Hamidreza Peighambari

The Elamite pantheon underwent significant changes in the course of long history of Elam, since the treaty between Akkadian king, Narām-Sin and Hitta, king of Awan dynasty in the late 3rd millennium BC until the Achaemenid era, when tablets were still written in Elamite language. The examination of the causes and factors influencing the rise and fall of the status and importance of various deities in Elamite religion has often been a secondary and implicit topic in studies of the Elamite religion. This paper takes a geographical approach to understanding the Elamite pantheon. In the Elamite kingdom, Susa, -located in the lowlands of Khuzestan and influenced by the of Mesopotamian culture- was the most important city and political capital. As a result, the kings of Elam frequently invoked Inšušinak, the patron deity of the city, for political purposes. With the rise of larger Elamite dynasties, especially during the middle Elamite period, the deities of the mountainous regions also gained prominence and respect in Susa. Among them, the sacred Anshanite couple, Napiriša (the Great God) and Kiririša (the Great Goddess), stand out, and their significance relation as heaven/father and earth/mother is symbolically represented in the Kurangan bas-relief. Consequently, the association of these three deities at the head of the Elamite pantheon aligns with the royal title "King of Anshan and Susa", reflecting the central elements of Elam’s political and cultural structure.