A country east of the lower Tigris. Elam is first mentioned in the OT in Gen. 14 where the king is one of a coalition, but it comes frequently into the history of the 8th and 7th cents. BCE when its capital Susa was destroyed by the Assyrians (646 BCE, Ezek. 32: 24) and later occupied by the Persians (Jer. 49: 34 ff.). The Elamites did their best to prevent the rebuilding of the Temple (Ezra 4: 9).

Some Jewish Elamites were in Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost (Acts 2: 9).