There are three watercourses near Susa, and scholars are divided on which is indicated, although archaeology by Loftus in 1851 and Dieulafoy in 1885 helped shed some light.
The Battle of the Ulai River, in 652 BC, during the reign of Ashurbanipal was an Assyrian assault on Elam, which was a Babylonian ally, and was apparently motivated by a desire to protect vital trade caravans of horses and metals from the mountains of Iran and Eastern Anatolia.