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Sargon I (also transcribed as Šarru-kīn I and Sharru-ken I) was the king (Išši’ak Aššur, "Steward of Assur ") during the Old Assyrian period from c. 1920 BC to 1881 BC. On the Assyrian King List, Sargon appears as the son and successor of Ikunum, and the father and predecessor of Puzur-Ashur II . The name “Sargon” means “the king ...
- c. 1920–1881 BC
- Ikunum
Apr 5, 2024 · Sargon I (flourished c. 1850 bc) was a ruler of Assyria during the old Akkadian period. Little is known in detail of Assyria during the time of Sargon, but clearly the Assyrian trading colony in Cappadocia, known from the tablets discovered at Kultepe, was then in its heyday. This information implies the ability of Sargon I to maintain the ...
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Sargon (flourished 23rd century bce) ancient Mesopotamian ruler (reigned c. 2334–2279 bce) who was one of the earliest of the world’s great empire builders, conquering all of southern Mesopotamia as well as parts of Syria, Anatolia, and Elam (western Iran). He established the region’s first Semitic dynasty and was considered the founder of the Meso...
Sargon is known almost entirely from the legends and tales that followed his reputation through 2,000 years of cuneiform Mesopotamian history, and not from documents that were written during his lifetime. The lack of contemporary record is explained by the fact that the capital city of Agade (Akkad), which he built, has never been located and excavated. It was destroyed at the end of the dynasty that Sargon founded and was never again inhabited, at least under the name of Agade.
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According to a folktale, Sargon was a self-made man of humble origins; a gardener, having found him as a baby floating in a basket on the river, brought him up in his own calling. His father is unknown; his own name during his childhood is also unknown; his mother is said to have been a priestess in a town on the middle Euphrates. Rising, therefore, without the help of influential relations, he attained the post of cupbearer to the ruler of the city of Kish, in the north of the ancient land of Sumer. The event that brought him to supremacy was the defeat of Lugalzaggisi of Uruk (biblical Erech, in central Sumer). Lugalzaggisi had already united the city-states of Sumer by defeating each in turn and claimed to rule the lands not only of the Sumerian city-states but also those as far west as the Mediterranean. Thus, Sargon became king over all of southern Mesopotamia, the first great ruler for whom, rather than Sumerian, the Semitic tongue known as Akkadian was natural from birth, although some earlier kings with Semitic names are recorded in the Sumerian king list. Victory was ensured, however, only by numerous battles, since each city hoped to regain its independence from Lugalzaggisi without submitting to the new overlord. It may have been before these exploits, when he was gathering followers and an army, that Sargon named himself Sharru-kin (“Rightful King”) in support of an accession not achieved in an old-established city through hereditary succession. Historical records are still so meagre, however, that there is a complete gap in information relating to this period.
Not content with dominating this area, his wish to secure favourable trade with Agade throughout the known world, together with an energetic temperament, led Sargon to defeat cities along the middle Euphrates to northern Syria and the silver-rich mountains of southern Anatolia. He also dominated Susa, capital city of the Elamites, in the Zagros Mountains of western Iran, where the only truly contemporary record of his reign has been uncovered. Such was his fame that some merchants in an Anatolian city, probably in central Turkey, begged him to intervene in a local quarrel, and, according to the legend, Sargon, with a band of warriors, made a fabulous journey to the still-unlocated city of Burushanda (Purshahanda), at the end of which little more than his appearance was needed to settle the dispute.
As the result of Sargon’s military prowess and ability to organize, as well as of the legacy of the Sumerian city-states that he had inherited by conquest and of previously existing trade of the old Sumerian city-states with other countries, commercial connections flourished with the Indus Valley, the coast of Oman, the islands and shores of the Persian Gulf, the lapis lazuli mines of Badakhshān, the cedars of Lebanon, the silver-rich Taurus Mountains, Cappadocia, Crete, and perhaps even Greece.
Attributing his success to the patronage of the goddess Ishtar, in whose honour Agade was erected, Sargon of Akkad became the first great empire builder. Two later Assyrian kings were named in his honour. Although the briefly recorded information of his predecessor Lugalzaggisi shows that expansion beyond the Sumerian homeland had already begun, la...
Sargon shared his name with two later Mesopotamian kings. Sargon I was a king of the Old Assyrian period presumably named after Sargon of Akkad. Sargon II was a Neo-Assyrian king named after Sargon of Akkad; it is this king whose name was rendered Sargon ( סַרְגוֹן) in the Hebrew Bible ( Isaiah 20:1).
- Akkadian (Sargonic)
- c. 2334–2279 BC (MC)
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Sep 2, 2009 · Sargon of Akkad (r. 2334 - 2279 BCE) was the king of the Akkadian Empire of Mesopotamia, the first multi-national empire in history, who united the disparate kingdoms of the region under a central authority. He is equally famous today as the father of the great poet-priestess Enheduanna (l. 2285-2250 BCE), the first author known by name in history.
- Joshua J. Mark
- Who was Sargon of Akkad?Sargon of Akkad (r. 2334-2279 BCE) was the founder of the Akkadian Empire, the first multi-national empire in world history, established in Mesopot...
- What is Sargon of Akkad famous for?Sargon of Akkad is famous as the founder of the first multi-national empire in the world, the Akkadian Empire, in ancient Mesopotamia. He is also w...
- How did Sargon of Akkad conquer Sumer so easily?It is thought that Sargon of Akkad was able to conquer Sumer as much through propaganda as through military strength. His autobiography, The Legend...
- How did Sargon of Akkad die?Sargon of Akkad died of natural causes due to old age in 2279 BCE and was succeeded by his son, Rimush, who continued the dynasty.
Sargon I. Sargon I, also known as Sargon of Akkad or Sargon the Great (Akkadian: Šarukinu, "the true king") (reigned 2334 B.C.E. – 2279 B.C.E. ), was the founder of the Akkadian Empire. He is only the third king in recorded history to have created an empire after the Sumerians Lugal-anne-mundu and Lugal-zage-si.
Feb 17, 2023 · The Legend of Sargon of Akkad (c. 2300 BCE) is an Akkadian work from Mesopotamia understood as the autobiography of Sargon of Akkad ( Sargon the Great, r. 2334-2279 BCE), founder of the Akkadian Empire. The earliest copy is dated to the 7th century BCE and was found in the ruins of the Library of Ashurbanipal in the 19th century. The text, most ...
