The akkadian empire was the first ancient empire of mesopotamia, centered in the city of akkad. Crop failures and poor monarchs the declining days of the empire were marked by a plethora of problems, but the two above were the most deterimental. But if you asked most people alive at that time, they would have pointed you to what they considered the continuation of the roman empire the civilization we now call the. Widely researched and vividly written, george mortonjacks account of the indian army s crucial contribution to the allied victory is unlikely to be surpassed any time soon.
Explaining the fall of the great akkadian empire ancient. There was no regular, paid army because every ablebodied adult male was a potential soldier and liable to be called to arms. Akkadian ration mensuration at akkadianoccupied sites powell 1990. Before sargons reign, the typical sumerian citystate army was composed of militiatype troops. As a nonhistorian, nonarcheologist, i thought that this book was written at an appropriate level. The akkadians had many achievements ever since they first took control.
There were two principal centers that housed these agriculture areas. It lasted for around 200 years from 2300 bc to 2100 bc. Refugees from the north moved to the southern lowlands. The akkadian empire was centered in the city of akkad in ancient iraq. He defeated the armies of sumer in two battles and captured lugalzagesi, the sumerian king who had united or conquered all of sumer and earned the title of king of kish. Stream audiomachine akkadian empire by the most epic music from desktop or your mobile device. In 2350 bc, sargon conquered all the sumerian citystates, uniting them under his rule, creating the first mesopotamian empire. He was the god of cycles and fertility and the son of the highest god anu. If that account is correct, sargons army would have been the largest standing army of the period. There is currently nothing like this available for akkadian. Sargon is thought to have been the first king to create one of these it was very expensive. Naramsin reigned 2254 2218 bc the akkadian empire reached its peak under the kingship of naramsin. The statue was knocked over in antiquity and the head was deliberately mutilated to make a political statement.
Following the conquests of king sargon of akkad and reaching its height of power between the 24th and 22nd centuries b. Explore the thrilling history of the assyrians and their fearful empire in. Sargon of akkad created the first empire through conquest. The rulers of the empire were incompetent in their stewardship. See more ideas about ancient mesopotamia, akkadian empire and sumerian. The em pire united akka dian and sumerian speakers under one rule.
The akkadian empire 2 was an ancient semitic empire centered in the city of akkad 3 and its surrounding region, also called akkad in ancient mesopotamia. Why is it called the neo assyrian empire and not just the assyrian. Sargon built his empire and maintained it with his professional army. Of course, none of these hourly history books go into a deep.
The finest plastic, resin and metal 28mm historical miniatures. Mesopotamia and lead military expeditions to conquer further east and north. The directions of the military campaigns are shown as yellow arrows. As many students will attest, academic books are often quite expensive, taking important tools out of the reach of economicallychallenged students andor those who may be without access to a wellstocked academic research library. The akkadian empire was the first political entity to make extensive and efficient. Achievement of akkadian empire that allowed messages and information to be shared without fear of corruption or forgery. This was a time of big armies that combined troops from. One account suggests that his army numbered 5,400 men, soldiers called gurush in akkadian. Lugalzagesi marched his army from kish to meet sargon in battle and. The original citystate of akkad was located somewhere in. The akkadian empire had loads of achievements to build society. According to history books, the roman empire ended in 476 ce with the fall of rome. This was the empire created by the conquests of sargon, the king of akkad.
The combination of copper and tin was one of the few available alloys which. How exactly did aramaic somehow replace akkadian and become adopted by much of the neoassyrian empire. The akka d ian empire exercised influence across mesopotamia, the levant, and anat olia, sending m ilitary expeditions as far south as. Sargons conquest began with sumer and stretched from the persian gulf to syria and the taurus mountains in southern anatolia or turkey. At its greatest extent, the akkadian empire reached as far as anatolia in the. To facilitate administrative tasks of the assyrian empire aramaic was made the second official language in 752 b. During sargons 50year reign, he fought in 34 wars, using a core military of 5,400 men, the first true standing army. However, the akkadian empire followed a simple societal structure in which the king was the ultimate leader almost like a god and everyone else.
The akkadian empire, considered among the greatest empires in mesopotamia, is believed to be stretched from the persian gulf through modern day kuwait, iraq, jordan, syria through the lower part of asia minor to the mediterranean sea and cyprus. Moreover, the books i read about it focused on the architecture and the. He conquered many of the sumerian citystates and united them under one rule. Founder of the worlds first empire, sargon of akkad upheld order and. The akkadian empire was not only the first major empire of the bronze age bronze itself was a major contributing factor in getting those soldiers motivated to conquer northern mesopotamia. King sargon of akkad founded historys first professional army. Sargons whole reign was spent in defending his empire from the mountain people who raided mesopotamia and from rebellions. Sargon himself believed he was the son of a temple priestess and an unknown father. No one knows who sargon, the founder of the akkadian empire, was, nor the location of the fabled city of akkad. Audiomachine akkadian empire by the most epic music. Check out akkadian empire by audiomachine on amazon music. The secret to its success was a professionally trained standing army, iron weapons, advanced engineering skills, effective tactics, and, most importantly, a complete ruthlessness which came to characterize the assyrians to their neighbors and subjects and still attaches itself to the reputation of assyria in the modern day.
Map of the akkadian empire brown and the directions in which military campaigns were conducted yellow arrows. The akkadian empire was an ancient semitic empire centered in the city of akkad and its surrounding region in ancient mesopotamia. Drought and the akkadian empire national centers for. History ancient mesopotamia the first empire to rule all of mesopotamia was the akkadian empire.
Creating naturalistic sculptures and displaying incredible artisan skills are characteristics of the akkadian empire that no other civilization can compete with. The first of these was the akkadian empire figure 3. He may have been aided in this by his becoming an irrigation engineer and thus having a disciplined group of men answering to him the core of his army. Bel was shown by the akkadians as the god of order and destiny, being the most important god. Military history of the neoassyrian empire wikipedia. Sargon the great reigned 2334 2279 bc sargon the great, or sargon of akkad, founded the worlds first empire, the akkadian empire. The first and most important achievement is that they were the first to create an empire.
The age of agade is the first booklength study of the akkadian period of. They had a similar government and culture as the sumerians, but spoke a different language. According to legend, sargon, the first ruler of the akkadian empire, was discovered by a gardener in mesopotamia in a basket. The akkadian empire wis the first auncient semiticspeakin empire o mesopotamie, centred in the ceety o akkad an its surroondin region, an aa cried akkad in auncient mesopotamie an accad in the bible genesis 10. His inscriptions boast of 34 victories and 5,400 men eating bread before. The legend does not continue, but what is known is that sargon overthrew urzababa, conquered lugalzagesis kingdom, and founded the akkadian empire. The akkadian empire controlled mesopotamia, the levant, and parts of iran. Army of empire fills this void in our historical understanding admirably and comprehensively. In the akkadian religion, he has a wife named antum. This was the first empire in mesopotamia, and some consider it to be the first true empire in world history. Bronze was useful both for making more durable weapons and farming tools.
The akkadian empire united all the indigenous akkadianspeaking semites and the sumerian speakers under one rule within a multilingual empire. Anu was depicted as the king of the gods, and a god that only the king could worship. Provided to youtube by cdbaby akkadian empire audiomachine chronicles. The akkadian empire akkadian akkad ki, hittite kur a. King sargon of akkadfacts and information national geographic. The ancient masters of war and conquest became the most powerful force in the near. Whatever his origins, sargon conquered and ruled all of mesopotamia and parts of syria, iran, kuwait, jordan, turkey and perhaps, cyprus, founding the. The akkadian empire was founded by sargon the great of akkad in c. Addressing all aspects of the empire, including its statecraft and military, territory and. Learn akkadian empire with free interactive flashcards. The ancient assyrian language is classified as akkadian. Sargon or his scribes claimed that the akkadian empire stretched from the persian gulf through modernday kuwait, iraq, jordan, syria possibly lebanon through the lower part of asia minor to the mediterranean sea and cyprus there is also a claim it stretched as far as crete in the aegean. Audiomachine akkadian empire by the most epic music published on 20120714t10. The land of akkad and the akkadian language are actually named after the city.
In time, he would found the city of agade and raise an army of 5,400 men, and then conquer much of modernday iraq. The rise and fall of sumer and akkad ancient origins. The dates for the akkadian empire are actually debatable as is the location of the empires capital, akkad. Senior and weiss 1992, akkadian deployment of local worker levies catagnoti and bonechi 1992, massive akkadian grain shipments records e. This head is all that survives of the statue of an akkadian king. Are there any good books about the akkadian empire.
The akkadian empire world civilization lumen learning. The city of tell leilan in the northern region was abandoned and covered with one meter of windblown silt weiss et al. The akkadian empire was completely dependent on the agricultural systems of the region. Its believed that this ancient empire began around 2350 bce and ended around 2170 bce. While i know about the akkadian empire more than most, its not my speciality. The assyrian war machine was the most efficient military force in the ancient world up until the fall of the empire in 612 bce. Biblical hebrew akkad was an empire centered in the city of akkad sumerian. How it began the akkadians lived in northern mesopotamia while the sumerians lived in the south. Choose from 58 different sets of akkadian empire flashcards on quizlet.
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