Sargon of Akkad: The Akkadian Empire

Around the year 2350 B.C.E., a powerful Mesopotamian leader named Sargon took control of northern and southern Mesopotamia and established the world’s first empire. An empire brings together many different peoples and lands under control of one ruler, called an emperor. Your task is to analyze the documents throughout this assignment and formulate a complete understanding of Sargon and his Akkadian Empire. How was Sargon able to establish this empire? Why did his empire last? Why should the Akkadian Empire be considered important to world history?

WHAT IMPORTANT INFORMATION DO WE LEARN ABOUT DOCUMENT #1 SARGON AND HIS EMPIRE FROM DOCUMENT 1?

DOCUMENTS 2 &3 WHAT IMPORTANT INFORMATION DO WE LEARN ABOUT SARGON AND HIS EMPIRE FROM DOCUMENTS 2/3?

Sargon’s Military Force DOCUMENT #4 WHAT IMPORTANT INFORMATION DO WE LEARN ABOUT SARGON AND HIS EMPIRE FROM DOCUMENT 4? As with most early Mesopotamian kings, we know little about Sargon the Great. Cuneiform records indicate that in his 50-year reign, he fought no fewer than 34 wars. One account suggests that his core military force numbered 5,400 men; if that account is accurate, then Sargon’s standing army at full mobilization would have constituted the largest army of the time by far. Unlike leaders of the previous wars between rival city-states, Sargon created a national empire that would have required a much larger force than usual to sustain it, and he and his heirs did for 300 years. Sargon faced the same problem as Alexander the Great would eventually face. Once the city-states were brought to heel, Sargon would have required them to place at his disposal some of their military forces. Each of the 14 major city-states could have sustained an army of between four and five thousand men, not counting the small states that would also have been forced to contribute. Yet another source of military manpower would have been available from the conquered non-Sumerian provinces.

That Sargon’s army would have been comprised of professionals seems obvious in light of the constant state of war that characterized his reign. Equipping an army of this size would have necessitated a high degree of military organization. WHAT IMPORTANT INFORMATION DO WE LEARN ABOUT SARGON AND HIS EMPIRE FROM DOCUMENT 5?

DOCUMENT #5

DOCUMENT #6

DOCUMENT #7

WHAT IMPORTANT INFORMATION DO WE LEARN ABOUT SARGON AND HIS EMPIRE FROM DOCUMENT 6?

WHAT IMPORTANT INFORMATION DO WE LEARN ABOUT SARGON AND HIS EMPIRE FROM DOCUMENT 7?