JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

eration of Palestine. A Boeing 707 was hijacked to Algeria in
July 1968 but was later returned to Israel. In December 1968,
an El Al plane was attacked on the ground at Athens airport
and one passenger killed, and an attack on another at Zurich
in February 1969 resulted in the death of one of the crew. A
hijacking attempt in 1970 was foiled by the crew. A Constellation,
straying off course, was shot down over Bulgaria in
1955 (all passengers were killed and Bulgaria later paid compensation).
El Al played a crucial role during the 1991 Persian Gulf
conflict, acting as Israel’s sole airlink with the world when all
other airlines had ceased flying to Israel. It also played a vital
role in the 1990s in bringing Russian and Ethiopian immigrants
to Israel. In the last two decades of the 20th century,
the company faced serious economic problems. The government
began privatization in 2003, issuing stock to the public.
In 2004 the company showed a profit due to its increased
share in both passenger and cargo flights.
Bibliography: Israel Economist, 24 (Jan. 1968), 11–19; El Al
Public Relations Department, Twenty Years History of El Al (1969).
Website: www.elal.co.il.
[Arnold Sherman / Shaked Gilboa (2nd ed.)]
ELAM (Heb. םליע, ‘eylam; Elamite halhatamti; Akk. Elamtu),
region on the edge of the southwestern part of the Iranian
plateau, modern Khuzistan, including the river valley around
Susa and the highlands beyond. In Elamite Elam may mean
“the lord-country,” but in Mesopotamian languages it was
understood as “The Heights.” The word Elam probably derives
from the Elamite, relying on a popular etymology in
Akkadian relating it to elû, “high.” In classical sources it is
referred to as Susiana, from Susa (Heb. ןָׁ שּוש, ׁ Shūshan), the
capital of Elam.
History
Elam was closely connected with Mesopotamia, serving as a
source of its raw materials, wood, stone, and metals and as the
route for precious metals and stones like lapis lazuli, the blue
stone prized by the Mesopotamians, which were brought from
as far away as Afghanistan. The Elamites also raided the valleys
of the Diyala and the Tigris, and, according to the Sumerian
King List, the Awan dynasty, the most ancient royal dynasty
in Elam, ruled Sumer for a time. There is a poorly understood
treaty between the Akkadian ruler Naram-Sin and an Elamite
ruler from around 2200 B.C.E. In the 21st century B.C.E., the
kings of the third dynasty of Ur in Mesopotamia annexed
Elam, and Susa became a seat of Sumerian governors.
At the beginning of the 19th century B.C.E., an independent
Elamite royal dynasty reigned in Anshan in the uplands
and Susa on the plain. Elam exerted a widespread influence,
and trading expeditions carried raw materials from Elam as far
as Hazor in Canaan. In the middle of the 18th century B.C.E.,
Elam was consolidated under the rule of Kutir-Nahhunte I,
whose reign coincided with the later years of *Hammurapi of
Babylon and with the reign of Hammurapi’s son, Samsu-iluna.
elam
From about this time on, and throughout the whole period,
Babylonian influence is evidenced by the use of Akkadian as
the written language of economic and cultural life.
During this period three rulers held power in Elam at
one and the same time: the highest ruler, called in Sumerian
the “Grand Regent” (Sumerian sukkal-mah), and two others,
who were his sons, one ruling the highlands and the other the
Susiana plain. The manner in which authority was divided
among the three is not clear. But the rulers of Elam were members
of one family, and succession to the throne was matrilineal.
The old idea that one of the rulers was a nephew should
be discarded. One of the son’s mothers was the regent’s sister,
indicating a way of keeping power within the family that
to moderns looks incestuous but must not have been seen as
incestuous to Elamites.
Almost nothing is known about the history of Elam
during the 17th-15th centuries B.C.E., but it appears to have
suffered greatly from the migrations of the peoples who descended
upon the Babylonian plain from the Zagros mountains.
Elam rose to prominence again at the beginning of the
13th century B.C.E. The most famous king of that period was
Untash-napirisha, who reigned during the first half of the
13th century and built his capital, Dur-Untash, the modern
Tchoga Zambil (“Basket Hill”), 25 mi. (40 km.) southeast of
Susa. Here was found the best preserved ziggurat, or temple
tower, in all of the ancient Near East, still 82 ft. (25 m.) tall.
The Elamite language and pantheon became more popular
around Susa in the period. Untash-Napirisha honored both
the lowland god Inshushinak and the highland god Napirisha
in his temple complex.
The consolidation and rise of Elam in the 12th century
B.C.E. coincided with the decline of Babylon during the rule of
the last kings of the Kassite dynasty. The Elamites made several
raids into Babylonia, plundered Sippar and its temples,
and brought as booty to Susa royal monuments including the
stele of the Code of Hammurapi now in the Louvre Museum.
In 1159 B.C.E. the Elamites seized the city of Babylon itself and
captured the statue of Marduk, its god, and snuffed out the
long-lived Kassite dynasty. Elam’s military ascendancy ended,
however, with the renewal of Babylonian power during the
reign of Nebuchadnezzar I (1125–1104 B.C.E.), who defeated
the Elamites, captured Susa, and brought the statue of Marduk
back to Babylon.
The decline of Elam was rapid and there are no further
records of its history until the eighth century B.C.E. During
this, the last period of Elam’s history as an independent state,
the Elamites joined forces with the Chaldean tribes in their
wars against Sargon and Sennacherib, kings of Assyria, until
their final defeat by Assurbanipal (669–627 B.C.E.), who devastated
Elam. In a series of bloody battles (647–646 B.C.E.),
the Assyrians razed most of the cities of Elam, especially Susa,
deliberately desecrating its holy places, and destroying the
temple of Inshushinak.
There were attempts at the beginning of the Neo-Babylonian
period to rebuild Elam, but they were never totally suc-
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