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Sargon of Akkad
/You may be looking for the Assyrian
Assyrian
*Assyrian* may refer to:in antiquity*ancient Assyria**the Old
Assyrian period **the Middle Assyrian period **the Neo-Assyrian
period *Assyria , a province of the Achaemenid Empire...
kings Sargon I
Sargon I
*Sargon I* was a king of the old-Assyrian Kingdom and reigned from
ca. 1920 BC-1881 BC....
(r. 1920–1881 BC) or Sargon II
Sargon II
*Sargon II* was an Neo-Assyrian Empiren king. Sargon II became
co-regent with Shalmaneser V in 722 BC, and became the sole ruler of
the kingdom of Assyria in 722 BC after the death of Shalmaneser V....
(r. 722–705 BC)./
*Sargon of Akkad
Akkad
The *Akkadian Empire* was an empire centered in the city of *Akkad*
Sumerian language: /Agade/ KUR A.GA.D?KI "land of Akkad". ; Biblical
/Accad/) and its surrounding region Akkadian URU Akkad KI in central
Mesopotamia....
*, also known as *Sargon the Great* (Akkadian
Akkadian language
*Akkadian* or *Assyrian-Babylonian* is a Semitic language that was
spoken in ancient Mesopotamia. The earliest attested Semitic language,
it used the cuneiform writing system derived ultimately from ancient
Sumerian language, an unrelated language isolate....
/Šarru-kinu/, cuneiform
Cuneiform
*Cuneiform* can refer to:*Cuneiform script, an ancient writing system
originating in Mesopotamia in the 4th millennium BC*Cuneiform , three
bones in the human foot...
ŠAR.RU.KI.IN , meaning "the true king" or "the king is legitimate"),
was an Akkadian emperor famous for his conquest of the Sumer
Sumer
*Sumer* was a civilization and a historical region located in Southern
Iraq , known as the Cradle of civilization. It lasted from the first
settlement of Eridu in the Ubaid period through the Uruk period and the
Dynastic periods until the rise of Babylon in the early 2nd millennium
BC....
ian city-states in the 24th and 23rd centuries BC.
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/You may be looking for the Assyrian
Assyrian
*Assyrian* may refer to:in antiquity*ancient Assyria**the Old
Assyrian period **the Middle Assyrian period **the Neo-Assyrian
period *Assyria , a province of the Achaemenid Empire...
kings Sargon I
Sargon I
*Sargon I* was a king of the old-Assyrian Kingdom and reigned from
ca. 1920 BC-1881 BC....
(r. 1920–1881 BC) or Sargon II
Sargon II
*Sargon II* was an Neo-Assyrian Empiren king. Sargon II became
co-regent with Shalmaneser V in 722 BC, and became the sole ruler of
the kingdom of Assyria in 722 BC after the death of Shalmaneser V....
(r. 722–705 BC)./
*Sargon*
*Sargon of Akkad
Akkad
The *Akkadian Empire* was an empire centered in the city of *Akkad*
Sumerian language: /Agade/ KUR A.GA.D?KI "land of Akkad". ; Biblical
/Accad/) and its surrounding region Akkadian URU Akkad KI in central
Mesopotamia....
*, also known as *Sargon the Great* (Akkadian
Akkadian language
*Akkadian* or *Assyrian-Babylonian* is a Semitic language that was
spoken in ancient Mesopotamia. The earliest attested Semitic language,
it used the cuneiform writing system derived ultimately from ancient
Sumerian language, an unrelated language isolate....
/Šarru-kinu/, cuneiform
Cuneiform
*Cuneiform* can refer to:*Cuneiform script, an ancient writing system
originating in Mesopotamia in the 4th millennium BC*Cuneiform , three
bones in the human foot...
ŠAR.RU.KI.IN , meaning "the true king" or "the king is legitimate"),
was an Akkadian emperor famous for his conquest of the Sumer
Sumer
*Sumer* was a civilization and a historical region located in Southern
Iraq , known as the Cradle of civilization. It lasted from the first
settlement of Eridu in the Ubaid period through the Uruk period and the
Dynastic periods until the rise of Babylon in the early 2nd millennium
BC....
ian city-states in the 24th and 23rd centuries BC. The founder of the
Dynasty of Akkad, Sargon reigned for 56 years, c. 2270–2215 BCE (short
chronology). He became a prominent member of the royal court of Kish
Kish (Sumer)
*Kish* is modern *Tell al-Uhaymir*, Babil Governorate, Iraq), and was an
ancient city of Sumer. Kish is located some 12 km east of Babylon, and
80 km south of Baghdad....
, ultimately overthrowing its king before embarking on the conquest of
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
*Mesopotamia* is the area of the Tigris-Euphrates river system, along
the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, largely corresponding to modern Iraq,
as well as some parts of northeastern Syria, some parts of southeastern
Turkey, and some parts of the Khuzestan Province of southwestern Iran....
. Sargon's vast empire is known to have extended from Elam
Elam
*Elam* was an ancient civilization located in what is now southwest
Iran.Elam was centered in the far west and southwest of modern-day Iran,
stretching from the lowlands of Khuzestan and Ilam Province , as far as
Jiroft in Kerman province and Burned City in Zabol, as well as a small
part of southern Iraq....
to the Mediterranean sea, including Mesopotamia, parts of modern-day
Iran
Iran
*Iran* , officially the *Islamic Republic of Iran* and formerly known
internationally as *Persian Empire* until 1935, is a country in Central
Eurasia, located on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf and the
southern shore of the Caspian Sea....
and Syria
Syria
*Syria* , officially the *Syrian Arab Republic* , is an Arab-majority
country in Southwest Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea
to the west, Israel to the southwest, Jordan to the south, Iraq to the
east, and Turkey to the north....
, and possibly parts of Anatolia
Anatolia
*Anatolia* or *Asia Minor* is a region of Western Asia, comprising most
of the modern Republic of Turkey. It is a geographic region bounded by
the Black Sea to the north, the Caucasus to the northeast, the Aegean
Sea to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and the Iranian
plateau to the east and southeast....
and the Arabian peninsula
Arabian Peninsula
The *Arabian Peninsula* , Arabia, Arabistan, and the Arabian
subcontinent is a peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa
and Asia. The area is an important part of the Middle East and plays a
critically important geopolitics role because of its vast reserves of
petroleum and natural gas....
. He ruled from a new capital, Akkad (Agade), which the Sumerian king
list
Sumerian king list
The *Sumerian King List* is an ancient text in the Sumerian language
that lists monarch of Sumer from Sumerian and foreign dynasties. It
records the location of "official" kingship, along with the rulers and
the lengths of their rule....
claims he built (or possibly renovated), on the left bank of the
Euphrates
Euphrates
The *Euphrates* is the western of the two great rivers that define
Mesopotamia which flows from Anatolia....
. Sargon is regarded as one of the first individuals in recorded history
to create a multiethnic, centrally ruled empire
Empire
*Empire* derives from the Latin word *imperium*, denoting ?military
command? in Roman. Politically, an empire is a geographically extensive
group of states and peoples united and ruled either by a monarch or an
oligarchy....
, and his dynasty controlled Mesopotamia for around a century and a half.
Origins and rise to power
The story of Sargon's birth and childhood is given in the "Sargon
legend", a Sumerian
Sumerian language
*Sumerian* was the language of ancient Sumer, spoken in Southern
Mesopotamia since at least the 4th millennium BC. It was gradually
replaced by Akkadian language as a spoken language somewhere around the
turn of the 3rd and the 2nd millennium BC , but continued to be used as
a sacred, ceremonial, literary and scientific language in Mesopotamia...
text purporting to be Sargon's biography. The extant versions are
incomplete, but the surviving fragments name Sargon's father as La'ibum
La'ibum
*La'ibum* is mentioned in the Sumerian language "Sargon legend" as the
father of Sargon of Akkad. No details about his life or historiocity are
known....
. After a lacuna
Lacuna (manuscripts)
A *lacuna* is a gap in a manuscript, inscription, text, painting, or a
musical work.The state of old manuscripts or inscriptions which have
weathered or been damaged sometimes gives rise to lacunae ? passages
consisting of a word or words that are missing or illegible....
, the text skips to Ur-Zababa
Ur-Zababa
*Ur-Zababa* is listed on the Sumerian king list as the second king in
the 4th Dynasty of Kish, the son of Puzur-Suen and the grandson of
Kug-Bau. The king list also says Sargon of Akkad was a cup-bearer for
Ur-Zababa before becoming king of Akkad....
, king of Kish, who awakens after a dream, the contents of which are not
revealed on the surviving portion of the tablet. For unknown reasons,
Ur-Zababa appoints Sargon as his cupbearer. Soon after this, Ur-Zababa
invites Sargon to his chambers to discuss a dream of Sargon's, involving
the favor of the goddess Inanna
Inanna
*Inanna* ; ) is the Sumerian goddess of sexual love, fertility, and
warfare.Alternative Sumerian names include /Innin/, /Ennin/, /Ninnin/,
/Ninni/, /Ninanna/, /Ninnar/, /Innina/, /Ennina/, /Irnina/, /Innini/,
/Nana/ and /Nin/, commonly derived from an earlier /Nin-ana/ "lady of
the sky", although Gelb presented th...
and the drowning of Ur-Zababa by the goddess. Deeply frightened,
Ur-Zababa orders Sargon murdered by the hands of Beliš-tikal, the chief
smith, but Inanna prevents it, demanding that Sargon stop at the gates
because of his being "polluted with blood." When Sargon returns to
Ur-Zababa, the king becomes frightened again, and decides to send Sargon
to king Lugal-zage-si
Lugal-Zage-Si
*Lugal-Zage-Si* of Umma was the last Sumerian king before the conquest
of Sumer by Sargon of Akkad and the rise of the Akkadian Empire, and was
considered as the only king of the third dynasty of Uruk....
of Uruk
Uruk
*Uruk* , from the Akkadian rendering of the Sumerian toponym 'unug', is
modern *Warka* , Iraq. Uruk was an ancient city of Sumer and later
Babylonia, situated east of the present bed of the Euphrates river, on
the ancient /Nil/ canal, some 30 km east of As-Samawah, Al Muthanna
Governorate, Iraq....
with a message on a clay tablet asking him to slay Sargon. The legend
breaks off at this point; presumably, the missing sections described how
Sargon becomes king.
The Sumerian king list
Sumerian king list
The *Sumerian King List* is an ancient text in the Sumerian language
that lists monarch of Sumer from Sumerian and foreign dynasties. It
records the location of "official" kingship, along with the rulers and
the lengths of their rule....
relates: "In Agade [Akkad], Sargon, whose father was a gardener, the
cupbearer of Ur-Zababa, became king, the king of Agade, who built Agade;
he ruled for 56 years." The claim that Sargon was the original founder
of Akkad has come into question in recent years, with the discovery of
an inscription mentioning the place and dated to the first year of
Enshakushanna
Enshakushanna
*Enshakushanna* was a king of Uruk sometime in the later 3rd millennium
BC who is named on the Sumerian king list, which states his reign to
have been 60 years....
, who almost certainly preceded him. This claim of the king list had
been the basis for earlier speculation by a number of scholars that
Sargon was an inspiration for the Biblical figure of Nimrod
Nimrod
*Nimrod * means "Hunter"; was a Biblical Mesopotamian king mentioned in
the Table of Nations. The term Nimrod when vague or general is applied
to the means of /hunter/, normally to a person....
. The so-called /Weidner Chronicle/ states that it was Sargon who built
Babylon
Babylon
*Babylon* was a city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, sometimes considered
an empire, the remains of which can be found in present-day Al Hillah,
Babil Governorate, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad....
"in front of Akkad." The /Chronicle of Early Kings/ likewise states
that late in his reign, Sargon "dug up the soil of the pit of Babylon,
and made a counterpart of Babylon next to Agade."
A Neo-Assyrian text from the seventh century BC purporting to be
Sargon's autobiography asserts that the great king was the illegitimate
son of a priestess. In the Neo-Assyrian account Sargon's birth and his
early childhood are described thus:
The image of Sargon as a castaway set adrift on a river resembles the
better-known birth narrative of Moses
Moses
*Moses* is a Hebrew Bible Hebrews religious leader, lawgiver, prophet,
to whom the Mosaic authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed.
Also called /Moshe Rabbeinu/ in Hebrew , he is the most important
prophet in Judaism, and also an important prophet of Christianity,
Islam, the Bah?'? Faith, Rastafari movement, Chrislam and many ot...
. Scholars such as Joseph Campbell
Joseph Campbell
*Joseph John Campbell* was an United States mythologist, writer, and
lecturer best known for his work in the fields of comparative mythology
and comparative religion....
and Otto Rank
Otto Rank
*Otto Rank* was an Austrian psychoanalyst, writer, teacher and
therapist. Born in Vienna as *Otto Rosenfeld*, he was one of Sigmund
Freud's closest colleagues for 20 years, a prolific writer on
psychoanalytic themes, an editor of the two most important analytic
journals, managing director of Freud's publishing house and a creative
theorist...
have compared the 7th century BC Sargon account with the obscure births
of other heroic figures from history and mythology, including Karna
Karna
*Karna* is one of the central characters of the Mahabharata. He was born
to Kunti, much before her marriage with Pandu. He is described a close
friend of Duryodhana....
, Oedipus
Oedipus
*Oedipus* was a Greek mythology monarch of Thebes, Greece. He fulfilled
a prophecy that said he would kill his father and marry his mother, and
thus brought disaster on his city and family....
, Paris
Paris (mythology)
*Paris* , the son of Priam, king of Troy, appears in a number of Greek
mythology. Probably the best-known was his elopement with Helen, queen
of Sparta, this being one of the immediate causes of the Trojan War....
, Telephus
Telephus
A Greek mythology, *Telephus* or *Telephos* was one of the Heraclidae,
the sons of Heracles, who were venerated as founders of cities. Telephos
was by far the most famous of these heroes, and the various sites at
which libations were offered to placate his spirit occasioned etiology
of travels around the Greek mainland, in Magna Graecia a...
, Semiramis
Semiramis
*Semiramis* was a legendary Assyrian queen, also known as *Semiramide*,
*Semiramida*, or *Shamiram* in Aramaic.Many legends have accumulated
around her personality....
, Perseus
Perseus
*Perseus* , the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Mycenae there,
was the first of the mythic heroes of Greek mythology whose exploits in
defeating various archaic monsters provided the founding myths in the
cult of the Twelve Olympians....
, Romulus
Romulus
*Romulus* may refer to any of these articles:...
, Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh
*Gilgamesh* also known as Bilgames in the earliest text , was the son of
Lugalbanda and the fifth king of Uruk , ruling circa 2700 BC, according
to the Sumerian king list....
, Cyrus, Jesus
Jesus
*Jesus of Nazareth* , also known as *Jesus Christ*, is the central
figure of Christianity and is revered by most Christian churches as the
Son of God and the Incarnation ....
, and others.
Formation of the Akkadian Empire
After coming to power in Kish, Sargon soon attacked Uruk, which was
ruled by Lugal-Zage-Si
Lugal-Zage-Si
*Lugal-Zage-Si* of Umma was the last Sumerian king before the conquest
of Sumer by Sargon of Akkad and the rise of the Akkadian Empire, and was
considered as the only king of the third dynasty of Uruk....
of Umma
Umma
*Umma* was an ancient city in Sumer....
. He captured Uruk and dismantled its famous walls. The defenders seem
to have fled the city, joining an army led by fifty ensis
Ensi
*Ensi* can refer to:*a Mesopotamian royal title in various Babylonian
city states, see ENSI.*an abbreviation of Ensign*/ens?/, the Old High
German for a pagan deity, see ?ss...
from the provinces. This Sumerian force fought two pitched battles
against the Akkadians, as a result of which the remaining forces of
Lugal-Zage-Si were routed. Lugal-Zage-Si himself was captured and
brought to Nippur; Sargon inscribed on the pedestal of statue (preserved
in a later tablet) that he brought Lugal-Zage-Si "in a dog collar to the
gate of Enlil." Sargon pursued his enemies to Ur before moving eastwards
to Lagash, to the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The *Persian Gulf*, in the Southwest Asian region, is an extension of
the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.
Historically and commonly known as the Persian Gulf, this body of water
is sometimes Persian Gulf naming dispute referred to as the /Arabian
Gulf/ by certain Arab countries or simply /The Gulf/, although nei...
, and thence to Umma. He made a symbolic gesture of washing his weapons
in the "lower sea" (Persian Gulf) to show that he had conquered Sumer in
its entirety.
Another victory Sargon celebrated was over Kashtubila, king of Kazalla
Kazalla
*Kazalla* is the name given in Akkadian language sources to a
possibly-legendary city in the ancient Near East. Under its king
Kashtubila, Kazalla warred against Sargon of Akkad in the 24th or 23rd
century BCE....
. According to one ancient source, Sargon laid the city of Kazalla to
waste so effectively "that the birds could not find a place to perch
away from the ground."
To help limit the chance of revolt in Sumer
Sumer
*Sumer* was a civilization and a historical region located in Southern
Iraq , known as the Cradle of civilization. It lasted from the first
settlement of Eridu in the Ubaid period through the Uruk period and the
Dynastic periods until the rise of Babylon in the early 2nd millennium
BC....
he appointed a court of 5,400 men to "share his table" (i.e., to
administer his empire). These 5,400 men may have constituted Sargon's
army. The governors chosen by Sargon to administer the main city-states
of Sumer were Akkadians, not Sumerians. The Semitic
Semitic languages
File:Amarna Akkadian letter.pngThe *Semitic languages* are a group of
related languages whose living representatives are spoken by more than
467 million people across much of the Middle East, North Africa and the
Horn of Africa....
Akkadian language
Akkadian language
*Akkadian* or *Assyrian-Babylonian* is a Semitic language that was
spoken in ancient Mesopotamia. The earliest attested Semitic language,
it used the cuneiform writing system derived ultimately from ancient
Sumerian language, an unrelated language isolate....
became the /lingua franca/, the official language of inscriptions in
all Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
*Mesopotamia* is the area of the Tigris-Euphrates river system, along
the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, largely corresponding to modern Iraq,
as well as some parts of northeastern Syria, some parts of southeastern
Turkey, and some parts of the Khuzestan Province of southwestern Iran....
, and of great influence far beyond. Sargon's empire maintained trade
and diplomatic contacts with kingdoms around the Arabian Sea
Arabian Sea
The *Arabian Sea* is a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by
India, on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by Arabian
Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape
Guardafui, the north-east point of Somalia, Socotra, Kanyakumari in
India, and the western coast of Sri Lanka....
and elsewhere in the Near East. Sargon's inscriptions report that ships
from Magan
Magan
*Magan* was an ancient region which was referred to in Sumerian
cuneiform texts of around 2300 BC as a source of copper and diorite for
Mesopotamia....
, Meluhha
Meluhha
is the Sumerian language name of a prominent trading partner of Sumer
during the Middle Bronze Age. Its identification remains an open
question....
, and Dilmun
Dilmun
*Dilmun* is a land mentioned by Mesopotamia as a trade partner, source
of raw material, copper, and entrepot of the Mesopotamia and the Indus
Valley Civilization trade route....
, among other places, rode at anchor in his capital of Agade.
The former religious institutions of Sumer, already well-known and
emulated by the Semites, were respected. Sumerian remained, in large
part, the language of religion and Sargon and his successors were
patrons of the Sumerian cults. Enheduanna
Enheduanna
*Enheduanna* was an Akkadian princess as well as high priestess of the
moon god Nanna in Ur, who came to honor Inanna above all the other gods
of the Sumerian pantheon and assisted in the merging of the Akkadian
Ishtar with the Sumerian Inanna....
, the author of several Akkadian hymn
Hymn
A *hymn* is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for
the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a
deity/deities, a prominent figure or an epic tale....
s who is identified as Sargon's daughter, was made priestess of Nanna
Nanna
*Nanna* may refer to:* Sin , god of the moon in Sumerian mythology*
Nanna , god of the moon in Tamil Nadu mythology* Nanna , the wife of
Baldr in Norse mythology...
, the moon-god of Ur. Sargon styled himself "anointed priest of Anu" and
"great /ensi/ of Enlil
Enlil
*Enlil* , was the name of a chief deity listed and written about in
ancient Sumerian, Akkadian, Hittite, Canaanite and other Mesopotamian
clay and stone tablets....
".
Wars in the northwest and east
Shortly after securing Sumer, Sargon embarked on a series of campaigns
to subjugate the entire Fertile Crescent
Fertile Crescent
The *Fertile Crescent* is a region in the Near East, incorporating the
Levant and Mesopotamia, and often extended to Lower Egypt. Mesopotamia
is considered the Cradle of civilization and saw the development of the
earliest human civilizations and is the
History_of_writing#Bronze_Age_writing and Wheel#History....
. According to the /Chronicle of Early Kings
Babylonian Chronicles
The *Babylonian Chronicles* are series of tablets recording major events
in Babylon history. They are thus one of the first steps in the
development of ancient historiography....
/, a later Babylonian historiographical text:
Sargon captured Mari
Mari, Syria
*Mari* was an ancient Sumerian and Amorite city, located 11 kilometers
north-west of the modern town of Abu Kamal on the western bank of
Euphrates river, some 120 km southeast of Deir ez-Zor, Syria....
, Yarmuti, and Ebla
Ebla
*Ebla* was an ancient city about southwest of Aleppo. It was an
important city-state in two periods, first in the late 3rd millennium
BC, then again between 1800 BC and 1650 BC....
as far as the Cedar Forest
Lebanon
*Lebanon* , officially the *Republic of Lebanon* or *Lebanese Republic*
, is a country in Western Asia, on the eastern shore of the
Mediterranean Sea....
(Amanus) and the silver mountain (Taurus
Taurus Mountains
*Taurus Mountains* are a mountain range in southern Turkey, from which
the Euphrates and Tigris descend into Syria and Iraq. It divides the
Mediterranean Region, Turkey of southern Turkey from the central
Anatolia#Anatolian plateau....
). The Akkadian Empire secured trade routes and supplies of wood and
precious metals could be safely and freely floated down the Euphrates
Euphrates
The *Euphrates* is the western of the two great rivers that define
Mesopotamia which flows from Anatolia....
to Akkad.
In the east, Sargon defeated an invasion by the four leaders of Elam
Elam
*Elam* was an ancient civilization located in what is now southwest
Iran.Elam was centered in the far west and southwest of modern-day Iran,
stretching from the lowlands of Khuzestan and Ilam Province , as far as
Jiroft in Kerman province and Burned City in Zabol, as well as a small
part of southern Iraq....
, led by the king of Awan
Awan dynasty
The *Awan Dynasty* was the first dynasty of Elam, founded by king Peli
at the dawn of history. It must have been an important influence on
Sumer from the earliest times, for their conflicts with Mesopotamia
begin with Enmebaragesi of Kish , who defeated them, as did another
Sumerian king, Eannatum I of Lagash....
. Their cities were sacked; the governors, viceroys and kings of Susa
Susa
*Susa* was an ancient city of the Elamite, Persian Empire and Parthian
empires of Iran, located about 250 km east of the Tigris River.The
modern town of Shush, Iran is located at the site of ancient Susa....
, Barhashe
Marhasi
*Marha?i* was a 3rd millennium BC polity situated east of Elam, on the
Iranian plateau. It is known from Mesopotamian sources, and its precise
location has not been identified....
, and neighboring districts became vassals of Akkad, and the Akkadian
language
Akkadian language
*Akkadian* or *Assyrian-Babylonian* is a Semitic language that was
spoken in ancient Mesopotamia. The earliest attested Semitic language,
it used the cuneiform writing system derived ultimately from ancient
Sumerian language, an unrelated language isolate....
made the official language of international discourse. During Sargon's
reign, Akkadian was standardized and adapted for use with the cuneiform
script
Cuneiform script
*Cuneiform script* is one of the earliest known forms of writing system.
Emerging in Sumer around the 30th century BC, with predecessors reaching
into the late 4th millennium , cuneiform writing began as a system of
pictography....
previously used in the Sumerian language
Sumerian language
*Sumerian* was the language of ancient Sumer, spoken in Southern
Mesopotamia since at least the 4th millennium BC. It was gradually
replaced by Akkadian language as a spoken language somewhere around the
turn of the 3rd and the 2nd millennium BC , but continued to be used as
a sacred, ceremonial, literary and scientific language in Mesopotamia...
. A style of calligraphy
Calligraphy
*Calligraphy* is the art of writing . A contemporary definition of
calligraphic practice is "the art of giving form to signs in an
expressive, harmonious and skillful manner" ....
developed in which text on clay tablets and cylinder seals was arranged
amidst scenes of mythology and ritual.
Later reign
The text known as /Epic of the King of the Battle/ depicts Sargon
advancing deep into the heart of Anatolia
Anatolia
*Anatolia* or *Asia Minor* is a region of Western Asia, comprising most
of the modern Republic of Turkey. It is a geographic region bounded by
the Black Sea to the north, the Caucasus to the northeast, the Aegean
Sea to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and the Iranian
plateau to the east and southeast....
to protect Akkadian and other Mesopotamian merchants from the exactions
of the King of Burushanda (Purshahanda). The same text mentions that
Sargon crossed the Sea of the West (Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The *Mediterranean Sea* is a sea or Ocean off the Atlantic Ocean
surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by
land: on the north by Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by
Asia....
) and ended up in Kuppara.
Famine and war threatened Sargon's empire during the latter years of his
reign. The /Chronicle of Early Kings/ reports that revolts broke out
throughout the area under the last years of his overlordship:
Later literature proposes that the rebellions and other troubles of
Sargon's latter reign were the result of sacrilegious acts committed by
the king. Modern consensus is that the veracity of these claims are
impossible to determine, as disasters were virtually always attributed
to sacrilege inspiring divine wrath, in ancient Mesopotamian literature.
Legacy
Stele Naram Sim Louvre Sb4
Sargon died, according to the short chronology, around 2215 BC. His
empire immediately revolted upon hearing of the king's death. Most of
the revolts were put down by his son and successor Rimush
Rimush
*Rimush* is the name of two Mesopotamian monarch:* Rimush , king of the
Akkadian Empire* Rimush , king of Assyria, the successor of Mut-Ashkur
in 1720 B.C.E....
, who reigned for nine years and was followed by another of Sargon's
sons, Manishtushu
Manishtushu
*Manishtushu* was a king of the Akkadian Empire from 2276 to 2261 BCE.He
was the son of Sargon of Akkad and the father of Naram-sin. He was
preceded by his younger brother Rimush , was assassinated by his own
court, and was succeeded by Naram-sin....
(who reigned for 15 years). Sargon was regarded as a model by
Mesopotamian kings for some two millennia after his death. The Assyrian
and Babylonian kings who based their empires in Mesopotamia saw
themselves as the heirs of Sargon's empire. Kings such as Nabonidus
Nabonidus
*Nabonidus* was the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, reigning
from 556-539 BCE....
(r. 556–539 BC) showed great interest in the history of the Sargonid
dynasty, and even conducted excavations of Sargon's palaces and those of
his successors. Indeed, such later rulers may have been inspired by the
king's conquests to embark on their own campaigns throughout the Middle
East. The Neo-Assyrian Sargon text challenges his successors thus:
Another source attributed to Sargon the challenge "now, any king who
wants to call himself my equal, wherever I went [conquered], let him go."
Stories of Sargon's power and that of his empire may have influenced the
body of folklore that was later incorporated into the Bible
Bible
The *Bible* is the central religious text of Judaism and Christianity.
The exact Books of the Bible is dependent on the religious traditions of
specific denominations....
. A number of scholars have speculated that Sargon may have been the
inspiration for the biblical figure of Nimrod
Nimrod
*Nimrod * means "Hunter"; was a Biblical Mesopotamian king mentioned in
the Table of Nations. The term Nimrod when vague or general is applied
to the means of /hunter/, normally to a person....
, who figures prominently in the Book of Genesis as well as in midrash
Midrash
*Midrash* is a Hebrew language term referring to the not exact, but
comparative method of exegesis of Biblical texts, which is one of four
methods cumulatively called Pardes ....
ic and Talmud
Talmud
The *Talmud* is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Halakha,
Jewish ethics, customs, and history. It is a central text of mainstream
Judaism....
ic literature. The Bible mentions Akkad as being one of the first
city-states of Nimrod's kingdom, but does not explicitly state that he
built it.
Family
The name of Sargon's primary wife Tashlultum
Tashlultum
*Tashultum* was the wife of Sargon of Akkad and the mother of his
children Enheduanna, Rimush , Manishtushu, Ibarum and Abaish-Takal....
and those of a number of his children are known to us. His daughter
Enheduanna
Enheduanna
*Enheduanna* was an Akkadian princess as well as high priestess of the
moon god Nanna in Ur, who came to honor Inanna above all the other gods
of the Sumerian pantheon and assisted in the merging of the Akkadian
Ishtar with the Sumerian Inanna....
, who flourished during the late 24th and early 23rd centuries BC, was a
priestess who composed ritual hymns. Many of her works, including her
/Exaltation of Inanna
Inanna
*Inanna* ; ) is the Sumerian goddess of sexual love, fertility, and
warfare.Alternative Sumerian names include /Innin/, /Ennin/, /Ninnin/,
/Ninni/, /Ninanna/, /Ninnar/, /Innina/, /Ennina/, /Irnina/, /Innini/,
/Nana/ and /Nin/, commonly derived from an earlier /Nin-ana/ "lady of
the sky", although Gelb presented th...
/, were in use for centuries thereafter. Sargon was succeeded by his
son, Rimush; after Rimush's death another son, Manishtushu
Manishtushu
*Manishtushu* was a king of the Akkadian Empire from 2276 to 2261 BCE.He
was the son of Sargon of Akkad and the father of Naram-sin. He was
preceded by his younger brother Rimush , was assassinated by his own
court, and was succeeded by Naram-sin....
, became king. Two other sons, Shu-Enlil
Shu-Enlil
*Shu-Enlil* was a son of Sargon the Great, first ruler of the Akkadian
Empire. He lived in the late 24th and early 23rd centuries BCE....
(Ibarum) and Ilaba'is-takal
Ilaba'is-takal
*Ilaba'is-takal* was a son of Sargon the Great, first ruler of the
Akkadian Empire. He lived in the late 24th and early 23rd centuries BCE....
(Abaish-Takal), are known.
See also
* History of Sumer
History of Sumer
The *history of Sumer*, taken to include the prehistoric Ubaid
period and Uruk period periods, spans the 5th to 3rd millennia BC,
ending with the downfall of the Third Dynasty of Ur around 2004
BC, followed by a transition period of Amorite states before the
rise of Babylonia in the 18th century BC....
* Lugal
Lugal
*Lugal* , Sumerian language for leader from L?.GAL "man, big" was
one of several Sumerian titles that a ruler of a city-state could
bear , and eventually became the predominant Sumerian term for a
king in general....
* Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
*Mesopotamia* is the area of the Tigris-Euphrates river system,
along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, largely corresponding to
modern Iraq, as well as some parts of northeastern Syria, some
parts of southeastern Turkey, and some parts of the Khuzestan
Province of southwestern Iran....
External links
* Neo-Assyrian Sargon legend
* Black, J.A., Cunningham, G., Fluckiger-Hawker, E, Robson, E., and
Zólyomi, G., 'The Sargon legend: t..
(*)
* 'Sargon did he exist?'
* Sargon and the Vanishing Sumerians
* Lexicorient article on Sargon
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