Šutruk-Nakhunte was king of Elam from about 1184 to 1155 BC (

middle chronology The chronology of the ancient Near East is a framework of dates for various events, rulers and dynasties. Historical inscriptions and texts customarily record events in terms of a succession of officials or rulers: "in the year X of king Y". Com ...

), and the second king of the Shutrukid Dynasty. Elam amassed an empire that included most of

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...

and western

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. Under his command, Elam defeated the Kassites and established the short-lived

Elamite Empire Elam (; Linear Elamite: ''hatamti''; Cuneiform Elamite: ; Sumerian: ; Akkadian: ; he, עֵילָם ''ʿēlām''; peo, 𐎢𐎺𐎩 ''hūja'') was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of modern-day Iran, stretc ...

, conquered within about 40 years by

Nebuchadnezzar I Nebuchadnezzar I or Nebuchadrezzar I (), reigned 1121–1100 BC, was the fourth king of the Second Dynasty of Isin and Fourth Dynasty of Babylon. He ruled for 22 years according to the ''Babylonian King List C'', and was the most prominent monarc ...

of Babylon, in 1120 BC. Šutruk-Nakhunte was married to the daughter of a Kassite king named Meli-Šipak.

Inscription on the Naram-Sin victory stele

Shutruk-Nahhunte is known by an inscription that he added to the

Victory Stele of Naram-Sin The Victory Stele of Naram-Sin is a stele that dates to approximately 2254–2218 BC, in the time of the Akkadian Empire, and is now at the Louvre in Paris. The relief measures 200cm in height (6' 7") and was carved in pink limestone, with cunei ...

, itself dated about one millennium earlier to circa 2250 BC. His inscription appears on the top right corner of the stele, on the depiction of a mountainous cone, and was written in

Elamite Elamite, also known as Hatamtite and formerly as Susian, is an extinct language that was spoken by the ancient Elamites. It was used in what is now southwestern Iran from 2600 BC to 330 BC. Elamite works disappear from the archeological record ...

by Shutruk-Nahhunte himself:

In popular culture

Shutruk-Nakhunte gained a small public exposition in

Ethan Canin Ethan Andrew Canin (born July 19, 1960) is an American author, educator, and physician. He is a member of the faculty of the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa. Canin was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, while his parents were vacatio ...

's short story "The Palace Thief", and its adaptation in the 2002 film ''

The Emperor's Club ''The Emperor's Club'' is a 2002 American drama film directed by Michael Hoffman and starring Kevin Kline. Based on Ethan Canin's 1994 short story "The Palace Thief", the film follows a prep school teacher and his students at a fictional boys ...

'', in which one of the key elements is a plaque describing the exploits of Shutruk-Nakhunte, described as a once famous egomaniacal conqueror virtually unknown today. The plaque hanging on the wall of the film reads... 'I am Shutruk Nahunte, King of Anšhan and Susa, Sovereign of the land of Elam. By the command of Inshushinak I destroyed Sippar, Took the Stele of Niran-Sin, and brought it back to Elam, where I erected it as an offering to my god, Inshushhinak.' — Šutruk-Nahunte, 1158 B.C.’

Sources

* D.T. Potts: ''The Archaeology of Elam'', Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1999, 232-237 Elamite kings Late Bronze Age collapse Shuturukid dynasty {{MEast-royal-stub