ABSTRACT
Fundamental to shifting political, cultural and economic relations between Elam, the Iranian highlands and the Mesopotamian lowlands in the Bronze Age, as in all periods, was the differential distribution of key resources such as metals, timber and semi-precious stones including carnelian and lapis lazuli, and the diverse routeways and means, peaceful or otherwise, employed by powerful lowland states to secure access to those resources. Sophisticated metallurgical skills are further attested by metal vessels, tools and weapons, including the first appearance of tin-bronze objects alongside the traditional use of arsenical bronzes. The location of Awan remains uncertain but, as one-time host of Sumerian kingship, it was clearly a site or region of major significance in the Sumerian dynastic tradition. During the fifteenth century BC Mesopotamia was greatly impacted by the ascent to power of the Kassite dynasty, a people originating in the central Zagros mountains although early sources are not clear as to their precise origin.
