The Elamite state, ruled by the so-called Sukkal-mah Dynasty (the title designating the role of a king), was characterised by a particular administrative structure. Power was distributed among three officials. Firstly, there was the sukkal-mah, the supreme leader of the confederation, who resided in Susa. Then, there was the sukkal of Elam and Shimashki. He usually was the younger brother of the sukkal-mah and resided in Shimashki. Thirdly, there was the sukkal of Susa, normally the sukkal-mah’s son. The three offices were of decreasing importance. After the death of the sukkal-mah, his place was taken by the sukkal of Elam, his brother, whose place was in turn taken by either a brother or by the son of the deceased sukkal-mah, namely, the sukkal of Susa. In other words, power was transferred from brother to brother. Only after having gone through one generation of brothers it was possible to move on to the son of the first brother, namely, to the next generation.
This strong family solidarity among Elamite brothers is also attested through the practice of levirate marriages, according to which a widow was to be married to the deceased’s brother, and of brother-sister marriages. Therefore, under normal conditions, at the death of a sukkal-mah, the sukkal of Elam, his younger brother, inherited his older brother’s role and wife, the latter being the sister of both. Naturally, due to the overlap of reigns, the early death of younger siblings and so on, these basic criteria could only rarely be applied in full. This system of distribution and transmission of power was based on the social and legal traditions of the Elamites, which are also attested for the wider Elamite population. Even on a household level, inheritances moved from brother to brother, levirate marriages were practised and the management of family estates remained undivided. However, while in the normal legal practice we see a gradual shift towards subdivisions of inheritances and inheritances from father to son, the royal family stuck to the traditional system for a longer period of time.
Apart from the peculiarity of the family and inheritance system, Elam’s political structure was characterised by its confederative nature. This aspect was typical of the region from as early as the Early Dynastic period. Therefore, the role of the sukkal-mah corresponded to the Elamite confederation and the single sukkal corresponded to the individual regional districts. Among these, the role of the sukkal of Elam and Shimashki maintained its privilege as a legacy of the former supremacy of the dynasty of Shimashki at the beginning of the second millennium bc. The documentation on Elam predominantly comes from Susa. The city had a central role as the residence of the sukkal-mah, but also a marginal one from an Elamite perspective, due to its proximity to the Lower Mesopotamian border. Therefore, it is hypothetically possible that other Elamite regions and cities had a similar triad of offices, sharing the same sukkal-mah, but with different people in the other two roles.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Sukkal-mah Dynasty replaced the one of Shimashki, perhaps as a repercussion of the incursion of Gungunum of Larsa against Susa. Eparti and Shilhaka, founders of the new dynasty, took on the title of ‘king of Anshan and Susa’ and made Susa their capital. They also began a phase of intense cultural and political interactions with Babylonia and that vast Amorite ‘world’ that extended from Elam to Syria and the Levant. They shared the diplomatic practices, commercial activities and military involvements attested in the Mari archives. Susa’s scribes used Akkadian not only for their diplomatic correspondence, but also for local legal texts, a large number of which have been found in Susa and some in Malamir (possibly ancient Huhnur), along the route from Susiana to Fars.
On a political level, Gungunum’s incursion did not have long-lasting consequences. Elam remained politically independent from the Mesopotamian kingdoms and even relatively superior to them. During the Mari Age, the sukkal-mah (probably Shirukduh I) was engaged in diplomatic and commercial relations with Mari and the even more distant Qatna. Moreover, in the political and military events of the time, Elam found itself allied to Eshnunna during the siege of Razama, in Upper Mesopotamia, and then leading an invasion of the Jezira. The relationship of Elam with Eshnunna was the most strained one, evidently for disputes over borders.
Elam’s influence extended all over the Zagros, reaching Shemshara, which was very close to Assyria. At the death of Shamshi-Adad, when Hammurabi of Babylon began to display his expansionistic ambition, the anti-Babylonian front along the Tigris was under the supremacy of Elam. Hammurabi’s victory, however, helped in lowering the expansionistic ambitions and the presence of the sukkal-mah in the Mesopotamian scene. The Babylonians never conquered Elam and the local dynasty continued to rule, leaving only Susiana vulnerable to the consequences of the military developments taking place in Mesopotamia. Shortly after Hammurabi’s reign, the Elamite king Kutir-Nahhunte I successfully led an expedition against the Babylonian cities, showing that the balance of power in the area was still subject to fluctuations. From then on and until the end of the dynasty, which continued after the Babylonian one, there would be no more relevant episodes in the relationship between these two powers. Just like in the rest of the Near East, even in the case of Elam there is a lack of documentation for the sixteenth century bc.
Apart from few royal inscriptions, the evidence on the Sukkal-mah period is mainly based on legal documents. Apart from the use of the Babylonian language, the Elamite legal system adopted several instruments typical of the Old Babylonian period. At Susa, a fragment of a code has been found, though it is too small for a reconstruction of Elamite society. However, this fragment is clear enough to attest to the royal practice, copied from Eshnunna or Babylon, of producing legal and celebratory texts. For instance, we know that Attahushu (nineteenth century bc), one of the first sukkal-mah, placed a stele in the market place with a list of fair prices. From the beginning of the sixteenth century bc, we know that some of the last sukkal-mah ‘established justice’ in the land, issuing edicts similar to the ones of Ammi-saduqa.
The scribal practices and forms of royal interventions were directly modelled on the Babylonian example. However, the Elamite legal documentation still displays several unique traits and an increased archaism in its style. Firstly, punishments were physical and not financial, cruel and discouraging rather than realistic. Moreover, the evidence used in disputes could be of a magical or religious nature (such as river ordeals). A sworn testimony was more common than the provision of written evidence and nail imprints to sign tablets were used more frequently than seals. The whole conception ofjustice was based on the religious idea of the kitin, or ‘divine protection’, which could be lost when committing sins and perjuries. Consequently, the divine is strongly present in Elamite legal documentation.
In terms of content, disputes were mainly concerned with the administration and inheritance of family estates. This was an intermediate period between an archaic and a more modern system of Mesopotamian inspiration. This transition brought several difficulties, especially when conciliating the two systems. The archaic system was based on an undivided management of an estate and the transmission of the latter from brother to brother. However, this system was subverted by the appearance of the division of inheritance into shares allocated by lot, the transmission of property from father to son, the sales of real estate outside the family and the use of lands and animals as guarantees against loans. The pledge of someone’s life against these loans remains unattested. This is probably because it was the result of a more advanced system of loans anticipating the spread of debt-slavery. As a result of these changes and due to increasing economic pressures, the extended family, united and based on fratriarchy, quickly experienced a crisis. In this regard, we can see the appearance of testamentary clauses assigning inheritances to sons. These clauses also made sure that parents would be taken care of while they were alive, as well as when they passed away. This is the first indication of a non-automatic transmission of inheritance and of the particular attention to respectful behaviour. These two aspects would soon become characteristic throughout the Near East.
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