This ethnic designation identifies colonists whom Assyrian emperors transplanted from Susa (ancient Elam) to the former northern kingdom of Israel. The policy of population exchange aimed to break national identities and prevent rebellion. These Susians joined other displaced peoples—Babylonians, Erechites, and others—in writing a letter opposing Jerusalem's rebuilding. The plural gentilician form marks them as a collective group, their name preserving their city of origin even in displacement.