Susa City       Susa (Shush). Biblical name: Shushan. A ruined city in southwest of Iran. The capital of ancient Elam and later of Susiana. Palaces of Darius and Artaxerxes; still containing the Code of Hammurabi, the 18th Century B.C. king of Babylonia, were discovered here. The tomb of Daniel the Prophet is located in this city. Susa was the first city to be built in Khouzestan. Hushang built two castles the second of which was indeed very strong. Shahpour Zol-Aktawf renewed the buildings of the city. Susa in Hebrew is the name of a flower (lily or hemerocallis) whereas in Persian it is called Shush. Susa, an Ancient city: According to archeologists Susa is 5,000 years old. The authenticity of the age of this ancient city, verified by the ancient hills and excavations there are beyond doubt. These ancient hills covering an area of 400 hectares are divided into four sections: Acropolis, Apadana, Royal Town, Business town.     A- Acropolis originally a Greek word, refers to the highest part of the hill where the town is built. The most ancient civilization discovered here belongs to the end of 5th millennium B.C. The tablet of the first ever legislator on the earth, Hamourabi, and that of Aked's King Naramssin were discovered during excavations in Susa. Shoutrok Nakhonteh, one of the 13th Century B.C. kings of Ilam, brought both tablets to this city. For the first time in history, archeologists discovered drawings (used instead of words) of Ilam in this city. The statue of Queen Napirasso, wife of "Ontash Gaul" founder of Zigguart Chagha Zanbil, was discovered there. French archeologists headed by Jacque De Morgan, during excavations in 1879 utilized the excavated construction materials taken from the ruins of Ilam temples in Susa, Apadana palace of the Achaemenidae, the Parthians' and Arsacides' buildings, and Sassanides and those of the Islamic era, to build a castle there in order to store the antiquities and preserve the excavations. The architecture was influenced by that of Europe's middle Ages.     B- Apadana is the name of a palace built on Apadana hill by Darius the Great of Achaemenian Dynasty in 525 B.C. This magnificent palace caught fire during the reign of "Ardeshir I" in 461 B.C and was reconstructed during the reign of "Ardeshir II" (404 - 359 B.C.). It was again ruined when Alexander invaded Persia and most of its construction material were used elsewhere. Also, during World War II the invaders to construct roads and bridges used whatever remained of that material. The stone statue of Darius was found among the ruins of this palace. C- The Royal Town, of 7,000 sq. m, was the residential quarters of court people and businessmen during Achaemenid era. D- The Business Town The present city of Shoush: This town is located in Khouzestan Province on the northwestern side of Ahwaz and the main Ahwaz-Dezful highway runs through this city (110 km distant from Ahwaz and 40 km from Dezful). It is only 3 km away from Karkheh River. The temperature of this hot and dry city reaches 53 degrees © in summer and drops to plus one degree in winter. Its distance from Moussian is 90 km and from Chananeh 80 km. Its population in1996 was 52,000, half of which were females.