Susa

Susa , ancient city, capital of Elam . The site is 15 mi (23 km) SW of modern Dizful, Iran. It is the biblical Shushan, and its inhabitants were called Susanchites. From the 4th millennium BC, Elam was under the cultural influence of Mesopotamia. Excavations at Susa uncovered the stele of Naram-sin and the code of Hammurabi, which were among the many art objects carried off by the Elamites from Babylonia. Destroyed in the 7th cent. BC by Assurbanipal, Susa was revived in the empire of the Achaemenid rulers of Persia. Darius I and Artaxerxes I built magnificent winter palaces in the city. Susa was later thoroughly Hellenized and continued prominent in the Roman Empire.

Susa Ancient city in sw Iran, capital of the Elamites. It became an important centre under the Achaemenid Kings of Persia, containing a palace of Darius I. After the conquests of Alexander the Great, it became the capital of a small Greek state. Among archaeological finds at Susa was the stele (stone slab) of Hammurabi, inscribed with his code of law.