Tlie fullest account of Elam, its physical geography, rnins, and historj^, is given in Loftus's Chaldi'ci and Susiana (Lond. 1856; N. Y. 1857). The southern part of the country is flat, and towards the shore of the gulf marshy and desolate. In tlie north the mountain ranges of Backhtiari and Luristan rise gradually from the plain in a series of calcareous terraces, intersected by ravines of singular wildness and grandeur. Among these mountains are the sources of the Ulai (Loftus, p. 308, 347 sq.). The chief towns of Elj^mais are now Shuster ("little Siiush") and Dizful ; but the greater part of the countr}^ is overrun bj^ nomad Arabs. — Kitto, s. V. : Smith, s. v. See Elamite.
2. (Sept. '\ii>ovi]Kio\af.i v. r. 'fwXaju, also 'Q\;',( and A(,\«/i ; Vulg. yElam.) A Korhite Levitc, fifth son of Meshelemiah, one of the Bene-Asaph, and su- perintendent of the fiftli division of Temple wardens in the time of king David (1 Chron. xxvi, 3), B.C. 1014.
3. (Sept. 'A);\(</( v. r. A/Xcf^w, Vulg. yElam.') A chief m:in of the tribe of Benjamin, one of the sons of Shashak, resident at Jerusalem at the captivitj' or on the return (1 Chron. viii, 24), B.C. 530 or ante.
4. (Sept. 'KiXan, 'HX«//, Vulg. JElam.) "Children of Elam," Bene-Elam, to the number of 12.54, returned with Zejubbabel from Baltylon (Ezra ii, 7; Neh. vii, 12; 1 Esdr. v, 12), and a further detachment of 71 men with Ezra in the second caravan (Ezra viii, 7 ; 1 Esdr. viii, 33). It was one of this familv, Shechani- ah, son of Jehiel, who encouraged Ezra in his eff"orts against tlie indiscriminate marriages of the people (Ezra X, 2, text C^^r, i. e. cVl:.", 01am), and six of the Bene-Elam accordinglj' put away their foreign wives (Exra x, 26). The lists of Ezra ii and Neh. vii contain apparently an irregular mixture of the names of places and of persons. In the former, ver. 21-34, with one or two exceptions, are names of places; 3-19, on the other hand, are not known as names of places,
III.— II
and are probably of persons. No such place as Elam is mentioned as in Palestine, either in the Bible or in the Onomasticon of Eusebius, nor has since been dis- covered as existing in the country', although Schwarz endeavors (Palest, p. 143) to give the word a local ref- erence to the grave of a Samaritan priest Eli, at a vil- lage named by him as Charim hcn-Elim, on the bay, 8 miles N.N.E. of Jaffii. See Harim. Most interpret- ers have therefore concluded that it was a person. B.C. ante 536. It is possible, however, that this and the following name have been boiTowed from No. 1, perhaps as designating Jews who resided in that re- gion of the Babylonian dominions during tlie captivity.
5. In the same lists is a second Elam, whose sons, to the same number as in the former case, returned with Zerubbabel (Ezra ii, 31 ; Neh. vii, 34), and which, for the sake of distinction, is called "the other Elam" (^nx tb'i" ; Sept. 'HXff/idp, 'H\rt/(««p,Vulg. ^Elam alter). The coincidence of the numbers is curious, and also suspicious, as arguing an accidental repetition of the foregoing name. B.C. ante 536.
6. (Sept. A('\rt7t,Vulg. yElani.) One of the sacerdo- tal or Levitical singers who accompanied Nehcmiah at the dedication of the new wall of Jerusalem (Neh. xii, 42). B.C. 446.
7. (Sept. 'HX«/<,Vulg. ^Elum.') One of the chiefs of the people who signed the covenant witli Nehemiali (Neh. X, 14), B.C. 410.
E'lamite (Chakl. Elemciy', "^p^^-", in the plural X"^"Clp^| ; Gr. 'EXvi-taiot, Strabo, Ptolemy ; or 'EXapl- rai. Acts ii, 9; Vulg. ^Elamitce). Tiiis word is found in the O. T. only in Ezra iv, 9, and is omitted in that place bj' the Sept. translators, who prol)ably regarded it as a gloss upon "Susanchites," which had occurred only a little before. The Elamites were the original inhabitants of the country called Elam; they were descendants of Shem, and drew their name from an actual man, Elam (Gen. x, 22). It has been olir.erved in the preceding article that the Elamites yielded be- fore a Cossasan or Cushite invasion. See Elaji. They appear to have been driven in part to tlie mountains, where Strabo places them (xi, 13, § 6 ; xvi, 1, § 17), in part to the coast, where they are located by Ptole- my (vi, 3). Little is known of their manners and customs, or of their ethnic character. (See Miiller, in the Journal Asiatique, 1839, vii, 299; XVahl, Asien, p. 603; Mannert, Geoffr.Y, ii, 158; comp. Plutarch, Vit. Pomp.oG; Justin, xxxvi, 1 ; Tacit. v4n««/. vi, 44). Strabo says they were skilful archers (xv, 3, § 10 ; comp. Xenoph. Cijrop. ii, 1, 16; Livy, xxxv, 48; Ap- pian, Si/r. 32), and with this agree the notices both of Isaiah and Jeremiah, the latter of whom speaks of "the bow of Elam" (xlix, 35), while the former saj's that "Elam bare the quiver" (xxii, 6). Isaiah also adds in tliis place that the}' fought both on horseback and from chariots. They appear to have retained their nationality with peculiar tenacity, for it is plain from the mention of them on the day of Pentecost (Acts ii, 9) that they still at that time kept their own language, and the distinct notice of them by Ptolemy more than a century later seems to show that they were not even then merged in the Cossasans. (See Hassel, Erdbesck;: v. Asien, ii, 7G9 sq. ; Assemani, Bibl. Or. Ill, ii, 419, 744; comp. Herod, i, 102; Ar- rian, Ind. 42; Plinj-, vi, 31; Strabo, xv, 728.) In Judith i, 6, the name is given in the Greek form as Eia'm.kans, and in 1 Mace, vi, 1, mention is made of a city Elymais (q. v.).— Smith, s. v.