Twenty-five miles (40 km) south-east of Susa lie the ruins of Al-Untash-Napirisha (now known as Choga Zanbil), a city founded by the Elamite king Untash-Napirisha (1260-1235 BC) who also made it his capital city.
The building of the city ceased after Untash-Napirisha's death, and later Elamite kings soon returned to rule from Susa. The city nevertheless remained an important religious centre of the Elamites until it was finally destroyed by the Assyrians around 640 BC.
The city walls enclosed an area of about 100 hectares, much of it free of buildings. In its centre was the walled rectangular religious quarter, containing many temples.
The main religious structure, enclosed within an inner circular wall, was the towering ziggurat dedicated to the Elamite gods Napirisha and Inshushinak.
The eastern part of the city was devoted to royal buildings, not only palaces housing the king and the royal court but also a 'funeral palace': cremated bodies in its five underground vaulted chambers may be the remains of Elamite kings.
