½ ñSusa was a city continuously torn between the influence of Mesopotamian civilization and the mountain people of Elam.ñ
Founded 6000 years ago in a fertile plain in southern Iran, Susa stood on a frontier between two worlds. On one side was the Mesopotamian plain, where the world's earliest cities had developed. On the other side were the uplands of the Iranian plateau. Susa was the meeting point between these two geographical zones. It was enriched by the joint influences of the rich Sumerian civilization of the plain and the more archaic culture of the mountain dwellers.
From earliest times the people of Susa buried copper axes alongside their dead, and these have survived as proof that metalwork was already well developed. The Susan people were at that time attached to the culture of the Iranian plateau. Their seals and luxury tableware were decorated in an abstract fashion. Out of superstition, the human face was never represented.
Around 3500 BC, Susa became a town. Its civilization developed in a similar way to that of Uruk in Mesopotamia. The people of Susa adopted a new form of art, portraying realistic scenes in which humans were the main subject. The decoration on seals from this period illustrates farming activities such as storing crops, and crafts such as pottery. This period marked the beginning of long-distance trade, undertaken to fetch mineral ores from the Iranian plateau.
Around 3000 BC, Susa fell under the control of Elamite mountain dwellers. The Elamites had created an original form of writing, based on Sumerian cuneiform script and called proto-Elamite. It is yet to be deciphered. Their art found its inspiration in the animal world.
Susa came under Mesopotamian influence again from around 2350 to 2200 BC. Following this period, a small independent Elamite state regained power in Susa. The city flourished around the temple of the god In-shushinak, the "Lord of Susa". The Elamite renaissance saw the creation of a new Elamite script, different from the cuneiform script used for the language of Susa at the time, which was called Akkadian.
After another Mesopotamian period under the Ur dynasty between 2100 and 1900 BC, Susa became part of the Elamite community for many centuries. Its great god, Napirisha, sat enthroned on a monstrous snake, the symbol of water and of life beneath the ground, which was thought to be the dwelling-place of the supernatural forces at the source of mankind's artistic inspiration.ì @ ⌡
