The Akkadian People

They probably came from the area around the Caspian Sea, although there is no indication that they were Indo-European, like many later invaders from the north. They arrived in the fourth millennium bce and settled the Tigris and Euphrates valleys, establishing the cities of Ur, Eridu, Mari, Nippur, Uruk, Kish, and Lagash. These communities collectively made up the population of Sumer, although they formed more of a confederation than a nation. They developed the cuneiform style of writing and were best known architectural-ly for the construction of ziggurats, step pyramids used as temples or altars. They also developed a monarchy, with a king in each city-state. The king was originally chosen for his military abilities, but over time the post became a permanent, and then a hereditary, position. As the militaryleader, the king commanded forces that fought in a phalanx-type formation, 11 men wide and six ranks deep. Most of the time the city-states fought among them-selves in ever-shifting power struggles, or united against outside threats. That ended, however, with the monarchy of Sargon.

As with many ancient figures, Sargon’s early years are somewhat of a mystery. He was born around 2350 bce of undetermined parentage, though some theorize either a pastoral upbringing or that he was the child of a temple prostitute because he did not know his father. According to legend, Sargon began life as Moses did: cast adrift on a river by his mother-in this case, the Euphrates River. He was then reputedly rescued and raised by a farm family, not a royal one. He did manage, however, to become cupbearer to Ur-Zababa, the king of Kish. Sargon came to power either by overthrowing the king himself or assuming the king’s throne when Ur-Zababa was killed by the invading king of Sumer. Either way, at this point he took the name Sargon, meaning “King of Universal Dominion,” and made war against Sumer.

Sargon united his Semitic people into history’s first empire, the Akkadians. Sargon went about conquering and was quite successful at it. He captured cities up the Euphrates River, then crossed to the Tigris and worked his way up that river to Ashur. From there he conquered eastward to the Persian hills, then south to defeat Sumer, possibly gaining revenge for the death of Ur-Zababa. He symbolically washed his weapons in the Persian Gulf, marking the limit of his conquests in that direction. After consolidating his hold on Sumer, he marched west to conquer Mesopotamia and possibly as far as Syria and Lebanon, with rumors of conquests in lands as far, flung as Egypt, Asia Minor, and India. In order to control this vast territory, Sargon appointed representatives of the conquered peoples to governing positions, answering only to him. He stationed troops in posts around the empire, garrisoning them with forces of all nations, although some soldiers were forced to join his armies. Sargon was successful in battle because he initiated new tactics. He abandoned the standard tight phalanx-style formation in favor of a looser one, and he adopted the use of javelins and arrows shot from compound bows. He also maintained the first standing army, a force of 5,400 men.