Bronze working in Elam from the 14th to the 6th centuries BCE

From around the mid-14th century BCE, the Elamite metallurgy industry entered an unprecedented phase of innovation and technical prowess in the production of bronzes for wide and varied purposes. Closely linked to the economic and political fortunes of the Middle Elamite Igihalkid (ca. 1400-1200 BCE) and Šutrukid (ca. 1200-1050 BCE) dynasties, this bronze working apogee saw a lavish use of copper and copper alloys for elaborate, state-sponsored sculptures and architectural decorations. The Elamite metalworkers deployed complex techniques demonstrating in-depth knowledge of the properties of metals coupled with a mastery of pyrotechnics. Indeed, this was “a golden age for the arts of fire in the Elamite world”, in which metalworking must have been closely intertwined with a thriving glass and faience industry, which similarly required controlled high temperatures and plentiful fuel, as well as metal oxides for its pigments. The subsequent Neo-Elamite kingdom (ca. 1050-520 BCE) left behind a far more sober repertoire of bronzes, but nonetheless demonstrating interest in the decorative applications of bronze casting and the potential of sheetwork.