Elamite 3 - The Grand Regents of Elam

Elam did not occupy Sumer after conquering Ur and imprisoning King Ibbi-Sin. Instead, the Kings of Shimashki consolidated power in Elamite territory and carried on relationships with the independent cities of Mesopotamia. This began to change when King Ebarti II appointed his son, Shilhahah, to a new high office in command of Susa: The Sukkalmah. Shilhaha’s descendents went on to take over Elam completely. They moved their capital to Anshan, created a new system of local governors, and took Elam to new heights. With control over trade to Bactria, India, and the Persian Gulf, the Sukkalmahs rose to new heights. They formed alliances with the powers of Mesopotamia and Syria to expand their territory, and stabbed those allies in the back to expand even further. They were regarded far and wide as the most powerful kings west of Egypt, right up to the point that King Siwe-Palar-Huppak made an enemy out of Hammurabi. This is a guest episode of the Oldest Stories hiatus, brought to you by the fantastic Trevor Culley of the History of Persia podcast, over at https://historyofpersiapodcast.com/ . Trevor's show is in a lot of ways the sequel to the Oldest Stories, picking up with the tale of the Persian empire right around the fall of the Neo-Babylonian one in 539BCE. Over in his own feed, he has done a fantastic job of bringing the history of that empire to life, both in the narratives of kings and conquests and in the leisurely walks through the internal shape, cultures, and lifestyles of the Persian Empire. I am a fan of this show, and I think you will be, too.