Changes

Perhaps the greatest Elamite king from this period was Untash-Napirsha (ruled c. 1275-1240 BC), who built a new city, Al-Untash-Napirisha (Untash-Napirishaville or Untash-Napirishaberg), about twenty-five miles southeast of Susa. <ref> Carter, Elizabeth. “The Middle Elamite Period: Circa 1500-1000 BC.” In <i>The Royal City of Susa: Ancient Near Eastern Treasures in the Louvre.</i> Edited by Prudence O. Harper, Joan Aruz, and Françoise Tallon. (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1993), p. 121</ref> Al-Untash-Napirisha was dedicated to Inshushinak, the patron god of Susa, with its centerpiece being a large ziggurat. Ziggurats were Mesopotamian style temple complexes and although Untash-Napirisha’s ziggurat followed the basic architectural features of earlier Mesopotamian ziggurats, it is unique in many ways: for instance, many of the thousands of bricks used in its construction have Elamite cuneiform inscriptions. <ref> Carter, p. 121</ref> Al-Untash-Napirisha has also yielded several treasures to modern archaeologists, including a life size bronze states of Untash-Napirisha’s queen, Napirasu. <ref> Frankfort, Henri. <i>The Art and Architecture of the Ancient Orient.</i> Fourth Edition. (New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 1996), p. 335</ref> But as great as Al-Untash-Napirisha was, and as much as it was a testament to the growing power of the Elamites during the Late Bronze Age, it was for the most part abandoned after Untash-Napirisha’s reign. The later rulers of the Middle Elamite Kingdom found more opportunities for expansion in Mesopotamia.

[[File: Victory_stele_of_Naram_Sin.jpg|300px|thumbnail|left|Detail of the Victory Stela of Naram Sin]]

By 1200 BC the situation in the Near East had taken a drastic turn. Migrations and invasions had adversely affected nearly all of the Great Powers: the Egyptians barely survived attacks by the Sea Peoples and Libyans, the Hittite Empire was destroyed by the Sea Peoples and Phrygians, and large parts of the Levant were ravaged by the Sea Peoples. Babylonia also suffered attacks at the hands of Arameans and Chaldeans. <ref> Haywood, John. <i>The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Civilizations.</i> (London: Penguin, 2005), pgs., 40-41</ref> The Elamites, though, were relatively unaffected by the migrations, which allowed the Shutrikid Dynasty – the most powerful Elamite Dynasty – to come to power.