The Kingdom of Elymais (ca. 301 BC-224 AD): a comprehensive analysis (archaeological, artistic, and textual) of one of the most important minor reigns in southern Iran

The Seleucid and Arsacid periods (ca. 301 BC – 224 AD)‚ spanning the centuries from the end of the Achaemenid dynasty to the rise of the Sasanid empire with the arrival of Ardashir ‚ long persisted as one of the most obscure hiatus in the history of southwestern Iran. Although less renowned than its neighbours in the lowlands of Susiana and Mesopotamia, the Zagros-Bakhtiari highland (now the mountainous part of the Khuzestan‚ and the Kohgiluyeh and Buyer Ahmad provinces) represents nonetheless a distinctive cultural lens through which the heterogeneous socio-political dynamics about one of the most vital regions of western Asia may find an explanation. In this context‚ the last survival of the Elamite civilization clearly emerges in that small kingdom which was widely know during the antiquity by the name of Elymais. In reality, while Classical sources speak of Elymais, Mesopotamian authors reproposed the long-established designation of Elam, suggesting that this kingdom – so often overlooked in the academic world – was probably heir to the millennial Elamite kingship and culture. During the last few decades‚ scholars have moderately progressed to disclose a clearer picture of the Elymaean culture and its material evidence‚ even though a comprehensive study has remained surprisingly absent. This work investigates the origin and development of Elymais through both epigraphic and archaeological data‚ and reassessed its relevance placing it in the perspective of the latest archaeological and historical scholarship. A thorough analysis with the aim to confront th etopic of Elymais from all sides (textual, archaeological, cultural) is suggested then to provide for the first time in academic studies a complete vision of all the fragmentary material records so as to collate them as a corpus. I assume that my own efforts may adequately indicate the signiПicance‚ and indeed the necessity‚ to enhance these artistic assets in order to remodel the Elymaean history and socio-cultural identity. Narrowing the gap in scholarship through the elaboration of a critical review‚ which is also refined by supplementary data from written sources and other prospects of the material attestation‚ a new general overview has been elaborated for this intriguing society.