Notes: The coastline shown on the map I drew is the ancient coast line. So on modern maps the archaeological site of Susa will be shown looking further from the modern coast line compared to this map above. if you look at the light blue areas at the top of the gulf that corresponds to the modern coastline. One of the most interesting things I find about the Elam is their unusual matrilineal royal succession. It might have been beneficial having an heir who could be raised with the full attention of both parents and not a monarch too busy running the country. It interesting to theorize on the potential benefits of this system.
Using the ancient coastline is a sign of quality, of love of details (and details do matter a lot). IMO if the royals were matrilineal, all society was, there's no reason to have been different. A lot of Neolithic populations through the World are or have been matrilineal, for example the Iroquois, or many African nations as well.
Fun facts related to elamites: 1:The name of their city , Susa was Persianized as Huz in Old Persian, through common sound changes this word became Khuz and to this day the province in south western Iran that was previously inhabited be Elamites is still called Khuzestan and it is inhabited by mostly Lurs and a considerable Arab minority which again raises the question if Lurs are related to Elamites. 2: The Elamite language might have survived well until the 8th century, as a Muslim geographer (don't remember his name) mentions a language which he calls Khuzi spoken in south western modern Iran's province of Khuzestan. 3: The city of Susa still exists, known as Shush in Iran and has a population of 77000 people(according to wikipedia) 4: There is a province called Ilam(i.e. elam) in Iran although not located in the exact location of their civilization but still gets its name from them.
I think the Muslim scholar was talking about the Sumerian language , I think you are talking about Al-Jahiz who is a famous Muslim historian and scientist in Basra city on southern Iraq , I red an article from one of his books and he did said that an unknown language still spoken in the region that is not Aramaic nor Persian .
7afeed Al Sunnah In Khuzestan province only 30% speak Arabic of which 15% are ethnic Arab. The rest are Lurs, Qashqai, Afshar, indigenous Persians, Iranian Armenians, and half of Khuzestan’s population is Bakhtiari.
@@resistance-is-growing7632 I looked it up, & your not wrong, however I call it the middle East because it's literally in the middle of Africa & west Asia.
No, they suffered tremendously like any other civilization during this time. Just because they weren’t completely annihilated like the hittites and so had a comparative “advantage” didn’t mean that it wasn’t a time of huge decline for Ashur, Susa, and Anshan.
im an iranian lor i have many many informations about elamites and history of iran with strong evidences u can give me your mobile phone number to chat in whatsapp or your instagram id i love to share my info with foreigners
The Elamite inheritance model of your oldest sister's eldest son being your heir, was practised until less than hundred years ago in Southern India, especially kerala. This system is known as "Marumakkathayam" (Marumakan means Nephew/Son-in-law as first cousin marriages were always encouraged in those times and thus was used interchangeably) In tamil language, the word Elam means something that can be translated as an Ethnic Nation.
It is also in vouge as "Aliya Santhana" in coastal Karnataka. Aliya = Nephew, Son-in-law, Santhana = progeny, generation. All over South India, Maharastra, Gujrat the relation ship between maternal uncle and the nephew is very special, they have a important place in their lives and all the life rituals.
@@thenoobprincev2529 Absolutely, at the same time. There are cognates which are common to Dravidian languages and Semitic languages since ancient times.
I’m from Kerala, A Dravidian state in India and historically the Kings of our land also had a maternal succession just like the Elamites. There is much history out there to still be discovered and discussed!
@@Brahmdagh You can check about the last rulers of Kerala, The Kingdom of Travancore and many previous Kingdoms like the Cheras.....The King's eldest sister's son would be the heir traditionally.
@@vanisridhar5509 No, the Elamites are not the ancestors of the Dravidians. They have no historical connection with the Dravidians, just that the language they spoke is similar to the Dravidians. Stop falsifying history. It is more likely that the Elamites were closer to the Iranian peoples.
The testimonies about the history of the Dravidians are half-baked. They often have a bad habit of trying to link the history of the Dravidians to ancient civilizations. The historical basis for the idea that the Aryans and the Dravidians are the same ethnic group is too weak.😅
I believe Persian culture was heavily influenced by the elamites. The elamites probably mixed with the other Iranians and Persians as well and got assimilated fully.
John smith Persian culture got heavily influenced by the Mesopotamian one , Elamites were already eliminated and their civilization vanished by the Assyrians before Persian tribes cane to the region .
Elamits were among the most influencial Iranians who contributed to the establishment and management of the Persian empire . They basically chose an Iranian/ Persian Id.
My take is that Neolithic West Asia was a complex linguistic landscape, with many language families (isolates or near isolates or related to each other in ways too obscure for us to discern) and that some of them expanded outwards: one was the proto-Vasconic, which was surely spoken in Neolithic Anatolia and spread to Europe, another was Elamo-Dravidian (it must be a thing), which expanded to India around the same time, maybe even a precursor of proto-Indoeuropean expanded northwards to the Russian steppe, etc. (more families are involved, certainly the three Caucasian ones, plus Sumerian, plus Semitic plus, proto-Pelsago-Tyrsenian, plus maybe even Nubian and who-knows-what). So that's why we find so many isolates in that region and not so much in Europe or India, where only some of those branches expanded to.
@@zigzag5198 - It is for sure the craddle of Neolithic for all Western Eurasia, India, North and East Africa. However East Asia, Papua and the Americas had their own independent Neolithic developments. The advent of genetics and especially archaeogenetics made us realize that whole populations migrated in all directions, that it wasn't for the greatest part just people learning from their more advanced neighbors as not so long ago was believed.
@@LuisAldamiz Elam is a pure Tamil word and really supprised to here the same spelling and pronouncian. Tamil is South Indian, one of Dravidian language and the oldest clasical, living language in the world. Tamil researchers believe Mesopotamians, Sumerians should have connection to Tamils.
@@vijayrajasekaram8113 - Tamil is only one of many Dravidian languages, including critically Brahui, which is a fossil from the very first Indian (or South Asian) Neolithic and the Indus Valley Civilization. A single word is useless to show association or not, serious linguists use much longer standardized lists or other even more complicated and difficult methods to discern relationship between languages. But indeed Elamo-Dravidian has been argued for a very long time already and seems very plausible not just from the linguistic but also archaeological and genetic viewpoints. As for the Sumerians they were a different nation with a different language, my personal take is that Sumerian is rather related to NE Caucasian (Chechen and such) via Hurrian but I'm not certain at all, it just seems closer than to others on primary evaluation. Sumerian surely had influence on IVC Dravidian and vice versa but horizontally, via contact and well documented trade. I understand that the word "uru" (city) made it to Dravidian, much as the related word "ili" (and variants: "iri", "uri", "uli", probably from Palestine or the Aegean) made it to the West (Basque hiri, ancient Iberian ili, anicent Aquitanian eli, Tartessian uba, Latin urbs, etc.) This is a very clear case of wanderwort (migrant word, like could be modernly "telephone" or "Internet" or "video" or "nuclear missile"). So beware of too filmsy single-word connections!
The people of Elamites, Jiroft and Medes are not ancestors of modern Iranian people.they did not come with the indo-europeans migration 2900 years ago.
@@hannibalbarca2928 obviously with any population conquering and taken over s region they marry the women, so Iranian people are somewhat connected perhaps matrilineal.
Greetings! My family is from there and I have dim memories of time spent in the region. That was 35 years ago and have not had an opportunity to go back since.
Damn, the Elamites were neither the heart of Mesopotamia (Sumer/Akkad/Babylon), nor fierce conquerors (Assyria), nor one of the most enduring and recognisable cultures on Earth (Egypt), yet they are as important and interesting as any of these three
Dude... As usual your videos are among the few reasons we have to access UA-cam. What impress me the most is the accuracy of your text. You show such a respect for biblical narratives that are absolutely uncommon nowadays. As a rabbi, I recommend your channel to whoever asks me about History and I do not know the answer. Keep up the excellent job and may God grant you unmeasurable wisdom for the next 120 years ! As soon as I can, I will donate you on Patreon ! To you, it is worth the donation !
I have been hoping you would do a video on the Elamites for a long time now, and I'm so happy you finally did! This culture is so hard to find real information on. Most of what's available is meant for scholars or just conspiracy theories. Great video and very informative!
@@islamislam-zw3il that is not true . Iran is still a great nation and we have many sources of guidance including our national book the Shahname and also the words of the Prophet (peace be upon him). In Iran Islam is not against our national interest unless we Make it . Zoroastrianism was far more complicated than Islam and although that is my heritage as well but I think Iranians have made Islam great too
@@islamislam-zw3il Although I am a Christian, Christianity has been around for much longer and people (i.e. Catholics, Protestants etc.) have perpetrated more evil upon the world under the guise of "Christendom" than any other religion. The yoke of colonialism, spearheaded by and in the name of "converting" indigenous peoples have turned many cultures and countries into absolute "shit-holes". Whenever and wherever these "conquistadors", "Puritans", "colonials" etc., were, they have left a legacy from that colonialism that is hard to overcome. The Latin-Americas for example and also the Europeans that are STILL occupying Canada and the "U.S.", they STILL have not gone back to wherever they came from. Talking about "Caliphates of doom" .......
I love it that you're doing videos on topics like this. There is so much scope to cover topics like this in ancient history that I am glad you are doing it!
In the Dravidian language Tamil, the homeland is known as Eelam. The presence of DNA of the people of the Zagros mountain area in the population of the people of India is well established. The proto Elamite script and the IVC script are both undeciphered. They may be connected
@@dysprosiumdead5078 No, dravidian tamil "vellalar" community has more J2 haplogroup in india. North Indians mixed with Greeks, Mongolians and Mughals so they have more R1a1 and they don't have j2.
How interesting, I had never once heard of the Elamites or anything of Middle Eastern history but I am loving it. It's so nice to have a Historytuber that doesn't just repeat the same European history. Keep up the good job sir.
Thank you Epimetheus! i had requested in one of the earlier videos that you do something on the elamites as there was nothing on them and they were largely ignored! great video!
Hey man enjoying the video have to say I'm digging the real-life picture of the Zagros Mountains in the scene at 1:02 think it helps give perspective great work again brotha, thank you
I was just thinking that if you are passionate about the Fertile Crescent, you can't really overlook the states bordering the MVP, Mesopotamia, like Elam or the Hittite Empire. And if you love Mesopotamia, you will love these too, for sure. For the few fellow passionate about this kind of history I send greetings :) Thanks for the video, Epimetheus!
YEEEESSS!!! At last :) very very nice video. Elamites were a black hole, participating in all past videos and now are shown as well. Indeed, the succession is different, but tricky, what if the nephew dies? But agree that being raised by both parents have an advantage in administration and character. Now I'm interested in their language too. Esdras book include them giving a panorama about the powers if the era. Very very nice video, thanks! :)
Interesting that you mentioned the connection between Dravidian languages and Elamites. Until a few decades ago, people from Kerala in South India also followed the same matrilenial system of succession. Would like to know your opinion.
@@surendarav8406 so you would like to pick and choose, so as to suit a specific narrative? That is not how science works. Inferences should be derived from facts. Besides, this whole annoying trend of who came first, who came second is ridiculous. We all came from Africa.
I don't care a damn of your opinion on my observations. What I posted is fairly well known among the informed circles. If you want to throw your mouth , keep throwing. I don't have time to engage in this wasteful hubris of yours. To hide your poor knowledge you are trying to attribute motives. Typical hypocrisy.. Longlive and Effff off. RIP. ( I will not engage you further )
Is there anymore information about that trio of Elamite goddesses mentioned? I wouldn't be surprised if all that was left for us is only their imagery but even a scrap of written record about them would be fun to look over. And thank you for all the detail you put into this vid. I think Elam might be my new favorite bronze age kingdom.
Wonderful short history of Elam, I am happy to learn that the Elamite kingdom was matriarchal and the oldest princess son succeeded the king, the three main God in Elam were female and women was depicted like men in Elam art. The Assyrian king Asshurbanipal was very cruel for destroying Susa, digging up their old kings and dumped salt in Elam fields. I am also happy to learn that the Persian learned government administration from the Elamites.
The same system was followed in parts of South India and Jaffna region until recent times! Inheritance was given to sister’s son not own’s son! Even Kingdom of Travancore followed similar system until 1949
Yes.. Thankyou so much for showing ancient IRANIAN and Elamite history..... As a Zoroastrian. The Pre- muslim era of the near east is very interesting to me. Learing about our cultural and ethnic history and seeing what of our old culture survived to this day... Such as Nowrouz. Persian new year.... It is very rare to see such a accurate and artistic portrayal of this Era in history...... Thankyou very much Sir..... And please make more vidoes like this!!!!
That's an interesting bit, TY. I can find that Ilam province was part of Elam at some point but I cannot find any info on the founding of the city of Ilam, do you know?
@@LuisAldamiz I could ask around but I guess it has risen in prominence during like a 10th century when Lurs (Lors) became an organised polity and were causing trouble to Iranian dynasties, prominently to Safavids. Lorestan was then separated into two provinces, Lorestan itself with the capital in Khorramabad and Pusht-e Kuh with the capital in Ilam. If you ever happen to travel there you should have a look at the vali's (governor's) palace, it's small but pretty. Sorry for not being very helpful
In the 2002 American movie "The Emperor's Club" based on a short story by Ethan Canin, an enthusiastic classics professor has an Elamite inscription on a plaque above the entrance of his room.This was originally the victory plaque of Naram Sin which the Elamite king Shutruk Nakhunte captured (the plaque and not the king) and wrote his own inscription on it in Elamite.
My father's side comes from the village of dastgerd, the village holds the fire temple of Isfahan beside it; apparently dastgerd is from the elamite period.
The Elamites fascinate me because we hear so little about them in sources that teach us the history of this region when we were younger, and it's like this little secret mystery that you have to actually delve into in-depth to understand who the heck they even were... and then you realize how important they were to the history of the area and wonder why you didn't hear more about them before.
Yes, that would be nice, but some historians didnt include the fact that it was a retaliation against srivijaya empire which have several territory on southern india
Thanks, as always a great video and enlightening about the often forgotten Elamite Civilization. Great you pointed out the little-known degree to which the Elamites contributed to the Achaemenid Empire. In fact, Cyrus the Great always referred to himself foremost as "King of Anshan" in original texts and never "King of the Persians". There's even a theory that Cyrus was actually an ethnic Elamite and that after his death the Persian Darius invented the story of his relationship to Cyrus via the semi- mythical Achaemenes when he seized the throne in a coup, order to justify his otherwise weak claim. The only direct evidence that Cyrus was Persian came from Herodotus who lived 100 years later and relied on second hand sources. Also the name Cyrus (Koroush) does not have Indo-Iranian origin. Even if this theory isn't true at the least Cyrus was probably an Elamised Persian who saw himself as carrying on the Elam tradition. This sort of thing is why history is so interesting and how accepted wisdom isn't always true: something especially great about your channel!
Koroush is a bastardized name which comes from Kuru tribe which lived in India way before Cyrus. Sanskrit and Avesta were cognates but after some of the tribes were banished from India several names and vocabulary changed after they met with different set of people in Iran. You can look for the Dasarajna or the battle of 10 kings which took place in ancient India for the fertile land of India. Bharatas tribe eventually won and the druhyus, dasas, Anu and Parsu were banished to arid land of Persia
@@babakbe1514 I don't do assumptions and guesses my dear friend. I am an Indologist and I know quite a lot about the history of Iran as well. The history of Iran you read starts from Elamites and then there is a long gap in the timeline and the empire of Darius appears some thousand years later.
@@karenbartlett1307 All the names you read on Iranian kings and kingdoms are hellenized and not their actual names. The real name of Cyrus was koroush and his kingdom was Hakshamanish not Achaemenid. Real name of Darius and Xerxes was Darayavash and khshayarsha respectively. All these names are distinctly sanskrit and not the modern Iranian names. Parsua and pakthas mentioned in dasarajna wars are Persians and pashtuns of Afghanistan respectively. They were at one point vedic clans but were banished from ancient India after they left the vedic lifestyle. This is pretty evident if you see the rituals of modern day zorastrians and the worship of fire and sun.
I like the theory that they were related to Dravidians. It would make geographical sense, if we assume that Baluchistan was occupied by Dravidians in ancient times as well; only a relatively small gap between them and Elam, which may have at one point been occupied by people who spoke some kind of intermediate language between Elamite and Proto-Dravidian. People from the Indus region also had some ancestry from Iranian Farmers; it's theoretically possible that said farmers could have introduced the ancestor of the Dravidian languages to India. The early Elamite script also looks similar to the Indus Valley script, which makes me wonder if the two could stem from a common proto-script. Of course, that's all just speculation on my part.
My ancestors where from Elam , then came to subcontinent and created one of the world's largest indusvalley civilization then came to South India and created dravidians civilization , wow
I sure appreciate the work you put into summarizing the peoples of the ancient eras. Our history books is school do not cover any of this. Thanks so much
I am Ethnic Tamil, one of the ancient Dravidian peoples. Our language, culture and kinship has close resemblance with the Elamites. Maybe Elamites were our distant cousins ? Only time will tell.
Genetic studies have now shown that Indus Valley civilisation was founded by the hill people of Iran (same stock as Elimites). And their descendants are South Indians.
Pretty cool video my guy. I like how this channel focuses mainly on Near East bronze age empires and cultures. Though I would like some more videos on African empires and cultures from before the Scramble as well.
The issue with the african empires is that a lot of the history was oral, which got kinda fucked by the scramble, the atlantic slave trade, the arabic slave trade and this oral story transforming into myth over time
The Elamites are super underrated, they are always in the shadow of the Babylonians, Sumerians, Akkadians, Assyrians, etc. I really wish we could decipher their words. Its also cool how the Irani people were once uncivilized nomads, but once they got in contact with the Elamites, they became one of the best and biggest empires ever seen. Kind of like the Aryans and Dravids.
@@knowledgedesk1653 aryans were ancestors of most Indian peoples and all Iranian peoples. Dravids were combination of Iranian farmers related to Elamites and the aboriginal peoples of india
Man you put out some good shit. As much as I love the military exploits I always wish we knew more about social conventions and beliefs. Keep doing what you're doing mate
Notes:
The coastline shown on the map I drew is the ancient coast line. So on modern maps the archaeological site of Susa will be shown looking further from the modern coast line compared to this map above. if you look at the light blue areas at the top of the gulf that corresponds to the modern coastline.
One of the most interesting things I find about the Elam is their unusual matrilineal royal succession. It might have been beneficial having an heir who could be raised with the full attention of both parents and not a monarch too busy running the country. It interesting to theorize on the potential benefits of this system.
Epimetheus Persian gulf my brother, not THE GULF. U’re an educated person cmon
Using the ancient coastline is a sign of quality, of love of details (and details do matter a lot).
IMO if the royals were matrilineal, all society was, there's no reason to have been different. A lot of Neolithic populations through the World are or have been matrilineal, for example the Iroquois, or many African nations as well.
Did you intend the map having the Kassites from the plateau instead of the Zagros? Is there archeology supporting this?
It was actually a common thing in states along the african sahel
Brother make a video about the Arameans, they are still alive, the todays Syriacs.
England and France: We have this long-lasting frenemy thing going on.
Iraq and Iran: What do you mean with long-lasting?
LMAO so true
China, Korea, Japan: Hold our wine.
@@ousamadearudesuwa not as old as Mesopotamia.
@@chadthunderstorm8148 you do not get the joke do you?
@@ousamadearudesuwa The joke is wrong, so...
Fun facts related to elamites:
1:The name of their city , Susa was Persianized as Huz in Old Persian, through common sound changes this word became Khuz and to this day the province in south western Iran that was previously inhabited be Elamites is still called Khuzestan and it is inhabited by mostly Lurs and a considerable Arab minority which again raises the question if Lurs are related to Elamites.
2: The Elamite language might have survived well until the 8th century, as a Muslim geographer (don't remember his name) mentions a language which he calls Khuzi spoken in south western modern Iran's province of Khuzestan.
3: The city of Susa still exists, known as Shush in Iran and has a population of 77000 people(according to wikipedia)
4: There is a province called Ilam(i.e. elam) in Iran although not located in the exact location of their civilization but still gets its name from them.
No matter what language was spoken in khuzistan, it would be called khuzi by outsiders.
Robustus True that, but still a possibility
West Khuzestan is almost completely Arab, most of Khuzestan was before the mountain dwelling Lors moved j to the region.
I think the Muslim scholar was talking about the Sumerian language , I think you are talking about Al-Jahiz who is a famous Muslim historian and scientist in Basra city on southern Iraq , I red an article from one of his books and he did said that an unknown language still spoken in the region that is not Aramaic nor Persian .
7afeed Al Sunnah In Khuzestan province only 30% speak Arabic of which 15% are ethnic Arab. The rest are Lurs, Qashqai, Afshar, indigenous Persians, Iranian Armenians, and half of Khuzestan’s population is Bakhtiari.
I love ancient middle eastern civilizations.
😉
*West Asian* is the correct name.
@@resistance-is-growing7632 I don't think so
@@omegaink5635 those countries you Westerns claim to be Middle Easterns are part of Asia, they are Asian countries. Google it and you will see.
@@resistance-is-growing7632 I looked it up, & your not wrong, however I call it the middle East because it's literally in the middle of Africa & west Asia.
Elam and Assyria were among the few states that (temporarily) benefitted from the chaos of the Bronze Age collapse.
Can you help me
Its a shame elam no longer exists.
@@iaw7406 The destruction of Elam as an independent state is closer to our time than to the founding of their state.
No, they suffered tremendously like any other civilization during this time. Just because they weren’t completely annihilated like the hittites and so had a comparative “advantage” didn’t mean that it wasn’t a time of huge decline for Ashur, Susa, and Anshan.
@@thenoblepoptart Ashwar deserves death, King Nebuchadnezzar and Medibin killed all the Assyrians
Wow, I'm reading an article (or rather a post) about Elamites, and this pops up. Awesome!
:D That's Awesome!
@@EpimetheusHistory It's great that you touched on their language. I find it quite fascinating.
im an iranian lor i have many many informations about elamites and history of iran with strong evidences u can give me your mobile phone number to chat in whatsapp or your instagram id i love to share my info with foreigners
@@EpimetheusHistory is Elam Persia?!
@@Toxicremixes will email do?
The Elamite inheritance model of your oldest sister's eldest son being your heir, was practised until less than hundred years ago in Southern India, especially kerala. This system is known as "Marumakkathayam" (Marumakan means Nephew/Son-in-law as first cousin marriages were always encouraged in those times and thus was used interchangeably) In tamil language, the word Elam means something that can be translated as an Ethnic Nation.
It is also in vouge as "Aliya Santhana" in coastal Karnataka. Aliya = Nephew, Son-in-law, Santhana = progeny, generation. All over South India, Maharastra, Gujrat the relation ship between maternal uncle and the nephew is very special, they have a important place in their lives and all the life rituals.
@@senaeco Aliya is a word in Malayalam too which means brother in law. Santhana is of Sanskrit origin which means progeny I believe
The name Elam was an Akkadian Exonym. The Elamites called their own land "Hatamti".
@@thenoobprincev2529 Absolutely, at the same time. There are cognates which are common to Dravidian languages and Semitic languages since ancient times.
As a north indian hindi speaker i think Dravidian languages are just too underrated 😬
You really are spoiling us with these frequent uploads.
I’m from Kerala, A Dravidian state in India and historically the Kings of our land also had a maternal succession just like the Elamites. There is much history out there to still be discovered and discussed!
How did that succession system work? When was it in practice?
@@Brahmdagh You can check about the last rulers of Kerala, The Kingdom of Travancore and many previous Kingdoms like the Cheras.....The King's eldest sister's son would be the heir traditionally.
@saewha Elamites are Dravidians ancestors. Creators of indus.
@@vanisridhar5509 No, the Elamites are not the ancestors of the Dravidians. They have no historical connection with the Dravidians, just that the language they spoke is similar to the Dravidians. Stop falsifying history. It is more likely that the Elamites were closer to the Iranian peoples.
The testimonies about the history of the Dravidians are half-baked. They often have a bad habit of trying to link the history of the Dravidians to ancient civilizations. The historical basis for the idea that the Aryans and the Dravidians are the same ethnic group is too weak.😅
I believe Persian culture was heavily influenced by the elamites. The elamites probably mixed with the other Iranians and Persians as well and got assimilated fully.
John smith Persian culture got heavily influenced by the Mesopotamian one , Elamites were already eliminated and their civilization vanished by the Assyrians before Persian tribes cane to the region .
Elamits were among the most influencial Iranians who contributed to the establishment and management of the Persian empire . They basically chose an Iranian/ Persian Id.
Baluchis are the most probable inheritors of the Elamites and there is town ilam in eastern Nepal too
Dravidian
That's what humans do, you learn, adapt amd improve
The Elamites were always fascinating to me, especially since they're a language isolate. That always makes a people more mysterious. Great as always!
My take is that Neolithic West Asia was a complex linguistic landscape, with many language families (isolates or near isolates or related to each other in ways too obscure for us to discern) and that some of them expanded outwards: one was the proto-Vasconic, which was surely spoken in Neolithic Anatolia and spread to Europe, another was Elamo-Dravidian (it must be a thing), which expanded to India around the same time, maybe even a precursor of proto-Indoeuropean expanded northwards to the Russian steppe, etc. (more families are involved, certainly the three Caucasian ones, plus Sumerian, plus Semitic plus, proto-Pelsago-Tyrsenian, plus maybe even Nubian and who-knows-what). So that's why we find so many isolates in that region and not so much in Europe or India, where only some of those branches expanded to.
Luis Aldamiz Interesting hypothesis. If it appears to be accurate, Middle-East/West Asia as a whole would indeed really be the cradle of civilization
@@zigzag5198 - It is for sure the craddle of Neolithic for all Western Eurasia, India, North and East Africa. However East Asia, Papua and the Americas had their own independent Neolithic developments. The advent of genetics and especially archaeogenetics made us realize that whole populations migrated in all directions, that it wasn't for the greatest part just people learning from their more advanced neighbors as not so long ago was believed.
@@LuisAldamiz Elam is a pure Tamil word and really supprised to here the same spelling and pronouncian. Tamil is South Indian, one of Dravidian language and the oldest clasical, living language in the world. Tamil researchers believe Mesopotamians, Sumerians should have connection to Tamils.
@@vijayrajasekaram8113 - Tamil is only one of many Dravidian languages, including critically Brahui, which is a fossil from the very first Indian (or South Asian) Neolithic and the Indus Valley Civilization.
A single word is useless to show association or not, serious linguists use much longer standardized lists or other even more complicated and difficult methods to discern relationship between languages. But indeed Elamo-Dravidian has been argued for a very long time already and seems very plausible not just from the linguistic but also archaeological and genetic viewpoints.
As for the Sumerians they were a different nation with a different language, my personal take is that Sumerian is rather related to NE Caucasian (Chechen and such) via Hurrian but I'm not certain at all, it just seems closer than to others on primary evaluation. Sumerian surely had influence on IVC Dravidian and vice versa but horizontally, via contact and well documented trade. I understand that the word "uru" (city) made it to Dravidian, much as the related word "ili" (and variants: "iri", "uri", "uli", probably from Palestine or the Aegean) made it to the West (Basque hiri, ancient Iberian ili, anicent Aquitanian eli, Tartessian uba, Latin urbs, etc.) This is a very clear case of wanderwort (migrant word, like could be modernly "telephone" or "Internet" or "video" or "nuclear missile"). So beware of too filmsy single-word connections!
I'm from Iran and i didn't know much about Elam! The city of pillars it's known in Iran
Iranian history is criminally underrated
Son of Mountain Don’t insult yourself
@@zigzag5198 yeah
The people of Elamites, Jiroft and Medes are not ancestors of modern Iranian people.they did not come with the indo-europeans migration 2900 years ago.
Fortunately the proto-elamite script has just been decyphered. I hope a large corpus of texts is found, and THAT will really change things!
@@hannibalbarca2928 obviously with any population conquering and taken over s region they marry the women, so Iranian people are somewhat connected perhaps matrilineal.
I live in Khuzestan ,the ancient homeland of Elamites🤗
Greetings! My family is from there and I have dim memories of time spent in the region. That was 35 years ago and have not had an opportunity to go back since.
This Elamite approves!
Are you from Ahwaz or Ābādān?
@@cyrusthegreat1893 ahwaz
@@johnsmith-rk5mn nice to meet you bro. I wish this province return to it's golden age
Wow I had no idea elamite used to be the official language in the first persian empire. You cover the best topics dude!
Exactly how I love history: concise, to the point, and illustrated.
Good stuff, much of this history is criminally under appreciated. I hadn't heard much of that before. Thanks so much for sharing. 👏🍻
Damn, the Elamites were neither the heart of Mesopotamia (Sumer/Akkad/Babylon), nor fierce conquerors (Assyria), nor one of the most enduring and recognisable cultures on Earth (Egypt), yet they are as important and interesting as any of these three
@@chheinrich8486 Clearly the dude doesn't understand that:
a) Persia = Elam
b) Elamites were conquering Mesopotamia just like everyone else
@@EasternRomeOrthodoxy yeah right,
@@EasternRomeOrthodoxyPersia has nothing to do with Elam Elam is khuzestans history
@@shutruk-nahunte3309 🤦Get education cl0wns...
Sumer is far more interesting
Dude... As usual your videos are among the few reasons we have to access UA-cam. What impress me the most is the accuracy of your text. You show such a respect for biblical narratives that are absolutely uncommon nowadays. As a rabbi, I recommend your channel to whoever asks me about History and I do not know the answer.
Keep up the excellent job and may God grant you unmeasurable wisdom for the next 120 years !
As soon as I can, I will donate you on Patreon ! To you, it is worth the donation !
Kudos on a nice summary, I especially like you used the old coastline - although probably the coastline changed during that long time as well.
The Great historian has returneth!
The high-king emissary of the achaemenid squarespace! :)
Lmao yeah, why did he repeat the same advert again?
Ey Doruk, is great to see ya here.
@@stegotyranno4206 Hello!
@@thedoruk6324 its super cool how we both have such similar interests
@@stegotyranno4206 Agreed glad to know the great channels have good people
susa(shush in farsi language) and elam or ilam are names of cities
in the same places in iran now
اون استان ایلام اصلا در محدوده ی عیلامی ها نیست ۹۰ درصدش و توسط رصا شاه ایجاد شد و بار سیاسی داره برای جدا کردن لرها از هم
@@dreamlandish میدونم
Susa is Persian name
@@xerxes8191 actually shusha is what Elamites called the city so it's not persian but I know what you mean
@@dreamlandish please read the inscriptions of Darius the great
I have been hoping you would do a video on the Elamites for a long time now, and I'm so happy you finally did! This culture is so hard to find real information on. Most of what's available is meant for scholars or just conspiracy theories. Great video and very informative!
Iranian history is very long and interesting. I love learning more about it
Elam is pre-Iranian ;-)
@@Julius1997. I am talking about the area that is now Iran
Persian empire covered Ethiopia to india amazing indeed
@@bayan6325 yup
Baya N
India?
When?😏😏😏
Thank you for showing an interest in the history of our precious country IRAN 😍
Iran *was * a great nation , homeland to many civilizations ..
Until prophet -of -doom 's caliphate showed up ...😂😂😂😂😂😂
@@islamislam-zw3il that is not true . Iran is still a great nation and we have many sources of guidance including our national book the Shahname and also the words of the Prophet (peace be upon him). In Iran Islam is not against our national interest unless we Make it . Zoroastrianism was far more complicated than Islam and although that is my heritage as well but I think Iranians have made Islam great too
@@islamislam-zw3il Although I am a Christian, Christianity has been around for much longer and people (i.e. Catholics, Protestants etc.) have perpetrated more evil upon the world under the guise of "Christendom" than any other religion. The yoke of colonialism, spearheaded by and in the name of "converting" indigenous peoples have turned many cultures and countries into absolute "shit-holes". Whenever and wherever these "conquistadors", "Puritans", "colonials" etc., were, they have left a legacy from that colonialism that is hard to overcome. The Latin-Americas for example and also the Europeans that are STILL occupying Canada and the "U.S.", they STILL have not gone back to wherever they came from. Talking about "Caliphates of doom" .......
@ehsan soleimani First: Sefevids were Turks, second Iran was ruled by Turks almost 1000years and flourished too.
@ehsan soleimani Dude! Wasn't the Samanid Empire predominantly a Turkic state?
You're one of the best history channels on UA-cam. Keep up the great work!
Great job with this uploads dude, your art is pretty great.
Thanks Marc!
@@EpimetheusHistory No problem! Keep it up and you'll be gaining subs like Boone's business and we'll be here all the way.
I love it that you're doing videos on topics like this. There is so much scope to cover topics like this in ancient history that I am glad you are doing it!
My family and ancestors thank you for this documentary. Elams are proud of our history!
A fellow Elam. 👋
In the Dravidian language Tamil, the homeland is known as Eelam. The presence of DNA of the people of the Zagros mountain area in the population of the people of India is well established. The proto Elamite script and the IVC script are both undeciphered. They may be connected
It is also my opinion.
Too much speculation.
The issue is the zagrossian dna is in rhe North India while the dravidian languages are in South india
@@dysprosiumdead5078 No, dravidian tamil "vellalar" community has more J2 haplogroup in india.
North Indians mixed with Greeks, Mongolians and Mughals so they have more R1a1 and they don't have j2.
@@owaisahmad7841 It's possible, because we are the one who has more J2 in south asia.
As a map nerd myself, I have to tell you that I love your maps @Epimetheus
I have always appreciated how this channel covers global history and topics that most historians ignore
How interesting, I had never once heard of the Elamites or anything of Middle Eastern history but I am loving it. It's so nice to have a Historytuber that doesn't just repeat the same European history. Keep up the good job sir.
Do not say Middle Eastern, say West Asian
You are one of the greatest history video makers on UA-cam. Keep it up bro
Thank you Epimetheus! i had requested in one of the earlier videos that you do something on the elamites as there was nothing on them and they were largely ignored! great video!
Amazing style! Love it! Great job! Keep ancient history alive! It is so interesting! And you present it very well in such short time!
Iw wish Iranian history was more known, it is so fascinating and there are so many new things to learn
What do you call learn?
Hey man enjoying the video have to say I'm digging the real-life picture of the Zagros Mountains in the scene at 1:02 think it helps give perspective great work again brotha, thank you
Just wanted to let you know, this is my "go to" channel when an unusual question pops into my never ending curiosity.
Thanks for your work.
I like the map graphics showing the movement of the cultures. It brings the changing of the times to life.
Mom can I have some UA-cam?
To watch video game playthroughs?
Yeeesss
(Actually watches Near East History vids like a boss)
Pro gamer move
That's Rammeses II on your profile pic right? Just curious.
This was utterly fantastic. I studied this area and this helped to fill in the gaps masterfully. Much appreciated!
I was just thinking that if you are passionate about the Fertile Crescent, you can't really overlook the states bordering the MVP, Mesopotamia, like Elam or the Hittite Empire. And if you love Mesopotamia, you will love these too, for sure. For the few fellow passionate about this kind of history I send greetings :) Thanks for the video, Epimetheus!
YEEEESSS!!! At last :) very very nice video. Elamites were a black hole, participating in all past videos and now are shown as well. Indeed, the succession is different, but tricky, what if the nephew dies? But agree that being raised by both parents have an advantage in administration and character. Now I'm interested in their language too. Esdras book include them giving a panorama about the powers if the era. Very very nice video, thanks! :)
can you do one on the baltic region please? (Curonians, livonians, lithuanians e.t.c.)
PRUSSIANS
What a brilliant video! Thanks for the hard work. I'm looking forward to more. Well done, please don't stop!
Interesting that you mentioned the connection between Dravidian languages and Elamites. Until a few decades ago, people from Kerala in South India also followed the same matrilenial system of succession. Would like to know your opinion.
Elamites DNA is similar to Dravidians, shares lost of R1a1 gene. Author does not mention it deliberately. It is now well known
@@surendarav8406 nanba, not everything is a conspiracy against tamils. R1a1 is spread all across India, central Asia and Europe. Please check.
@@srikanthxxxxx focus : where it is most intensive and longer back in time. It is in India. Now make your conclusion.
@@surendarav8406 so you would like to pick and choose, so as to suit a specific narrative? That is not how science works. Inferences should be derived from facts. Besides, this whole annoying trend of who came first, who came second is ridiculous. We all came from Africa.
I don't care a damn of your opinion on my observations. What I posted is fairly well known among the informed circles. If you want to throw your mouth , keep throwing. I don't have time to engage in this wasteful hubris of yours. To hide your poor knowledge you are trying to attribute motives. Typical hypocrisy.. Longlive and Effff off. RIP. ( I will not engage you further )
Is there anymore information about that trio of Elamite goddesses mentioned? I wouldn't be surprised if all that was left for us is only their imagery but even a scrap of written record about them would be fun to look over. And thank you for all the detail you put into this vid. I think Elam might be my new favorite bronze age kingdom.
Thank you for your effort of showing true iranian history!
Elamites are so underrated. I always ignored them when I learned about the time period but they seem pretty interesting.
They were very powerful in ancient times, but when the Aryan immigrant tribes appeared, they killed the indigenous people.
Can you please make a video on the history of the Nabataeans, who built Madain Saleh and Petra.
They say they are Arabs but they are not
@@walid3745 They are arabs
@@youngsavag666 they are not
@@walid3745 shut up
@Muslim terrisost They are ancestors of arabs, but not arab. They spoke neo-aramaic. In other words, arabs are assimilated
great quality as always!
Thanks! Was waiting for this video so much ;)
Wonderful short history of Elam, I am happy to learn that the Elamite kingdom was matriarchal and the oldest princess son succeeded the king, the three main God in Elam were female and women was depicted like men in Elam art. The Assyrian king Asshurbanipal was very cruel for destroying Susa, digging up their old kings and dumped salt in Elam fields. I am also happy to learn that the Persian learned government administration from the Elamites.
Because of this, the Assyrians killed these people
The same system was followed in parts of South India and Jaffna region until recent times! Inheritance was given to sister’s son not own’s son! Even Kingdom of Travancore followed similar system until 1949
Absolutly superb! A fascinating subject, and a fantastic vid, lovely animations, maps, and explanations on ancient writings...😍😍
Thank you! You filled in some blind spots for me!
Every time i get a notification from your channel, it makes my day
😍 I am glad it does :)
Yes.. Thankyou so much for showing ancient IRANIAN and Elamite history..... As a Zoroastrian. The Pre- muslim era of the near east is very interesting to me. Learing about our cultural and ethnic history and seeing what of our old culture survived to this day... Such as Nowrouz. Persian new year.... It is very rare to see such a accurate and artistic portrayal of this Era in history...... Thankyou very much Sir..... And please make more vidoes like this!!!!
KTG841 I hope to see an Iran freed from Islamic oppression
@@approachinggnosis4613 They were NOT iranian.Their language was isolated and their origin related to Dravidians and Ancient Semitics.Not Indo-Arians.
@@FatmaDemir-mq9ncgenetic studies proved otherwise in the recent decade
Until today there's a province and city of Ilam in Iran :) Although much further north-northwest from Susa (which is today's Shush)
That's an interesting bit, TY. I can find that Ilam province was part of Elam at some point but I cannot find any info on the founding of the city of Ilam, do you know?
@@LuisAldamiz search sush city in iran
@@goghnos8826 - I was asking for Ilam city as such, not Sush/Susa.
@@LuisAldamiz I could ask around but I guess it has risen in prominence during like a 10th century when Lurs (Lors) became an organised polity and were causing trouble to Iranian dynasties, prominently to Safavids. Lorestan was then separated into two provinces, Lorestan itself with the capital in Khorramabad and Pusht-e Kuh with the capital in Ilam. If you ever happen to travel there you should have a look at the vali's (governor's) palace, it's small but pretty.
Sorry for not being very helpful
@@RokoKaran Yeah, I know it :) I just said that Ilam city gained prominence with Lurs. Also, they may have mixed Elam-Iranian blood,
There are just so many facets of history that are underrepresented like this.
Very true
THANK YOU!
you are the only youtuber making videos on ancient civilizations
In the 2002 American movie "The Emperor's Club" based on a short story by Ethan Canin, an enthusiastic classics professor has an Elamite inscription on a plaque above the entrance of his room.This was originally the victory plaque of Naram Sin which the Elamite king Shutruk Nakhunte captured (the plaque and not the king) and wrote his own inscription on it in Elamite.
My father's side comes from the village of dastgerd, the village holds the fire temple of Isfahan beside it; apparently dastgerd is from the elamite period.
This video brings history to life in such a captivating way!
this was fascinating. I have always wanted to know more about this part of the world.
Excellent narration. Thank you very much
The Elamites fascinate me because we hear so little about them in sources that teach us the history of this region when we were younger, and it's like this little secret mystery that you have to actually delve into in-depth to understand who the heck they even were... and then you realize how important they were to the history of the area and wonder why you didn't hear more about them before.
Another fantastic video!! Can you do a video on the Chola Empire of India and their wars with the kingdoms of Southeast Asia?
Yes, that would be nice, but some historians didnt include the fact that it was a retaliation against srivijaya empire which have several territory on southern india
Awesome. Most thorough work I've seen yet thanks
Thanks, as always a great video and enlightening about the often forgotten Elamite Civilization. Great you pointed out the little-known degree to which the Elamites contributed to the Achaemenid Empire. In fact, Cyrus the Great always referred to himself foremost as "King of Anshan" in original texts and never "King of the Persians". There's even a theory that Cyrus was actually an ethnic Elamite and that after his death the Persian Darius invented the story of his relationship to Cyrus via the semi- mythical Achaemenes when he seized the throne in a coup, order to justify his otherwise weak claim. The only direct evidence that Cyrus was Persian came from Herodotus who lived 100 years later and relied on second hand sources. Also the name Cyrus (Koroush) does not have Indo-Iranian origin. Even if this theory isn't true at the least Cyrus was probably an Elamised Persian who saw himself as carrying on the Elam tradition. This sort of thing is why history is so interesting and how accepted wisdom isn't always true: something especially great about your channel!
Koroush is a bastardized name which comes from Kuru tribe which lived in India way before Cyrus. Sanskrit and Avesta were cognates but after some of the tribes were banished from India several names and vocabulary changed after they met with different set of people in Iran. You can look for the Dasarajna or the battle of 10 kings which took place in ancient India for the fertile land of India. Bharatas tribe eventually won and the druhyus, dasas, Anu and Parsu were banished to arid land of Persia
@@fomoviews2642 Nice joke bro. Got any other ones?
@@babakbe1514 I don't do assumptions and guesses my dear friend. I am an Indologist and I know quite a lot about the history of Iran as well. The history of Iran you read starts from Elamites and then there is a long gap in the timeline and the empire of Darius appears some thousand years later.
@@fomoviews2642 Were the Parsu Iranians? And they came from Indian?
@@karenbartlett1307 All the names you read on Iranian kings and kingdoms are hellenized and not their actual names. The real name of Cyrus was koroush and his kingdom was Hakshamanish not Achaemenid. Real name of Darius and Xerxes was Darayavash and khshayarsha respectively. All these names are distinctly sanskrit and not the modern Iranian names.
Parsua and pakthas mentioned in dasarajna wars are Persians and pashtuns of Afghanistan respectively. They were at one point vedic clans but were banished from ancient India after they left the vedic lifestyle. This is pretty evident if you see the rituals of modern day zorastrians and the worship of fire and sun.
Great documentary, thanks for making it.
Thanks!
Thanks for the interesting and clear view of the Elamites :-)
I really enjoy your videos :) the long breakdowns are fantastic!
I like the theory that they were related to Dravidians. It would make geographical sense, if we assume that Baluchistan was occupied by Dravidians in ancient times as well; only a relatively small gap between them and Elam, which may have at one point been occupied by people who spoke some kind of intermediate language between Elamite and Proto-Dravidian. People from the Indus region also had some ancestry from Iranian Farmers; it's theoretically possible that said farmers could have introduced the ancestor of the Dravidian languages to India. The early Elamite script also looks similar to the Indus Valley script, which makes me wonder if the two could stem from a common proto-script. Of course, that's all just speculation on my part.
It is possible, would be cool if they dug up a Rosetta stone type artifact that revealed both scripts
U did well with your names , dates & places . Your time line is what gives this credibility & good work !
Love your work. Maybe consider doing a series on the roman absorbance/wars with the hellenistic kingdoms?
@@RokoKaran wut
Wow! Thank you for putting this together!
Epimetheus please do video about Qajar Dynasty.
I love how ancient history documentaries make me feel like I'm learning, even when I'm just here for the juicy scandals.
South west of Iran,there is a province called Elam
Longer videos please please please please please please
Lurs are mixed with Persians and elamites. But theyre a Persian subgroup who speak a middle Persian derived dialect.
My favourite ancient civilization, I have no idea why but their aloofness and mysteriousness is intriguing.
3:12 lol Sargon coming through with the W
Lool
Great video like always!!!
My ancestors where from Elam , then came to subcontinent and created one of the world's largest indusvalley civilization then came to South India and created dravidians civilization , wow
It is other way around , from IVC they went there
Lol no
South India was more fertile and inhabited much before
@@scert7329 south is an ugly shithole
The migration was made by Tamils from south to north.
I sure appreciate the work you put into summarizing the peoples of the ancient eras. Our history books is school do not cover any of this. Thanks so much
I am Ethnic Tamil, one of the ancient Dravidian peoples. Our language, culture and kinship has close resemblance with the Elamites. Maybe Elamites were our distant cousins ? Only time will tell.
How do you know your culture resembles Elamiets?
Your culture isnt elamite. Only in theory that they might have spread their language to east but this is just a theory.
@@Euphrates2747-y5 Then who south indians got high J2 haplogroup??
@@mrwersa1 because women's given high priority.
@@Euphrates2747-y5more of a hypothesis. But the word Elam it's self is Tamil. We can't rule out the possibilities
excellent, almost no one talks about elam
Genetic studies have now shown that Indus Valley civilisation was founded by the hill people of Iran (same stock as Elimites). And their descendants are South Indians.
Pretty cool video my guy. I like how this channel focuses mainly on Near East bronze age empires and cultures. Though I would like some more videos on African empires and cultures from before the Scramble as well.
The issue with the african empires is that a lot of the history was oral, which got kinda fucked by the scramble, the atlantic slave trade, the arabic slave trade and this oral story transforming into myth over time
*_Coming soon to a dank river valley near you_*
Thank you for an informative and well done presentation on the Elamites.
How about those Babylonians? Am I right.
Very informative! Thank you!!!
The Elamites are super underrated, they are always in the shadow of the Babylonians, Sumerians, Akkadians, Assyrians, etc. I really wish we could decipher their words. Its also cool how the Irani people were once uncivilized nomads, but once they got in contact with the Elamites, they became one of the best and biggest empires ever seen. Kind of like the Aryans and Dravids.
What's with Aryan and Dravid?
@@knowledgedesk1653 aryans were ancestors of most Indian peoples and all Iranian peoples. Dravids were combination of Iranian farmers related to Elamites and the aboriginal peoples of india
@@stegotyranno4206 But aboriginal people still exist in srilanka (vedda people). And they speak different language.
Very interesting. Your topics are always great
I am from Elamite family from India :)
Man you put out some good shit. As much as I love the military exploits I always wish we knew more about social conventions and beliefs. Keep doing what you're doing mate
Have you ever though of doing a video on the Norte Chico civilisation of Peru, the oldest civilisation in the entire Americas
Would be very interesting.