The Achaemenids were initially rulers of the Elamite city of Anshan near the modern city of Marvdasht; the title "King of
Anshan" was an adaptation of the earlier Elamite title "King of Susa and Anshan". There are conflicting accounts of the identities
of the earliest Kings of Anshan. According to the Cyrus Cylinder (the oldest extant genealogy of the Achaemenids) the kings
of Anshan were Teispes, Cyrus I, Cambyses I and Cyrus II, also known as Cyrus the Great, who created the empire (the later
Behistun Inscription, written by Darius the Great, claims that Teispes was the son of Achaemenes and that Darius is also descended
from Teispes through a different line, but no earlier texts mention Achaemenes).
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