Khuzestan province is located in southwestern Iran. Its history extends from the pre-Aryan ancient Elamite civilization to the modern-day Islamic Republic.

Prehistory Susiana plain, centered around Susa in the north of Khuzestan province, has been the subject of the longest and the most extensive archaeological research in Iran. Just to the northwest in Ilam province, there's also the Deh Luran plain, that was culturally very similar.

Susiana plain Unlike southern Mesopotamia, early settled life in Susiana was dominated by a single site: Chogha Mish. It was abandoned around 4800 BCE, perhaps because of increased activity of nomadic pastoralist groups in the lowlands. For several centuries afterward there was a transitional phase during which Chogha Do Sar, 9 km to the southwest, was the largest settlement in the region. Susa was founded around 4400 BCE as a cluster of several hamlets that later merged to become a single larger town. It may have competed with Chogha Do Sar for a while before ultimately becoming the main settlement in the region.

Zohreh River plain From 2015 to 2020 the Zohreh Prehistoric Project has been directed by Abbas Moghaddam. In the Zohreh River plain, they have discovered a very large site of Chega Sofla dating from 4,700 to 3,700 BC.Moghaddam, A. (2016). A fifth-millennium BC cemetery in the north Persian Gulf: The Zohreh Prehistoric Project. Antiquity, 90(353), E3. It is located close to Sardasht, Khuzestan, in the proximity to Makran coast.map of local sites These peoples used bricks in the construction of their tombs. Here we find the oldest example of using bricks in tomb construction so far found. These tombs are built with mud bricks and baked bricks, which is quite unusual for that time, as well as in stone.

Large quantities of luxurious pottery and a big variety of copper tools and other copper objects have been found. Many cultural similarities with Susa, in the lower Zagros Mountains, Iran, have been identified.Ritual Landscape of Chega Sofla (2021) unesco.org

A discovery of 71 unusual conical-shaped stelae had been announced at Tall Chegah-e Sofla in 2020. These stelae are dating from the late fifth-millennium BC.7,000-year-old carved stelae discovered at Tall Chegah-e Sofla in southern Iran. Archaeology News Network (4/24/2020) The height of the stelae varies between 81 cm and 32.5 cm. Some of the stelae have no carvings, but most of them are carved with various figures, such as of humans, goats, and eyes. These carved eyes can be oval or circular. Many stelae also carry some simple geometrical designs. Originally they were set upright, but were found as all stacked together as a group.

Twenty samples of metal objects, whitish beads and rock fragments were discovered at Chega Sofla, and investigated by scientists. They identified the earliest man-made enstatite beads in Iran, as well as the silver objects that may be some of the world's most ancient. The copper-based artifacts found were also analyzed. Besides copper, they contained arsenic, antimony, nickel, as well as lead.

Authors determined that most of the raw materials at the site were imported from farther distances, such as from the central or northwest Iran.Nima Nezafati, Abbas Moghaddam (2021), The First Record of the Earliest Silver, Enstatite Bead, and Metal Relics From the 5th-4th Millenia BCE Site of Tol-e Chega Sofla, Southwest Iran.

Elam

Khuzestan was once inhabited by a people known as the Elamites, who spoke neither Indo-European languages (like the Medes and Persians of the Iranian plateau) nor Semitic languages (like the peoples of the Mesopotamian city-states). The Elamite language was not related to any Iranian languages, but may have been part of a larger group known as Elamo-Dravidian. Archaeologists and historians have documented various Elamite dynasties ranging from approximately 2700 BCE to 644 BCE.

The boundaries of Elam shifted throughout history, but Elam usually included present-day Khuzestan and areas of the Iranian plateau now part of the Iranian province of Fars. Elamite kings sometimes ruled as far afield as Babylon; sometimes they were completely subjugated by the Babylonians and Assyrians, and vice versa, as was the case for numerous dynasties that ruled Iran.

The core region of Elam appears to have been the rugged mountainous area in the Zagros Mountains. The lowlands of Susiana in the west and the southeastern Zagros around Kerman province, with sites such as Tepe Sialk, Tepe Yahya, Tal-i-Iblis, and Shahdad, were more on the periphery. In the eastern region, there was also an indigenous population. The main economy of Elam was based on agriculture and nomadic pastoralism, while trade with lowland Mesopotamia (especially in metals, timber, and precious stones) also played a role from the 4th millennium BCE onwards.

During the Proto-Elamite period, Susa was the lone major settlement in Susiana. In the following Old Elamite period, during the late 3rd millennium BCE, Tepe Musian (14 hectares) on the Deh Loran plain was the only other large town in Khuzestan. Then, early in the 2nd millennium BCE, Susa expanded to a size of 85 hectares and became a major political, commercial, and cultural city. Houses were built of mud brick and arranged around courtyards, and in many cases the dead were buried in tombs underneath the courtyard or the floors. Tombs like these continued to be made in Susan houses until the middle of the 1st millennium BCE. At the same time, towns and villages appeared in the lowlands as well as in the valleys in the neighboring highlands. This, combined with texts from Susa, suggests that there was a high level of agricultural development in the region then, with canals for irrigation.

During the Middle Elamite period, the Elamite kings successfully invaded Mesopotamia, and the increased use of the Elamite language in documents and inscriptions along with new artistic and architectural forms indicates their power at this time. Finds at the major sites in Khuzestan from this period attest to royal sponsorship of metalworking and other technologies. There was a growing interregional trade to accommodate the demand for luxury objects at royal courts and religious sanctuaries. Increased populations in major cities may indicate a contraction in settled agriculture, with pastoralism, trade, and plunder playing a more important role in the economy.

The main archaeological site from the first part of this period is Haft Tepe, 25 km southeast of Susa. Known as Kabnak, this site includes a funerary temple complex with vaulted underground tombs and two mud-brick terraces that may represent the eroded bases of ziggurats. A fragmentary stele indicates that the complex was maintained by the 16th-century BCE king Tepti-ahar. Adjoining the larger terrace was a workshop area including a double-chambered kiln. This area made objects from metal, bone, shell, and mosaic. Ceramics were also made here, including painted clay funerary heads which first appear here and then continue to appear throughout the period.

The main site during the second part of the Middle Elamite period is Chogha Zanbil, which was anciently known as Āl Untaš Napiriša or Dūr Untaš. It had a ziggurat and several surrounding temples, which may have been used as a sanctuary for deities throughout the realm. There was also a royal quarter with three monumental palaces, each with large courts surrounded by long halls and storerooms. The site of Chogha Zanbil may not have been extensively inhabited.

Terracotta figurines are characteristic of Elamite art during the late 2nd millennium BCE, suggesting a possible continuity of religious beliefs during this time. Sculptures of beds and nude women supporting their breasts with their hands are common during this period but do not appear to have remained common after around 1000 BCE. Sculptures of hump-backed bulls are also found at several sites, including Susa, Haft Tepe, and Chogha Zanbil. Rock-cut sanctuaries in the highlands, such as Kūl-e Fara and Šekāfta Salmān near Izeh in eastern Khuzestan, also suggest continuity of religious beliefs. Both sanctuaries have later inscriptions indicating that the area was ruled by a king named Hanni, who ruled over a state named Aapir.

Susa went into a rapid decline at the end of the 2nd millennium BCE. Famines appear to have had "disastrous effects" on the surrounding rural population at that time. Elamite groups may have been pushed to the valleys of eastern Khuzestan from the west by new ethnic groups (or already-present ones that had previously been subordinate). Eastern Khuzestan appears to have increased in both importance and population during this period. The only excavated site in this area is Tall-i Ghazir near Ramhormoz, surrounded by the Bakhtiari mountains.

Around the late 8th century BCE, Susa appears to have recovered and enjoyed a period of renewed prosperity. By this time, at least two other cities, Madaktu and Khidalu, had come to play important political roles.

Historians differ as to whether the Elamites could be considered "Iranian". On the one hand, the Elamites spoke a non-Iranian language and were culturally closer to the established civilizations of Sumer and Akkad than they were to the tribes of the Iranian plateau. On the other hand, the Elamites linked the old civilizations of Mesopotamia and the new peoples of the plateau, and their version of Mesopotamian civilization was a formative influence on the first indisputably Persian empire of the Achaemenids. Elam was one of the first conquests of the new Persian empire; Elamite scribes kept the Persians' records, writing them down in Elamite cuneiform. Hence one contemporary historian, Elton Daniel, states that the Elamites are "the founders of the first Iranian empire in the geographic sense". (The History of Iran, 2001, p. 26). If the Elamites are considered proto-Persians, then Khuzestan would have been one of the cradles of Persian civilization. Many experts such as Sir Percy Sykes in fact called the Elamites "the earliest civilization of Persia" (A History of Persia, p38), and Ibn Nadeem in his book al-Fehrest ("الفهرست"), mentions that all the Median and Persian lands of antiquity spoke one language. In his book, which is the most accredited account of spoken languages of Iran during the early Islamic era, Ibn Nadeem quotes the 8th century scholar Abdullah Ibn al-Muqaffa as having counted Khuzi among the Iranian languages and for having identified it as the unofficial language of the royalty of Iran.

In 644 BCE, the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal conquered Elam and destroyed their capital at Susa. For a time, the area was ruled from northern Mesopotamia. The area then seems to have re-established its independence. It was known as Susiana and ruled from Susa. It managed to remain independent of the burgeoning Median Empire.

The Achaemenid Empire

In 538 BCE Cyrus the Great conquers the Median Empire, then Susiana, then Assyria. The city of Susa is rebuilt as an Achaemenid capital.

Over the succeeding two centuries, Persian civilization established itself in Khuzestan, though the Elamite language is said to have survived for another thousand years, until the 5th century CE.

Alexander and the Seleucids Main articles: Alexander of Macedon, Seleucid Empire

In 331 BCE, Alexander of Macedon defeats the Achaemenids at the Battle of Gaugamela and establishes the largest empire yet known. Alexander dies young and his empire is split between his successors. From 305 BCE to 60 BCE, the Hellenistic Seleucid dynasty, rules from Seleucia on the Tigris. They repeatedly clash with the Parthian empire and eventually fall to the Parthians, in 129 BCE.

The Parthians

300 BCE to 224 CE, The Parthian empire conquers much of present-day Iran and contests Mesopotamia and Khuzestan with the Seleucids and then the Roman Empire.

The Sassanids