On America and Empires

Throughout the course of history, something has always been in control, 

something has always seen to the exchange of knowledge among cultures, and this 

thing is still here today. No I do not mean God, although he does create them, but this 

thing is man-made. This thing is an empire.

From the beginning of time almost, one man has sought authority over another, 

one man has wanted what another had. First came Adam and Eve; they desired to be 

like God, “knowing both good and evil.” Then, after the Fall, Cain murdered Able 

because of Able’s success with God. The list continues with Joseph and his older 

brothers. Joseph’s brothers wanted to see Joseph hurt because of the relationship he 

had with his father, so they secretly shipped him off to Egypt as a slave, hoping to never 

see him again.

But then, man discovered something. Man discovered that people could be lead, 

either with guile or with honesty, and that they could be controlled in their actions. The 

easiest way to do this was for a single leader to take control, a single man who had 

charisma, a single man that “stood a head taller than the rest,” a single man for the 

people to follow and obey. This man though had the same faults as any other human-

being, pride, love, lust, jealousy, hate, an endless supply of ways to go wrong, and 

doubtlessly one man found it in his heart to conquer another. Doubtlessly, this leader 

paraded what another kingdom had to his people, doubtlessly, he told them that it could 

all be theirs… if they followed his command, and conquered the other country. This 

leader had begun a quest for an empire.

One of the first empires of the Ancient Culture was the Akkadian Empire from 

circa 2300 B.C. to circa 1900 B.C. It is not known how much territory they (the 

Akkadians) conquered, but historians do believe that this is one of the first, if not the 

first, Fertile Crescent Empires. From this empire the Akkadian language grew, becoming 

the primary language, over Sumerian, in the Mesopotamian region. Upon the fall of the 

Akkadian Empire, rose the Babylonian Empire.

Babylon was settled by members of the Akkadian/ Sumerian culture, yet they