Transcript Akkadian Society - World History 9H

 The Akkadian Empire(2340-2200B.C.E.)
 It was located on the western bank of the Euphrates, in
present- day Iraq.
 We will now delve into its history, culture, and
advancements.
 Sargon of Akkad (2270-2215 BCE) helped establish the
Akkadian Empire.
 He led the Akkadian Empire to its greatest extent.
 Sargon conquered lands for his empire and his blood
reign went on for generations.
 Sargon’s blood reign went on for a few generations.
 Sargon was by far the most famous and successful
ruler, however.
 Later rulers such as Manishtushu Rimish maintained
Sargon’s rule.
 Eventually however, the Akkadian Empire shrunk and
collapsed due to Armani attacks.
 Agriculture was the economic backbone of Akkad.
 Like most ancient societies, Akkad utilized irrigation
and rainfall for crops
 Family was very important to Akkad
 Adultery was punishable by death for woman
 Akkadian government was known as classical
standard.
 The ensi was the main leader.
 The ensi, a preist- like figure, had to marry the goddess
Inana, solidifying his position.
 The kings in Akkad were at first below the ensi in
power.
 However, later in history, the king became the
prominent ruler.
 As we said, agriculture was vital in Akkad.
 Due to very little rainfall, irrigation was key to
successful farming.
 Akkad had a surplus of cattle and crops
 However, it lacked other commodities like metals and
timber.
 Sargon of Akkad led many major conquests to expand
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his empire.
He attacked and conquered Uruk.
He also conquered King Kashtubila of Kazalla.
Sargon’s were all for not, however.
Later leaders slowly lost the land until Akkad’s
eventual collapse.
 The population of pre-modern states was dependent
upon the agricultural system of the region.
 Two principals: irrigated farmlands or rain-fed
agriculture
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 This writing was developed and used in the middle
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east among:
Sumerians
Babylonians
Elamites
Hurrians
Kassites
Littites
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 Legal codes written in cuneiform scripts.
 Semitic language- Hebrew and Arabic
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•empire was bound together by
roads, along which there was a
regular postal service
•Clay seals took the place
of stamps
example of Akkadian cuneiform
Ruler
Length of reign
Sargon of Akakd 40 years
Rimush of
Akkad
Man-Ishtishu
Naram-Suen of
Akkad
Shar-kalli- Shari
•Iriaia
•Imi
•Nanum
•llulu
Dudu of Akkad
Shu-Dural
9 years
15 years
56 years
25 years
Unknown
21 years
15 years
Sargon
 They followed the “Code of
Hammurabi”
 The Code of Hammurabi was carved
into a black diorite stone.
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 Akkadian artists discovered “lost wax”
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•Within 100 years the Empire of
Akkad collapsed, almost as fast as
it had developed, bringing in a
Dark Age
•The empire collapsed entire
from the invasion of barbarians
of the Zagros known as “Gutians”
• said
to be associated with
rapidly increasing dryness, and
failing rainfall in the region of
the Ancient Near East,
 King of ancient Mesopotamia during 2334
BCE to 2279 BCE
 known for his extremely long reigning period
 Formed the first Jewish dynasty in the region
 Founder of Mesopotamian military traditions
 Trade thrived under his rule
 When the King of Uruk was defeated Sargon took his
place to rule over the lands that he had collected
 Sargon had to defeat every city that tried to break free
from his rule
 He succeeded which formed the kingdom of Akkad
 Traded with the Indus Valley, islands in the Persian
Gulf, and Oman
 Imported things such as lapis lazuli (semi-precious
stone), cedar wood, and silver
 When Sargon was king military traditions such as
spearman formations and shield walls were
established
 People began to use the language that the Sumerians
had previously used
 Started a new form of calligraphy which they put on
clay tablets with beautiful scenes of mythology and
festive life
 Majority of conflicts were with Sumer
 Especially empire migration to the north
 2125 BCE: Ur revolted causing Akkad to fall as Sumer
rose to power again
 Barbarian invasion of the Zagros also known as
“Gutians” caused empire to collapse
 Dramatic advances
 One major king
 Sargon
 First Poet
 Enheduanna
 Historians are not exactly sure where it is
 They think it’s on the West bank of Euphrates
 Between Sippar and Kish
 In present day Iraq
 Farmers
Social Classes
 Ensis and Lugals
 Provincial Ensis
 Regular priests
 Nobels (Lugal’s trusted workers)
 Peasants (farmers, tradesmen, fishers)
 Slaves
 Egyptian style art
 Has been found in Turkey
Technology
 First statue made of lead
 Spoke their own Akkadian language
 (Assyrian-Babylonian)
 Discovered “lost wax” (bronze casting)
 Sumerian art was excellent during the Akkadian
empire
 Enheduanna – first poet to actually record things
 Wife of Nanna – Sumerian moon god
 Daughter of Sargon
 Empire was bound together by roads
 Included a postal service
 Clay seals
 Sargon and son’s names
 Cadadstral survey
o
Wrritten ownership of land
 “Limmu” calendar system
 Year =big event
 Empire was bound together by roads first collection of
astronomical observations was made for a library
established by Sargon
Government
 Set a standard for all Sumerian City-States
 Ensi
 Highest priest
 Married to “Inanna”, goddess of love, fertility, and war
 “Divine power” which was initially highest power
 Lugal
 Literally “Great man”
 Equivalent to king
 Was initially 2nd in power to an “Ensi”, but became 1st but later
dynastic times
Sargon and Naram-Sin Governing
Strategy
 Purpose = spread and maintain control of land
 Made daughters (Enheduanna and Enmenanna) high
priestesses of moon goddess
 Married daughters off to other peripheral rulers
 Made sons provincial “Ensis”, equivalent to Governors
Economy
 Greatly dependent on agriculture
 Changed from year to year depending on rainfall and
crop yield
 Harvest was late spring and summer
 Had form of unemployment relief
 Government recruited farmers from August to September to
maintain Nile flooding and annual irrigation
 Imports were metals, timber, and building stone
 Polytheistic religion
 Worshipped gods and goddesses of or like those of the
Sumerians
 No seperation of religion and state, priests lead
civilization
 Divided into 2 sections: Beginning and Advanced
 Students began at young age (5-7)
 Mostly male students, but there is evidence of some female
students
 Education generally only available to the wealthy and elite
 Wrote in Cuneiform on clay tablets with a reed stylus
 Location
 Arabian Peninsula
 Present day = Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, and Kuwait
 Buildings
 Large temples (ziggurats) and monuments
 Tower of Babylon
 Walls – poorly constructed – made of clay
 Shaped like domes
 Food
 Hunted fish, duck, and geese
 Ate dates, bread, onions, beans, cucumbers, garlic
 Wash it down with beer or water
 Writing
 Cuneiform – shaped symbols
 Reed stylus
 Invented by Sumerians in 2500 BCE
 Art
 Resembled early Egyptian art
 Found in modern Turkey
 Cylinder Seals – examples of gem cutter’s art
 Poetry
 Priestess Enhedumanna
 Achievements
 Roads – postal service
 Clay seals – stamps
 Astronomy
 Library
 Limmu calendar system
 Years were named after one specific event
 Overpowered the Sumerian states
 King Sargon I of Akkad conquered military and
political centers of the south
 Mesopotamia united into one empire
 Akkad became the political, economic, and cultural
center of the empire
 Emperors gave themselves the title “Kings of the Four
Lands of the World”
 Government
 Ensi = highest functionary of Sumerian city-states
 To become an ensi you have to marry the goddess Inanna
 Validated the rulership through divine consent
 Sargon means “kind of universal domination”
 Started monarchy
 Ended power struggles
 Wasn’t raised royal (cupbearer of Ur)
 Came to power by overthrowing the king and then took the
throne
 Sargon united the people into first
empire….Akkadians
 Successful conqueror
 Successful battles – new tactics – looser form – javelins
and arrows
 Stationed troops
 Sargon gained land
 Formed better relationships with neighboring tribes
 Sargon gained better goods and ideas
 Religion, gods, new use of writing
 He was in control for 56 years but it ended when the
empire went in revolt
 “Lost wax” – method of bronze cast
 Postal service
 Clay seals
 Cuneiform
 Two languages (Assyrian and babylonian)
 Depended mainly on agriculture
 Nomadic groups (early Ammorites)
 Nomadic groups were allowed to let their sheep graze
on Akkadian’s farms, in exchange for payment to
temples
 Always had a surplus of food
 Imported metals, timber, and building materials
because limited resources
 Akkadians were violent people in general
 Started empire based off of the relentless conquering
of Sargon
 Never at peace because people they conquered never
agreed with their rules
 Sargon’s conquests spread Akkadian’s ideas, culture,
and writing system
 Empires can encourage trade and bring peace to
people
 People of cultures share ideas, technology, and customs
 Adopted Sumerian culture and ideas
 Polytheistic - many gods: An, En – lil, E- ki
 Priests were mediators between people and gods
 Had decreased status
 Men and women were created by the gods to serve the
gods
 To feed and clothe them, to honor and obey them
 Didn't have a code of ethics or morality
 Scribal education
 Akkadians were Semitic people and their descendents
that survive today as Jews and Arabs
 First ever epic
 Gathered by the Akkadians and written on 12 stone
tablets
 Tells the story of King Gilgamesh, who was 2/3 god
and 1/3 human, and his adventures
 Akkad is also known as Accad or Agade
 Left bank of the Euphrates river
 Height of its power between the 24 – 22 century BCE
 Gifted warriors of their time
 "Akkadians." Wikipedia. 10 Oct. 2008.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/akkadians#economy>.
"Ancient Akkadians." History Guide. 3 May 2006.
<http://www.historyguide.org/ancient/lecture4b.html>.
Marcus, David. A Manual of Akkadian. New York:
Universal P, 1994.
Unknown. "Akkadians." 15 Dec. 2003. 3 Nov. 2008
<http://history-world.org/akkadians.htm>.
 Pictures:
 <www.google.com>
 "Akkadian Empire." South and Southwest Asia. Ed.
Peter N. Peregrine and Melvin Ember. Vol. 8. New
York, NY: Springer, 2003. 21-23.
 "The Akkadian Empire." Wikipedia. 4 Nov. 2008.
Wikipedia Foundation, Inc. 7 Nov. 2008
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/akkad>.
 <http://i-cias.com/e.o/sargon.htm>.
 "Akkadian School Texts." Cuneiform Digital Library
Initiative. 7 Sept. 2008. UCLA. 16 Nov. 2008
<http://cdli.ucla.edu/wiki/doku.php/akkadian_school
_texts>.
 Guisepi, Robert A., and F. Roy Williams. "Akkad and
the Akkadians." History-world. History World
International. 7 Nov. 2008 <http://historyworld.org/akkadians.htm>.
 Hooker, Richard. "The Akkadians." Mesopotamia. 6
June 1999. Washington State University. 7 Nov. 2008
<http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/meso/akkad.htm>.
 Karr, Dr. Karen. "Akkadians." Histroy for Kids. 5 Oct.
2007. Portland State University. 7 Nov. 2008
<http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/westasia/histor
y/akkadians.htm>.
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•www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entr
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