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ELAM iv. Linear Elamite Linear Elamite was a system of writing used at the end of the 3rd millennium B.C.E. by Puzur-Inšušinak, the last of the twelve “kings of Awan,” according to a king list found at Susa (Scheil; Gelb and Kienast, pp. 321 ff.; see i, above). He ruled…

ELAM v. Elamite language The Elamite language is known from texts in cuneiform script, most of them found at Susa but some from other sites in western and southwestern Iran and, in the east, in Fārs and ranging in date from the 24th to the 4th century B.C.E. This span…

ELAM vi. Elamite religion The information furnished by archeological excavations in Persia and by cuneiform documents permit a summary description of some aspects of Elamite religion from the end of the 3rd millennium B.C.E. until the Achaemenid period. As most of this material comes from Susiana (mainly Susa, Čoḡā Zanbīl…

ELAM vii. Non-Elamite texts in Elam Most non-Elamite texts inscribed on Elamite territories have been found in Susiana, that is, the region nearest to Mesopotamia and most exposed to Mesopotamian political and cultural influences. They include Sumerian and Akkadian literarary tablets and royal inscriptions; letters; and literary, legal, and administrative…

ELČĪ (īlčī), envoy, messenger, or official traveling on government business during the Mongol period and thereafter. The Mongols were especially insistent on the sacrosanct status of ambassadors, especially their own; and the murder of an elčī, together with the ill-treatment of two others, helped precipitate Čengīz Khan’s (q.v.) invasion of…

ELECTIONS i. Under the Qajar and Pahlavi monarchies, 1906-79. ii. Under the Islamic Republic, 1979-92. iii. In Afghanistan.   i. UNDER THE QAJAR AND PAHLAVI MONARCHIES, 1906-79 Elections, or more specifically parliamentary elections underpinning constitutional representative institutions introduced in Persia in 1324/1906, constituted the primary vehicle for expressing popular sovereignty…

ELEGY (Ar. marṯīa, Pers. mūya), poetry of mourning in Persian literature. The Western term elegy covers a wider range of themes, most of which are represented in the Persian tradition. The frequent complaints of the transience of life and the cruelty of fate, of disasters or of personal grievances (the…

ELEMENTS i. In Zoroastrianism. ii. In Manicheism. iii. In Persian. i. IN ZOROASTRIANISM In Mazdean cosmogony two diverse accounts are presented regarding the elements of the material world, the traditional and the syncretic. Both proclaim creation to be an emanation from the divine essence, the Endless Light (asar rōšnīh), through…

ELEPHANT (Pers. pīl, fīl). i. IN THE NEAR EAST Although elephants are normally associated with the humid tropical regions of sub-Saharan Africa, India, and Southeast Asia, in antiquity their natural habitat extended more widely. According to Assyrian and Egyptian sources, elephants lived wild on the middle Euphrates and it was…

ELEPHANT ii. IN THE SASANIAN ARMY The Sasanian military deployed Indian elephants in siege warfare and, more infrequently, in set piece engagements where the beasts had a psychological impact on enemies not accustomed to facing them. Elephants were otherwise used for pioneering/engineering duties and, presumably, for general logistics tasks. Origin…

ELEPHANTINE (Greek version of ancient Egyptian Ibw “the country of the elephants,” Aram. Yb), the largest island in the Nile, opposite Syene (ancient Egyptian Swn “market,” modern Aswān). The island was always the administrative center of the southernmost province of Egypt, controlling the first cataract and the main frontier post…

ELGOOD, CYRIL LLOYD (1893-1970), British historian of medicine in Persia. After attending Oxford University, he volunteered for war service and was commissioned in the British army and posted to India in 1914; he transferred to the Indian army in 1918 but was invalided out in 1919. He became a medical…