 - 539 BC[edit]
The Neo-Elamite period is further subdivided into
Neo-Elamite I(1100-770BC),Neo-Elamite II(770-
646BC) and Neo-Elamite III periods (646-539BC)
Very little is known about the Neo-Elamite I period.
During this period, there seems to have been
constant wars between the Elamites and Babylonians
on one side and the Assyrians on the other.
The Neo-Elamite II period witnessed the migration of
the present-day Iranians into the Iranian plateau. The
first historical references to the Medes (Mada) date
to 835BC when they are mentioned in an inscription
of ShalmanesserII, King of Assyria, who relates that
after having subjugated the Zimri who held the
Zagros Mountains he lead an expedition to Media and
defeated the Medes. The Assyrian chronicles also
mention the Parsu or the Persians living on the south-
eastern shore of Lake Urmia in the year 844BC.
Susa-destruction.jpg
In the late 8th century BC, the Elamites allied with the
Babylonian king Merodach-baladan against the
Assyrians but were defeated by Shutruk-Nakhkhunte
II (716-699BC) in 710BC. In 700BC, the Assyrian ruler
Sennacherib dethroned Merodach-baladan and
installed his own son on the Babylonian throne.
Another battle was fought between the Babylonians
and the Assyrians at Halule in 691BC which ended
without either side achieving victory.
There was continuous warfare betweent the Elamites
and the Assyrians during the reigns of Elamite
monarchs Khumma-Kaldash I and Khumma-Kaldash
II. Urtaku (674-664BC) maintained friendly relations
with the Assyrians but during the end of his reign, the
Elamites launched an invasion of Mespotamia and the
Assyrian ruler Ashurbanipal responded by counter-
attacking Elam and killing Urtaku's successor in
653BC. In this same year the Mede state to the north
fell to the Scythians, immediately displacing the
Parsu tribe to Anshan, which their king Teispes
captured that same year. Civil war broke out in Elam
and the government was rendered unstable.
Perceiving his chance, Assurbanipal launched a
massive invasion of Elam in 646BC and destroyed
Susa altogether.In a tablet unearthed in 1854 by
Henry Austin Layard, Ashurbanipal boasts of the
destruction he had wrought:
"Susa, the great holy city, abode of their Gods, seat
of their mysteries, I conquered. I entered its palaces, I
opened their treasuries where silver and gold, goods
and wealth were amassed...I destroyed the ziggurat
of Susa. I smashed its shining copper horns. I
reduced the temples of Elam to naught; their gods
and goddesses I scattered to the winds. The tombs
of their ancient and recent kings I devastated, I
exposed to the sun, and I carried away their bones
toward the land of Ashur. I devastated the provinces
of Elam and on their lands I sowed salt."
However, the destruction wrought wasnt so great as
Assurbanipal claims in this inscription of his. The
Elamites revived and ruled Susa till its conquest by
Cyrus the Great in 539BC. This last period, when
Elam was ruled by a set of weak kings is known as
the Neo-Elamite III period.
- (cb.2968)
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