Editing Susa (section)

====Neo-Elamite period (c. 1100–540 BC)====

=====Neo-Assyrians=====
{{main|Battle of Susa}}
In 647&nbsp;BC, [[Neo-Assyrian]] king [[Ashurbanipal]] leveled the city during a war in which the people of Susa participated on the other side. A tablet unearthed in 1854 by [[Austen Henry Layard]] in [[Nineveh]] reveals Ashurbanipal as an "avenger", seeking retribution for the humiliations that the Elamites had inflicted on the Mesopotamians over the centuries:

<blockquote>
"Susa, the great holy city, abode of their gods, seat of their mysteries, I conquered. I entered its palaces, I opened their treasuries where silver and gold, goods and wealth were amassed. . . .I destroyed the [[ziggurat]] of Susa. I smashed its shining copper horns. I reduced the temples of Elam to naught; their gods and goddesses I scattered to the winds. The tombs of their ancient and recent kings I devastated, I exposed to the sun, and I carried away their bones toward the land of Ashur. I devastated the provinces of Elam and, on their lands, I sowed salt."<ref>"Persians: Masters of Empire" {{ISBN|0-8094-9104-4}} p. 7-8</ref>
</blockquote>

Assyrian rule of Susa began in 647 BC and lasted till [[Medes|Median]] capture of Susa in 617 BC.