Fig. 2 – Application of
Prof. Steinkeller’s route to an experimental Anatolian context
“However despite this work, no city on this
route beyond Der has ever been found, excavated, correlated with modern towns
or ruins, or otherwise precisely located
in western Iran where they are supposed to be. There are no accurate points of latitude and longitude or modern geographic
coordinates”.
Another
brilliant geographical article by Richard Erickson on this subject (2023):
The Great Trans-Elam Highway: Travel, Trade and Warfare
Between Elam and Ur III Sumeria (2119 BC -2004 BC
Richard
Erickson has written (pp. 2-6):
….
Overview of Professor Steinkeller’s Route. Ancient Elam had a long common border with the
area later called Babylonia, which included the Ur III lands of Sumeria and
Akkad. There were two ways to access
Elam from Babylonia; by land or by a combination of land and water. The water route was across the Persian Gulf
to Elamite seaports, and thence by canal to the major inland port cities of the
Susian flatlands, an area now called Khuzhistan.
This paper will first address in detail an
important land-only route, defined by Prof. Steinkeller in his works, which
extended from Nippur in Sumeria, crossed the border region and the Zagros
mountains onto the Iranian plateau, eventually reaching the furthest end of
Elam. This was the city and region of Šimaški, said to reach all the way to the
“Northern Sea,” which Steinkeller interprets as a reference to the Caspian Sea.[1] He provides a list of the cities and
geographic features that reads like an itinerary for military, trade and
diplomatic travel. It consists of the
following points:
Nippur An
important Sumerian city; An administrative and religious center
Urusagrig A
major stopping place on the road from Nippur to Elam
Der A
border town between Sumeria and Elam, between Nippur and Harsi
Harsi A
starting point for the arduous journey across the Zagros Mts., located in the
foothills between the Elamite lowlands of Susiana and the high ranges of the
Zagros.
Mt. Abullat, “The
Gates” A high pass in
the Zagros, the best and most used of the few available. Suitable for armies, trade in bulk, and
diplomats alike
Kimas A
valuable mining town and region where copper and other precious metals and
minerals were mined and exported, creating fabulous wealth by the standards of
the day. It was located on the far
downslope of the Zagros or beyond on the Iranian/Elamite Plateau. It was the object of several wars between
Elam and the Ur III empire, and was a major control point for the entire route
Hurti An
important city on the route very near Kimas
Huhunuri A
major point on the route, considered to be the “doorway” to Anšan and a logical
point on the road section for travel between Kimas/Hurti and Anšan
Anšan A
major Elamite regional power and sometimes capital, known to be adjacent to, or
between, Huhunuri and Šimaški
Šimaški Another
regional Elamite power and sometimes capital, adjacent to Anšan on one side and
the “Northern Sea” on the other
Zabšali A
vassal state of Šimašk at the end of the road, also near the “Northern Sea”
This proposed route and itinerary is
approximated by this author in Fig. 1 below, based on Steinkeller’s information
and analysis, applied to a Western Iranian context as Steinkeller
intended. However it represents an
interpretation of Steinkeller’s data by the author of this paper only. For instance, Professor Steinkeller would
most likely not agree with the author’s proposed location of Anšan and Huhunuri
on the map.
Fig. 1 – The author’s interpretation of Prof.
Steinkeller’s proposed land route from Nippur to the furthest point of Elam in
a West Iranian geographic context
Comments Based on
Prof. Steinkeller’s analysis and the accompanying map.
1. This illustrates
clearly that a documented route of
travel started in Nippur, proceeded via Urusagrig, and thence all the way to
Zabšali across the length of Elam.
2. Mt. Abullat was a
mountain, a pass through the Zagros, and also the name of a particular mountain
range within the Zagros.[2]
3. Kimas and Hurti were
very close together, documented as one place with no differentiation between
them, other than Kimas was a source of copper.
4. A close connection or
geographic relationship between Kimas/Hurti and Huhunuri is not stated
explicitly, but clearly implied by Steinkeller’s quote of Elamite King Puzur-
Inshushinak, who states that he passed through Huhunuri with his army on the
way from Anšan to conquer Kimas and Hurti, travelling of course in the opposite
direction from that described from a Sumerian perspective.[3]
5. The connection
between Huhunuri and Anšan was quite certain, as Sumerian documents named
Huhunuri as the “Lock of Anšan.” [4]
6. From Steinkeller’s
discussions of the physical and political relationships between Anšan, Šimaški
and Zabšali, I conclude that during the period in question both Anšan and
Zabšali were usually subordinates within a “Greater” Šimaški, and sometimes
independent, but always adjacent to the core Šimaški territory. Šimaški was generally, but not always, the
dominant region in all of Elam. Anšan and Zabšali were political rivals. The
geographic order of these city states at the far end of the route was Anšan – Šimaški
– Zabšali.[5]
The existence of this
route, and the order of the itinerary depicted, are very well supported by
analysis provided three of Prof. Steinkeller’s papers, and are in the opinion
of this author totally valid. These papers
are listed in the bibliography and referenced in the footnotes to this
paper. All of them draw heavily on
original Ur III documents on military, trade, and diplomatic matters. One additional document was authored by
Puzur-Inshushinak, the great Elamite unifier and bane of the Akaddo-Sumerians. Putting together all this data and
synthesizing the route is an amazing accomplishment. The historical knowledge that one city was on
the way to another city, and so on, is of great value in itself.
However despite this
work, no city on this route beyond Der has ever been found, excavated,
correlated with modern towns or ruins, or otherwise precisely located in
western Iran where they are
supposed to be. There are no accurate points of latitude and longitude or
modern geographic coordinates.
They have been
roughly guessed at based on intelligent analysis, but the actual location of
this route and the points along it are totally unknown, except that they are
expected to lie somewhere within the overall geography of Elam in southwest
Iran. The same holds true for all but a
very few named Elamite cities, among the dozens whose locations are totally
unknown.
Applying the route to Anatolia. The intent for the current paper is to
demonstrate how the previously described route developed by Prof. Steinkeller’s
analyses fits in very well with an Anatolian location for Elam, and to suggest
precise locations for modern cities correlating with the named stations along
the route. To put it more bluntly, the
reason that this route, and the cities and features on it, cannot be precisely
located in western Iran is that the entire land of Elam itself was not located
in Western Iran, but actually in an entirely different part of the Near East:
southwestern and southcentral Anatolia.
As stated in the
Forward to this paper, this thesis is a follow-on to a paper the author posted
on Academia.edu over two years ago, entitled “A Problem in Chaldaean
and Elamite Geography.”
That paper proposed
that both ancient Chaldaea and Elamite place names, identified by Neo-Assyrian
kings during extensive and frequent military campaigns in both these nations,
were almost entirely unlocated by modern specialists in the areas they were supposed
to be, i.e. at the northern end of the Persian Gulf and a large area of
southwest Iran.
….
A PROBLEM IN CHALDAEAN AND ELAMITE GEOGRAPHY
(7) A PROBLEM IN CHALDAEAN AND ELAMITE
GEOGRAPHY
[1] Steinkeller, “New Light on Sˇimasˇki and Its Rulers,” 217
[2] Steinkeller, “Puzur-Insusinak at Susa: A Pivotal Episode of Early
Elamite History Reconsidered,” 308-310
[3] Steinkeller, “Puzur-Insusinak at Susa: A Pivotal Episode of Early
Elamite History Reconsidered,” 294
[4] Steinkeller, “New Light on Sˇimasˇki and Its Rulers,” 223
[5] Steinkeller, “New Light on Sˇimasˇki and Its Rulers,” 217-223
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