Īlām

The country around Ilam lies in the western Zagros, among mountain ridges, valleys and oak woods overlooking the plains of Mesopotamia. It belonged to the region known as Poshtkuh, the western part of Luristan. The site of the later town was a village called Deh-e Bala, set in a mountain landscape used by local tribes. Routes through the valleys connected this upland country with the lower lands toward the Tigris.