Elam

The Kingdom of Elam is one of the major kingdoms of the known world. It did not belong to the Great Powers' Club, nor to any of the alliance blocks of the other major states for a long time, but now is the leader of the Eastern Coalition. Elam is the easternmost kingdom of the known major states and most eastern goods pass through it on their way to the other civilizations. Having been a rather politically isolated country, Elam had been peacefully developing in the prior century and during the Great Powers' War using this to their advantage to establish themselves as the new superpower and leader of one of the two main factions.

## **History**

### **Rule of the Shutrukid dynasty**

While the calamities of the west taking place around 0 AEE never hit Elam, in 1 AEE its king Hallutush-Inshushinak died after a 23 year long reign, having established the Shutrukids as the ruling dynasty and stabilized the situation in the country. His son Shutruk-Nahhunte became the new ruler and continued his father's course. Susiana was further centralized so it could be ruled effectively from the capital Susa and the region of Anshan was more closely integrated, by 15 AEE becoming a fully-fledged territory of the kingdom. Shutruk largely ignored international affairs and focused more on the internal situation of the country, building more palaces, temples, roads, ports, founding new cities, integrating barbarian groups on the borderlands, and furthering trade with the Indus Valley. He also built new fortifications in Susa, Anshan, and some other sites in order to make it more difficult for the barbarians to penetrate into the country. In 19 AEE he negotiated a treaty with the Lullubi, which ended their raids on Elam and began the practice of Elamites employing the Lullubi as mercenaries for their campaigns. In 22-25 AEE Shutruk led punitive expeditions into the eastern Iranian territories, which also stopped the barbarians there from invading the country in the future.

Now with Elam being in a secure place, from both internal and external threats, the economic level began growing, people started immigrating more to Elam, and the overall quality of life began rising. Elam began to be seen as the most stable of the major kingdoms and this attracted a lot of investment from various Babylonian, Assyrian, and even Egyptian nobles and merchants. Shutruk-Nahhunte continued his policies and was soon considered to be the best king of Elam in centuries, as he also focused on efforts such as poverty relief for the general populace and funded various local industries. In 42 AEE, when the Assyrian-Kassite War began, he refused to join or support either side, as he wanted to continue the practice of Elam being neutral. However, in 46 AEE, when the international intervention coalition was formed against Assyria, Shutruk agreed to join Egypt, Hatti, and the Mycenaean Confederation to force Assyria to stand down, as the northern Mesopotamian kingdom was seen as the highest threat by everyone else. Ashur-Dan of Assyria refused and so Elam sent a contingent of its forces to aid Karduniash, but it was not necessary and the troops saw no action as a coup took place in Ashur and the terms of the ultimatum were ultimately agreed upon. The Elamites returned home, and just a few months later, in 47 AEE, the 72 year old Shutruk-Nahhunte died after the longest reign in Elamite history.

While the official successor was Kutir-Nahhunte II, the former king's oldest son, Shutruk had 10 legitimate sons, and many more illegitimate, all vying for power, which almost immediately began a succession crisis. Over the next few years some opponents were eliminated, but Kutir by then was over 50 years old and seen by many as too old to rule Elam and advance it in the right direction. Furthermore, his ordered assassinations of other potential successors and their followers angered many and made him lose a lot of support. By 54 AEE the only other legitimate son of Shutruk was the 18 year old Shilhak-Inshushinak, the former king's youngest son, and Kutir set his sights on him, but the military got word of it and moved Shilhak to a safe location in Anshan. Kutir ordered that Shilhak be returned to him, but the request was never fulfilled. Instead, over the next few years Shilhak became a lot more influential and the preferred candidate of most of the military and the population, consolidating first Anshan and then parts of Susiana. Finally, in 58 AEE, the army entered the royal palace in Susa and killed Kutir-Nahhunte II, who by then had lost all his support. And so the 22 year old Shilhak-Inshushinak became the new king of Elam.

Shilhak abandoned the old policy of Elamite neutrality and instead wanted the country to be more present on the world stage. Already in 59 AEE he entered into an unofficial alliance with Assyria and drafted plans for the division of Karduniash between the two kingdoms. He also expressed his wishes to join the Great Powers' Club and become a member of the Triple Alliance. During his reign trade with Assyria and Egypt increased, while trade with Hatti and Karduniash severely decreased, which made it clear where Elamite loyalties stood. Shilhak also reformed the army and included more mounted Lullubi in it in order to compensate for the small population of the kingdom. He also invested a lot into various special projects, which were supposed to help make Elam into an even greater power. Some criticized all these moves, but the situation in the country continued getting better and so the population didn't complain, same for the military, which became even better paid than before. In 66 AEE, after the Fourth Conference of the Great Powers' Club, Elam was invited to be an observer during the conference in Ugarit in 71 AEE, though it still did not receive the full member status, due to Hatti and Karduniash seeing Elam as an ally of Assyria and Egypt.

### **Shilhak-Inshushinak's grand plan and the Great Powers' War**

**Spoiler warning: this section contains spoilers for the novel The Rise of Kemet.**

Ever since being a child Shilhak dreamed of becoming a ruler of a great empire and even becoming a king of Elam was not enough for him. He wanted his realm to become the largest in history and encompass all the civilized countries. Knowing that this was not possible by conventional means, he decided on using subterfuge, which was one of his strengths. Already in the 60s AEE he began establishing his contacts around the world in order to achieve his plans. This included king Harharran of the Hittite puppet Kingdom of Ugarit, who wanted to become an independent ruler and take control of the entire Levant, the Hittite king's chief advisor Hakkarpili, who had for a long time wanted to become a Hittite king himself, and various Assyrian rebels who wanted to overthrow Tiglath-Pileser. All had different goals, but everyone agreed on the idea that the old rulers of the Great Powers' Club had to killed so that in the ensuing chaos new forces could take control. The date was chosen as 71 AEE, when the Fifth Great Powers' Conference was to take place, and Hakkarpili and Harharran pushed Suppiluliuma IV to make the event take place in Ugarit.

The first phase of the conspiracy went completely as planned. The Conference began in Ugarit, where Harharran had instructed his agents to poison the kings during a feast before leaving the kingdom for the Arabian desert in order to not get caught. The kings of Egypt, Hatti, Assyria, and Karduniash were all indeed killed and this, as expected, led to great chaos, and the Great Powers' War starting, as Hakkarpili urged the new Hittite king Muwatalli III to attack Egypt while it was in a supposed position of weakness. The war began and Elam entered it on the side of the Triple Alliance, later known as the Pact of Civilizations, pretending that it did so under the request of the Egyptians who had sent their envoy to Elam. Elam invaded Karduniash and easily defeated it in many battles, such as Lagash, while also betraying the Assyrians during the Battle of Eshnunna by leaving them alone in order to weaken their forces. The Elamites and Assyrians conducted the Siege of Babylon, and in 72 AEE Shilhak himself executed the new Kassite king Kashtiliash V in the palace, thus ending the Kassite royal line. Karduniash was then divided, with Elam taking most of it under the guise of dealing with rebels, while in reality Shilhak established the puppet Kingdom of Babylonia in his conquered regions under Nebuchadnezzar of Isin. He also took over Kassite supply lines to Kush and began funding it himself in order to weaken Egypt, while also funding other rebel groups in Egypt through Kush so as to destabilize the kingdom even further.

Over the following year, Shilhak and Nebuchadnezzar built up their forces and established more contacts with the Assyrian resistance, and in 73 AEE, when the Assyrian army was campaigning in Hayasa-Azzi, finally invaded Assyria. The country fell quickly due to being completely unprepared and its exhausted army rushing to battle and being decisively defeated near Ashur. Assyria was soon fully occupied and a puppet state there was established by Shilhak under Ninsina, one of the rebel leaders contacted earlier. Hakkarpili was also given the word to begin his coup, and so he did, having built up his power base over the previous years while Muwatalli III was campaigning in the Levant. Shortly after, Shilhak invaded the Levant with his new allies and defeated the fighting Egyptian and Hittite armies at Qatna. After Ugarit itself was taken, Harharran came out of hiding and returned to his capital, now becoming the ruler of the Kingdom of the Levant. Thus Shilhak's plans were finally revealed to the remaining kingdoms and rulers opposing him, who formed the Organization of Free Kingdoms in order to counter Elam. Shilhak himself meanwhile formed the Eastern Coalition, which included Elam and its subjects in Babylonia, Assyria, and the Levant, as well as the independent Kingdom of Hatti now under Hakkarpili. The subterfuge did not take Shilhak fully to his goal, as Egypt was still standing and resisting, and so full open warfare began between the two new factions, with Shilhak and his allies still being confident that they could secure the rest of the known world over the following years rather easily.

### **OFK-EC War**

**Spoiler warning: this section contains spoilers for the novel The March of Deshret.**

Seeing that Egypt was still resisting, Shilhak began funding the Sons of Montu in late 73 AEE - the most notorious terrorist organization in Egypt, which became resurgent during the war - by way of Kush, with Kush itself becoming an informal ally of the EC. The revolt eventually failed and the Sons of Montu were disestablished, but the Kushite advance in the Egyptian Kush and the EC advance in the Levant continued, with Shilhak still winning major battles such as the Fourth Battle of Kadesh in 74 AEE, where the Egyptian Army of Montu was defeated and general Horminuter captured. By 75 AEE most of the Levant was captured, excluding Phoenicia, which had become a neutral independent confederation, as both the OFK and EC tried to sway it to its side.

The EC also got more allies in the east, as Lim-Kiririsha, Shilhak's wife who was left in charge of Elam while he was on campaign, began supporting the corporatists in Dilmun and Magan, and they proceeded to win the civil wars of their countries and so join the EC in 74 AEE. The Lullubi also became more centralized under their now leading chief Zubani, who expanded his realm even further by conquering the territories of former Azzi. However, in 75 AEE Elam and the EC also suffered some setbacks, as the Kushite qore Taharqa was assassinated and replaced by his pro-Egyptian brother Harsiotef, who stopped fighting the Egyptians and so freed up more of their troops, while in Hatti a united OFK force of Mycenaeans and Muwatalli's exiled Hittites, as well as local Hittite resistance, managed to defeat Hakkarpili and reclaim most of Hatti. Still, Shilhak chose to focus on the Levant, in late 75 AEE reaching Ashkelon and hoping that after taking it the EC could conquer Egypt itself easily and then refocus on Hatti.

However, these plans came to an end when Shilhak was assassinated right before the battle by Horminuter, who had poisoned Shilhak's drink with the same poison used during the Fifth Conference of the Great Powers' Club to assassinate the four kings. Horminuter had been a prisoner in Ugarit in 74 - 75 AEE but later appeared to defect to the EC and asked to come with Shilhak to the front and serve him there. The king accepted the offer and had the former Egyptian general under supervision, but ultimately was outsmarted and killed by him. Horminuter himself was killed by the Elamite general Eparti, who also wanted to kill Shilhak, hoping to become the new king of Elam and the supreme commander of the EC, but his attempt was unsuccessful and he was arrested. Still, after Shilhak's death, the EC army was in disarray and suffered a disastrous defeat near Ashkelon, retreating north afterwards. General Kindattu, now the highest ranking Elamite general, was ordered by Lim-Kiririsha, now the factual ruler of Elam and the leader of the EC, to pull back to the Euphrates, and so he did, while Eparti was denounced and stranded in Ugarit, where he was later killed during the siege by OFK forces.

The Levant was lost to the EC, but the OFK advance stopped at the Euphrates, in part due to Lullubi efforts, as Zubani secured a new deal with Lim which allowed him to create the Kingdom of Lullubum and become a full member of the EC with all its benefits. Thus the front froze for around a year at the Euphrates and in 76 AEE during the Damascus Peace Conference the Treaty of the Euphrates was signed, which ended the OFK-EC War. The EC was reduced somewhat from its peak but still remained an almost equal opponent to the OFK. Seeking to secure her rule, Lim-Kiririsha eliminated most nobles disloyal to her in Elam and remove any chance for Shilhak's children from his first wife to come to power - one daughter was married to Kindattu, another sent to Babylonia to become a priestess, and the son was locked under supervision in one of the palaces away from the center. Shilhak-Humban, the son of Shilhak and Lim, became the factual successor and Lim began preparing him to rule Elam and the EC after her. She also established even closer relations with other EC members, by actions such as introducing a single currency, the sitan, to be used in the whole faction, and proposing royal marriages between her and Nebuchadnezzar's children.

## **Geography**

Elam is situated between Babylonia in the west, the Elamite gulf in the south, and various barbarian tribes in the north and east, including the recently founded Kingdom of Lullubum and the Iranians. The southern part of Elam is mostly fertile flatlands, while the north contains parts of the Zagros Mountains. Unlike most other countries, Elam is not very densely populated and the settlements are quite spread out, especially in the east. The kingdom is informally divided into two regions - Susiana in the west, and Anshan in the east. Susiana contains the capital of the country Susa, as well as most other cities and most of the farmable land, and almost 75% of the population lives there. In contrast, Anshan is much more sparsely populated, contains few cities, and is more mountainous, with the farmable land being located only along the coast. The entire country is divided into provinces centered on the largest city in the area. Elam has quite a few rivers within, but none of them are part of the Tigris or Euphrates and so Elam isn't considered to be part of Mesopotamia.

## **Administration**

### **Government**

Elam is ruled by a king, currently in theory Shilhak-Humban, but as he is still only 12 years old the actual ruler is his mother Lim-Kiririsha, who has supreme control over the entire country. While the royal court and the military often have some influence on the king (now queen), they have no official power and powerful monarchs can rule all by themselves. Unlike in most other kingdoms, the Elamite monarch has no official chief advisor or right hand man, and instead all of his advisors are roughly of equal status. Elam is divided into provinces, each ruled by a governor, and further divided into cities, each ruled by a mayor. The country is quite centralized, though the provinces in the region of Anshan are still unofficially more autonomous, due to the distance from the capital. Only ethnic Elamites are allowed to hold any public offices. Some Lullubi and Iranians do hold influential positions in the northeastern border towns, though the government often tries to replace them with Elamites.

### **Economy**

The country has a GDP of 247 million Egyptian shematy, and a GDP per capita of 107.39 Egyptian shematy, which is one of the highest in the known world. The economic level has been growing steadily for almost a century, and since 58 AEE the annual GDP growth has been around 6.51%. Similarly to Babylonia, Elam's economy centers on agriculture, fishing, and shipbuilding, however, due to Elam containing some mountainous areas, the mining, metal refining, and weapon forging industries are prominent as well. A lot of income also comes from trade, as Elam controls the vital trade routes between the Indus Valley (and the further east) and the western kingdoms, including Babylonia, Assyria, and Hatti. Some new trade routes were also opened in the late 60s AEE from Elam to Egypt, by way of Dilmun and Magan. Elam's main exports are copper, tin, agricultural produce, and the eastern products passing through it, while the main imports are gold and wood from Egypt, and luxury goods from the Indus Valley. The country uses the sitan as its currency, along with most other EC countries, being the first along with Babylonia to adopt it.

### **Military**

Elam has a small standing army but for now during wars still raises conscript forces. Shilhak-Inshushinak ahd been trying to transition it into a professional full time force, just like the system in the Commonwealth, and Lim-Kirirrisha is continuing this task. While previously only ethnic Elamites had been allowed to serve, since the 30s AEE other groups can join the army as well. The Lullubi living outside Elam have their own forces, as part of the military of the Kingdom of Lullubum, which are not part of the Elamite army, but were often employed by it. The remaining Lullubi mercenaries consist mostly of mounted raiders, while the official Elamite army has the standard composition of chariots in the front, followed by elite infantry, light infantry, and archers. The king himself is expected to lead the main army, while the generals usually lead the flanks or smaller detached armies, though for now the monarch does not directly lead the army. The army is divided into divisions of 4 000 men, led by commanders, and further divided into companies of 200 men, led by colonels. The Elamite army is considered to be pretty well trained and equipped, though it has not participated in combat, except fighting with some barbarians in the borderlands, in over a century. Elam could potentially raise up to 48 000 troops at the start of a war, and be assisted by at least a dozen thousand Lullubi fighters.

Elam has a small standing navy, and more ships could be made active in an event of a war. Shilhak-Inshushinak had invested a lot into various shipbuilding programs and many warships are still being built to further strengthen the navy. Despite this threat, Karduniash still in effect had no warships and so in the war was cut off by Elam quite soon. The navy is divided into a few fleets led by admirals, and each ship is headed by a captain, who answers to his respective admiral. Women are allowed to serve in the army and the navy, with Shilhak signing the decree in 73 AEE, being the second monarch to institute such a policy after Ninsina did it in Assyria. Women are conscripted at a lower rate than men and serve in mostly support roles, but their ranks continue to grow and the first female officers within the army are emerging. Lim-Kiririsha is also working to increase the presence of women in the armed forces and make both genders there more equal.

## **Demographics**

Elam has a population of around 2.3 million, which is almost three times smaller than that of its neighbor Babylonia. Around 78 000 people in Elam are slaves, though efforts to minimize slavery have been ongoing since the 40s AEE. The overwhelming majority of the population is ethnically Elamite, at around 1.98 million (86.1%). Around 120 000 (5.2%) are Babylonians, 67 000 (2.9%) are Lullubi, and the remaining 133 000 (5.8%) belong to other groups, such as the Assyrians, Gulf Mesopotamians, Arabs, Arameans, and Indians. Most of the population worships the Elamite pantheon of gods, though the Mesopotamian pantheon is also quite popular, and some worship gods from both religions. Elam also has followers of various barbarian religions and those of the Indus Valley and the far east, especially in the Anshan region.

The kingdom has a literacy rate of 17.2%, one of the highest in the known world, though still surpassed by Egypt and Babylonia. Elam has an urbanization level of 21.5%, with most of the cities being concentrated in Susiana, while the region of Anshan is much more rural and sparsely populated. Urbanization efforts have been successful in a way, but they have been slow and the non-Elamite populations are wary of moving into cities.

List of the largest cities in the Kingdom of Elam (77 AEE)
 Anshan
 Awan
 Dur-Untash
 Arrajan

## **International Relations**

Elam is the founder and leader of the Eastern Coalition and so has good relations with all its members. Babylonia and Assyria are still puppet states to Elam in some capacity and their rulers have a good opinion of Elam, as does the populations, as Babylonians feel that the Elamites liberated them from the Kassites, while Assyrians feel mostly the same way about Elamites helping rid Assyria of Tiglath-Pileser and his court. Dilmun and Magan are also allies of Elam, now that the corporatist factions are in power in both states and so they cooperate extensively with Elam. Lullubum also has a deep established relationship, mostly due to Shilhak's and Zubani's alliance during the Great Powers' War and the OFK-EC War, and Lim continues this relationship, though some other Lullubi chiefs prefer neutrality or even joining the OFK.

The OFK is Elam's main enemy and so are its member kingdoms, though mostly the Commonwealth and Hatti. The Commonwealth is the leader of the OFK and so Elam is most hostile to it, but Hatti is also considered a threat almost as large, as for Muwatalli III the OFK-EC War was a very personal issue and so the Elamite and Hittite relations are at their worst. Alashiya and the Mycenaean Confederation are not thought of as much due to them being further away and never really engaging directly with Elam, but they are still considered to be hostile. Elam also supports the independence of the OFK Mandate of Amurru, hoping that the independent kingdom might then turn to the EC and so give it access to the Mediterranean Sea once again. Elam also has contacts in the Indus Valley, where some local kings are considered allies of Elam, but they still are not part of the EC.