Susa: Museum Objects

DSe (British Museum)

Susa (Elamitic, Babylonian: Šušim; Greek τὰ Σοῦσα): capital of Elam, favorite residence of the Persian king Darius I the Great.

History

Photos

Many objects from Susa have found their way to museums in Iran and Europe. The site itself has a nice little museum; other objects can be found in the Louvre (Paris), the British Museum (London), and the Archaeological Museum in Tehran. The first photo shows a clay tablet with the text by Darius I the Great that is known as DSe: a list of satrapies. The full text and translation of this document can be found here. Below are some other objects from the museums already mentioned.

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Stone fish, third millennium (Louvre)	Goblet, third millennium (Museum of Susa)	Banquet scene, third millennium (Louvre)	Battle axe, third millennium (Louvre)

Middle-Elamite basrelief of warrior gods (Louvre)	Dedication to Inšušinak (Louvre)	Model of a sun ritual, reign of Šilkhak-Inšušinak (Louvre)	Neo-Elamite arrowheads (Museum of Susa)

Statue of queen Napirasu, wife of Untaš-Napiriša (Louvre)	Funerary portrait (Louvre)	Stela of Adda-hamiti-Inšušinak (Louvre)	Stela of Šutruru (Louvre)

Club (Museum of Susa)	Persian soldier, from Susa (Louvre)	Silver rhyton (Achaemenid period) (Louvre)	Small theater mask, Macedonian period (Museum of Susa)

Achaemenid battlement (Museum of Susa)	Achaemenid dish (Museum of Susa)	Achaemenid dishes (Museum of Susa)	Rim of a cup with the name of Xerxes (Louvre)

Stone fish (Archaeological Museum of Tehran)	Weight, originally from Didyma (Louvre)	Achaemenid administrative document (Louvre)	"Royal warrior" made of gold (Louvre)

Oil lamp (Museum of Susa)	Handle of a coffin, Parthian age (Archaeological Museum, Tehran)	Inscription mentioning one Nicocles, son of Nicocles of Sinope (Louvre)	Drainspout (Museum of Susa)

Bottle. Parthian age (Museum of Susa)	Relief of Artabanus IV, Parthian age (Archaeological Museum, Tehran)	Jar, Parthian age (Museum of Susa)	Oil lamp (Museum of Susa)

Terracotta figurine (Museum of Susa)	Cup, Sasanian age (Louvre)		Marble head, probably Greek (Archaeological Museum, Tehran)

The codex of Hammurabi. Photo Marco Prins.

The best-known archaeological find from Susa is without any doubt the diorite stela with the Laws of the Babylonian king Hammurabi (1792-1750), which was taken away when the Elamites looted Babylon. The capital of the stela shows how Hammurabi prays to Šamaš, the sun god. The laws are written underneath this picture.

The significance of the regulations it is still unclear. In a society that was overwhelmingly illiterate, people would never know their rights if they depended upon a written text, and it is possible that the stela was in fact only meant to show to the eternal gods that the king was a just man, or tried to be.