Daniel Chapter 8 Vs. 2

 Daniel's Vision of the Ram and the Goat

Daniel 8:2 "And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I [was] at Shushan [in] the palace, which [is] in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai."

province of Elam... The Hebrew name of a region lying east of Babylonia and extending to the mountains of Media to the northeast, and along the Persian Gulf to the borders of ancient Persis in the south. Its two divisions were Elam proper in the north and Anshan in the south, the latter being an independent kingdom until it was annexed by Persia about 600 B.C. Cyrus the Great was hereditary "Prince of Anshan." The capital of Elam was Susa or Shushan. The Elamites were from Shem (Gen. 10:22). Elam was a rival of Babylonia. They were allies for a long period due to a common enemy, the Assyrians, who under Assurbanipal conquered Elam and Babylonia about 645 B.C. Susa was taken and many Elamites and others were deported to Samaria (Ezr. 4:9; 2Ki. 17:24). Upon the breaking up of the Assyrian Empire by Nebuchadnezzar and the Medes about 606 B.C., the Assyrian Empire was divided among the Medes, Lydians, and Babylonians. About 553 B.C., Cyrus the Great, king of the Persians and a subject of the Median king, revolted and captured the Median king. The Persians conquered Lydia, Babylon, and Egypt and held sway over them until Alexander the Great, about 336 B.C.

river of Ulai... The Eulaeus canal which divided Shushan from Elymais (or Susa); now called the Kerkah river.

Shushan was a chief city of the Medo-Persian Empire. It was the capitol of the land of Elam. Shushan or Susa was a Persian royal city about two hundred miles east of Babylon where Daniel was at the time.

The Hebrew name of a region lying east of Babylonia and extending to the mountains of Media to the northeast, and along the Persian Gulf to the borders of ancient Persis in the south. Its two divisions were Elam proper in the north and Anshan in the south, the latter being an independent kingdom until it was annexed by Persia about 600 B.C. 

Elam was named for the first son of Shem the first born of Noah.

In his vision Daniel saw himself in the palace in Susa, one of the Persian royal cities, more than 200 miles east of Babylon on the Ulai Canal. A century later the Persian king Xerxes built a magnificent palace there, which was where the events recorded in the Book of Esther took place (cf. Est. 1:2). And Nehemiah was King Artaxerxes’ cupbearer in the Susa palace (Neh. 1:1).