“Elam”

The ancient name for the plain of Khuzistan, watered by the Kerkh river, which joins the Tigris jut north of the Persian Gulf. . . . The mountainous region to the north and east was known as Anshan and, from an early period, formed a part of Elam. Sumerian and Semitic plainsmen looked upon these ranges as the abode of evil spirits. . . .

Elamite history is obscure from about 1000 B.C. until the campaigns of Sargon of Assyria (c. 721-705 B.C.). Sennacherib and Ashurbanipal subjected the Elamites and deported some of them to Samaria, taking Israelites to Elam (Ezra 4:9; Isaiah 11:11).

After the collapse of Assyria, Elam was annexed by the Medo-Persian empire. Elam is called upon by Isaiah to crush Babylon (Isaiah 21:2) and this was carried out (Daniel 8:2). [Tyndale House, The Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Vol. 1, pp. 433-434]

2 Nephi 21:11 Elam ([Illustration]): Elam, the ancient name for the plain of Khuzistan. [Tyndale House, The Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Vol. 1, p. 433]