Skip to content

featuring historical research, writing, and media at st. mary's university

  • World History

    World History

    Menu
    • World History
    • Pre-Classical History (to 600 BCE)
    • Classical History (600 BCE-600 CE)
    • Post-Classical History (600 CE-1492 CE)
    • Early Modern History (1492-1789)
    • Modern History (1789-1914)
    • Global History (1900-present)

    From the Ancient World

    The Battle of Zama: Rome's Vengeance

    Posted by Davis Nickle12/01/2020

    From the Modern World

    The Holy See Takes On The Fight Against Climate Change

    Posted by Victor Rodriguez11/30/2020

    Regional Histories

    Menu
    • African and African American Studies
    • Latin American Studies
  • US History

    Early America

    Menu
    • US-Three Worlds Meet (to 1620)
    • US-Colonization and Settlement (1585-1763)
    • US-Revolution and the New Nation (1754-1820s)
    • US-Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)
    • US-Civil War & Reconstruction (1850-1877)

    A Forgotten Finals: Bill Russell, and the 1966 NBA Finals

    Posted by Kaleb Werku11/12/2019

    The Political Involvement of Twitter

    Posted by Janie Cheverie11/01/2020

    Tyson McGuffin: US Open Pickleball Champion

    Posted by Jake Faryniarz11/13/2020

    Radiator Springs and the Old Spanish Trail: How Pixar's Cars Reflects the History of an Old Auto Route

    Posted by S. Michael Sleeter05/12/2019

    A Woman's Shot at Making History: The First Female CEO of Mylan and the EpiPen

    Posted by Courtney Pena11/15/2019

    The Trials that Started the American Revolution: John Adams

    Posted by Andrea Degollado04/26/2020

    The Green River Killer: Gary Ridgway

    Posted by Priscilla Poorbaugh10/31/2019

    RuPaul's Influence On Drag: You Better Work!

    Posted by Nadia Carrasco04/07/2019

    Like a Virgin: Madonna's Road to Success

    Posted by Andrea Degollado11/14/2019

    Bonnie and Clyde's Darkest Hour

    Posted by Sebastian Portilla11/15/2019

    Walt Disney and the building of his Magic Kingdom

    Posted by Malik Heard12/06/2019

    From Child to Commodore: How Cornelius Vanderbilt Became The Commodore

    Posted by Aaron Sandoval05/04/2020

    Clarence Norris: The Last Voice of the Scottsboro Boys

    Posted by Kathryn Martinez11/01/2019

    Can We All Get Along?: The Fight Against Police Brutality

    Posted by Lindsey Ogle11/23/2020

    “I don't understand what you are saying, speak English.”: Tener un acento extranjero afecta la percepción.

    Posted by Lyzette Flores11/08/2020

    Upton Sinclair: His Rise to Fame

    Posted by Gabriella Urrutia11/10/2019

    Perseverance in Preservation: The Hundred-year Historical Development of Woodlawn Lake Park

    Posted by Mario Sosa05/13/2019

    The Waco Tragedy: David Koresh and The Branch Davidians

    Posted by Victoria Davis12/14/2019

    Olympian Aly Raisman: More than a Survivor, an Advocate!

    Posted by Ashley Martinez11/15/2019

    Tulsa Massacre 1921: Buck Colbert Franklin in the Greenwood District

    Posted by Alicia Martinez11/05/2020

    Health at Every Size As a Means to Approach Obesity and Improve a Fat-phobic Society

    Posted by Vanessa Quetzeri12/01/2019

    Cambio de Código: Error Generalizado del Spanglish

    Posted by Celeste Pérez González10/27/2020

    Why We Should Defend Human Gene Editing

    Posted by Emily Velazquez04/07/2019

    Hope and Grief: Robert Kennedy's Speech on the night of Dr. King's Assassination

    Posted by Matthew Swaykus05/12/2019

    Silicon: the building block of technology

    Posted by Regina De La Parra11/08/2020

    The One Device: Story of the First iPhone

    Posted by Bruno Lezama12/08/2019

    Say Her Name: Breonna Taylor

    Posted by Shriji Lalji12/02/2020

    Trump vs The Vote: What Really Happened in the 2016 Election?

    Posted by Kendall Guajardo11/30/2020

    "An Absurd Delusion": Pride, Ignorance, and America's Deadliest Natural Disaster

    Posted by Kenneth Gilley10/06/2019

    The Lack of Latinx Access to Proper Mental Care in a Metropolitan County

    Posted by Ángel Velarde11/05/2020

    Contemporary America

    Menu
    • US-Industrial United States (1870-1900)
    • US-Emergence of Modern America (1890-1930)
    • US-Great Depression & WWII (1929-1945)
    • US-Postwar United States (1945-early 1970s)
    • US-Contemporary United States (1968-present)
  • Themes

    SPICE Categories

    Specialty Categories

    Special Themes

    Menu
    • Social History
    • Political History
    • Environmental History
    • Cultural History
    • Economic History
    Menu
    • Art History
    • Business
    • Crime
    • Gender Studies
    • Human Rights
    • Public Health and Medicine
    • International Relations
    • Linguistics
    Menu
    • Military History
    • Music
    • People
    • Psychology
    • Religion
    • Science & Technology
    • Sports
    Menu
    • Catholic Heritage
    • The Year 1968
    • COVID-19
    • Social Justice
    • Spanish Language
  • Showcase

    Showcase Editions

    • Vol 1 – 2016
      • Vol 1 No 1 Aug-Sep 2016
      • Vol 1 No 2 Oct-Nov 2016
    • Vol 2 – 2017
      • Vol 2 No 1 Jan-Feb 2017
      • Vol 2 No 2 Mar-Apr 2017
      • Vol 2 No 3 Aug-Sep 2017
      • Vol 2 No 4 Oct-Nov 2017
    • Vol 3 – 2018
      • Vol 3 No 1 Jan-Feb 2018
      • Vol 3 No 2 Mar-Apr 2018
      • Vol 3 No 3 Aug-Sep 2018
      • Vol 3 No 4 Oct-Nov 2018
    • Vol 4 – 2019
      • Vol 4 No 1 Jan-Feb 2019
      • Vol 4 No 2 Mar-Apr 2019
      • Vol 4 No 3 Aug-Sep 2019
      • Vol 4 No 4 Oct-Nov 2019
    • Vol 5 – 2020
      • Vol 5 No 1 Jan-Feb 2020
      • Vol 5 No 2 Mar-Apr 2020
      • Vol 5 No 3 Aug-Sep 2020
    Menu
    • Vol 1 – 2016
      • Vol 1 No 1 Aug-Sep 2016
      • Vol 1 No 2 Oct-Nov 2016
    • Vol 2 – 2017
      • Vol 2 No 1 Jan-Feb 2017
      • Vol 2 No 2 Mar-Apr 2017
      • Vol 2 No 3 Aug-Sep 2017
      • Vol 2 No 4 Oct-Nov 2017
    • Vol 3 – 2018
      • Vol 3 No 1 Jan-Feb 2018
      • Vol 3 No 2 Mar-Apr 2018
      • Vol 3 No 3 Aug-Sep 2018
      • Vol 3 No 4 Oct-Nov 2018
    • Vol 4 – 2019
      • Vol 4 No 1 Jan-Feb 2019
      • Vol 4 No 2 Mar-Apr 2019
      • Vol 4 No 3 Aug-Sep 2019
      • Vol 4 No 4 Oct-Nov 2019
    • Vol 5 – 2020
      • Vol 5 No 1 Jan-Feb 2020
      • Vol 5 No 2 Mar-Apr 2020
      • Vol 5 No 3 Aug-Sep 2020
  • About

    Course Readings

    Article Indexes

    About Us

    Menu
    • Course Readings – SC 3300 – Nash
    • Course Readings – SMC 1301 – Wieck
    • Course Readings – PO 4334 – Dr Celine
    • Course Readings _ PO 3365 – Dr Celine
    Menu
    • Course Readings – HS 2321 – Whitener
    • Course Readings – HS 2322 – Whitener
    • Course Readings – SMC 1301 – Whitener
    Menu
    • Our Article/Author Index
    • Award Winning Articles
    Menu
    • Our StMU History Media Project
    • Our Faculty Consultants
    • Our Writers
    • Contact Us
  • Descriptive Article, Military History, People, Pre-Classical History (to 600 BCE), World History
  • February 28, 2017

Sargon of Akkad: The World’s First Emperor

Bronze of Sargon of Akkad | 26th century BCE | National Museum of Iraq, Baghdad | Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons
Bronze of Sargon of Akkad | 26th century BCE | National Museum of Iraq, Baghdad | Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons
Erick Martinez

Erick Martinez

Twelve thousand years ago, humans transitioned from hunter-gatherer societies to agriculture-based societies. Humans began to settle in ever larger communities, and gradually created civilizations. Neolithic villages began to flourish in Mesopotamia after 6000 B.C.E., due to its rich soil and water sources (Tigris and Euphrates rivers). The first of the civilizations that developed was the Sumerian. Many other civilizations would follow, including the Akkadian city-states, which would form to the north of the Sumerians.

According to Akkadian legend, a woman of Akkad became pregnant, carrying the illegitimate child of a temple priest. Unable to keep the child, she was forced to set her son adrift in a basket on the Euphrates River, where he was later found by a man named Akki, a gardener for Ur-Zababa, the King of the Sumerian city of Kish.1

This child would come to be Sargon of Akkad (Sargon the Great). He would grow to one day usurp the kingship of his own city of Agade, which would come to be the capital of his empire. After developing his Akkadian city of Agade and building a strong military, after 2350 B.C.E., he began to conquer. Many city-states located around Mesopotamia were involved in trading and attempting to aid one another, which often led to conflicts and war. Sargon used his army to bring these small conflicts to an end by conquering each Sumerian city-state one by one. He was viewed as a talented administrator and brilliant warrior. Sargon was wise in going on the offensive against the Sumerian city-states, conquering each, destroying all their defensive walls, as well as any enemy who stood before him.  His empire is thought to have included most of Mesopotamia and parts of the Levant, besides incursions into Hurrite and Elamite territory, making him the founder of the Old Akkadian Dynasty as well as the first Mesopotamian Empire. The Old Akkadian Dynasty ruled for about a century after his death, until the Gutian conquest of Sumer. Historians believe that the Gutians were tribes of mountain people who, combined with the revolting people of the various conquered cities, were responsible for the downfall of the Akkadian Empire around 2150 B.C.E. .2

As the first emperor in history, Sargon of Akkad had much success. Despite having no prior example to follow, he was able to take over and maintain Mesopotamia for over fifty years. He financed his empire by seizing control of trade routes, taking all goods that crossed through his realm. This allowed his capital of Akkad (or Agade) to become the wealthiest and most powerful city in the world. He was able to maintain his empire by placing his best and most trusted men in positions of power in various cities. They would be appointed by Sargon himself to serve as governors and administrators in over 65 different cities. These leaders were referred to as the “Citizens of Akkad” in later Babylonian texts. Anytime Sargon took over a city, it rapidly became an Akkadian stronghold, full of Akkadian officials and troops.3 This stability throughout the empire allowed the construction of roads, a wider influence of trade, improved irrigation, as well as developments in arts and in science. Sargon standardized weights and measures for trade and daily commerce. He also managed to initiate a system of taxation and created the first postal system.

Map of Akkadian Empire 2300 B.C.E.

These various improvements to the lives of the people of Mesopotamia were not enough to prevent the various conquered peoples from gathering to rebel against Sargon and his administration. Being forced to stay under the rule of an emperor who defeated various groups, taking their land and goods, fueled the people to rebel. By 2150 B.C.E., the Akkadian Empire had collapsed in the midst of rebellion from within and from outside invaders attempting to take the fertile land of Mesopotamia. The story of Sargon loosing his empire to inside rebellion is only one of many. When a group of conquered people are forced to live under another’s rule, it is common for them to look for ways to strike back, overthrow those kings who often attempt to rule them well. Later rulers would improve Sargon’s administrative techniques by relying on centralized bureaucratic rule and regular taxation.4

Sargon created the very first political entity on a large scale and set the standards for all future rulers of empires. Through his unique upbringing, never meeting or knowing his parents, he was able to rise to power. Initially he was nothing but the king’s cupbearer (a butler); none expected that he would one day come to conquer and maintain the land wanted by all. Sargon of Akkad would become the topic of legendary narratives in later Assyrian and Babylonian literature, focusing on his rise to power from humble origins and his conquest of Mesopotamia. These memories of his successful deeds would later inspire conquerors to follow his example and would provide all the future people of Mesopotamia with a powerful hero to idolize.

  1. Ancient History Encyclopedia, September 2009, s.v. “Sargon of Akkad,” by Joshua J. Mark. ↵
  2. Ancient History Encyclopedia, September 2009, s.v. “Sargon of Akkad,” by Joshua J. Mark. ↵
  3. W. F. Albright, “A Babylonian Geographical Treatise on Sargon of Akkad’s Empire,” Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 45 (1905): 193-201. ↵
  4.  The Macmillan Encyclopedia, 2003, s.v. “Sargon of Akkad,” by Alan Isaacs. ↵

Tags from the story

  • Sargon of Akkad

Share this post

Share on facebook
Share on google
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin
Share on pinterest
Share on print
Share on email
Erick Martinez

Erick Martinez

Author Portfolio Page

Pheidippides and The Origins of The Marathon

Pheidippides, a Greek runner, received orders to travel from the plain of Marathon to the

Read More »

This Post Has 50 Comments

  1. Avatar
    Francisco Cruzado 3 Feb 2020 Reply

    It surprises me how natural it seems for the first emperor Sargon to develop political institutions that would later on be sort of normalized by the empires that followed in the Middle-Easter and Western Asia regions. It seems as if there was a regional construction of the idiosyncrasy, as if politics and the mastering of government developed through time, through various attempts of theorizing those concepts. The similarity with Noe’s origins also surprise me a lot. Would it be possible that such mythical origin was, instead of a mere coincidence, a literary construct (with a meaning and/or symbolism in itself)?

  2. Avatar
    Kasandra Ramirez Ferrer 25 Sep 2019 Reply

    I think this a very interesting article but it did make me wonder if Sargon’s tale is true. I think he was an outstanding leader who was interested in his people and was able to improve his empire with his bright ideas that made it grow rich and powerful quickly. It also made me compare his story to Moses’s, how both were put on a river and ended up with royal guardians, they also became royalty, one was an emperor and the other one a prince.

  3. Avatar
    Aaron Peters 25 Sep 2019 Reply

    What an informative and well written article! I’m surprised at the size of the land he controlled, especially since it was done in ancient Mesopotamia, before most modern methods of transport were in use. It’s pretty wild to think that someone with such a troubled past would rise and become one of the planet’s first emperors, writing his name in the History books forever.

  4. Avatar
    Noah Wesolowski 9 Apr 2019 Reply

    After reading this article it’s amazing that Sargon of Akkad was able to introduce so many great ideas to his empire which allowed it to quickly grow rich and powerful. Standardizing the weight system helped trading become easier and introducing a tax helped fund building irrigation systems in the area that he conquered. Unfortunately his great empire came to an end when the cities he conquered started to rebel.

  5. Avatar
    Diego Terrazas 24 Mar 2019 Reply

    I wonder if Sargon’s tale was true. Perhaps that story was insinuated so that he seemed more like a hero to his people. Nevertheless, Sargon set the standard for conquerors, which I do not know to call a good or bad thing, but there must be a first for everything I guess. However, his establishment of a tax system and a government is pretty impressive.

  6. Avatar
    Sharriah Martinez 17 Feb 2019 Reply

    I truly enjoyed reading this article on Sargon of Akkad. It was very interesting to learn of his adverse upbringing, and to follow how he was able to overcome this and rise to power. It is crazy to consider that he was the very first successful emperor, he truly set the standard for many conquerors who followed him. Thank you for this very insightful article filled with information that was new to me.

  7. Avatar
    Engelbert Madrid 13 Feb 2019 Reply

    Sargon of Akkad’s story is quite interesting, because he’s basically the first super hero story that was written. Furthermore, his birth story is quite the same as the story of Moses, who freed the people of God from the Egyptian kingdom, which is interesting to know. Some historians believe Moses birth story was mixed with Sargon’s, but no one knows for sure. I enjoyed this article. Thanks for writing this article.

  8. Avatar
    Kristy Feather 18 Nov 2018 Reply

    I am always fascinated by ancient histories, so I really enjoyed how this article went way back into ancient societies to discover more about Sargon the Great and his kingdom of Agade. I had never heard about it and really found it interesting how this society would establish a political foundation for the future.

  9. Avatar
    Mariah Garcia 1 Nov 2018 Reply

    Sargon the Great endured a lot growing up. He was abandoned yet he had to conquer the city he was born in, city of Agade. He was a very intellectual emperor that created complex systems that controlled many cities and initiated a taxation system. It was very interesting to read because Sargon lead the first empire for many years. This is like an old and forgotten story, but it shouldn’t because Sargon changed the world.

  10. Avatar
    Yadira Chavez 23 Sep 2018 Reply

    I really enjoyed this article, it was well written and inspiring in certain ways because of Sargon’s tragic early life. I am sure it would be a marvel to get into his mind and understand how he was the first to get the idea to start his empire. A true underdog story, especially since his reign lasted for a crazy 50 years!

Comments navigation

Previous commentPrevious

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

StMU History Media

A Student Organization of St. Mary's University of San Antonio Texas

Sponsors

  • College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, St. Mary's University
  • Department of History, St. Mary's University
  • Department of Political Science, St. Mary's University
  • Center for Catholic Studies, St. Mary's University

Support Services

  • The Learning Assistance Center, St. Mary's University
  • Louis J. Blume Library Services, St. Mary's University
  • STRIVE Career Center, St. Mary's University
  • Academic Technology Services, St. Mary's University

About

  • About Us
  • Our Authors
  • Our Archive
  • Contacts

© All rights reserved

Twitter
Facebook
Pinterest