Ruler · Early Bronze Age · Iraq

Sargon of Akkad

r. c. 2334–c. 2279 BC

Founder of the Akkadian Empire, the first empire known in Mesopotamia, ruling from the city of Akkad around 2334 to 2279 BC. He conquered the Sumerian city states of the south and extended his power up the Tigris and Euphrates and west to the Mediterranean. His dynasty held Mesopotamia for about a century and a half after him.

Facts

Born: Unknown. The stories about his birth are legends told long after his death, not records.; Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Sargon of Akkad
Reign: About 2334 to 2279 BC, middle chronology.; Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Sargon of Akkad
Realm: Akkad, with subject cities from Sumer in the south to the upper Euphrates.; Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Sargon of Akkad
Known for: The first empire in recorded history, built by conquest of the Sumerian cities.; Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Sargon of Akkad
Capital: Agade, also called Akkad. Its exact site has not been found.; Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Sargon of Akkad

Images

Bronze head of an Akkadian king, often identified as Sargon, from Nineveh (Iraq Museum, photograph via Wikimedia Commons)

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