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Person

Sargon of Akkad

Also called: Sargon the Great

Founder of the Akkadian Empire (r. c. 2334 – c. 2279 BC), the first to unite Mesopotamia

Legend says he was set adrift on a river in a reed basket, raised by a gardener, and rose to power as cupbearer to the king of Kish. He built a new capital at Akkad and defeated Lugalzagesi of Uruk to take the Sumerian cities. He placed Akkadian officials over conquered cities and made his daughter Enheduanna high priestess of the moon god at Ur. Later Mesopotamian kings looked back on him as the model of a conquering ruler.

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1 related event

  1. 1
    2334 BC – 2154 BCRise of the Akkadian Empiremonarch

    Sargon of Akkad conquered the Sumerian city-states and founded the first empire to unite Mesopotamia.

Themes this person appears in

  • Early Civilizations and Empires3500 BC – 486 BC

    From the first civilizations in the great river valleys to the first empires of the Near East, India and China — comparing their writing, law, religion and rule