title: The Garden of Words

text: In many of Shinkai's films, sad endings resulting from misunderstandings and unrequited feelings are common. According to Shinkai, his stories are intended to encourage teenagers as they learn to cope with these commonplace experiences. In an interview, he admitted that he had been accustomed to being turned down by women, and felt that his stories were encouraging because his characters continue to try, despite being unsuccessful at love. "The Garden of Words" also illustrated how people do not mature as linearly or elegantly as we often assume. Shinkai himself could relate with Yukari in not feeling as smart or mature at age 27, stating, "We're all still just children at age 27," a point that voice actress Kana Hanazawa also agreed with.


title: The Garden of Words

text: The original idea for "The Garden of Words" came from Shinkai's desire to capture the beauty of the daily scenery in modern Tokyo and showcase it in a film. Having lived for ten years in Shinjuku, he selected it as the location of the film and set about taking thousands of photos, upon which he created his storyboards. Wanting to share the peace and harmony of his favorite locations in Japan with the hope that it would encourage people to visit, Shinkai modeled the garden in the film to match Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden in Tokyo. Following the earthquake in March 2011, he was worried that it could be destroyed and wanted to preserve it in an animated film.


title: The Garden of Words

text: Like other Japanese anime, "The Garden of Words" was created using a combination of hand-drawn animation, rotoscoping and computer animation (CGI), with the latter facilitating the realistic appearance of the film's rain sequences. Shinkai made half of the film's backgrounds by using his photographs as a base and then drawing over the top with Adobe Photoshop, while the other half were fictional settings created with traditional animation and computer graphics. As with his other films, the backgrounds are vivid and meticulously drawn scenery while the characters are drawn with less detail, though they are still convincing and realistic.


title: The Garden of Words

text: For the rainy scenes at the park, the color palette was toned down, and pale green shading was used to match the gloomy, rainy weather, thereby increasing the detail and defining the characters. Matching the tones to the background and lighting helped highlight the characters' faces. According to Shinkai, a novel coloring method was chosen from other coloring methods following careful testing. The method involved integrating the coloring for each character with the background, a "new innovation of sorts" that mimics the refraction of light on the skin as seen in nature. This was accomplished by coloring the outline of the character, including the lines drawn for the separation of lit and shadowed surfaces, and then incorporating the background color onto the surface. Shinkai felt that this coloring method made the anime stand out from others.


title: The Garden of Words

text: Shinkai originally envisioned Takao as a boy who wants to help people, but also felt that he should have a passion for making something, since creative work can be rewarding and fulfilling. On a list he made of potential crafts, he picked out the word "shoes". After testing it out with his initial plans for the story, he found that it worked out, and in hindsight, he realized that shoemakers also assist people with walking.


title: The Garden of Words

text: When first presenting the original story to the rest of his team, the team learned that Yukari had unintentionally come across as selfish. To remedy this, he gave her character nervous traits and personality flaws, such as letting her emotions spill over during mildly upsetting events. Shinkai later realized that some of these personality quirks and temporary professional challenges seen in Yukari were present in a former girlfriend, for whom he had written his short film "She and Her Cat". In addition to making Yukari's character more convincing, these character flaws also made it more difficult to plan since she had to be both flawed and attractive to a young boy. One aspect of her character that Shinkai focused on was her appearance. He felt that she had to be dressed in nice clothes, and particularly nice shoes. In order to balance realism with fashion, he researched shoemaking, worked with a clothing coordinator and stylist, and held weekly fashion meetings with his staff.


title: The Garden of Words

text: One of the "complicated realistic elements" of Yukari's character was her sense of purity that only her voice could convey. Though it took days of listening to the audition tapes, Shinkai finally chose Kana Hanazawa, who had a very low natural voice, despite typically playing the roles of high-pitched younger girls. One of the things that impressed Shinkai about Hanazawa's voice was her ability to cover such a broad range of expression.


title: The Garden of Words

text: It was the final scene of the film that made Shinkai glad he had cast Hanazawa. He knew that when Yukari cried, it had to be something impressive in order to emphasize an intense release of emotion. According to Shinkai, music alone could not produce the needed effect, and Hanazawa performed perfectly and without instruction. In an interview, he said, "I believe that Ms. Hanazawa's acting on that crying scene alone completes the film." This final scene, which was recorded perfectly on the first take, played a pivotal role in the casting decision for Takao's character. Though many Japanese voice actors could portray a naïve 15-year-old boy, Shinkai immediately recognized that only Miyu Irino could produce the intense emotion needed for the closing scene. Irino had also played Shun and Shin in Shinkai's "Children Who Chase Lost Voices".


title: The Garden of Words

text: In regards to the English dub, Shinkai did not feel that he could judge the quality of the voice acting since he could not speak English natively. He felt that it was good due to the feedback he had received and because he could feel the emotion in the characters' voices. However, he noted that the experience would be different for viewers and that the final judgment could only be made by English-speaking audiences.


title: The Garden of Words

text: "The Garden of Words" is short, lasting approximately 46 minutes in length, a trend also seen among Shinkai's earlier works. Although he had stated in an interview with Anime News Network that he does like making shorter films, Shinkai noted that he did not originally plan for the film to be played in theaters. Instead, he intended for people to casually view the film on tablets, computers, and in home theaters. A target length was never specified from the outset, instead the relationship between Takao and Yukari was emphasized, although it was known from early in the production that the film would be short.


title: The Garden of Words

text: Shinkai acknowledged that it is difficult to sell 46-minute films in theaters; however, many individuals in the industry had requested to show the film in theaters and conventions. During an interview at Anime Expo 2013, a representative from Toho, the film's distribution company, emphasized that the quality of the story and the reputation of its director played a key role in the decision to bring it to theaters.


title: The Garden of Words

text: In Shinkai's previous films, the music was produced by Tenmon; however, "The Garden of Words" features music by Daisuke Kashiwa. Kashiwa had been a fan of Shinkai's "5 Centimeters Per Second" and had sent him several of his albums. Shinkai listened to these albums while writing the screenplay and then elected to base the film's music off of the songs from Kashiwa's album "88". In an interview, Shinkai said that the music was primarily responsible for making the movie seem "unlike other anime".


title: The Garden of Words

text: The theme song, "Rain", was written and composed by Senri Oe, and was originally a popular Japanese song in 1988. Shinkai enjoyed listening to Oe's song regularly while attending university, and since one of the film's themes was rain, it was the first song that came to mind while he worked on the production. He particularly liked the song because its lyrics reflected daily life, much like the film. The song was remade for the film in 2013, and sung by Motohiro Hata. Shinkai met Hata on several occasions and noted a similarity between Hata's passion as an artisan and that of the character Takao. Shinkai also felt that Hata's voice was perfect because to him it carried an "underlying loneliness" and "sounded a little like an anxious young man".


title: The Garden of Words

text: Two common themes among Shinkai's films, including "The Garden of Words", are subtle romances and lingering emotions. However, this film's focus on "lonely sadness" ("koi") was interpreted in a couple of ways. According to Cynthia Webb of "The Jakarta Post", the loneliness is seen at the end of the film, when Takao learns to cope with Yukari's move to Shikoku. Luke Carroll at Anime News Network felt the end of the rainy season and the resulting separation created the sense of "koi".


title: The Garden of Words

text: Kaze of Beneath The Tangles, however, disagreed with these interpretations of "koi" and the notion that the story was a "bittersweet romance" or "another love story", and instead felt that the theme was unrecognized. Focusing instead on the human need for companionship and understanding, Kaze noted that both Takao and Yukari lacked meaningful connections with their peers and friends, a view shared by reviewer Bradly Halestorm at "Hardcore Gamer". Together through their conversations—in their "garden of words"—they found companionship: Takao finding someone he can share his passion with, and Yukari finding someone who treats her as a person. However, because of the age difference, this discovery varied between the characters. For Yukari, an older and more experienced individual, her hopeless feelings of lonely sadness disappeared when she learned she could connect with Takao, a revelation that she saw as her salvation. For Takao, a boy with an unsupportive family and friends who seemed more like acquaintances, he did not realize his lack of companionship until he discovered it with Yukari, a new feeling he mistook for romantic love but only realized its true nature after she had moved away. According to Kaze, "romantic love could potentially bloom from such feelings, but that is not what the story is about". Instead, the love they shared was more basic, making the age difference immaterial. At the end of film, both characters maintained their friendship through letters, but otherwise began growing as people by moving on with their lives and presumably finding new relationships with other people. The hope was that one day they could reunite and renew their companionship "without needing to cling to each other". However, neither could "learn to walk again" if they continued to isolate themselves from the rest of the world and take shelter with each other in the garden at Shinjuku Gyoen.


title: The Garden of Words

text: Another one of the themes discussed by the film's reviewers was rain or water. According to Cynthia Webb, the rain represented "unfulfilled longing", while Bradly Halestorm saw water as a third main character to the story, acting to both bring Takao and Yukari together and to symbolize the renewal of life. Kaze felt that the rain symbolized their lonely states, though also acknowledging Shinkai's statement that the rain symbolized uncontrollable love. Following the reasoning that rain symbolized their lonely states, Kaze noted that the tanka had not only romantic intentions, but was also a "simple plea" by Yukari for someone to stay with her, even when she's no longer lonely, and not just out of pity.


title: The Garden of Words

text: The anime film was announced in Japan on December 24, 2012, with the release scheduled for the first half of 2013 and news updates available on its Facebook page. On February 20, 2013, the film's production company, CoMix Wave Films, released a trailer with subtitles in multiple languages on YouTube and announced that it would be released in Japan on May 31, 2013.


title: The Garden of Words

text: In early April, it was announced that the world premiere of the film would be held at Gold Coast Film Festival (GCFF) in Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia. Scheduled for the end of the festival at 4:00 PM on April 28, 2013, the film was part of the 'Cool Japan' Gold Coast lineup and included a guest appearance and discussion with Shinkai. The film's premiere was hosted in Australia as a way of showing appreciation to Australians for their support. According to the GCFF's director, the film sold out in advance and was relocated to a larger theater. Despite feeling nervous about the world premiere, Shinkai provided a discussion of the film and asked everyone to not share the plot and story until after the Japanese release the following month. Shinkai was scheduled for an hour-long movie poster signing, but ended up staying two and a half hours to accommodate the high turnout.


title: The Garden of Words

text: Following the world premiere, but ahead of the Japanese premiere on May 31, the first five minutes of the film were previewed on TV Tokyo and NTV on May 12. On May 22, it was announced on Shinkai's official Twitter account that the film would play in Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan at the same time and that the film would be available on iTunes on the day of the release. Additionally, the Japanese premiere would include a screening of Shinkai's short film, "Dareka no Manazashi", which was released earlier that same year. By October, it was reported that many theaters in Japan had extended screening of the film.


title: The Garden of Words

text: The official English language premiere of "The Garden of Words" was next shown in the United States at the Los Angeles Convention Center on July 6 and 7 as part of Anime Expo 2013. Sentai Filmworks hosted the film, and Shinkai was the Special Guest of Honor for the expo. The Canadian premiere was held at Montreal's 2013 Fantasia International Film Festival, where the film was screened on July 22 and 25. The film then returned to Australia when it screened alongside "" at Madman Entertainment's Reel Anime 2013.


title: The Garden of Words

text: "The Garden of Words" was shown in Moscow on September 27, 2013, after which Shinkai made an appearance to answer questions. He also attended the UK premiere, which took place during Scotland Loves Anime 2013 in mid-October, where it was played in conjunction with Shinkai's earlier work, "The Place Promised in Our Early Days". By late February 2014, the film had been shown in 11 countries. In 2014, it was showcased at Amsterdam's Imagine Film Festival in mid-April, at the Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film in late-April, with "Dareka no Manazashi" on May 21 in Italian theaters as part of the Nexo Anime project, and at the Japan Film Festival of San Francisco (JFFSF) in late-July.


title: The Garden of Words

text: The film was released in digital format on iTunes on the same day as the theatrical release, which was very unusual for a film. Furthermore, the DVD and Blu-ray were made available while the film was still playing in theaters. With the Japanese premiere on May 31, the DVD and Blu-ray editions were released in Japan less than a month later, on June 21. The DVD came with a 16-page booklet and approximately 30 minutes bonus features, including a short version of some interviews with Shinkai and the cast. The Blu-ray had similar features, except it contained 90 minutes of bonus features, including a long version of the interviews.


title: The Garden of Words

text: On April 24, 2013, the video distribution company Section23 and the licensing company Sentai Filmworks announced their acquisition of the license and plans to release a digital version and the North American bilingual DVD and Blu-ray later in the year. The DVD and Blu-ray were both were released on August 6, 2013. The Blu-ray used 1080p AVC (Advanced Video Coding) with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 Widescreen and audio encoded with the lossless DTS-HD Master Audio codec. Its packaging did not include inserts or a reversible cover.


title: The Garden of Words

text: The DVD and Blu-ray releases for the UK were licensed by Anime Limited, which was announced on October 18, 2013. During the 2013 Lucca Comics & Games convention, the Italian publisher Dynit announced that it had acquired the rights to distribute the film. Australian distributor Madman Entertainment released the DVD on February 19, 2014. The French publishing company Kazé released a German and Japanese dubbed DVD on March 28, 2014, which also included the short film "Dareka no Manazashi".


title: The Garden of Words

text: A manga adaptation of the story with art by Midori Motohashi was serialized in Kodansha's "seinen" manga magazine "Monthly Afternoon" from April 25 to October 25, 2013. It was bundled into a single volume released by Kodansha on November 22, 2013. In February 2014, North American publisher Vertical announced at the Katsucon anime convention that it had licensed Motohashi's manga; the English translation was released on October 28, 2014.


title: The Garden of Words

text: With editing by Media Factory, Shinkai himself created a novelization of the story, which drew many responses on Twitter following serialization. It was released in monthly installments in the September 2013 to April 2014 issues of "Da Vinci" magazine. The full novel, which contained new scenes not present in the film or serialized novel chapters, was published by Kadokawa Shoten on April 11, 2014. On March 6, 2020, Yen Press announced that it has licensed the novel for North American release, which was released on August 25, 2020.


title: The Garden of Words

text: On October 14, 2019, it was announced that U.K. theatrical company Whole Hog Theatre is producing a stage play adaptation of the film. The play was held at Park Theatre at London's Finsbury Park in 2020, from July 15 to August 15 after previews on July 15–16. The play ran in Tokyo, and Nelke Planning is participating in production. The play will be performed in English with "occasional Japanese," and it will feature "puppetry, movement and projection art." Alexandra Rutter, who also directed Studio Ghibli's Princess Mononoke stage play for Whole Hog Theatre, directed the play.


title: The Garden of Words

text: Like many of Shinkai's other films, "The Garden of Words" was considered most appropriate for teenage and adult audiences due to its more intense and personal mood. The film performed strongly at the box office, with many theaters offering extended screenings. Because of its theatrical success, the film has been considered one of Shinkai's biggest hits. Shinkai considered it one of his best films, and reviews of the story in each media form were equally favorable. The digital version ranked 7th on the iTunes store for Western and Japanese films by the end of 2013. In the year following its initial release, it continued to be a popular at local and international film events. The news and review site, ICv2, listed the DVD under "The Best of 2013: Anime".


title: The Garden of Words

text: At Anime News Network, Luke Carroll praised the film, calling it a "visual treat", but was disappointed in the short length and found Shinkai's new coloring method to be distracting. Jon Hayward was impressed by the "almost photo realistic" quality of the scenery, particularly in Shinjuku Gyoen. The Managing Editor, Bamboo Dong, described it as "beautifully designed and tenderly animated, it is nature eye candy at its finest." She was impressed by the film's unrushed yet thorough story despite its short length and praised both the music and art. In particular, she noted the beauty of the light reflections, rain scenes, and camera angles.


title: The Garden of Words

text: At UK Anime Network, Andy Hanley gave it a score of 10/10, calling it "visually beautiful with a touching story to match". He praised the natural progression of their relationship, despite the age gap, and enjoyed the emotional climax of the film. Hanley felt that "The Garden of Words" had a "tighter focus" than "Children Who Chase Lost Voices" and a better ending than "5 Centimeters Per Second", concluding it was Shinkai's best work yet. Dan Rhodes called the film "a real return to form for Makoto Shinkai" following "Children Who Chase Lost Voices", which he felt had been an attempt by Shinkai to live up to the common expectation of being the "next Hayao Miyazaki." He praised the film for its beauty, romance, pacing, and subtlety. Although he felt that the film's ending was an improvement over the ending to "5 Centimeters Per Second", he described it as rushed and overly emotional. However, he was very critical of the English dub, which he felt adversely affected both content and mood.


title: The Garden of Words

text: Bradly Halestorm at "Hardcore Gamer" gave it a 4.5 out of 5, describing it as "painfully intimate and touchingly sentimental" and "the single most beautiful animated film ever created". Despite the film's length, Storm was impressed that Shinkai was able to connect his audience with his characters faster and more effectively than full-length films. He worried that some viewers might miss the subtle message of the film and view it as a "by-the-books love story that can feel cliché or even trite". Curtis Stone of Geekenstein gave it a 5 out of 5 and rated it #1 in his top five list of anime for 2013. He praised not only the art and music, but especially the voice acting, which he felt was perfect for the final scene. Lindsay Nelson at Midnight Eye compared the film to "Whisper of the Heart" by Studio Ghibli for its poetic use of "seemingly bland and uninteresting locations". She was impressed with both the sound and art, and particularly the sweeping view of the Docomo tower with the sunset in the background. However, she criticized it for its "tearfully over-the-top climax", "treacly" pop theme song, and lack of reflective silence.


title: The Garden of Words

text: Andrew Hamlin at "Northwest Asian Weekly" gave it a 3.5 out of 4 stars, applauding its poetic use of nature while criticizing the film's brevity. Trung Rwo at Twitch Film also praised the artwork and felt the film displayed "honest and fresh emotions". He described it as "clean and cute, a little bit cheesy" due to the highly emotional ending. Sam at Otaku's Study gave the film an A−, describing it as an "immersive love story" and complimenting the Japanese voice acting and music. Allen Moody of T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews praised the artwork and claimed it overshadowed the film's flaws, which he felt were its short length and underdeveloped story. Chris Beveridge at The Fandom Post praised the artwork, but felt that the story was weak, noting the simplicity of the plot, the abrupt ending, and the awkwardness of the age difference between the two main characters. Amy Wong, the editor at Yam, called it "a story of solitude and heartache that comes before love." She praised the animation as its best feature, but also enjoyed its pace, though she saw the climax as overblown. Akumetsu at "Anime e Manga" thought the film could have been a masterpiece, but felt the plot was too straightforward, the film was too short, and the conclusion came too dramatically.


title: The Garden of Words

text: Chris Beveridge at The Fandom Post reviewed the Blu-ray release, noting that the dialogue was "clean and clear" throughout the entire playback and described the high definition video as something worth showing off. He also felt the disc included a fair number of extras given the quick release. Matt Hinrichs at DVD Talk felt the video made a clean transfer from digital to Blu-ray, the atmospheric sound effects were "carefully crafted", and that the dialog in the center channel was clear. Dan Rhodes at UK Anime Network gave the DVD by Anime Limited a 9 out of 10, calling it a "barebones release", though praising its reversible insert.


title: The Garden of Words

text: Serdar Yegulalp, of "About.com Reviews", stated: "A gorgeous short film designed to tug on the emotions as much as it fills the eyes."


title: The Garden of Words

text: Not only did the iTunes Store staff recommend "The Garden of Words", it was selected as the Year's Best Animation in iTunes' Best of 2013. In addition to the high acclaim on iTunes, "The Garden of Words" won the 2013 Kobe Theatrical Film Award. At the 2013 Fantasia International Film Festival, it shared the Satoshi Kon Award for Achievement in Animation with "" while winning the Audience Award for Best Animation Feature. It was part of the Jury Selections of the 17th Japan Media Arts Festival in the Animation category. At the 2014 Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film, it won the AniMovie Award for feature films. The film has won the French award "Daruma Best Screenplay" at the Japan Expo Awards 2016.


title: The Garden of Words

text: Storyboards, original art, and other material from "The Garden of Words" were exhibited between June 28 and October 19, 2014 at the Ooka Makoto Kotoba Museum in Mishima, Shizuoka Prefecture. The museum, run by Z-Kai Co., also featured Shinkai's commercial "Cross Road" (made for Z-Kai Co.), along with "She and Her Cat" and "5 Centimeters Per Second". In addition to the display materials and film viewings for each of the works, a replica of the shoes designed by Takao was also on display.


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137 (1803), was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that established the principle of judicial review in the United States, meaning that American courts have the power to strike down laws and statutes that they find to violate the Constitution of the United States. Decided in 1803, "Marbury" is regarded as the single most important decision in American constitutional law. The Court's landmark decision established that the U.S. Constitution is actual law, not just a statement of political principles and ideals, and helped define the boundary between the constitutionally separate executive and judicial branches of the federal government.


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: The case originated in early 1801 as part of the political and ideological rivalry between outgoing President John Adams and incoming President Thomas Jefferson. Adams had lost the U.S. presidential election of 1800 to Jefferson. In March 1801, just two days before his term as president ended, Adams appointed several dozen Federalist Party supporters to new circuit judge and justice of the peace positions in an attempt to frustrate Jefferson and his supporters in the Democratic-Republican Party. The U.S. Senate quickly confirmed Adams's appointments, but outgoing Secretary of State John Marshall did not deliver all of the new judges' commissions before Adams's departure and Jefferson's inauguration. Jefferson believed the undelivered commissions were void and instructed his Secretary of State, James Madison, not to deliver them. One of the undelivered commissions belonged to William Marbury, a Maryland businessman who had been a strong supporter of Adams and the Federalists. In late 1801, after Madison had repeatedly refused to deliver his commission, Marbury filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court asking the Court to issue a writ of mandamus forcing Madison to deliver his commission.


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: In an opinion written by Chief Justice Marshall, the Court held firstly that Madison's refusal to deliver Marbury's commission was illegal, and secondly that it was normally proper for a court in such situations to order the government official in question to deliver the commission. But in Marbury's case, the Court did not order Madison to comply. Examining the law Congress had passed to define the Supreme Court jurisdiction over types of cases like Marbury's—Section 13 of the Judiciary Act of 1789—the Court found that the Act had expanded the definition of the Supreme Court's jurisdiction beyond what was originally set forth in the U.S. Constitution. The Court then struck down Section 13 of the Act, announcing that American courts have the power to invalidate laws that they find to violate the Constitution—a power now known as "judicial review". Because striking down the law removed any jurisdiction the Court might have had over the case, the Court could not issue the writ that Marbury had requested.


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: In the fiercely contested U.S. presidential election of 1800, the three main candidates were Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr, and the incumbent president, John Adams. Adams espoused the pro-business and pro-national-government politics of the Federalist Party and its leader, Alexander Hamilton. Jefferson and Burr were leaders of the opposing Democratic-Republican Party, which favored agriculture and decentralization. American public opinion had gradually turned against the Federalists in the months leading up to the election, mainly due to the Federalists' use of the controversial Alien and Sedition Acts, as well as growing tensions with Great Britain, with whom the Federalists favored close ties. Jefferson easily won the election's popular vote but only narrowly defeated Adams in the Electoral College.


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: As the results of the election became clear, Adams and the Federalists became determined to exercise their remaining influence before Jefferson took office, and they did everything they could to fill federal offices with "anti-Jeffersonians" who were loyal to the Federalists. On March2, 1801, just two days before his presidential term ended, Adams nominated nearly 60 Federalist supporters to new circuit judge and justice of the peace positions the Federalist-controlled Congress had recently created. These last-minute nomineeswhom Jefferson's supporters derisively called the "Midnight Judges"included William Marbury, a prosperous businessman from Maryland. An ardent Federalist, Marbury was active in Maryland politics and had been a vigorous supporter of the Adams presidency.


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: The following day, March 3, the Senate approved Adams's nominations "en masse". The appointees' commissions were immediately written out, then signed by Adams and sealed by Secretary of State John Marshall, who had been named the new Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in January but agreed to continue serving as Secretary of State for the remaining weeks of Adams's presidency. Marshall then dispatched his younger brother James Markham Marshall to deliver the commissions to the appointees. With only one day left before Jefferson's inauguration, James Marshall was able to deliver most of the commissions, but a fewincluding Marbury'swere not delivered.


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: The day after, March 4, 1801, Jefferson was sworn in and became the third President of the United States. Jefferson instructed his new Secretary of State, James Madison, to withhold the undelivered commissions. In Jefferson's opinion, the commissions were void because they had not been delivered before Adams left office. Without the commissions, the appointees were unable to assume the offices and duties to which they had been appointed.


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: Over the next several months, Madison continually refused to deliver Marbury's commission to him. Finally, in December 1801, Marbury filed a lawsuit against Madison in the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the Court to force Madison to deliver his commission. This lawsuit resulted in the case of "Marbury v. Madison".


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: On February 24, 1803, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous 4–0 decision against Marbury. The Court's opinion was written by Chief Justice John Marshall, who structured the Court's opinion around a series of three questions it answered in turn:


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: The Court began by determining that Marbury had a legal right to his commission. Marshall reasoned that all appropriate procedures were followed: the commission had been properly signed and sealed. Madison had argued that the commissions were void if not delivered, but the Court disagreed, saying that the delivery of the commission was merely a custom, not an essential element of the commission itself.


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: The Court said that because Marbury's commission was valid, Madison's withholding it was "violative of a vested legal right" on Marbury's part.


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: Turning to the second question, the Court said that the law provided Marbury a remedy for Madison's unlawful withholding of his commission. Marshall wrote that "it is a general and indisputable rule, that where there is a legal right, there is also a legal remedy by suit or action at law, whenever that right is invaded." This rule derives from the ancient Roman legal maxim ("where there is a legal right, there is a legal remedy"), which was well established in the English common law. In what the American legal scholar Akhil Amar called "one of the most important and inspiring passages" of the opinion, Marshall wrote:


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: The Court then confirmed that a writ of mandamusa type of court order that commands a government official to perform an act their official duties legally require them to performwas the proper remedy for Marbury's situation. But this raised the issue of whether the Court, which was part of the judicial branch of the government, had the power to command Madison, who as secretary of state was part of the executive branch of the government. The Court held that so long as the remedy involved a mandatory duty to a specific person, and not a political matter left to discretion, the courts could provide the legal remedy. Borrowing a phrase John Adams had drafted in 1779 for the Massachusetts State Constitution, Marshall wrote: "The government of the United States has been emphatically termed a government of laws, and not of men."


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: This brought Marshall to the third question: did the Supreme Court have proper jurisdiction over the case that would allow it to legally issue the writ of mandamus? The answer depended entirely on how the Court interpreted the text of the Judiciary Act of 1789. Congress had passed the Judiciary Act to establish the American federal court system, since the U.S. Constitution only mandates a Supreme Court and leaves the rest of the U.S. federal judicial power to reside in "such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish." Section 13 of the Judiciary Act sets out the Supreme Court's original and appellate jurisdictions.


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: Marbury had argued that the language of Section 13 of the Judiciary Act gave the Supreme Court the authority to issue writs of mandamus when hearing cases under original jurisdiction, not just appellate jurisdiction. As Marshall explains in the opinion, gives a court the power to be the first to hear and decide a case; gives a court the power to hear an appeal from a lower court's decision and to "revise and correct" the previous decision. Although the language on the power to issue writs of mandamus appears after Section 13's sentence on appellate jurisdiction, rather than with the earlier sentences on original jurisdiction, a semicolon separates it from the clause on appellate jurisdiction. The section does not make clear whether the mandamus clause was intended to be read as part of the appellate clause or on its own—in the opinion, Marshall quoted only the end of the section—and the law's wording can plausibly be read either way. In the end, the Court agreed with Marbury and interpreted section 13 of the Judiciary Act to have authorized the Court to exercise original jurisdiction over cases involving disputes over writs of mandamus.


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: But as Marshall pointed out, this meant that the Judiciary Act contradicted Article III of the U.S. Constitution, which establishes the judicial branch of the U.S. government. Article III defines the Supreme Court's jurisdiction as follows:


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: Article III says that the Supreme Court only has original jurisdiction over cases where a U.S. state is a party to a lawsuit or where a lawsuit involves foreign dignitaries. Neither of these categories covered Marbury's lawsuit, which was a dispute over a writ of mandamus for his justice of the peace commission. So, according to the Constitution, the Court did not have original jurisdiction over a case like Marbury's.


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: But the Court had interpreted the Judiciary Act to have given it original jurisdiction over lawsuits for writs of mandamus. This meant that the Judiciary Act had taken the Constitution's initial scope for the Supreme Court's original jurisdiction, which did not cover cases involving writs of mandamus, and expanded it to include them. The Court ruled that Congress cannot increase the Supreme Court's original jurisdiction as it was set down in the Constitution, and it therefore held that the relevant portion of Section 13 of the Judiciary Act violated Article III of the Constitution.


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: After ruling that it conflicted with the Constitution, the Court struck down Section 13 of the Judiciary Act in the U.S. Supreme Court's first ever declaration of the power of judicial review. The Court ruled that American federal courts have the power to refuse to give any effect to congressional legislation that is inconsistent with their interpretation of the Constitutiona move colloquially known as "striking down" laws.


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: The U.S. Constitution does not explicitly give the American judiciary the power of judicial review. Nevertheless, the Court's opinion gives many reasons in support of the judiciary's possession of the power. First, Marshall reasoned that the written nature of the Constitution inherently established judicial review. Borrowing from Alexander Hamilton's essay "Federalist No. 78", Marshall wrote:


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: Second, the Court declared that deciding the constitutionality of the laws it applies is an inherent part of the American judiciary's role. In what has become the most famous and frequently quoted line of the opinion, Marshall wrote:


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: Marshall reasoned that the Constitution places limits on the American government's powers, and that those limits would be meaningless unless they were subject to judicial review and enforcement. He reasoned that the Constitution's provisions limiting Congress's powersuch as the export tax clause or the prohibitions on bills of attainder and "ex post facto" lawsmeant that in some cases judges would be forced to choose between enforcing the Constitution or following Congress. Marshall held "virtually as a matter of iron logic" that in the event of conflict between the Constitution and statutory laws passed by Congress, the constitutional law must be supreme.


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: Third, the Court said that denying the supremacy of the Constitution over Congress's acts would mean that "courts must close their eyes on the constitution, and see only the law." This, Marshall wrote, would make Congress omnipotent, since none of the laws it passed would ever be invalid.


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: Marshall then gave several other reasons in favor of judicial review. He reasoned that the authorization in Article III of the Constitution that the Court can decide cases arising "under this Constitution" implied that the Court had the power to strike down laws conflicting with the Constitution. This, Marshall wrote, meant that the Founders were willing to have the American judiciary use and interpret the Constitution when judging cases. He also said that federal judges' oaths of office—in which they swear to discharge their duties impartially and "agreeably to the Constitution and laws of the United States"—requires them to support the Constitution. Lastly, Marshall reasoned that judicial review is implied in the Supremacy Clause of Article VI of the U.S. Constitution, since it declares that the supreme law of the United States is the Constitution and laws made "in Pursuance thereof", rather than the Constitution and all federal laws generally.


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: Having given his list of reasons, Marshall concluded the Court's opinion by reaffirming the Court's ruling on the invalidity of Section 13 of the Judiciary Act and, therefore, the Court's inability to issue Marbury's writ of mandamus.


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: Besides its legal issues, the case of "Marbury v. Madison" also created a difficult political dilemma for John Marshall and the Supreme Court. If the Court had ruled in Marbury's favor and issued a writ of mandamus ordering Madison to deliver Marbury's commission, Jefferson and Madison would probably have simply ignored it, which would have made the Court look impotent and emphasized the "shakiness" of the judiciary. On the other hand, a simple ruling against Marbury would have given Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans a clear political victory over the Federalists.


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: Marshall solved both problems. First, he had the Court rule that Madison's withholding of Marbury's commission was illegal, which pleased the Federalists. But the opinion he wrote also held that the Court could not grant Marbury his requested writ of mandamus, which gave Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans the result they desired. But in what the American legal scholar Laurence Tribe calls "an oft-told tale ... [that] remains awe-inspiring", Marshall had the Court rule against Marbury in a way that maneuvered Marbury's simple petition for a writ of mandamus into a case that presented a question that went to the heart of American constitutional law itself. The American political historian Robert G. McCloskey described:


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: Marshall had been looking for a case suitable for introducing judicial review and was eager to use the situation in "Marbury" to establish his claim. He introduced judicial reviewa move Jefferson decriedbut used it to strike down a provision of a law that he read to have expanded the Supreme Court's powers, and thereby produced Jefferson's hoped-for result of Marbury losing his case. Marshall "seized the occasion to uphold the institution of judicial review, but he did so in the course of reaching a judgment that his political opponents could neither defy nor protest." Though Jefferson criticized the Court's decision, he accepted it, and Marshall's opinion in "Marbury" "articulate[d] a role for the federal courts that survives to this day." The American legal scholar Erwin Chemerinsky concludes: "The brilliance of Marshall's opinion cannot be overstated."


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: Marshall's historic opinion in "Marbury v. Madison" continues to be the subject of critical analysis and inquiry. In a 1955 "Harvard Law Review" article, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter emphasized that one can criticize Marshall's opinion in "Marbury" without demeaning it: "The courage of "Marbury v. Madison" is not minimized by suggesting that its reasoning is not impeccable and its conclusion, however wise, not inevitable."


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: Criticisms of Marshall's opinion in "Marbury" usually fall into two general categories. First, some criticize the way Marshall "strove" to reach the conclusion that the U.S. Supreme Court has constitutional authority over the other branches of the U.S. government. Today, American courts generally follow the principle of "constitutional avoidance": if a certain interpretation of a law raises constitutional problems, they prefer to use alternative interpretations that avoid these problems, so long as the alternative interpretations are still plausible. In "Marbury", Marshall could have avoided the constitutional questions through different legal rulings. If he had ruled that Marbury did not have a right to his commission until it was delivered, or if he had ruled that refusals to honor political appointments could only be remedied through the political process and not the judicial process, it would have ended the case immediately and the Court would not have reached the case's constitutional issues. Marshall did not do so, and many legal scholars have criticized him for it. Some scholars have responded that the "constitutional avoidance" principle did not exist in 1803, and in any case is "only a general guide for Court action", not an "ironclad rule". Alternatively, it has also been argued that the claim that Marshall "strove" to create a controversy largely vanishes when the case is viewed from the legal perspective of the late 18th century, when American colonies' and states' supreme courts were largely modeled on England's Court of King's Bench, which inherently possessed "mandamus" powers.


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: Second, Marshall's arguments for the Court's authority are sometimes said to be mere "series of assertions", rather than substantive reasons logically laid out to support his position. Scholars generally agree that Marshall's series of assertions regarding the U.S. Constitution and the actions of the other branches of government do not "inexorably lead to the conclusion that Marshall draws from them." Marshall's assertion of the American judiciary's authority to review executive branch actions was the most controversial issue when "Marbury" was first decided, and several subsequent U.S. presidents have tried to dispute it, to varying degrees.


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: Additionally, it is questionable whether Marshall should have participated in the "Marbury" case because of his participating role in the dispute. Marshall was still the acting secretary of state when the nominations were made, and he had signed Marbury and the other men's commissions and had been responsible for their delivery. This potential conflict of interest raises strong grounds for Marshall to have recused himself from the case. In hindsight, the fact that Marshall did not recuse himself from "Marbury" is likely indicative of his eagerness to hear the case and use it to establish judicial review.


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: "Marbury v. Madison" is regarded as the single most important decision in American constitutional law. It established U.S. federal judges' authority to review the constitutionality of Congress's legislative acts, and to this day the Supreme Court's power to review the constitutionality of American laws at both the federal and state level "is generally rested upon the epic decision of "Marbury v. Madison"."


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: Although the Court's opinion in "Marbury" established judicial review in American federal law, it did not invent or create it. Some 18th-century British jurists had argued that English courts had the power to circumscribe Parliament. The idea became widely accepted in Colonial Americaespecially in Marshall's native Virginiaunder the rationale that in America only the people were sovereign, rather than the government, and so the courts should only implement legitimate laws. By the time of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, American courts' "independent power and duty to interpret the law" was well established, and Hamilton had defended the concept in "Federalist No. 78". Nevertheless, Marshall's opinion in "Marbury" was the power's first announcement and exercise by the Supreme Court. It made the practice more routine, rather than exceptional, and prepared the way for the Court's opinion in the 1819 case "McCulloch v. Maryland", in which Marshall implied that the Supreme Court was the supreme interpreter of the U.S. Constitution.


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: "Marbury" also established that the power of judicial review covers actions by the executive branch—the President and his cabinet members. However, American courts' power of judicial review over executive branch actions only extends to matters in which the executive has a legal duty to act or refrain from acting, and does not extend to matters that are entirely within the President's discretion, such as whether to veto a bill or whom to appoint to an office. This power has been the basis of many subsequent important Supreme Court decisions in American history, such as the 1974 decision "United States v. Nixon", in which the Court held that President Richard Nixon had to comply with a subpoena to provide tapes of his conversations for use in a criminal trial related to the Watergate scandal, and which ultimately led to Nixon's resignation.


title: Marbury v. Madison

text: Although it is a potent check on the other branches of the U.S. government, federal courts rarely exercised the power of judicial review in early American history. After deciding "Marbury" in 1803, the Supreme Court did not strike down another federal law until 1857, when the Court struck down the Missouri Compromise in its now-infamous decision "Dred Scott v. Sandford", a ruling that contributed to the outbreak of the American Civil War.


title: Opel Corsa

text: The Opel Corsa is a supermini car engineered and produced by the German automobile manufacturer Opel since 1982. Throughout its existence, it has been sold under a variety of other brands owned by General Motors (most notably Vauxhall, Chevrolet, and Holden) and also spawned various other derivatives.


title: Opel Corsa

text: At its height of popularity, the Corsa became the best-selling car in the world in 1998, recording 910,839 sales with assembly operations in four continents and was sold under five marques with five different body styles. By 2007, over 18 million Corsas had been sold globally.


title: Opel Corsa

text: The front-wheel drive Opel Corsa was first launched in September 1982. It went on sale first in France, Italy, and Spain - markets where small cars represented from 34 to 43 percent of overall automobile sales. Sales across the remainder of Europe were to have begun by March 1983. General Motors' internal code for the Corsa/Nova was the S-car.


title: Opel Corsa

text: Built-in Zaragoza, Spain, the first Corsas were three-door hatchback and two-door saloon models, with four-door and five-door versions added in 1984. In certain markets, commercial "van" models were also sold, with or without rear windows depending on local requirements. In mainland Europe, the saloon versions were known as the "Corsa TR" until May 1985 and received an egg-crate grille rather than the four slits used on hatchbacks. The saloons were intended to appeal to customers of the Opel Kadett C and its sister the Vauxhall Chevette who still desired a traditional three-box sedan shape - while it did not sell particularly well in most of Europe, the TR was popular in Spain and Portugal among other markets. While only taking ten percent of French Corsa sales during the car's first half-year, the TR represented half of all Corsas sold in Spain.


title: Opel Corsa

text: The basic trim level was called just the Corsa, which was followed by the Corsa Luxus, Corsa Berlina, and the sporty Corsa SR. The SR receives a spoiler which surrounds the rear window, alloy wheels, checkered sport seats, and a somewhat more powerful engine. Six years later, the Corsa received a facelift, which included a new front fascia and some other minor changes. The models were called LS, GL, GLS, and GT.


title: Opel Corsa

text: The Corsa A was known in the United Kingdom market as the Vauxhall Nova (as it was considered that Corsa sounded too much like ""coarser""), where it was launched in April 1983, following a seven-month-long union dispute due to British workers being angry about the car not being built there, in contrast to the rival Ford Fiesta, Austin Metro and Talbot Samba. In addition, there was also a dispute about the disparity of import tariffs, as while cars exported from Spain to the European Community were subject to tariffs of only 4.4 per cent, those exported in the other direction were subject to tariffs as high as 36.7 per cent.


title: Opel Corsa

text: Power first came from 1.0 L 45 hp, 1.2 L 55 hp, and 1.3 L 70 hp petrol engines. (The first engines were all equipped with carburetors; fuel injection came later, but never for the 1.0.) The engines were based on the well proven Family I design, except for the 1.0 L and early 1.2 L engines, which were based on the OHV unit from the Kadett C.


title: Opel Corsa

text: There was also an Isuzu-built, 1.5 L turbo diesel engine available, which was also used in the Isuzu Gemini at around the same time. The diesel, along with the sporty GSi, joined the line up at the Frankfurt Motor Show in May 1987. The engines and most of the mechanical componentry were derived from those used in the Astra/Kadett. In September 1987 the Corsa received a light facelift, with a new grille that was now the same on hatchbacks and sedans, an updated interior, and other slight changes. For the 1989 model year, the 1.3 was bored out to 1.4 liters. Power remained the same, although torque increased.


title: Opel Corsa

text: A rare "Sport" model was produced in 1985 to homologate for the sub 1,300 cc class of Group A for the British Rally Championship. These Sport models were white and came with unique vinyl decals, a 13SB engine with twin Weber 40 DCOE carburettors, an optional bespoke camshaft, a replacement rear silencer, and few luxuries. This gave 93 hp and a top speed of 112 mph (180 km/h) with a 0–60 mph time of 8.9 seconds. These are by far the rarest models (500 produced) and thus acquire a high market price if one does become available.


title: Opel Corsa

text: A 1.6 L multi point fuel-injected engine with at 5600 rpm ( in the catalysed version) and capable of was added to the Corsa/Nova at the 1987 Frankfurt Motor Show, giving decent performance and being badged as a GSi ("Nova GTE" in pre-facelift models in the United Kingdom, later models were all called GSi).


title: Opel Corsa

text: The GSi's engine mapping had been carried out by Opel tuning specialists Irmscher. A model with the 1.4 L multi-point fuel-injected engine, which was otherwise mechanically identical to the GSi, also became available as the Nova SRi in the United Kingdom. In January 1988, a turbocharged version of the Isuzu diesel engine was introduced, with power increased to .


title: Opel Corsa

text: The design was freshened in September 1990, with new bumpers, headlights, grille, and interior, but it was clearly recognisable as a gentle makeover of an early 1980s design when it had to compete with the latest two all-new superminis in Europe – the Peugeot 106 and the Renault Clio.


title: Opel Corsa

text: The Corsa A was rebadged as the Vauxhall Nova between April 1983 and March 1993 for the United Kingdom only, as it had been decided to phase out the Vauxhall brand entirely in favor of Opel in the Republic of Ireland.


title: Opel Corsa

text: ("Nova" is a trademark which GM had already used in North America). It effectively replaced the aging Chevette, which finished production in January 1984. Nearly 500,000 Novas were sold in Britain over the next ten years, but by February 2016, only 1,757 were still on the road. In its best year, 1989, it was Britain's seventh best selling car with more than 70,000 sales. All Nova models were manufactured in Spain, with the first customers in the United Kingdom taking delivery of their cars in April 1983. It gave Vauxhall a much needed modern competitor in the supermini market in the United Kingdom, as the Chevette was older than the majority of its main competitors which consisted of the Ford Fiesta and the Austin Metro. With the late 1990 facelift a small van version arrived, called the Vauxhall Nova Van.


title: Opel Corsa

text: Sales in the United Kingdom were strong right up to the end, but by the time the last Nova was built in the beginning of 1993, it was looking very dated in comparison to more modern rivals like the Peugeot 106 and the Renault Clio. Vauxhall dropped the Nova name in 1993 when their version of the Opel Corsa B made its debut, and later models were sold as the Vauxhall Corsa instead. This was the second Vauxhall to adopt the same model name as the Opel version, the first being the Senator.


title: Opel Corsa

text: A television advert in 1986 featured the Ritchie Valens hit "La Bamba" playing in the background, and used CGI to allow a Nova to drive over vehicles in a busy city. Another advert from 1990 featured a Nova as a pet, CGI allowing it to jump through a traffic jam and briefly play a hotrod whilst stopped at traffic lights. The end featured a homage to "Wacky Races", with the Nova laughing like Muttley. This advert featured Angus Deayton.


title: Opel Corsa

text: In April 1993, the Corsa B was unveiled and in the United Kingdom Vauxhall dropped the Nova name, with the car from now being known as the Corsa. In May 1994, it was launched by Holden in Australia, as the Barina, replacing a version of the Suzuki Swift sold under that name. This proved a success, and was the first Spanish built car to be sold in significant volumes in the Australian market.


title: Opel Corsa

text: Unlike the previous model, there was no saloon version for the European market, but one was designed in Brazil for the Latin American market, as saloons were much preferred to hatchbacks there. This was also introduced in South Africa and India. An estate car, panel van and pickup truck were also introduced, and a convertible version was produced for the Australian market, called the Holden Barina Cabrio. Chevrolet Corsa Sedan, Chevrolet Corsa Pick Up and Chevrolet Corsa Wagon were Designed by Wagner Montes Cla Dias in the GM Brasil Studios in São Caetano do Sul.


title: Opel Corsa

text: Italy was the only European country where the Argentinian-built wagon version was offered, which meant that the Italian importer had to shoulder the entire cost of homologation. In Italy, the wagon was offered with a 1.4-liter 16-valve petrol engine or the 1.7-liter turbodiesel. The Corsa also spawned a small coupé, named the Opel Tigra.


title: Opel Corsa

text: Four cylinder power came from 1.2, 1.4, and 1.6 litre Family 1 petrol engines, as well as an economical 1.5 L turbodiesel engine. Most cars received a five speed manual transmission, although a four speed automatic was also available with certain engines. In the first few years, a four speed manual was also available coupled to the smallest 1.2 litre engine.


title: Opel Corsa

text: 1.0 L three cylinder and 1.2 L four-cylinder Family 0 economy version was launched in 1997, and a Lotus tuned suspension was added as well as an exterior refresh.


title: Opel Corsa

text: The saloon model was built and sold in Latin America as the Chevrolet Corsa Classic until 2010 when it was replaced with the model previously released for China in 2005 as the Buick Sail. A budget version introduced for the Brazilian market, the Chevrolet Celta, has bodywork resembling the end of the 1990s Vectra and Astra. The Celta was sold in Argentina as the Suzuki Fun for a certain period.


title: Opel Corsa

text: In 2011, General Motors stopped representing Suzuki in Argentina, so the Celta reverted to its original name under the Chevrolet brand. Argentinian production began in September 1997, where it was the first locally built Chevrolet passenger car since 1978.


title: Opel Corsa

text: The Latin American Corsa received a small facelift in 1999, with smoother bumpers, and from April 2002 (when the new Corsa II was introduced) the Corsa B began being marketed as the "Corsa Classic" until 2010, where it became the "Classic" when the Corsa B derived Chevrolet Sail and Chevrolet Celta replaced it. Production finally ceased in October 2016.


title: Opel Corsa

text: The saloon and estate car versions were produced in China by Shanghai GM as Buick Sail and Buick Sail S-RV, respectively from June 2001 to February 2005. That year, they received a facelift and became known as the Chevrolet Sail and SRV. In September 2006, Chile became the first country outside China to receive the Chinese assembled Sail; it is called the Chevrolet Corsa Plus there, available as a four-door saloon with a 1.6 L engine. The Corsa Plus includes dual front airbags, anti-lock brakes, air conditioning, electric windows and central locking as standard equipment.


title: Opel Corsa

text: In India, the hatchback, saloon and estate car versions were sold as the Corsa Sail, Corsa (or Corsa Joy) and Corsa Swing respectively until the end of 2005. The hatchback model was still being produced, and extensively marketed in South Africa as the Corsa Lite under the Opel branding until 2009; at which point it was discontinued.


title: Opel Corsa

text: In Thailand, the Corsa was available as an Opel with a fuel-injected 8V 1.4-litre engine and "Joy" and "Swing" variants, both available with three or five-door and either a manual or an automatic gearbox.


title: Opel Corsa

text: The Corsa Classic in its most basic Latin American configuration with no airbags received 1 star for adult occupants and 1 star for toddlers from Latin NCAP in 2011.


title: Opel Corsa

text: The Corsa B was manufactured in South Africa and first entered the market in November 1996, featuring three models (Lite, 130i and 130iS), all having the same 1.3L (13NE) 8 valve engine producing 58 kW. In 1999 the range was updated, dropping the 1.3L engine in favor of a 1.4 (14NE) producing 65 kW and a 1.6 (C16SE) producing 75 kW, both still being 8 valve engines. From model year 2001, a facelift was performed, resulting in some front and rear styling changes, including a new front bumper, bonnet and clear headlight lenses and new taillight lenses featuring a "bubble" look. The Corsa B continued in production post 2002, when the Corsa C was introduced, with only the 1.4-litre engine remaining available in various "Lite" trim models (three-door only) until production ultimately ceased in 2007. Alongside the three-door hatchback, four-door sedan and pickup derivatives were also available earlier on.


title: Opel Corsa

text: Specifications differed compared to European Corsa B models, with the following features offered in Europe and UK never being offered on South African models:


title: Opel Corsa

text: For 1995, General Motors de México first marketed the Corsa B as the Chevrolet Chevy. For 2004 (after the Corsa C had been introduced in 2002), a Mexican designed and produced version of the hatchback and saloon, known as the Chevrolet Chevy C2, was released, which was also sold in Colombia.


title: Opel Corsa

text: All Mexican previous versions were known as the Chevy, with the names Monza used on the saloon, and Swing (five-door) and Joy (three-door) for the hatchbacks, all with a 1.6-liter four-cylinder. There was also a low-end three-door model called the Chevrolet Chevy Popular, which was equipped with a 1.4-liter engine. The latter 2004 and 2008 redesigns were simply named Chevy and Chevy Sedán. The Chevy was a favourite among taxicab drivers and one of the best selling cars in the country.


title: Opel Corsa

text: The Chevy ended production at the end of August 2011, at the Ramos Arizpe assembly plant. This move was because the Chevy's sales had been dropping constantly since the beginning of 2010, and also because it didn't meet the new safety requirement rules in Mexico that forced it to have standard front airbags.


title: Opel Corsa

text: The five-door hatchback was dropped after the 2010 model year, leaving only the four-door saloon and the three-door hatchback, this three-door hatch being the most popular model. The Chevy was discontinued only a short run of 2012 models, after almost 18 years on the Mexican market.


title: Opel Corsa

text: The successor for the three-door and saloon, the Chevrolet Sonic was also built in Ramos Arizpe starting 2012, while GM subsequently replaced the five-door Chevy with the Chevrolet Spark.


title: Opel Corsa

text: The Corsa C was revealed in 1999, and introduced to the European market in October 2000, and the facelift arrived in August 2003. General Motors dubbed the new chassis Gamma, and intended to use it for a number of other models. A saloon version was also offered in Latin America, South Africa and the Middle East. In 2002, the Corsa chassis spawned a mini MPV called the Opel Meriva, development of which began under Opel in Rüsselsheim. In Japan, where the car was sold through Yanase as the Opel Vita, where it was discontinued in April 2004 due to sluggish sales.


title: Opel Corsa

text: The Brazilian version of the Corsa sold in those countries featured a more conservative front end than its European counterpart.


title: Opel Corsa

text: Brazil also offered a pickup truck version of the Corsa named the Chevrolet Montana (sold in some markets as the Tornado), which, as well as the saloon, was exported in a completely knocked down form to South Africa for local assembly.


title: Opel Corsa

text: The Corsa C arrived in the 2002 model year as a five-door hatchback, and was imported from Europe; but for the model year of 2003, the Corsa sold in Mexico began coming from Brazil and a saloon version was added. In 2005, the saloon version introduced a automated manual transmission called Easytronic because it was only offered in a five-speed manual transmission, however, the easytronic transmission was rapidly discontinued after the model year of 2007, because of poor sales and technical flaws.


title: Opel Corsa

text: For 2008, the Corsa was tweaked with a freshened grille, lights, and a gold-coloured Chevrolet logo. The Chevrolet Corsa C was discontinued in the Mexican market in June 2008, leaving only the older and freshened Chevy (Corsa B); and the Corsa C was replaced by the Chevrolet Aveo, however, Brazil kept the car until 2012 (as the Chevrolet Corsa Final Edition and with the saloon ending in 2011) and Argentina kept the car until 2010, while the Corsa-based Montana continued into 2010.


title: Opel Corsa

text: The Corsa C was that was sold in South America, was produced at the Rosario production plant in Argentina. The Latin American Corsa C featured the Opel inspired Chevrolet logo with a golden bowtie instead of a chromed one – the new logo was first introduced in the South American market with the new Chevrolet Vectra.


title: Opel Corsa

text: GM South Africa initially marketed the hatchback simply as the "New Corsa", later reverting to Corsa, while the previous generation Corsa B was still sold alongside the Corsa C and was branded as Corsa "Lite". A five-door hatchback (three-door was never offered) and four-door sedan as well as a pickup version known as the Corsa Utility was offered. In 2007, the Corsa C saloon was dropped in South Africa. The Corsa hatchback in South Africa did not have the same front fascia as the European Corsa. Instead, it had the same front fascia as the Latin American Chevrolet Corsa. Petrol engines were largely a carry over of the 8 valve SOHC variants from the Corsa B sold in South Africa, in displacements of 1.4L (65 kW), 1.6L (75 kW) and 1.8L (79 kW), the 1.8L was new for the Corsa C offered in range topping models, while this engine was never offered with a Corsa B, it was just a larger bore/stoke version of the existing engines. A 1.7DTi diesel was initially offered, with the a new 1.7CDTi diesel engine being added later.


title: Opel Corsa

text: In Australia, the car was launched to much fanfare from many motor journalists, and went on to win the Wheels 2001 "Car of the Year" (COTY). Holden also imported the SRi version with the 1.8L Astra motor and uprated sports suspension including traction control, ABS brakes, a better tyre/wheel combination, and Irmscher body kit to produce a "baby hot hatch" Barina.


title: Opel Corsa

text: The facelifted 2004 model was also imported; however, in December 2005, the Corsa C was suddenly dropped from the Australian and New Zealand Holden ranges as a cost-cutting measure by GM and was replaced by the Daewoo Kalos, rebadged as a Holden Barina. Motoring journalists were scathing in their criticism of the new model, particularly the bland handling, lackluster engine, and below-par safety features. The Kalos-based Barina was subsequently replaced with a rebadged version of the Chevrolet Sonic/Daewoo Kalos T300 until stocks ran out in early 2019.


title: Opel Corsa

text: This generation of the Corsa was a huge success for Vauxhall in the United Kingdom, which is the most popular supermini and second most popular car overall in 2002, 2003 and 2004. It was also Britain's best-selling supermini in 2005, achieving third place overall, but in 2006 (the final year of production) it lost top place in the supermini sector after five years and was overtaken by the Ford Fiesta. Overall, it was Britain's fourth most popular car in 2006.


title: Opel Corsa

text: The Corsa C was introduced with a 1.7 L "DTI Ecotec" turbodiesel engine supplied by Isuzu (Circle L) with 75 hp (55 kW). This was later joined by the 1.7 L "DI Ecotec" turbodiesel engine also supplied by Isuzu. The 1.7 L "DI Ecotec" did not include an intercooler and this reduced power to . From 2003, a new 1.3 L "CDTI Ecotec" turbodiesel engine was supplied by Fiat (MultiJet) which produced and a 1.7 L "CDTI Ecotec" turbodiesel was supplied by Isuzu which produced . This new 1.7 L "CDTI Ecotec" featured a variable geometry turbocharger.


title: Opel Corsa

text: The 1.0 L and 1.2 L "Ecotec" Family 0 engines are carry overs from the Corsa B; the 1.4 L Family 1 engine was replaced with a new 1.4 L Family 0 model. The 1.8 L Family 1 engine is an upgrade for the previous 1.6 L 16 valve engine and produces and of torque. The edition with the 1.8 L engine was named Corsa GSi and was the predecessor of the new Corsa OPC.


title: Opel Corsa

text: In 2003, Opel introduced updated versions of Family 0 engines with TwinPort technology, and the 1.2 L engine gained 30 cc, giving it .


title: Opel Corsa

text: The Corsa D was created using a new version of the SCCS platform, which was co-developed by General Motors/Opel and Fiat, and is also employed by the 2005 Fiat Grande Punto. The first official pictures of the Corsa D were released by Opel in May 2006. In the United Kingdom, "What Car?" awarded it 2007 "Car of the Year". The Corsa D placed second in the European Car of the Year for 2006, only behind the Ford S-Max.


title: Opel Corsa

text: The Corsa D is available in both three and five-door versions and marketed as the Vauxhall Corsa in the United Kingdom. The same engines sizes from the Corsa C were available at launch, although the 1.3 L CDTI and 1.7 L CDTI engines were upgraded, with power ranging from to .


title: Opel Corsa

text: The OPC/VXR version went on sale in the beginning of 2007, with a 1.6 L turbocharged petrol engine powering the front wheels.


title: Opel Corsa

text: The 1.3 CDTI engine was updated in the middle of 2007 to bring CO levels to just 119 g/km, meaning that twelve months' Vehicle Excise Duty in the United Kingdom costs £30 and is eligible for the Plan 2000E (a rebate of €2000 in the purchase of a new car) in Spain.


title: Opel Corsa

text: The Corsa D was briefly available in Australia under the Opel brand name, rather than as a Holden as the Corsa B and C had previously been, during Opel's short-lived foray into the Australian market. Less than a year after launching, Opel Australia announced it was ceasing operations, removing the Corsa from the Australian market.


title: Opel Corsa

text: The Corsa D was never available in Japan, as Yanase had stopped importing the Opel Vita in April 2004, due to declining sales. Opel withdrew altogether from the Japanese market in December 2006, due to low sales the previous year.


title: Opel Corsa

text: At an early stage of the Corsa D's development in 2004, Dietmar Finger was tasked to design the outer panel for the glove box in the Corsa. Allegedly, his son suggested drawing a shark instead. The designer managed to hide it so well, on the hinge of the glove compartment that it was never removed, and featured on all production models. The custom of having a shark graphic in the interior continued for other Opel cars even after Opel has been taken over by PSA.


title: Opel Corsa

text: FlexFix is an optional integrated bicycle rack. It is essentially a concealed drawer that can be pulled out from the car's rear bumper. Attached are two-wheel mount bike racks, rear number plate incorporated in the system, brake/tail lights, indicators and fog and reverse light alternates in left-hand drive and right-hand drive cars. It is available as an option on Exclusiv, SE, and SXi models in the United Kingdom.


title: Opel Corsa

text: In 2007, Opel introduced a sport version of the Corsa tuned by Opel Performance Center (OPC) – Corsa OPC. This Corsa has a 1.6 litre I4 turbo engine with at 5,850 rpm and of torque at 1,980 to 5,850 rpm, with an overboost function which boosts up the torque figure to . The 0 to time is 7.2 seconds and top speed is . Differences from the standard Corsa in the interior are sporty Recaro seats, OPC steering wheel and gear knob and instrument dials with OPC background.


title: Opel Corsa

text: On the exterior, there are different front and rear bumpers with triangle-shaped exhaust, and wind diffusers. There are also OPC tail spoilers and skirts. The car has stiffer and lower suspension than the regular Corsa as well. Standard rims are 17 inches and an optional 18 inches. The Corsa OPC was only available as a three-door version.


title: Opel Corsa

text: The Opel Performance Center in 2011 launched a hardcore version of the Corsa OPC called the Corsa OPC Nürburgring Edition. The engine is the same, 1.6 litre turbo, but it has been tuned to punch out and 250 Nm (280 Nm with overboost function) of torque at 2,250 to 5,850 rpm. The 0–100 km/h time is 6.8 seconds and top speed is .


title: Opel Corsa

text: New upgrades include Brembo brake packages, recalibrated ABS, traction stability management system, Remus exhaust, and a mechanical limited slip differential, which in this segment of cars (supermini/B segment), only the MINI Cooper JCW has.


title: Opel Corsa

text: This Corsa comes with a standard 18-inch alloy wheels and low profile tires, lowered suspension, dual tipped stainless steel exhaust, and special Nurburgring badge at B pillars and inside on gear knob and instrument dials. Also included is a new front spoiler, and different rear bumper. This Corsa is available in Henna Red, Grasshopper Green, Graphite Black (available as matte colour), and Casablanca White.


title: Opel Corsa

text: Petrol engines are Family 0 (1.0–1.4) and Family 1 (1.6), and diesel engines are derivative from MultiJet (1.3) and Circle L (1.7).


title: Opel Corsa

text: The Opel Corsa boasted a new petrol and diesel engine line up that fully complies with Euro 5 standards. The ride and handling were also improved. Engines were further improved from 2011 as Start/Stop was added to engines, with all engines expecting to get the technology in the future.


title: Opel Corsa

text: At the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show, Opel unveiled the Opel Corsa Hybrid Concept, a coupe that combines a belt-driven starter and alternator with a lithium-ion battery.


title: Opel Corsa

text: In November 2010, a facelift was announced. A revised front end was the most dramatic difference over its predecessor, consisting of a new grille, a restyled front bumper and new 'Eagle Eye' headlamps (introduced on the Insignia) which contain daytime running lamps, standard across the refreshed Corsa range. (Vauxhall versions gained the latest badge from 2008 on the front grille, tailgate and steering wheel). A new 'Touch and Connect' multimedia system from Bosch was made available as an option on certain Corsas, replacing the CD60 unit. Alloy wheels are upgraded on SXI, SE and OPC/VXR versions. Production ended in the end of 2014, with the Adam styled Corsa E released.


title: Opel Corsa

text: Interior space stayed the same, as did the 285-litre boot, but the interior was completely new. All of the exterior sheet metal (except the roof) was revised, but the underlying chassis and body structure, the glasshouse, as well as some minor parts such as side-view mirrors and turn signal repeaters, were carried over from the Corsa D.


title: Opel Corsa

text: In February 2015, Opel introduced OPC version of Corsa E. Compared to the previous generation model, power output had increased by 15PS to 207PS (204 bhp) from 1.6 Turbo engine, with a maximum torque of 245 Nm (181 lb-ft) between 1900 and 5800 rpm. An overboost function increased torque to 280Nm (210 lb-ft) when needed. As a result, the Corsa OPC was able to sprint from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 6.8 seconds and to reach a maximum speed of 230 km/h (143 mph).


title: Opel Corsa

text: The Corsa OPC featured a sports chassis with Frequency Selective Damping (FSD) technology, which enabled the damping forces to adapt to the frequency of the car to balance sportiness with comfort. The suspension was lowered by 10mm (0.39 in) compared to standard Corsa models, and the car also received an optimised steering system with more direct and precise reactions. OPC also worked on the brakes, adding 308mm discs on the front axle.


title: Opel Corsa

text: Opel also offered the Corsa OPC Performance Package, which included a mechanical multi-disc differential lock made by Drexler, 18-inch wheels with Michelin tires, and an even more athletic chassis set up. The package also brought a Brembo high-performance braking system with 330mm braking discs on the front axle.


title: Opel Corsa

text: Styling-wise, the Corsa OPC/VXR received more aggressive body kits with new bumpers, aluminium frames for the fog lights, a small scoop in the hood, a big roof spoiler, and twin-pipe Remus exhaust with a diffuser.


title: Opel Corsa

text: Inside, the Recaro performance seats took centre stage, with other upgrades including the flat-bottomed leather steering wheel, OPC gear knob, and sports pedals, as well as OPC design instruments.


title: Opel Corsa

text: Under the bonnet, all new 1.0-litre three-cylinder ECOTEC engine – the direct-injection turbo offered 90 PS or 115 PS – both giving 170Nm of torque – with a six-speed manual 'box, while a new six-speed auto was optional on selected engines. Start/Stop tech as standard and, in three-door guise, the lower-powered model could hit sub-100g/km CO emissions.


title: Opel Corsa

text: The entry-level engine was a 70 PS 1.2-litre petrol, while turbo and non-turbo 1.4s offered 100 PS and 90 PS respectively. The 1.3 CDTI continued with 75PS, now hitting as little as 85g/km CO emissions, and was capable of 3,2l/100 km economy. An ecoFLEX version was available from launch, too, with target CO emissions of under 85g/km.


title: Opel Corsa

text: The original project of Corsa F (project code: "G2J0") was initially planned to be released in the third quarter of 2017 on a GM platform, the G2XX. However, the G2J0 project was cancelled due to Groupe PSA's acquisition of Opel and Vauxhall, with the cancelled project reaching production in a sedan form as the Buick Excelle in China. Development was then restarted after switching to the PSA CMP (EMP1) platform in 2017. The Corsa is thus the first of the Opel/Vauxhall models developed under the PSA ownership.


title: Opel Corsa

text: In December 2018, Opel announced the launch of an electric version of the Corsa, called the Corsa-e, which was originally planned to go on sale in 2019, but was delayed into the second quarter of 2020. In the UK, the Corsa-e is sold under the Vauxhall marque. The main competitors to the Corsa-e were expected to be the Nissan Leaf and the Renault Zoe, as well as its mechanically identical twin, the Peugeot e-208.


title: Opel Corsa

text: The Corsa-e has the same drivetrain as the e-208. The electric motor produces and of torque, and a 0– acceleration takes 8.1 seconds. Output is restricted in the Normal ( and and Eco ( and modes. Under the WLTP driving cycle, the Corsa-e has an estimated range of using a 50.0 kW-hr battery (gross), which is carried in the floor. Real-world testing showed the actual efficiency was per kW-hr, yielding a range of considering the 46 kW-hr usable battery capacity. Over a six-month test, "CAR" observed an efficiency of per kW-hr, slightly less than the claimed per kW-hr.


title: Opel Corsa

text: Compared to the conventionally-powered Corsa, the Corsa-e is heavier at a kerb weight (for the base model) of ; the center of gravity is lower by for the Corsa-e. Boot space shrinks from for the electric version as well. Externally, the standard Corsa F is almost identical to the electric version, with the exception of different alloy wheel designs and the lack of exhaust. The interior will include a touchscreen infotainment system with two set-ups available; seven-inch Multimedia Navi system or 10-inch Multimedia Navi Pro (exclusive to the top-level Elite Premium trim).


title: Opel Corsa

text: Interior styling and controls generally are simpler than the e-208. In the UK, the Corsa-e is sold in four trim levels (from base Griffin through SE Premium, SRi Premium, and Elite Premium). Starting price was , which was reduced to with applied government grants.


title: Opel Corsa

text: The Corsa F supermini marks the arrival of new petrol and diesel engines as well as an all-electric Corsa-e into the range. Two petrol engines and one diesel engine are available, starting with the 1.2-litre three-cylinder engine that produces 75 bhp and comes with a five-speed manual gearbox as standard. Sitting above is a three-cylinder 1.2-litre turbo PureTech engine which is shared with Peugeot and Citroen models and produces 99 bhp and 205 Nm of torque. It comes with a six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic gearbox option. The diesel engine is a BlueHDi 1.5-litre four-cylinder diesel, producing 99 bhp and 250 Nm of torque.


title: Opel Corsa

text: Weight of the car is also improved, with lightweight underpinnings, redesigned bodyshell and new aluminium engines which Opel claims 10 percent of kerb weight have been reduced across the range and will have a good balance between sportiness and comfort. The body is constructed from a range of high-strength steels, saving a total of 40 kg over the seventh-generation model. A new aluminium bonnet will also replace the previous generation's steel unit, saving a further 2.4 kg. However, the Corsa is slightly larger than its predecessor, with a larger body and longer wheelbase to allocate more interior and boot space.


title: Opel Corsa

text: Opel's latest range of aluminium three-cylinder petrol and diesel engines are projected to save around 15 kg over the predecessor four-cylinder units. 10 kg has been reduced off the seats, losing 5.5 kg at the front and 4.5 kg at the rear, totalling around 108 kg of weight reduction.


title: Opel Corsa

text: In June 2019 it was revealed that first deliveries were scheduled to start in April 2020, while the pure-electric model was planned to follow at a time that has not yet been announced.


title: Opel Corsa

text: On 11 May 2020, Opel recalled Corsas manufactured between 25 September and 30 December 2019 because the steering column was not manufactured according to the specifications, causing steering failure and leading to the car losing control, increasing the risk of an accident.


title: Opel Corsa

text: On 6 November 2020, Opel Corsas manufactured between 18 March 2019 and 14 February 2020 were recalled due to the high-pressure pump not being tightened to the engine with correct torque, causing a potential fuel leak.


title: Opel Corsa

text: The Corsa Van was a car derived van based on the corresponding generation of the Corsa superminis that was produced from 1983 to 2018. It first appeared in 1983, and was unchanged from the regular car, aside from the panelled rear windows (optional, glazed models were also available) and the missing rear seat. This was replaced by a flat metal loading floor. Payload of the original Corsa A is and the entire range of engines was available, at first.


title: Opel Corsa

text: It was usually marketed under the names used in various countries, such as Corsa Lieferwagen (Germany), Bestelwagen (Dutch), or Fourgonnette (French). The Vauxhall version is called the "Corsavan" since 1994, linking it to the earlier Astravan model. Earlier models were called Vauxhall Novavan in the United Kingdom.


title: Opel Corsa

text: Corsa Van variants of later generation Corsas have also been sold under the Opel/Vauxhall brand. It was discontinued in 2018.


title: Opel Corsa

text: From the first Corsa being sold in the United Kingdom on 2 April 1993, sales had reached 1,371,573 within sixteen years of its launch, by which time the Corsa was in its third generation.


title: Opel Corsa

text: As of 2018, the Vauxhall Corsa was the third most popular car in the United Kingdom, with 1,205,158 taxed and on the road with another 39,286 declared SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification).


title: Opel Corsa

text: In 2021, the Vauxhall Corsa grabbed the top spot for the most popular car of the year having had more new cars registered than any other in the UK throughout 2021. The Corsa managed to achieve 40,914 new registrations throughout the year, beating second place by over 6,000 registrations. This meant that the Ford Fiesta was finally beaten after holding the mantle of most popular car for 12 successive years. In fact, the Ford Fiesta didn't even achieve a top 10 finish after being heavily affected by a strenuous year of chip shortages which is estimated to be its downfall.


title: Elam

text: Elam (; Linear Elamite: "hatamti"; Cuneiform Elamite: ; Sumerian: ; Akkadian: ; "ʿēlām"; "hūja") was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of modern-day Iran, stretching from the lowlands of what is now Khuzestan and Ilam Province as well as a small part of southern Iraq. The modern name "Elam" stems from the Sumerian transliteration "elam(a)", along with the later Akkadian "elamtu", and the Elamite "haltamti." Elamite states were among the leading political forces of the Ancient Near East. In classical literature, Elam was also known as Susiana ( ; "Sousiānḗ"), a name derived from its capital Susa.


title: Elam

text: Elam was part of the early urbanization of the Near East during the Chalcolithic period (Copper Age). The emergence of written records from around 3000 BC also parallels Sumerian history, where slightly earlier records have been found. In the Old Elamite period (Middle Bronze Age), Elam consisted of kingdoms on the Iranian plateau, centered in Anshan, and from the mid-2nd millennium BC, it was centered in Susa in the Khuzestan lowlands. Its culture played a crucial role during the Persian Achaemenid dynasty that succeeded Elam, when the Elamite language remained among those in official use. Elamite is generally considered a language isolate unrelated to any other languages. In accordance with geographical and archaeological matches, some historians argue that the Elamites comprise a large portion of the ancestors of the modern day Lurs whose language, Luri, split from Middle Persian.


title: Elam

text: The Elamite language endonym of Elam as a country appears to have been "Hatamti" ( in Linear Elamite), or "Haltami" (Cuneiform Elamite: ).


title: Elam

text: Exonyms included the Sumerian names "NIM.MA"𒉏𒈠𒆠 and "ELAM", the Akkadian "Elamû" (masculine/neuter) and "Elamītu" (feminine) meant "resident of Susiana, Elamite".


title: Elam

text: In prehistory, Elam was centered primarily in modern Khuzestān and Ilam. The name Khuzestān is derived ultimately from ("hūja") meaning Susa/Elam. This became ("hūz") "Susiana", and in modern ("xuz"), compounded with the toponymic suffix "-stån" "place".


title: Elam

text: In geographical terms, Susiana basically represents the Iranian province of Khuzestan around the river Karun. In ancient times, several names were used to describe this area. The ancient geographer Ptolemy was the earliest to call the area "Susiana", referring to the country around Susa.


title: Elam

text: Another ancient geographer, Strabo, viewed Elam and Susiana as two different geographic regions. He referred to Elam ("land of the Elymaei") as primarily the highland area of Khuzestan.


title: Elam

text: Disagreements over the location also exist in the Jewish historical sources says Daniel T. Potts. Some ancient sources draw a distinction between Elam as the highland area of Khuzestan, and Susiana as the lowland area. Yet in other ancient sources 'Elam' and 'Susiana' seem equivalent.


title: Elam

text: The uncertainty in this area extends also to modern scholarship. Since the discovery of ancient Anshan, and the realization of its great importance in Elamite history, the definitions were changed again. Some modern scholars argued that the center of Elam lay at Anshan and in the highlands around it, and not at Susa in lowland Khuzistan.


title: Elam

text: Potts disagrees suggesting that the term 'Elam' was primarily constructed by the Mesopotamians to describe the area in general terms, without referring specifically either to the lowlanders or the highlanders,


title: Elam

text: "Elam is not an Iranian term and has no relationship to the conception which the peoples of highland Iran had of themselves. They were Anshanites, Marhashians, Shimashkians, Zabshalians, Sherihumians, Awanites, etc. That Anshan played a leading role in the political affairs of the various highland groups inhabiting southwestern Iran is clear. But to argue that Anshan is coterminous with Elam is to misunderstand the artificiality and indeed the alienness of Elam as a construct imposed from without on the peoples of the southwestern highlands of the Zagros mountain range, the coast of Fars and the alluvial plain drained by the Karun-Karkheh river system.


title: Elam

text: Prehistorically the area was well settled during the Ubaid period and shared many aspects of Ubaid cultures.


title: Elam

text: Knowledge of Elamite history remains largely fragmentary, reconstruction being based on mainly Mesopotamian (Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian) sources. The history of Elam is conventionally divided into three periods, spanning more than two millennia. The period before the first Elamite period is known as the proto-Elamite period:


title: Elam

text: Proto-Elamite civilization grew up east of the Tigris and Euphrates alluvial plains; it was a combination of the lowlands and the immediate highland areas to the north and east. At least three proto-Elamite states merged to form Elam: Anshan, Awan, and Shimashki. References to Awan are generally older than those to Anshan, and some scholars suggest that both states encompassed the same territory, in different eras (see Hanson, Encyclopædia Iranica). To this core Shushiana was periodically annexed and broken off. In addition, some Proto-Elamite sites are found well outside this area, spread out on the Iranian plateau; such as Warakshe, Sialk (now a suburb of the modern city of Kashan) and Jiroft in Kerman Province. The state of Elam was formed from these lesser states as a response to invasion from Sumer during the Old Elamite period. Elamite strength was based on an ability to hold these various areas together under a coordinated government that permitted the maximum interchange of the natural resources unique to each region. Traditionally, this was done through a federated governmental structure.


title: Elam

text: The Proto-Elamite city of Susa was founded around 4000 BC in the watershed of the river Karun. It is considered to be the site of Proto-Elamite cultural formation. During its early history, it fluctuated between submission to Mesopotamian and Elamite power. The earliest levels (22—17 in the excavations conducted by Le Brun, 1978) exhibit pottery that has no equivalent in Mesopotamia, but for the succeeding period, the excavated material allows identification with the culture of Sumer of the Uruk period. Proto-Elamite influence from Mesopotamia in Susa becomes visible from about 3200 BC, and texts in the still undeciphered Proto-Elamite writing system continue to be present until about 2700 BC. The Proto-Elamite period ends with the establishment of the Awan dynasty. The earliest known historical figure connected with Elam is the king Enmebaragesi of Kish (c. 2650 BC?), who subdued it, according to the Sumerian king list. Elamite history can only be traced from records dating to beginning of the Akkadian Empire (2335–2154 BC) onwards.


title: Elam

text: The Proto-Elamite states in Jiroft and Zabol (not universally accepted), present a special case because of their great antiquity.


title: Elam

text: In ancient Luristan, bronze-making tradition goes back to the mid-3rd millennium BC, and has many Elamite connections. Bronze objects from several cemeteries in the region date to the Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia) I, and to Ur-III period c. 2900–2000 BC. These excavations include Kalleh Nisar, Bani Surmah, Chigha Sabz, Kamtarlan, Sardant, and Gulal-i Galbi.


title: Elam

text: The Old Elamite period began around 2700 BC. Historical records mention the conquest of Elam by Enmebaragesi, the Sumerian king of Kish in Mesopotamia. Three dynasties ruled during this period. Twelve kings of each of the first two dynasties, those of Awan (or "Avan"; c. 2400 – c. 2100 BC) and Simashki (c. 2100 – c. 1970 BC), are known from a list from Susa dating to the Old Babylonian period. Two Elamite dynasties said to have exercised brief control over parts of Sumer in very early times include Awan and Hamazi; and likewise, several of the stronger Sumerian rulers, such as Eannatum of Lagash and Lugal-anne-mundu of Adab, are recorded as temporarily dominating Elam.


title: Elam

text: The Awan dynasty (2350–2150 BC) was partly contemporary with that of the Mesopotamian emperor Sargon of Akkad, who not only defeated the Awan king Luh-ishan and subjected Susa, but attempted to make the East Semitic Akkadian the official language there. From this time, Mesopotamian sources concerning Elam become more frequent, since the Mesopotamians had developed an interest in resources (such as wood, stone, and metal) from the Iranian plateau, and military expeditions to the area became more common. With the collapse of Akkad under Sargon's great great-grandson, Shar-kali-sharri, Elam declared independence under the last Awan king, Kutik-Inshushinak (c. 2240 – c. 2220 BC), and threw off the Akkadian language, promoting in its place the brief Linear Elamite script. Kutik-Inshushinnak conquered Susa and Anshan, and seems to have achieved some sort of political unity. Following his reign, the Awan dynasty collapsed as Elam was temporarily overrun by the Guti, another pre-Iranic people from what is now north west Iran who also spoke a language isolate.


title: Elam

text: About a century later, the Sumerian king Shulgi of the Neo-Sumerian Empire retook the city of Susa and the surrounding region. During the first part of the rule of the Simashki dynasty, Elam was under intermittent attack from the Sumerians of Mesopotamia and also Gutians from northwestern Iran, alternating with periods of peace and diplomatic approaches. The Elamite state of Simashki at this time also extended into northern Iran, and possibly even as far as the Caspian Sea. Shu-Sin of Ur gave one of his daughters in marriage to a prince of Anshan. But the power of the Sumerians was waning; Ibbi-Sin in the 21st century did not manage to penetrate far into Elam, and in 2004 BC, the Elamites, allied with the people of Susa and led by king Kindattu, the sixth king of Simashki, managed to sack Ur and lead Ibbi-Sin into captivity, ending the third dynasty of Ur. The Akkadian kings of Isin, successor state to Ur, managed to drive the Elamites out of Ur, rebuild the city, and to return the statue of Nanna that the Elamites had plundered.


title: Elam

text: The succeeding dynasty, often called the Sukkalmah dynasty (c. 1970 – c. 1770 BC) after "Great regents", the title borne by its members, also called the Epartid dynasty after the name of its founder Ebarat/ Eparti, was roughly contemporary with the Old Assyrian Empire, and Old Babylonian period in Mesopotamia, being younger by approximately sixty years than the Akkadian speaking Old Assyrian Empire in Upper Mesopotamia, and almost seventy-five years older than the Old Babylonian Empire. This period is said by many to be confusing and difficult to reconstruct. It was apparently founded by Eparti I. During this time, Susa was under Elamite control, but Akkadian speaking Mesopotamian states such as Larsa and Isin continually tried to retake the city. Around 1850 BC Kudur-Mabuk, apparently king of another Akkadian state to the north of Larsa, managed to install his son, Warad-Sin, on the throne of Larsa, and Warad-Sin's brother, Rim-Sin, succeeded him and conquered much of southern Mesopotamia for Larsa.


title: Elam

text: Notable Eparti dynasty rulers in Elam during this time include Sirukdukh (c. 1850 BC), who entered various military coalitions to contain the power of the south Mesopotamian states; Siwe-Palar-Khuppak, who for some time was the most powerful person in the area, respectfully addressed as "Father" by Mesopotamian kings such as Zimrilim of Mari, Shamshi-Adad I of Assyria, and even Hammurabi of Babylon; and Kudur-Nahhunte, who plundered the temples of southern Mesopotamia, the north being under the control of the Old Assyrian Empire. But Elamite influence in southern Mesopotamia did not last. Around 1760 BC, Hammurabi drove out the Elamites, overthrew Rim-Sin of Larsa, and established a short lived Babylonian Empire in Mesopotamia. Little is known about the latter part of this dynasty, since sources again become sparse with the Kassite rule of Babylon (from c. 1595 BC).


title: Elam

text: Many archaeological finds suggest that maritime trade along the shores of Africa and Asia started several millennia ago. Trade between the Indus Valley civilization and the cities of Mesopotamia and Elam, can be inferred from numerous find of Indus artifacts, particularly in the excavation at Susa. Various objects made with shell species that are characteristic of the Indus coast, particularly "Trubinella Pyrum" and "Fasciolaria Trapezium", have been found in the archaeological sites of Mesopotamia and Susa dating from around 2500–2000 BC. Carnelian beads from the Indus were found in Susa in the excavation of the tell of the citadel. In particular, carnelian beads with an etched design in white were probably imported from the Indus Valley, and made according to a technique of acid-etching developed by the Harappans.


title: Elam

text: Exchanges seem to have waned after 1900 BC, together with the disappearance of the Indus valley civilization.