TheProto-Elamite period, also known asSusa III, is achronologicalera in theancient history of the area ofElam, dating fromc. 3100 BC to 2700 BC.[1]^[3] In archaeological terms this corresponds to the lateBanesh period. Proto-Elamite sites are recognized as the oldest civilization inIran. TheProto-Elamite script is anEarly Bronze Age writing system briefly in use before the introduction ofElamite cuneiform. The Proto-Elamite script has not yet been completely deciphered.^[4]

[-3000]

SUMER

Proto-
Elamite

EBLA

Jeul-
mun

INDUS
VALLEY
CIVILIZATION

Corded Ware
Culture

Yamnaya
Culture

Kura-
Araxes

Afanasievo
culture

Botai
culture

Bolshemys
culture

Sarazm
culture

Ancient
Northeast Asians

Hongshan

Long-
shan

Dawen-
kou

Liang-
zhu

Majia-
yao

Qujia-
ling

EARLY
DYNASTIC
EGYPT

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The Proto-Elamite culture, with contemporary politiesc. 3000 BC

During the period 8000–3700 BC, theFertile Crescent witnessed the spread of small settlements supported by agricultural surplus. Geometric tokens emerged to be used to managestewardship of this surplus. The earliest tokens now known are those from two sites in the Zagros region of Iran:Tepe Asiab andGanj-i-Dareh Tepe.

TheMesopotamian civilization emerged during the period 3700–2900 BC amid the development of technological innovations such as theplough,sailing boats, andcopper metal working.Clay tablets withpictographic characters appeared in this period to record commercial transactions performed by thetemples.

The most important Proto-Elamite sites areSusa andAnshan. Another important site isTepe Sialk, where the only remaining Proto-Elamiteziggurat is still seen. Texts in the undeciphered Proto-Elamite script found in Susa are dated to this period as well as atTepe Sofalin andTepe Yahya. It was originally assumed that the Proto-Elamites were in fact Elamites (Elamite speakers), because of cultural similarities (for example, the building of ziggurats), and because no large-scale migration to this area seems to have occurred between the Proto-Elamite period and the later Elamites. As Proto-Elamite writing has now been found over a wider area that is less certain.

Proto-Elamite pottery dating back to the last half of the 5th millennium BC has been found in Tepe Sialk, where Proto-Elamite writing, the first form of writing inIran, has been found on tablets of this date. The firstcylinder seals come from the Proto-Elamite period, as well.^[5]

Proto-Elamite seals follow the seals of theUruk period, with which they share many stylistic elements, but display more individuality and a more lively rendering.^[8]

• History of Iran
• Jiroft culture

• Alden, J.R., Minc, L., "Itinerant potters and the transmission of ceramic technologies and styles during the Proto-Elamite period in Iran", J. Archaeol. Sci. Rep. 7, pp. 863–876, 2016
• Amiet, P., "Il y a 5000 ans les elamites inventaient l’ecriture", Archeologia 12, pp. 16–23, 1966
• Aruz, Joan, "Power and Protection: A Little Proto-Elamite Silver Bull Pendant", Leaving No Stones Unturned: Essays on the Ancient Near East and Egypt in Honor of Donald P. Hansen, edited by Erica Ehrenberg, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 1–14, 2002
• L. Le Breton, "The Early Periods at Susa: Mesopotamian Relations", Iraq 19, 79–124, 1957
• Brice W.C., "The Writing System of the Proto-Elamite Account Tablets of Susa," Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 45, pp. 15–39, 1962
• [1] Jacob L. Dahl, "The proto-Elamite seal MDP 16, pl. XII fig. 198", inCuneiform Digital Library Notes, CDLN 2014:1, 2014
• [2] Jacob L. Dahl, "New and old joins in the Louvre proto-Elamite tablet collection", inCuneiform Digital Library Notes, CDLN 2012:6, 2012
• Dahl, Jacob L, "Animal Husbandry in Susa during the Proto-Elamite Period" SMEA, vol.47, pp. 81–134, 2005
• [3]Peter Damerow, "The Origins of Writing as a Problem of Historical Epistemology", Invited lecture at the Symposium on the Multiple Origins of Writing: Image, Symbol, and Script, University of Pennsylvania, Center for Ancient Studies March 26–27, 1999
• Dittmann, R., "Seals, Sealings and Tablets: Thoughts on the Changing Patterns of Administrative Control from the Late-Uruk to Proto-Elamite Period at Susa", Pp. 332–366 in Ğamdat Nasr. Period or Regional Style? Papers given at a Symposium held in Tübingen November 1983. Beihefte zum Tubinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients. Reihe B 62, eds.U. Finkbeiner and W. Rollig. Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag, 1986
• [4] Englund, R.K, "The Proto-Elamite Script," in: Peter Daniels and William Bright, eds. The World's Writing Systems (1996). New York/Oxford, pp. 160–164, 1996
• Robert H. Dyson, "Early Work on the Acropolis at Susa. The Beginning of Prehistory in Iraq and Iran", Expedition 10/4, pp. 21–34, 1968
• [5]Hansen, Donald, et al., "A Proto-Elamite Silver Figurine in the Metropolitan Museum of Art", Metropolitan Museum Journal, vol. 3, pp. 5–26, 1970
• [6] Laura F. Hawkins, "A New Edition of the Proto-Elamite Text MDP 17",Cuneiform Digital Library Journal, CDLJ 2015:001, 2015
• Khosravi, Shokouh, et al, "Tapeh Tyalineh: a proto-Elamite administrative institution on the Great Khorasan Road, Kermanshah, Western Iran", Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, pp. 1–28, 2023
• A. Le Brun, "Recherches stratigraphiques a l’acropole de Suse, 1969–1971", in Cahiers de la Délégation archaéologique Française en Iran 1, (CahDAFI 1), Paris, pp. 163 – 216, 1971
• Daniel T. Potts, "The Archaeology of Elam", Cambridge, UK, 1999
• [7]Archived 2023-07-05 at theWayback Machine Saeedi, Sepideh, "Proto-Elamite Communities under the Magnifying Glass", in: Abar, Aydin et al. (Hrsg.): Pearls, Politics and Pistachios: Essays in Anthropology and Memories on the Occasion of Susan Pollock's 65th Birthday, Heidelberg: Propylaeum, pp. 61–87, 2021
• Sax, M., and A. P. Middleton, "The Use of Volcanic Tuff as a Raw Material for Proto-Elamite Cylinder Seals", Iran, vol. 27, pp. 121–23, 1989
• Scheil, V., "Documents archaïques en écriture proto-élamite", Revue Biblique (1892–1940), vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 372–76, 1905
• V. Scheil, "Textes de Comptabilité Proto-Élamites", MDP 17, Paris, 1923
• V. Scheil, "Textes de Comptabilité Proto-Élamites", MDP 26, Paris, 1935
• [8] Francois Vallat, "The Most Ancient Scripts of Iran: The Current Situation", World Archaeology, vol. 17, no. 3, Early Writing Systems, pp. 335–347, Feb. 1986

Part ofa series on the
History ofIran
Prehistoric period BCE / BC Baradostian culture c. 36,000–18,000 Zarzian culture c. 20,000–10,000 Shulaveri–Shomu culture c. 6000–5000 Zayandeh River Culture c. 6th millennium Dalma culture c. 5th millennium
Ancient period Kura–Araxes culture 3400–2000 Helmand culture/Jiroft culture c. 3300–2200 Proto-Elamite 3200–2700 Lullubi Kingdom/Zamua c. 3100–675 Elam 2700–539 Marhaši c. 2550–2020 Oxus Civilization c. 2400–1700 Akkadian Empire 2400–2150 Kassites c. 1500–1155 Avestan period c. 1500–500 Neo-Assyrian Empire 911–609 Urartu 860–590 Mannaea 850–616 Zikirti 750–521 Saparda 720–670
Imperial period Median Empire 678–550 BC Scythian Kingdom 652–625 BC Anshanite Kingdom 635 BC–550 BC Neo-Babylonian Empire 626 BC–539 BC Sogdia c. 6th century BC–11th century AD Achaemenid Empire 550 BC–330 BC Kingdom of Armenia 331 BC–428 AD Atropatene c. 323 BC–226 AD Kingdom of Cappadocia 320s BC–17 AD Seleucid Empire 312 BC–63 BC Kingdom of Pontus 281 BC–62 BC Fratarakas 3rd-century BC–132 BC Parthian Empire 247 BC–224 AD Elymais 147 BC–224 AD Characene 141 BC–222 AD Kings of Persis 132 BC–224 AD Indo-Parthian Kingdom 19 AD–224/5 Paratarajas 125–300 Sasanian Empire 224–651 Zarmihrids 6th century–785 Qarinvandids 550s–11th century
Medieval period CE / AD Rashidun Caliphate 632–661 Umayyad Caliphate 661–750 Abbasid Caliphate 750–1258 Dabuyids 642–760 Bavandids 651–1349 Masmughans of Damavand 651–760 Baduspanids 665–1598 Justanids 791 – 11th century Alid dynasties 864 – 14th century Tahirid dynasty 821–873 Samanid Empire 819–999 Saffarid dynasty 861–1003 Ghurid dynasty pre-879 – 1215 Sajid dynasty 889–929 Sallarid dynasty 919–1062 Ziyarid dynasty 930–1090 Ilyasids 932–968 Buyid dynasty 934–1062 Rawadid dynasty 955–1070 Hasanwayhids 959–1095 Ghaznavid dynasty 977–1186 Annazids 990/1–1117 Kakuyids 1008–1141 Nasrid dynasty 1029–1236 Shabankara 1030–1355 Seljuk Empire 1037–1194 Khwarazmian dynasty 1077–1231 Nizari Ismaili state 1090–1257 Eldiguzids 1135–1225 Atabegs of Yazd 1141–1319 Salghurids 1148–1282 Hazaraspids 1155–1424 Pishkinid dynasty 1155–1231 Khorshidi dynasty 1184–1597 Qutlugh-Khanids 1223–1306 Eshaqvand Dynasty c. mid-13th century–1592 Mihrabanids 1236–1537 Kurt dynasty 1244–1396 Ilkhanate Empire 1256–1335 Chobanid dynasty 1335–1357 Muzaffarid dynasty 1335–1393 Jalayirid Sultanate 1337–1376 Sarbadars 1337–1376 Injuids 1335–1357 Afrasiyab dynasty 1349–1504 Mar'ashis 1359–1596 Timurid Empire 1370–1507 Kar-Kiya dynasty 1370s–1592 Qara Qoyunlu 1406–1468 Aq Qoyunlu 1468–1508
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v t e

• Proto-Elamite tablets online at CDLI
• Art of the Bronze Age: Southeastern Iran, Western Central Asia, and the Indus Valley, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Proto-Elamite culture

• Elamite language
• Jiroft culture
• 4th-millennium BC establishments
• 3rd-millennium BC disestablishments
• States and territories established in the 4th millennium BC
• States and territories disestablished in the 3rd millennium BC

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
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