'The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. The Bible refers to Akkad in Genesis 10:10–12, which states: 3 History and development of the empire.Īfter the fall of the Akkadian Empire, the people of Mesopotamia eventually coalesced into two major Akkadian-speaking nations: Assyria in the north, and Babylonia in the south. Akkad is sometimes regarded as the first empire in history, though the meaning of this term is not precise, and there are earlier Sumerian claimants. Under Sargon and his successors, the Akkadian language was briefly imposed on neighboring conquered states such as Elam and Gutium. The Akkadian Empire reached its political peak between the 24th and 22nd centuries BC, following the conquests by its founder Sargon of Akkad. The Akkadian Empire exercised influence across Mesopotamia, the Levant, and Anatolia, sending military expeditions as far south as Dilmun and Magan (modern Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman) in the Arabian Peninsula.
The empire united Akkadian and Sumerian speakers under one rule.
It was centered in the city of Akkad / ˈ æ k æ d/ and its surrounding region.
The Akkadian Empire ( / ə ˈ k eɪ d i ən/) was the first ancient empire of Mesopotamia after the long-lived civilization of Sumer.
