Shu'shan. (a lily). Shushan, or Susa, is said to have
received its name from the abundance of the lily, (shushan or shushanah),
in its neighborhood. It was originally the capital of the country called, in
Scripture, Elam, and, by the classical writers, Susis or Susiana. In the
time of Daniel, Susa was in the possession of the Babylonians, to whom Elam had
probably passed at the division of the Assyrian empire, made by Cyaxares and
Nabopolassar. Dan_8:2. The conquest of
Babylon by Cyrus transferred Susa to the Persian dominion; and it was not long
before the Achaemenian princes determined to make it the capital of their whole
empire, and the chief place of their own residence.
According to some writers, the change was made by Cyrus; according to
others, it had, at any rate, taken place before the death of Cambyses; but,
according to the evidence of the place itself, and of the other Achaemenian
monuments, it would seem, most probable, that the transfer was really the work
of Darius Hystaspes. Nehemiah resided here. Neh_1:1.
Shushan was situated on the Ulai or Choaspes. It is identified with the modern Sus
or Shush, its ruins are about three miles in circumference.
(Here, have been found the remains of the great palace build by Darius,
the father of Xerxes, in which, and the surrounding buildings, took place the
scenes recorded in the life of Esther. The great central hall was 343 feet long
by 244 feet wide. The king's gate, says Schaff, where Mordecai sat, "was
probably a hall 100 feet square, 150 feet from the northern portico. Between
these two was probably the inner court, where Esther appeared before the
king." -- Editor).
Source:
Smith’s Bible Dictionary
Shushan
shōō´shan (שׁוּשׁן, shūshan; Σουσάν,
Sousán, Σούσα,
Soúsa):
1. Position, Eytmology and
Forms of Its Name:
This city, the Šušu or Šušan
of the Babylonians, and the native (Elamite) Šušun, is the
modern Shush (Sus) in Southwestern Persia, a series of ruin-mounds on
the banks of the river Kerkha. The ancient etymologies (“city of lilies” or “of
horses”) are probably worthless, as an etymology in the language of the place
would rather be expected. Sayce therefore connects the name with šašša,
meaning “former,” and pointing to some such meaning as “the old” city. It is
frequently mentioned in the Babylonian inscriptions of the 3rd millennium BC,
and is expressed by the characters for the goddess Ishtar and for “cedar,”
implying that it was regarded as the place of the “divine grove” (see 5,
below). In later days, the Assyrians substituted for the second character, that
having the value of šeš, possibly indicating its
pronunciation. Radau (Early Babylonian History, 236) identifies Shushan
(Susa) with the Šaša of the Babylonian king Kuri-galzu (14th
century BC, if the first of the name), who dedicates to the Babylonian goddess
Ninlil an inscription of a certain Siatu, who had, at an earlier date,
dedicated it to Ishtar for the life of the Babylonian king Dungi (circa 2500
BC).
2. The Ruins:
The surface still covered with ruins is about 2,000
hectares (4, 940 acres), though this is but a fraction compared with the
ancient extent of the city, which is estimated to have been between 12,000 and
15,000 hectares (29, 640-37,000 acres). Though considerable, the extent of Susa
was small compared with Nineveh and Babylon. The ruins are divided by the
French explorers into four tracts: (1) The Citadel-mound (West), of the
Achemenian period (5th century BC), circa 1, 476 by 820 ft., dominating the plain
(height circa 124 ft.). (2) The Royal City on the East of the Citadel, composed
of two parts: the Apadana (Northeast), and a nearly triangular tract extending
to the East and the South. This contains the remains of the palace of Darius
and his successors, and occupies rather more than 123 acres. The palace proper
and the throne-room were separated from the rest of the official buildings. (3)
The City, occupied by artisans, merchants, etc. (4) The district on the right
bank, similarly inhabited. This in ancient times extended into all the lower
plain, between the Shaour and the Kerkha. Besides these, there were many
isolated ruins, and the suburbs contained a number of villages and separate
constructions.
3. The “Royal City,” “The
Citadel,” and the Ruins Therein:
Most of the constructions at Susa are of the
Persian period. In the northern part of the Royal City lie the remains of the
Apadana, the only great monument of which remains were found on the level. The
principal portion consisted of a great hall of columns, known as the
throne-room of Artaxeres Mnemon. It replaced an earlier structure by Darius,
which was destroyed by fire in the time of Artaxerxes I. The columns apparently
had capitals of the style common in Persia - the foreparts of two bulls kneeling
back to back. In the Citadel a palace built by Xerxes seems to have existed,
the base of one of his columns having been found there. Bricks bearing the
inscriptions of early Elamite kings, and the foundations of older walls,
testify to the antiquity of the occupation of this part. According to the
explorers, this was the portion of the city reserved for the temples.
4. The Monuments
Discovered:
The number of important antiquities found on the
site is considerable. Among the finds may be mentioned the triumphal stele of Narâm-Sin,
king of Agadé (3rd-4th millennium BC); the statuettes of the
Babylonian king Dungi (circa 2360 BC); the reliefs and inscriptions of
the Elamite king Ba(?)-ša-Šušinak (circa
2340 BC); the obelisk inscribed with the laws of H̬ammurabi of
Babylon; the bronze bas-relief of the Elamite king Sutruk-Nah̬h̬unte
(circa 1120 BC), who carried off from Babylonia the stelae of Narâm-Sin
and H̬ammurabi above mentioned, together with numerous other
Babylonian monuments; the stele of Adda-h̬amiti-In-Šušnak,
of a much later date, together with numerous other objects of art and
inscriptions - a most precious archaeological find.
5. Assur-Bani-Apli's
Description of the City:
Shushan passed through many serious crises, one of
the severest being its capture and destruction by the armies of the Assyrian
king Aššur-bani-âpli about 640 BC.
According to his account, the ziqqurat or temple-tower of Susa was built
of enameled brick imitating lapis-lazuli, and was adorned with pinnacles of bright
bronze. The god of the city was Šušinak, who dwelt in a
secret place, and none ever saw the form of his divinity. Lagamaru (Laomer) and
five other of the city's deities were adored only by kings, and their images,
with those of 12 more (worshipped by the people), were carried off as spoil to
Assyria. Winged bulls and genii adorned Susa's temples, and figures of wild
bulls protected the entrances to their shrines. Other noteworthy things were
the sacred groves into which no stranger was allowed to enter, and the
burial-places of the Elamite kings. After recovering from the blow inflicted by
the Assyrians, Shushan ultimately regained its old importance, and, as the
summer residence of the Persian kings, became _ the home of Ahasuerus and Queen
Esther (Neh_1:1; Est_1:2, Est_1:5;
Est_2:3; Est_3:15;
Est_9:11 ff; Dan_8:2; Additions to Esther 11:3).
Literature.
See Perrot et Chipiez, Histoire de l'art dans
l'antiquite, volume V, Perse, 1890; de Morgan, Delegation en Perse
(Memoires), 1900, etc.; Histoire et travaux de la delegation en Perse,
1905; article “Elamites” in Hastings ERE; article ELAM in this work.
Source:
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Shushan
A lily, the Susa of Greek and Roman writers, once the capital of Elam.
It lay in the uplands of Susiana, on the east of the Tigris, about 150 miles to
the north of the head of the Persian Gulf. It is the modern Shush, on the
northwest of Shuster. Once a magnificent city, it is now an immense mass of
ruins. Here Daniel saw one of his visions (Dan. 8); and here also Nehemiah (Neh_1:1-11) began his public life. Most of the
events recorded in the Book of Esther took place here. Modern explorers have
brought to light numerous relics, and the ground-plan of the splendid palace of
Shushan, one of the residences of the great king, together with numerous
specimens of ancient art, which illustrate the statements of Scripture
regarding it (Dan_8:2). The great hall
of this palace (Esther 1) “consisted of several magnificent groups of columns,
together with a frontage of 343 feet 9 inches, and a depth of 244 feet. These
groups were arranged into a central phalanx of thirty-six columns (six rows of
six each), flanked on the west, north, and east by an equal number, disposed in
double rows of six each, and distant from them 64 feet 2 inches.” The
inscriptions on the ruins represent that the palace was founded by Darius and
completed by Artaxerxes.
Source:
Easton’s Bible Dictionary