Sargon of Akkad
A cupbearer takes the throne and builds the first empire in history.
- When
- —
- Duration
- 55 years
- Known to
- ± 50 years
- Era
- Bronze Age, Holocene
Sargon conquers the Sumerian cities from around 2334 BCE and rules from Akkad an area stretching from the Persian Gulf toward the Mediterranean — the first state to hold multiple previously independent polities under one administration. He installs governors, standardises weights, and appoints his daughter Enheduanna as high priestess at Ur. Later tradition claims he was set adrift as a baby in a reed basket, a story that recurs elsewhere.