Battles & Wars › Ancient world › First recorded wars: Sumer's city-states and Elam
Sargon of Akkad and the first empire
reigned c. 2334–2279 BC (traditional dates)· Person· Middle East & Africa
Mostly agreedGood evidence; some details, dates or numbers uncertain.
A king who rose from obscurity to conquer Sumer and beyond, founding the Akkadian Empire, often called the first empire.
See it on the Battles & Wars map →What happened
Later legend says he was cupbearer to the king of Kish and had been set adrift as a baby in a basket. Around 2334 BC he founded the city of Akkad, still unlocated, and defeated Lugalzagesi of Uruk, ruler of most of Sumer. He campaigned from the Persian Gulf to Syria and Elam, boasting that 5,400 men ate daily before him, perhaps a standing army. He installed governors, and his daughter Enheduanna became high priestess at Ur. His dynasty ruled for well over a century.
Why it matters
He turned rival cities into one multi-ethnic empire run by a king, governors and a professional army, a model copied by Babylon, Assyria and later empires.
Legacy and how we know
Copies of his inscriptions made by later Babylonian scribes, Akkadian administrative tablets and royal art; much of his life story comes from later legends.
Still debated
His exact dates, the site of Akkad, and how much of the legend is true are unknown; the 'first empire' label itself is debated.
Connections (3)
▸Sargon of Akkad and the first empire ended the city-state era of First recorded wars: Sumer's city-states and ElamMostly agreed
The connection
Sargon defeated Lugalzagesi, who had united much of Sumer, and placed its cities under rule from Akkad. Instead of independent cities fighting one another, wars were now fought by one empire against rebels and outside peoples.
When and how
Southern and central Mesopotamia, around 2334–2279 BC (traditional dates).
How sure are we?
Later copies of Sargon's own inscriptions, made by Babylonian scribes at Nippur, list his victories over Uruk, Ur, Lagash and Umma.
Debates and open questions
Sumer's cities rebelled often under Akkad and regained independence after it fell, so the city-state era ended only for a time.
▸Sargon of Akkad and the first empire defeated Lugalzagesi, the victor of Lagash–Umma border warMostly agreed
The connection
Lugalzagesi of Umma ended the long border war by sacking Lagash, then made himself king of Uruk and much of Sumer. Sargon defeated him and, by his own account, brought him in a neck-stock to the gate of the god Enlil's temple at Nippur.
When and how
Southern Mesopotamia, about 2350–2330 BC; Lugalzagesi of Umma and Uruk against Sargon of Akkad.
How sure are we?
Sargon's inscriptions, known from later copies, describe the victory; Lugalzagesi's own inscriptions and a Lagash lament record his conquest of Lagash.
Debates and open questions
The exact dates, and how long Lugalzagesi ruled before Sargon beat him, are uncertain.
▸Sargon of Akkad and the first empire was the model conqueror for the Neo-Assyrian EmpireMostly agreed
The connection
Mesopotamian kings remembered Sargon as the ideal conqueror for over 1,500 years. Assyrian kings borrowed Akkadian royal titles, two took his name, the second being Sargon II (722–705 BC), and Assyrian scribes copied legends of his birth and campaigns.
When and how
Assyria, northern Iraq, from an early king Sargon I (about 1900 BC) to the Neo-Assyrian Empire of 911–609 BC.
How sure are we?
Assyrian royal titles, Sargon II's chosen name, and the 'Sargon Birth Legend', known from tablets of the Assyrian era.
Debates and open questions
How much Assyrian kings knew of the historical Sargon, as opposed to legend, is unclear.