The Akkadian Empire (2334 BC to 2083 BC) was an empire centered in the city of Akkad and its surrounding region (in Ancient Iraq) as also mentioned in Bible. It was the first ever empire to be manifested on earth. Akkad, which was the Capital of Akkadin Empire, hasn’t yet been located. The map showing its location has been made using research and assumptions from the history. It is supposed that the city was localized in the confluence area of Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Akkadian Empire was the first ever ancient empire of Mesopotamia. Its extended its boundaries to Levant and Anantolia, also sent its hosts to Dilimun and Magan. Akkadian Empire reached to its peak power during 24th and 22nd centuries BC, followed by the victories of its founder, Sargon of Akkad. It is said that he was the son of La’ibum or ltti Bell, who was a gardener and priest. Sargon defeated Lugal Zage Si in the Battle of Uruk and took his empire.

Expansion

He kept on conquering many areas like Mediterranean Sea in the westward, Anatolia in the northward, Elam in the eastward, and Magan (Oman) in the southward, where he reigned reportedly for 56 years. He replaced the rulers of these areas with the noble personalities of his city Akkad. So, he ensured his loyalty to his city. Throughout his long life, Sargon showed many differences to the Sumerian qualities. He called himself as the priest to Anu, and his daughter Enheduanna was ranked as the priestess to Nanna.

In his last years, all the areas started a revolt against him. They gathered their hosts led by the king of Awan and attacked the Akkadian Empire. He, even at this age, moved forward and destroyed the vast army and forced them to become his vassals. There were a lot of such type of oppositions in his old age and even after in the reigns of his successors. His son Rimush (2278-2270 BC) faced too many revolts during his 9 years reign and he found hard to retain the empire and later killed by some of his viziers. His elder brother, Manishtushu (2269-2255 BC) succeeded him, who has to fight a sea battle against 32 kings who had gathered and took control over the modern United Arab Emirates and Oman.  Despite of the success, he also has been found to be killed in a palace stratagem. Later, his son Naram-Sin (2254-2218 BC) who succeeded him, is said to be the king of the four quarters which refers to the whole world. In the Sumerian culture, for the first time, he was called the “the god of the Akkad”, opposing the previous beliefs of the Akkadian state that the their king is only their representative to god.

Development

There were a lot of developments in the reign of Akkadian Empire. It was bound together with roads and there was a proper postal service. Proofs have been found as the names of Sargon and his son engraved on the clay. For the first time in the history, years were named as a significant event performed by the king in the respective year and dated from the Sargon’s reign. Regarding technology, the Akkadian Empire was also the first to develop the statue made of lead (Rimush statue). The Copper Bassetki Statue also testifies the skills of the craftsmen of that age.

Collapse

During the Akkadian reign, the Akkadian language was used for all the administrative tasks officially and was known as lingua franca although the Sumerian language was used literally. The Akkadian state was later consolidated into ethnic Akkadian states of Babylonia (South) and Assyria (North). The Akkadian Empire collapsed in the 22nd Century BC, while reigning the world for more than 180 years with no significant imperial authority. The Akkadian Empire was the largest empire of the ancient era having area 800,000 sq km (2250 BC).