The Middle Elamite Archive of Anšan

Abstract

Tal-e Malyan as known as ancient Anšan, is located in the Beyza plain of Fars Province. Anšan was a centre of Elamite highland in the eastern of the Susiana plain and a significant cultural center of Elamite. William Sumner’s excavations from 1971 -1978 uncovered an administrative archive written in Middle Elamite language. The archive belongs to the Šutrukid dynasty (1210- 1100 B.C), the last dynasty of Middle Elamite period. The importance of the Anshan’s archive compared to the earlier Elamite archive is that the clay tablets are written in middle Elamite cuneiform, a tradition that was begun gradually from the first middle Elamite dynasty, the Kidinu period (1550- 1400 B.C) in Haft- Tepe archive. The Anšan archive reveals details about construction of a temple and delivering commodities to administration in the city of Anšan by Huteluduš-Inšušinak (1120-1110 B.C), the last Šutrukid king. Text contents are about movement of commodities inside and outside of the Anšan administration office. These commodities mainly included metals such as gold, silver and bronze, which were delivered as raw material to the administration to make statues and objects for temples. The individuals who were participating in administrative procedures included officials, clerks, skilled artisans and labourers. These individuals on their roles in archive and the type of received commodities are classified. The aim of this paper is to analyse the Anšan archive texts in order to present a comprehensive overview of its contents and its administrative framework. Through the examination of this archive, try to gain a deeper understanding of administrative procedures in the Elamite bureaucracy.