The Akkadian Empire

Overview

Akkad (c. 2350-2200) is arguably the world's first empire. An empire is a multi-cultural, multi-regional, expansionistic entity whose purpose is widespread political control. The Akkadians came out of northern Iraq somewhere near modern Bagdad and took over the southern Sumerian controlled territories and additional territories in the north.

Sargon, who founded the empire, claims to have “washed his swords in the Upper and Lower Seas.” This claim means that he extended his empire from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea.

The empire underwent a period of strength and consolidation during the reign of Naram-Sin, Sargon's grandson. In his royal ideology and texts, Naram Sin quite famously depicted himself as a god.

Sumerians vs. Akkadians

The Sumerians in the southern Mesopotamian city-states spoke the Sumerian language and used it to write their records and texts. But, during the Akkadian period, texts were, instead written in Akkadian for the first time.

Sumerian is a linguistic isolate with no known languages that are related to it while Akkadian is a Eastern Semitic language. Other modern Semitic languages include Arabic and Hebrew. Early translators of Akkadian were able to use Comparative Semitics to decode the language and were able to subsequently use their knowledge of Akkadian to unlock the secrets of Sumerian. Sumerian stopped being spoken in the late 3rd Millennium, but it continued to be written as a scholarly language (much like Latin in the medieval period) until the early years of the common era.

The Kings of Akkad

  • Sargon
  • Rimush (Sargon’s son)
  • Manishtushu (Rimush’s brother)
  • Naram-Sin (“classic” phase of Akkadian art)
  • Shar-kali-sharri (name literally means "king-of-kings" but he ran the empire into the ground!)

Sources for the Akkadian Empire

Archaeological

There is abundant archaeological evidence for the Akkadian Empire at a variety of sites.

At the major southern sites (Ur, Uruk, and Nippur) there is inscriptional evidence, but few archaeological remains.

FROM THE DIYALA (Northern Iraq):

Khafajah

  • a large complex of Akkadian foundations with thick walled buildings surrounded by an enclosure wall
  • Akkadian cylinder seal and five Akkadian tablets discovered

Tell Asmar

  • Most impressive feature at Tell Asmar is the “Northern Palace”
  • Textual evidence refers to a textile industry with mostly female workers

FROM SYRIA (dates to the reign of Naram-Sin)

Ebla

  • The destruction level of Palace G at Ebla.
  • Palace G had an ED III archive, providing a relatively secure date.

Mari

  • Like Ebla there’s a destruction level.
  • There were also Old Akkadian administrative tablets found at Mari.

Tell Brak (ancient Nagar)

  • The Naram-Sin Palace, a massive complex covers about 2 ha with very thick walls. It probably was not a palace, but rather an administrative center or a storage facility.

Mozan (ancient Urkesh)

  • Sealings of Tar’am-Agade, a daughter of Naram-Sin were found here.

Cylinder seals

Impression made from an Akkadian Cylinder Seal recovered in Ur in modern day Iraq 2300-2100 BCE

Akkadian seals are characterized by:

  • Simpler motifs
  • More empty space
  • More symmetry
  • More gods
  • A new type of motif; the “presentation scene”

Art-Historical

Overview

  • A shift towards realism characterizes Akkadian art
  • Musculature is more pronounced
  • The Stele of Naram-Sin totally does away with registers
  • There’s more of an emphasis on the individual; there are more figures found in isolation

The Victory Stele of a King of Akkad (see here) Links to an external site.

  • The Stele of Sargon is divided into a system of registers, and shows a clear influence from Sumerian victory stele
  • Sargon is dressed much like a Sumerian king in a fleece garment with a beard and headdress much like those of Eannatum on the “Stele of the Vultures”
  • Soldiers are lined up behind Sargon, and in the upper register are bound, nude prisoners.

Obelisk of Manishtushu

  • Art from the reign of Manishtushu begins to exhibit the “classical” style of Akkadian art.
  • The “Obelisk of Manishtushu” commemorates the king’s purchase of land.
  • After the transaction he holds a feast for everyone in the community.

Akkad Manishtusu Obelisk

Victory Stele of Naram-Sin

  • Most celebrated piece of Akkadian art
  • This was found in Susa and is now in the Louvre
  • The stele depicts a victory over the Lullubi, a tribe from the Iranian highlands
  • The focus is on Naram-Sin as the god/hero/king
  • Naram-Sin wears a horned crown marking his divinity

The Victory Stele of Naram Sin

Bassetki Statue

  • Depicts the lower half of a nude figure, possibly a hero
  • The inscription tells how Naram-Sin was deified

Basetki statue base with inscription

Image: http://cdli.ox.ac.uk/images/p216558detail.jpg