Sargon of Akkad
| Sargon of Akkad 𒊬𒊒𒄀 | |
|---|---|
Sargon of Akkad on his victory stele, with inscription "King Sargon" (𒊬𒊒𒄀 𒈗 Šar-ru-gi lugal) vertically inscribed in front of him | |
| King of the Akkadian Empire | |
| Reign | 56 regnal years c. 2334 – c. 2279 BC |
| Predecessor | Monarchy established |
| Successor | Rimush |
| Died | c. 2279 BC |
| Spouse | Tashlultum |
| Issue | |
| Dynasty | Akkadian (Sargonic) |
| Father | Possibly La'ibum |
Sargon of Akkad (/ˈsɑːrɡɒn/; Akkadian: 𒊬𒊒𒄀, romanized: Šarrugi; died c. 2279 BC), also known as Sargon the Great, was the first ruler of the Akkadian Empire, known for his conquests of the Sumerian city-states in the 24th to 23rd centuries BC. He is sometimes identified as the first person in recorded history to rule over an empire.
He was the founder of the "Sargonic" or "Old Akkadian" dynasty, which ruled for about a century after his death until the Gutian conquest of Sumer. The Sumerian King List makes him the cup-bearer to King Ur-Zababa of Kish before Sargon became a king himself.
His empire, which he ruled from his archaeologically as yet unidentified capital, Akkad, is thought to have included most of Mesopotamia and parts of the Levant, Hurrian and Elamite territory.
Sargon appears as a legendary figure in Neo-Assyrian literature of the 8th to 7th centuries BC. Tablets with fragments of a Sargon Birth Legend were found in the Library of Ashurbanipal.