Susa

SUSA (Biblical, Shushan), the capital of Susiana or Elam and from the time of Darius I. the chief residence of the Achaemenian kings. It had been the centre of the old monarchy of Elam and had undergone many vicissitudes before it fell into the hands of the Persians (see ELAM). "fhe site, fixed by the explorations of W. K. Loftus, lies in the plain, but within sight of the mountains, between the courses of the Kerkha (Choaspes) and the Dizful, one of the affluents of the Pasitigris. The Shaur, a small tributary of the Dizful, washes the eastern base of the mounds of Shush, and seems to be the representative of the ancient Ulai or Eulaeus. Thus the whole district was fruitful and well watered; the surrounding rivers with their canals gave protection and a waterway to the Persian Gulf; while the position of the town between the Semitic and Iranian lands of the empire was convenient for administrative purposes.