Akkad (Agade)
The capital of the first empire in Mesopotamia, whose exact site has never been found and whose fall a Sumerian poem blames on angry gods.
- Founded
- c. 2334 BCE by Sargon (traditional date)
- Empire
- Dominated Mesopotamia for about 150 years
- Location
- Unknown; probably near Baghdad, within the Kish–Sippar area
- Goddess
- Ishtar-Annunitum
- In the Bible
- Accad, a city of Nimrod's kingdom (Genesis 10:10)
- Fall
- c. 2150 BCE, amid drought and invasion
What is Akkad known for?
Akkad, or Agade, was the capital of the Akkadian Empire founded by Sargon around 2334 BCE. Sargon and his grandson Naram-Sin ruled much of Mesopotamia and beyond, and their Semitic language, Akkadian, became the main written language of the region for two thousand years. Sargon's daughter Enheduanna, priestess at Ur, is the first known author by name.
Despite its fame, the city itself has never been located. Scholars place it somewhere near modern Baghdad; one candidate is Ishan Mizyad near Kish. The empire collapsed around the 22nd century BCE, a time when many scholars see a severe drought across the region.
The Sumerian poem known as the Curse of Agade says the gods destroyed Akkad because Naram-Sin plundered Enlil's temple at Nippur. Genesis remembers it as Accad, one of the first cities of Nimrod's kingdom.
Sargon's lost capital, linked to Nimrod in Genesis and to the 4.2-kiloyear drought, and cursed by the gods in Sumerian poetry.
Mentioned on these pages
- Rabbit holeNimrod
- PersonCush
- PersonSargon of Akkad
- PlaceIsin
- PlaceNippur
Sources
- Wikipedia, 'Akkad (city)'Reference
- ETCSL, 'The cursing of Agade' (t.2.1.5)Primary text
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, 'Sargon'Reference
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