The Akkadians: Pioneers of Mesopotamian Civilization
The Akkadians established history’s first known empire, radically reshaping ancient Mesopotamia. Under King Sargon, they forged a vast realm from their capital, Akkad, leaving an indelible mark on the region and influencing later myths central to various traditions. This civilization pioneered a new form of imperial rule, dominating diverse peoples culturally, religiously, and economically.
Who Were the Akkadians?
The Akkadians were the people of the expansive empire founded by King Sargon, centered in the city of Akkad. They are distinguished as among the first to establish an empire in the sense of a state that culturally, religiously, and economically subjugated other peoples. Flourishing in the Fertile Crescent between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the Akkadians were one of several civilizations in the region, alongside the Sumerians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Hittites, and Amorites.
History of the Akkadian Empire
Before the Akkadian Empire, Mesopotamia comprised numerous city-states, each with its own ruler, influence, and culture. While sharing cultural and political similarities, these states frequently clashed over resources. Southern Mesopotamia was home to the Sumerians, while northern regions were populated by Semitic-speaking peoples, whose language would evolve into Arabic, Hebrew, and Aramaic. Despite linguistic differences, these Mesopotamian cultures shared many characteristics, forming a broad civilization.
Around 2400 BCE, King Eannatum of Lagash gained prominence in Sumer, defeating Uruk and Ur. Lagash exerted significant power for over a century, controlling an area of approximately 4,500 square kilometers. Its last king, Urukagina, ascended around 2350 BCE. Concurrently, Semitic peoples established a powerful kingdom in Ebla (modern Syria), dominating parts of Anatolia and Upper Mesopotamia, while Mari began asserting control over neighboring cities like Assur.
Urukagina of Lagash attempted reforms to diminish the priests’ power and improve his people’s welfare. However, resistance from the priesthood, capitalizing on popular religious fears, weakened his rule. This internal strife left Lagash vulnerable, allowing its long-time rival, Umma, under King Lugalzagesi, to conquer Ur and Uruk before attacking Lagash in 2330 BCE, effectively bringing all of Sumer under his control.
Meanwhile, the city of Kish prospered as other city-states warred. Lugalzagesi’s rule over Uruk and Sumer was challenged when the prime minister of Kish’s king usurped the throne, adopting the name Sargon, meaning “the legitimate king.” To escape past monarchical influences, Sargon established a new capital: Agade, or Akkad. This marked the genesis of the vast Akkadian Empire. Around 2300 BCE, Sargon swiftly defeated Lugalzagesi, seizing control of Sumer and unifying Mesopotamia under Akkadian rule.
As Sargon expanded his conquests, Akkad grew. While some city-states briefly regained independence, Akkadian armies soon subsumed them as tribute-paying entities, forming a diverse, multicultural empire. The Akkadian Empire is considered the first historical empire to militarily, culturally, and economically dominate other peoples, differing from contemporary Egyptian rule which was largely homogenous. The Akkadians exerted harsh control over conquered populations. Sumerian rulers were replaced by Akkadian warriors, fueling resentment. Sargon countered revolts by standardizing the empire, promoting Akkadian as the official language, particularly for administrative and important matters, aiming to displace Sumerian, which had been the language of culture and prestige.
Sargon of Akkad died around 2280 BCE. Sumer and the Zagros mountain peoples immediately revolted, but Sargon’s eldest son, Rimush, with his brother Manishtusu, suppressed these uprisings. In 2252 BCE, Sargon’s grandson, Naram-Sin, ascended the throne, quelling internal rebellions and continuing the family tradition of imperial expansion. Naram-Sin overthrew the flourishing kingdom of Ebla in 2200 BCE. To consolidate power, he proclaimed himself a god and established a body of noble-officials to oversee local kings and punish disloyal cities. Culture thrived under his reign, with scribes advancing Sumerian traditions. While Sumerian retained influence, Akkadian became dominant in administration and commerce.
Akkadian Mythology
Akkadian culture significantly drew upon Sumerian myths, leading to a cosmology with themes surprisingly resonant in later traditions.
The Universal Flood
Our understanding of Akkadian history is partly thanks to the Sumerians’ systematic use of writing for historical and literary purposes from around 2800 BCE. The lack of earlier records puzzled both Sumerians and Akkadians centuries later, leading them to hypothesize a great Universal Flood before 2800 BCE that obliterated all previous written sources. Both cultures consequently situated many of their legends in this pre-flood era.
Their cosmology suggested the world was created in seven days, aligning with the seven principal celestial bodies identified by astronomers: the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn. These heavenly bodies were revered in both Sumerian and Akkadian pantheons and were believed to influence human destiny. A person’s fate depended on the celestial body dominating the sky at their birth, and the names of days derived from the ruling celestial body of their first hour, thus establishing the seven-day week.
The belief in a Universal Flood led to the Sumerian King List including ten pre-flood monarchs with impossibly long reigns. Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, was the most famous of these. The mythological Gilgamesh, based on a historical king from around 2700 BCE, was said to have been born centuries earlier, survived the wrath of angry gods, and embarked on a quest for eternal life after his friend’s death. Another survivor of this mythological deluge was Utnapishtim, who built a boat and saved his family. After the flood, he offered animal sacrifices to the gods, who, grateful for the sustenance, granted him immortality. Utnapishtim later encountered Gilgamesh, guiding him to a magical plant. Gilgamesh found it, but a serpent stole and ate it, explaining why snakes rejuvenate by shedding their skin.
The Tower of Babel
The Akkadian conquest of Sumerian cities, where Sumerian was the language of culture, caused immense confusion. Conquered Sumerians struggled to comprehend why they were being brutally invaded and why the invaders spoke an almost unintelligible language. It is likely that the common people, whose world was largely confined to their immediate surroundings, struggled to understand the sudden imposition of an unknown tongue.
Given the brutality of the war and the perceived injustice, the conquered Sumerians likely interpreted their plight as divine punishment. This idea evolved over centuries, even as Akkad and Sumer faded from popular memory, their ancient ziggurats remained. A narrative emerged in Mesopotamia that ancient peoples built tall temples to reach the gods, an attempt that displeased the deities. As punishment, the gods sowed confusion among humans by making them speak hundreds of different languages. This legend forms the basis of the Tower of Babel myth. Ancient Mesopotamians, who built increasingly taller ziggurats, ceased construction when the gods made them speak different languages, preventing mutual understanding and collaborative building.
The Religion of the Akkadians
Like other major early civilizations, the Akkadians practiced a polytheistic religion, sharing many commonalities with other Mesopotamian peoples, particularly the Sumerians. Religion played a crucial role in the political and social organization of the Empire, with a powerful priestly hierarchy. The ruler was considered the representative of the gods on Earth, akin to a divine intermediary. Akkadian deities were generally associated with various natural phenomena. While the Akkadian pantheon was extensive, the following were among the most significant:
1. An or Anu
The god An was the supreme sky god and ruler of all deities. He commanded celestial phenomena like stars and constellations. In Sumerian mythology, from which he originated, An was depicted as a celestial dome covering the Earth. The Akkadians adopted this representation, and as the supreme god, his duties included judging human and divine transgressions and imposing punishments.
2. Enlil or Bea
Enlil held significant importance not only in Akkadian cosmology but also in Sumerian, Assyrian, Babylonian, and Hittite traditions. Enlil was the god associated with winds, storms, and breath. He was also the father of several nature deities, including the Moon god and the goddess of wheat. Due to his close connection with the goddess of agriculture and his role in storms and rain, Enlil was one of the most prominent gods in the Akkadian pantheon.
3. Sin or Nanna
Sin, known as Nanna in Sumerian culture, was the Moon god. He was the chief deity of the city of Ur, and during that city-state’s peak, Sin’s importance rivaled that of An. He was also significantly associated with wisdom and related arts, especially astronomy and astrological divination.
4. Utu
Utu was the Sun god. The sun was fundamental to Akkadian culture, given its agrarian economy, where harvests depended on the sun’s benevolence. He was also considered the god of justice and truth, as the sun “sees all” and “knows all.”
5. Ishtar
Ishtar, the root of the name Esther, is the most widely recognized Mesopotamian goddess today, largely due to the famous relics dedicated to her preserved in Berlin’s Pergamon Museum. Ishtar was the goddess of fertility, love, sex, and passionate warfare. She was attributed with numerous lovers and is believed to have been worshipped through rituals involving sacred prostitution.
Akkadian Language
The Akkadian language, known in Akkadian as “lišānum akkadītum,” is now extinct, as is its writing system. It was primarily spoken in ancient Mesopotamia by Assyrians and Babylonians during the 2nd millennium BCE, and naturally, by the Akkadians themselves as they conquered various Sumerian and Semitic peoples. As mentioned, it became the official language of the Akkadian Empire, systematically displacing Sumerian and compelling conquered peoples to learn it as a method of state unification.
The Akkadian language arrived in Mesopotamia from the north with Semitic peoples. The earliest Akkadian proper names appear in Sumerian texts from around 2800 BCE, indicating that Akkadian speakers had already settled in Mesopotamia. The first tablets written entirely in Akkadian using cuneiform date to 2400 BCE, but significant written use of the language did not occur before 2300 BCE, coinciding with the rise of Sargon’s Akkadian Empire.
Thanks to the Akkadian Empire’s vast power and its policy of linguistic imposition, Akkadian eventually relegated Sumerian in legal and religious contexts, becoming the dominant language in Mesopotamia for nearly 1000 years. Furthermore, it became the lingua franca for commercial and diplomatic relations, even being used by Egyptian pharaohs when communicating with Hittite kings. Akkadian vocabulary is predominantly Semitic in origin. Here are some examples of words in this extinct language:
- Mother: umm-um
- House: bīt-um
- Blood: dam-um
- Dog: kalb-um
- King: malk-um
- Head: rēš-um
- Day: ūm-um