Chaldæan empire they had assumed such importance that the
Hebrews made out Elam to be one of the sons of Shem (_Gen._
x. 22).

** Anzân, Anshân, and, by assimilation of the nasal with the
sibilant, Ashshân. This name has already been mentioned in
the inscriptions of the kings and vicegerents of Lagash and
in the _Book of Prophecies_ of the ancient Chaldæan
astronomers; it also occurs in the royal preamble of Cyrus
and his ancestors, who like him were styled "kings of
Anshân." It had been applied to the whole country of Elam,
and afterwards to Persia. Some are of opinion that it was
the name of a part of Elam, viz. that inhabited by the
Turanian Medes who spoke the second language of the
Achæmenian inscriptions, the eastern half, bounded by the
Tigris and the Persian Gulf, consisting of a flat and swampy
land. These differences of opinion gave rise to a heated
controversy; it is now, however, pretty generally admitted
that Anzân-Anshân was really the plain of Elam, from the
mountains to the sea, and one set of authorities affirms
that the word Anzân may have meant "plain" in the language
of the country, while others hesitate as yet to pronounce
definitely on this point.

*** The meaning of "Nunima," "Ilamma," "Ilamtu," in the
group of words used to indicate Elam, had been recognised
even by the earliest Assyriologists; the name originally
referred to the hilly country on the north and east of Susa.
To the Hebrews, Elam was one of the sons of Shem (Gen. x.
22). The Greek form of the name is Elymais, and some of the