Susa

An enamelled brick wall of the palace at Susa, showing spear-carriers forming the bodyguard of King Darius I. Susa was the capital of the Persian Empire under Darius I.

Ancient city that stood on the site of modern Shūshtar, at the foot of the Zagros mountains in Iran. In the Bible it was referred to as Shushan (‘city of lilies’). It was the capital of the state of Elam until its destruction c. 1100 BC by Nebuchadnezzar I, and later became the capital of the Persian Empire in Achaemenid times, under Darius I, who built a palace there. Under Greek rule it was a polis or city-state, and continued to be an important centre under the Roman empire.