ELAM, ELAMITES
“high”.
(a) A son of Shem (Gen. 10:22).
(b) The region inhabited by his descendants, later called Persia and located east of the Tigris and Babylon. Its capital was Susán or Susa. It was the seat of a very ancient empire (Gen. 14:1-11).
Between the years 3100 and 2400 BC. It was under the domination of Babylon, but Elam conquered it in the 12th century BC. After repeated campaigns it was subjugated under Sargon, Sennacherib and Assurbanipal. The Elamites provided military service to the Assyrians in the invasion of Judah (Isa. 22:6).
With the capture of Nineveh by the Babylonians and the fall of the Assyrian Empire, Elam joined with Media to capture Babylon (Isa. 21:2). Later it was a province, and Shushan a capital of the Persian Empire (Dan. 8:2).
The Elamites opposed the rebuilding of the temple and the city of Jerusalem (Ezra 4:9). Some Jewish Elamites were present on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:9).
(c) Name of three Jews (1 Chr. 26:3; 8:24; Neh. 12:42).