Elam was an ancient kingdom of Asia, situated north of the Persian Gulf and east of the Tigris River, and corresponding approximately to the present-day province of Khuzistan in Iran. The capital of Elam and its most fabled city was Susa, today the city of Shush. This powerful empire has been overshadowed in history by the rival kingdoms of Babylon and Assyria. However, the Elamite Empire deserves to be placed in a list of the world’s most important and influential ancient cultures. Archaeological signatures for the area exist as far back as the sixth millennium B.C. The empire itself was founded in around 3200 B.C., and it lasted – in various guises – almost continuously until the mid first millennium B.C.; much of its history is also documented using the world’s earliest deciphered alphabet, which makes it of extraordinary value to historians and archaeologists.