Shutruk-Nakhunte (sometimes Nahhunte) was king of

Elam Elam () was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of Iran, stretching from the lowlands of what is now Khuzestan and Ilam Province as well as a small part of modern-day southern Iraq. The modern name ''Elam'' stems fr ...

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 is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

and western

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. Under his command, Elam defeated the

Kassites The Kassites () were a people of the ancient Near East. They controlled Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire from until (short chronology). The Kassites gained control of Babylonia after the Hittite sack of Babylon in 1531 B ...

and established the short-lived

Elamite Empire Elam () was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of Iran, stretching from the lowlands of what is now Khuzestan and Ilam Province as well as a small part of modern-day southern Iraq. The modern name ''Elam'' stems fr ...

, conquered within about 40 years by

Nebuchadnezzar I Nebuchadnezzar I ( ; Babylonian: md''Nabû-kudurrī-úṣur'' ()''Babylonian King List C'', 4 or md''Nábû-ku-dúr-uṣur'',''Synchronistic King List'', tablet excavation number Ass. 14616c (KAV 216), ii 15. meaning " Nabû, protect my eldest s ...

Babylon Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...

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

Invasion of Babylonia

Shutruk-Nakhunte invaded Mesopotamia and was able to carry off many monuments from Babylon, such as the Stele of Naram-Sin. His invasion of Babylon likely had to do with the overthrow of the royal Kassite family into whom the Elamites had intermarried for decades. The overthrow of Shutruk-Nakhunte's father-in-law

Meli-Shipak II Meli-Šipak II, or alternatively ''Melišiḫu'Me-li-''dŠI-ḪU or m''Me-li-''ŠI-ḪU, where the reading of ḪU is uncertain, -ḫu or -pak. in contemporary inscriptions, was the 33rd king of the Kassite or 3rd Dynasty of Babylon 1186–1 ...

, who lost the throne to

Zababa-shuma-iddin Zababa-šuma-iddinaWritten as md''Za-ba''4''-ba''4-MU-AŠ. was the 35th and next to last king of the Kassite or 3rd dynasty of Babylon, who reigned for just one year,''Kinglist A'', column 2, line 14. ca. 1158 BC (short chronology). He was witho ...

, would have given enough justification to Shutruk-Nakhunte to attack Babylon. The cause of Meli-Shipak II's death is unknown, but even if he had died of natural causes, the fact that Zababa-shuma-iddin was elected king would still explain Shutruk-Nakhunte's aggressive attack, since he was a relative of Meli-Shipak II.

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 2 meters in height (6' 7") and was carved in pinkish sandstone, with ...

, 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 Scythic, Median, Amardian, Anshanian and Susian, is an extinct language that was spoken by the ancient Elamites. It was recorded in what is now southwestern Iran from 2600 BC to 330 BC. Elamite i ...

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 Eas ...

'', 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 Anshand 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.' — Shutruk-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