A Study on the Reasons of Inshushinak's Absence in the Religious Texts of Persepolis Fortification

In the religion of Ancient Elamites, various gods were worshiped. One of the most important gods was Inshushinak. Despite the importance of Inshushinak in the history of Elam, his name does not appear in Persepolis Fortification Tablets in the Achaemenid period; therefore, the purpose of this research is to study the reasons of this absence. By examining the process of Inshushinak worshiping in the history of Ancient Elam and Early Achaemenid period, and also through desk study of inscriptions and examining new researches from other researchers, we can conclude that Inshushinak worshiping in different periods had a direct relationship with the political position of Susa in Elam at the same time. By considering all the evidence and research, five possible hypotheses were formed, including the quantity of existing texts, limited area covered by fortification texts, weak settlement of Susa in the Achaemenid period, interference of Achaemenid government in Elamite rituals and the merging of Inshushinak with the Iranian gods. Finally, by examining the above cases, it was concluded that the absence of Inshushinak in the Achaemenid period is due to a set of reasons including limitation of texts, lack of urban and religious prosperity of Susa and perhaps the Achaemenids' intolerance for the god Inshushinak. The last reason was either due to the revolt of the Elamites in Khuzestan plain during the first years of Darius’ reign or Inshushinak’s contradiction to some of their beliefs, every single factor could have had a significant role, either by itself or in combination with each other, for creating such a religious situation in the Achaemenid period.