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Akkadian Empire

The Akkadian Empire (/əˈkeɪdiən/)[2] was the first known ancient empire of Mesopotamia, succeeding the long-lived civilization of Sumer. Centered on the city of Akkad (/ˈækæd/)[3] and its surrounding region, the empire would unite Akkadian and Sumerian speakers under one rule and exercised significant influence across Mesopotamia, the Levant, and Anatolia, sending military expeditions as far south as Dilmun and Magan (modern United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman) in the Arabian Peninsula.[4]

𒆳𒌵𒆠 (Akkadian)
māt Akkadi
𒀀𒂵𒉈𒆠 (Sumerian)
a-ga-de3KI

Akkad

Akkadian
Sumerian

Ancient Mesopotamian religion

Monarchy

 

Sargon (first)

Shu-turul (last)

Bronze Age

c. 2334 BC

c. 2340 – 2284 BC

c. 2154 BC

30,000 km2 (12,000 sq mi)

650,000 km2 (250,000 sq mi)

800,000 km2 (310,000 sq mi)

250,000 km2 (97,000 sq mi)

Iraq
Iran
Syria
Turkey
Kuwait

The Akkadian Empire reached its political peak between the 24th and 22nd centuries BC, following the conquests by its founder Sargon of Akkad. Under Sargon and his successors, the Akkadian language was briefly imposed on neighboring conquered states such as Elam and Gutium. Akkad is sometimes regarded as the first empire in history, though the meaning of this term is not precise, and there are earlier Sumerian claimants.[5][6]

– At one point in his reign much of the Empire, especially in the old mainly Sumerian city-states, rose up against Naram-Sin. The revolt was crushed but the echoes of the event were passed down in history. Some of the tales, like "Naram-Sin and the Enemy Hordes" (Old Babylonian – purported to be a copy of an inscription at the temple of Nergal in Cutha) and "Gula-AN and the Seventeen Kings against Naram-Sin" were literary compositions which further developed and changed the themes. The earliest examplar, from the Old Babylonian period, is found in several incomplete tablets and fragments, which differ somewhat, purporting to be copies of an inscription on a statue of Naram-Sin standing in the Ekur temple of Enlil at Nippur. Because it aligns with known contemporary inscriptions and year name it is considered authentic, which the usual Mesopotamian slant that something going wrong means you displeased the gods.[26][27][28]

Great Rebellion Against Naram-Sin

So great was the Akkadian Empire, especially Sargon and Narim-Sin, that its history was passed down for millennia. This ranged on one end to purported copies of still existing Sargonic period inscriptions to literary tales made up from the whole cloth at the other.[25] A few examples:


There were a number of these, passed down as part of scribel tradition including The Birth Legend of Sargon (Neo-Assyrian), Weidner Chronicle, and the Geographical Treatise on Sargon of Akkad's Empire.[32] [33][34][35]

Archaeology[edit]

Identifying architectural remains is hindered by the fact that there are sometimes no clear distinctions between features thought to stem from the preceding Early Dynastic period, and those thought to be Akkadian. Likewise, material that is thought to be Akkadian continues to be in use into the Ur III period.[36] There is a similar issue with cuneiform tablets. In the early Akkadian Empire tablets and the signs on them are much like those from earlier periods, before developing into the much different Classical Sargonic style.[11]


With the capital, Akkad, still unlocated, archaeological remains of the empire are still to be found, mainly at the cities they established regional governors. An example would be Adab where Naram-Sin established direct imperial control after Adab joined the "great revolt".[37] After destroying the city of Mari the Akkadian Empire rebuilt it as an administrative center with an imperial governor.[38] The city of Nuzi was established by the Akkadians and a number of economic and administrative texts were found there.[39] Similarly, there are Marad, Nippur, Tutub and Ebla.[40][41]


Excavation at the modern site of Tell Brak has suggested that the Akkadians rebuilt a city ("Brak" or "Nagar") on this site, for use as an administrative center. The city included two large buildings including a complex with temple, offices, courtyard, and large ovens.[42][43]

The Bassetki statue, another example of Akkadian artistic realism

The Bassetki statue, another example of Akkadian artistic realism

The Manishtushu statue

The Manishtushu statue

Statue of an Akkadian ruler. From Assur, Iraq, c. 2300 BC. Pergamon Museum.

Statue of an Akkadian ruler. From Assur, Iraq, c. 2300 BC. Pergamon Museum.

Fragment of the statue of a devotee, with inscription in the name of Naram-Sin: "To the god Erra, for the life of Naram-Sin, the powerful, his companion, the king of the four regions, Shu'astakkal, the scribe, the majordomo, has dedicated his statue".[127]

Fragment of the statue of a devotee, with inscription in the name of Naram-Sin: "To the god Erra, for the life of Naram-Sin, the powerful, his companion, the king of the four regions, Shu'astakkal, the scribe, the majordomo, has dedicated his statue".[127]

Technology[edit]

A tablet from the periods reads, "(From the earliest days) no-one had made a statue of lead, (but) Rimush king of Kish, had a statue of himself made of lead. It stood before Enlil; and it recited his (Rimush's) virtues to the idu of the gods". The copper Bassetki Statue, cast with the lost wax method, testifies to the high level of skill that craftsmen achieved during the Akkadian period.[138]

List of cities of the ancient Near East

List of Mesopotamian deities

History of Mesopotamia

List of Mesopotamian dynasties

ed. (1993). Akkad: The First World Empire: Structure, Ideology Traditions. Padova: Sargon srl. ISBN 978-8-81120-468-8

Liverani, Mario

(2004). "Archaeology in Mesopotamia: Digging Deeper at Tell Brak". 2004 Albert Reckitt Archaeological Lecture. In Proceedings of the British Academy: 2004 Lectures; Oxford University Press, 2005. ISBN 978-0-19726-351-8.

Oates, Joan

Zettler, Richard L. (2003). "Reconstructing the World of Ancient Mesopotamia: Divided Beginnings and Holistic History". Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. 46 (1): 3–45. :10.1163/156852003763504320. JSTOR 3632803.

doi

Gough, M.A, , Rosetta 1, pp 1–9, 2006

Historical Perception in the Sargonic Literary Tradition. The Implication of Copied Texts

Paszke, Marcin Z, "From Sargon To Narām-Sîn: some remarks on Akkadian military activity in the II nd half of the III rd millennium bc. The example of eastern campaigns", Acta Archaeologica Lodziensia 68, pp. 75–83, 2022

[9]

Sallaberger, Walther; Westenholz, Aage (1999), Mesopotamien. Akkade-Zeit und Ur III-Zeit, Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis, vol. 160/3, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht,  978-3-525-53325-3

ISBN

E. A. Speiser, "Some Factors in the Collapse of Akkad", Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 72, no. 3, pp. 97–101, (Jul. - Sep. 1952)

– Penn Museum

Iraq's Ancient Past

Year Names of Narim-Sin – CDLI

Year Named of Shar-kali-Sharri – CDLI

(archived 12 December 2009)

Site on Enheduanna at Virginia Tech University

33°6′N 44°6′E / 33.100°N 44.100°E / 33.100; 44.100