Akkadia The World s First Empire By: Athreya Ramesh and Christina Manxhari
Location Centered around the city of Akkad Location has not been defined, appears to be around modern-day Baghdad, Iraq near the Euphrates river Ruled over most of Mesopotamia Stretching from Asia Minor to southern Iraq Reached its peak between 2350 BC to 2150 BC
How it Rose The Akkadian empire was split into city-states that were said to be governed by a god or gods specified to each city-state City-states were united into geographic leagues for trade Created by king Uruk, but credit was given to king Sargon the Great First multi-national empire in the world
Natural Resources Location near the Tigris and Euphrates River supplied the great water table that nourished farmland Northern Iraq s rainfall and southern Iraq s yield of wheat grain maintained the highest population density in the world at the time Surplus of agriculture but not much else Lacked metal ores, timber, and building stone; all had to be imported Tried to secure imports by expanding into Lebanon for its cedars, the Taurus mountains in Turkey for silver, and Magan (modern-day Oman) for copper
Language and Communication Followed own distinct language: Akkadian cuneiform
literature Cherished literature and believed both men and women should be educated Enheduanna is a famous poetpriestess that revolutionized the use of Akkadian cuneiform by shifting the person in a poem she wrote (from third person to first person) Enheduanna represented the moon goddess Inanna. Her poems were in reverence of the goddess.
Culture Akkadian was primary language Sumerian was reserved as a ceremonial language First poet in history known by name was Akkadian Sargon s daughter, Enheduanna
Beliefs and Religion The Akkadians prayed to the same gods as most other Mesopotamian civilizations Polytheistic Each deity correlated to a city or place Anu was the head of the Sumerian Pantheon Enlil was considered the head Gods created humans to be their servants, then released them because they were too much too handle.
Government and Social organization The leader of every city, state, or province was called an ensi, who was believed to be connected to the gods, and was the equivalent of a high priest At first, the lugal was the next rank, a king like person who would take control of the city in times of need As time went on, this lugal became a permanent king
Akkadian Government, cont. The King of the city of Kish was considered the ruler of the land, since Kish was essential to the entire area due to its location on two rivers Sargon, the first king of Akkadia, controlled Kish Although he conquered and ruled the totality of lands under heaven, according to some texts, he generally left the ensis to control their respective areas, as provincial governors.
Role of the King over time At first, an ensi was considered a human that had a divine right to rule a certain area Sargon pushed this title by conquering the known land and declaring himself universal ruler, though he was not an ensi Sargon s descendants transformed this title even further by elevating themselves to the level of gods
Economy Monetary System Silver coins called shekels were form of currency--very valuable since the land mostly lacked it Shekel is the name of general ancient Semitic currency
Economy, cont. Commercial Goods & Trade Nomads from the northwest supplied wool, meat, and milk from their sheep and goats, but were heavily taxed for using others land to graze Conflicts of land ownership frequently erupted When conflicts did erupt, multi-purpose wheat from the north imported to the south Sumerian land overcame this problem When the unpredictable floods of the Tigris and Euphrates occurred, soldiers would be employed as farmers to work to relieve them if food shortages did result (from August to October)
Technological Advances Akkadia was the first Mesopotamian civilization to utilize metalworking and glassworking Regular post service The empire was connected entirely by roads The Head of Sargon
The Fall of Akkad: The curse Collapsed in 2154 BCE, 180 years after its founding Caused by a period of barbarian invasions and climate change Eventually split into Assyria in the North and Babylonia in the south Legend says that because Naram- Sin, the king of Akkad at the time, attacked the holy city of Nippur, which was protected by the god Enlil, head of the pantheon The gods then agreed to remove their support from Akkad and then the empire fell from loss of prosperity
Influence on Future Civilizations As the first major civilization of Mesopotamia under a single king, Akkadia set precedents for government and social hierarchy Sargon began the tradition of kings ruling over all of the land, instead of individual rulers ruling different provinces
Sources en.wikipedia.org/wiki/akkadian_empire en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ancient_technology history-world.org/akkadians.htm en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ancient_mesopotamian_religion http://i-cias.com/e.o/akkadian_empire.htm