Place:Susa, Khuzestan, Iran

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NameSusa
Alt namesEran Khurra Shapursource: Times Atlas of World History (1993) p 342
Seleukia of Eulaiossource: Grove Dictionary of Art online (1999-2002) accessed 7 October 2003
Shushsource: Wikipedia
Shushansource: Canby, Historic Places (1984) II, 899; Encyclopædia Britannica (1988) XI, 416
Shūshsource: Getty Vocabulary Program
Sussource: ARLIS/NA: Ancient Site Names (1995)
Susianesource: Encyclopædia Britannica (1988) XI, 416
TypeCity
Coordinates32.2°N 48.25°E
Located inKhuzestan, Iran
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Susa (; Cuneiform: šušinki; Šuš ; Šūšān; ; Šuš; Middle Persian: 𐭮𐭥𐭱𐭩 Sūš, 𐭱𐭥𐭮 Šūs; Old Persian: 𐏂𐎢𐏁𐎠 Çūšā) was an ancient city in the lower Zagros Mountains about east of the Tigris, between the Karkheh and Dez Rivers in Iran. One of the most important cities of the Ancient Near East, Susa served as the capital of Elam and the Achaemenid Empire, and remained a strategic centre during the Parthian and Sasanian periods.

The site currently consists of three archaeological mounds, covering an area of around one square kilometre. The modern Iranian town of Shush is located on the site of ancient Susa. Shush is identified as Shushan, mentioned in the Book of Esther and other Biblical books.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

The site was examined in 1836 by Henry Rawlinson and then by A. H. Layard.

In 1851, some modest excavation was done by William Loftus, who identified it as Susa.

In 1885 and 1886 Marcel-Auguste Dieulafoy and Jane Dieulafoy began the first French excavations, discovering glazed bricks, column bases, and capitals from the palace of the Achaemenid kings. However, they failed to identify mudbrick walls, which were then destroyed in the course of excavation. Almost all of the excavations at Susa, post-1885, were organized and authorized by the French government.

In two treaties in 1894 and 1899, the French gained a monopoly on all archaeological excavations in Iran indefinitely.[1] Jacques de Morgan conducted major excavations from 1897 until 1911. The excavations that were conducted in Susa brought many artistic and historical artifacts back to France. These artifacts filled multiple halls in the Museum of the Louvre throughout the late 1890s and early 1900s. De Morgan's most important work was the excavation of the Grande Tranchée in the Acropole mound, where he found the stele of Naram-Sin, a collection of Babylonian kudurrus (boundary stones), the stele bearing the Code of Hammurabi, an ornamented bronze table of snakes, the bronze statue of Queen Napir-Asu, and thousands of inscribed bricks. His finds showed Susa to be the most important center of Elamite civilization, which was effectively discovered by the French mission at Susa.[1]

Excavation efforts continued under Roland De Mecquenem until 1914, at the beginning of World War I. French work at Susa resumed after the war, led by De Mecquenem, continuing until World War II in 1940. To supplement the original publications of De Mecquenem the archives of his excavation have now been put online thanks to a grant from the Shelby White Levy Program.

Roman Ghirshman took over direction of the French efforts in 1946, after the end of the war. Together with his wife Tania Ghirshman, he continued there until 1967. The Ghirshmans concentrated on excavating a single part of the site, the hectare sized Ville Royale, taking it all the way down to bare earth. The pottery found at the various levels enabled a stratigraphy to be developed for Susa.

During the 1970s, excavations resumed under Jean Perrot.

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