428 SEAL CYLINDERS OF WESTERN ASIA. 
very early inscriptions tell of constant wars with Elam, which seems to have been 
equally a strong and populous country which in its turn conquered Babylonia. We 
know that as early as the time of Naram-Sin, son of Sargon I., and even earlier, 
there were such campaigns. One of the most spirited of the very early bas-reliefs 
gives the conquest of Naram-Sin over Elam; and de Morgan believes that he 
found in Elam the oldest of all the existing rock sculptures and inscribed tablets. 
So far, then, as the written texts may guide us, the civilization of Elam may be as 
old as that of Babylonia; and the evidence here presented shows that it may well 
have been the source from which it was conveyed by conquest to Babylonia. Indeed, 
according to the genealogical lists of Genesis 10 Elam was the eldest son of Shem, 
and Asshur came next after him. 

