the akkadian empire

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We would like to thank our teacher Mr. Shrinivasan to have given us the opportunity to work on this project and to gather knowledge on the Akkadian Empire. We would also like to thank him for his guidance and support.

The Akkadian Empire

The Akkadian Empire was an empire centered in the city of Akkad and its surrounding region in Mesopotamia. Akkad reached its political peak between the 24th and 22nd centuries BC, following the conquests of king Sargon of Akkad (2334-2279 BC), often referred to as Sargon the Great. Under Sargon and his successors, Akkadian language was briefly imposed on neighboring conquered states such as Elam. Akkad is sometimes regarded as the first empire in history. The first five rulers of Akkad (Sargon, Rimush, Manishtusu, Naram-Sin, and Shar-kali-sharri) ruled for a total of 142 years. Sargon alone ruled for 56 years.

The Akkadian Empire(Cont.)

The Akkadian Empire was shortlived and collapsed two centuries after its establishment but it greatly influenced the Mesopotamian art and according to some authors established the basis of the classical Mesopotamian art . When the Akkadians, from northern Iraq, conquered southern Iraq about 2400 BC, they unified all of Iraq - Mesopotamia, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers - into one empire for the first time.

The Akkadian Empire (Cont.)

The Akkadian Empire was short-lived and collapsed two centuries after its establishment but it greatly influenced the Mesopotamian art and according to some authors established the basis of the classical Mesopotamian art. When the Akkadians, from northern Iraq, conquered southern Iraq about 2400 BC, they unified all of Iraq Mesopotamia, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers - into one empire forth first time. Akkad flourished under the rule of its first emperor, Sargon (2334-2279 BC), who united the two halves of Mesopotamia, thereby setting off the Akkadian period. The Akkadians spoke a Semitic language.

The Akkadian Empire (Cont.)

The creation of Akkadian Empire led to a significant degree of progression in the Mesopotamian practices and ideas, which in turn led to the development of the various forms of art. Each successive ruler after Sargon, expanded the Akkad Empire and it reached its celestial point under the rule of Naram-Sin (2260-2223 BC). This period also marked the acme of artistic accomplishments in the Ancient near East region. A band of mountain tribes, the Guti, overthrew the Akkadian Empire, in 2230 BC. The period from 2120 to 2000 BC marked the Sumerian revival.

Sargon of Akkad
The name Sargon means the "True King" A powerful leader named Sargon took control of both northern and southern Mesopotamia and he became known as the creator of the first empire in world history. His empire was called the Akkadian Empire and eventually included Fertile Crescent. During this period major changes occured in virtually all aspects of life including art.

Sargon of Akkad (Cont.)

He conquered the area between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers around 2300 BC. Sargon was succeeded by two of his sons, Rimush and Manishtusu, who consolidated the dynasty's hold on much of Mesopotamia. The ideology and power of the empire was reflected in art that first displayed strong cultural continuity with the Early Dynastic period. When fully developed, it came to be characterized by a profound new creativity that marks some of the peaks of artistic achievement in the history of the ancient world. A new emphasis on naturalism, expressed by sensitive modeling, is manifested in masterpieces of monumental stone relief sculpture.

ART
Changes in art which were probably influenced by non-Sumerian artists can be noticed already during the reign of Sargon of Akkad (c. 2334 - c. 2279BC) although very little art works remained preserved. However, two notable heads of Akkadian statues discovered so far suggest great progress in portrait sculpture. Little also remained preserved of Akkadian architecture. It is known that Akkadians built palaces and fortresses and that they also reconstructed many Sumerian temples but due to paucity of architectural remains it is difficult to determine the architectural style during the Akkadian Period.

ART (Cont.)
In greater extent remained persevered only Akkadian cylinder seals which introduced new standards and are widely considered the zenith of the ancient Middle East art of cylinder seals.

ROLE OF ART
In some ways, Akkadian art was the same as the Sumerian art that went before it.Carvings still usually had rounded shapes, recalling early clay sculptures. But in other ways Akkadian art was very different from Sumerian art. Akkadian rulers used artists to help them stay in power. The artists carved images of the Akkadian kings. Sometimes they showed the kings on their own, just to remind people who was in charge. Sometimes they showed the kings conquering their enemies, or they showed how much the gods loved the king.

ROLE OF ART(Cont.)
The Akkadian kings wanted art to remind the conquered people how impressive and important the kings were, so they wouldn't try to revolt. Stele of Naram-Sin (Louvre, Paris) NaramSin is walking up the mountain, trampling his enemies. Because Akkadian art was all about showing how impressive the rulers were, their enemies destroyed or carried away a lot of Akkadian art after the rulers lost battles. The head of Sargon shown here had its eyes gouged out and its ears cut off. The people of Iran carried away the stele of Naram-Sin to their city at Susa, to show how they had conquered the Iraqi (Mesopotamian) people

ROLE OF ART(Cont.)
The Akkadian Art centered on the then rulers, depicting the saga of their powerful military expeditions. The art of this period graduated as a potential medium of expression, while drifting away from just depicting religious events, a common practice during the early dynasties of the Ancient near East. Apart from war portrayals, 'Naturalism' was also evidenced in this period such as the engravings of mythological figures on precious stones. These carvings include the life size bronze head of a king, depicting emperor Sargon & a six feet sculptural relief of King Naram-Sin. Most other sculptures of the Akkadian period are in ruins, while the 'seals' remain. Akkadians perfected the 'seal cutter' craft, with a distinct clarity of arrangements. Sargonians reconstructed few Sumerian temples such as the one at Nippur.

ARCHITECTURE
The architecture of the Akkad of the Ancient near East included temples, tombs, and roads, with its far-reaching influence on even the modern day structures. Their architectural splendors include huge palaces like "Tall al-Asmar," equipped with all the necessary amenities, and fortified defensive structures such as "Tell Brak" or "Tall Birak at-Tahtani" at Syria. Unfortunately, the Akkadian architectural masterpieces lie in ruins today, and because of the dearth of unearthed sites, not many trends can be established about the architectural styles of this golden era of the Ancient near East.

Tall Birak at-Tahtani

SCULPTURE
Two notable heads of Akkadian statues have survived: one in bronze and the other of stone. The bronze head of a king, wearing the wig-helmet of the old Sumerian rulers, is probably Sargon himself. Though lacking its inlaid eyes and slightly damaged elsewhere, this head is rightly considered one of the great masterpieces of ancient art. The Akkadian head in stone, from Bismayah, Iraq (ancient Adab), suggests that portraiture in materials other than bronze had also progressed.

LANGUAGE
The Akkadians were Semites, that is, they spoke a language drawn from a family of languages called Semitic languages .These languages include Hebrew, Arabic, Assyrian, and Babylonian. After the final end of Sumerian power and civilization around 2000 BC, the area came under the exclusive control of Semitic peoples for centuries.

RELIGION
The Akkadians worshiped a pantheon of Gods. These were conceived as having human form, and, like humans, they were at times wise, at times silly, at times hunerourous, at times angry. Their status differed, as each was associated with an aspect of nature and controlled the seasons. Principal deities included An, the sky god, Enlil the air-god, Nanna the moon-god and Utu, the sun-god. Sargon's daughter, Enheduanna, was high priestess of the moon god Nanna in Ur.

Economics of the Akkadian Empire

Harvesting in Akkadian happened in the spring throughout the hot dry summer months. Irrigation was a big part of farming and life. They had a surplus of mostly food and because they had it, they had to pay taxes on goods such as: -Wool ,Meat ,Milk, Cheese In the Akkadian Empire has no natural boundaries so it can trade with many neighboring empires such as Babylon. They traded there goods, that they had a surplus of such as grains, domesticated animals and weapons, made by craftsman or artisans.

This picture shows people in the Akkadian Empire domesticating animals and using them to help farm and do work

This is a soldier conquering for Sargon. The weapons he is using where either made by craftsman or traded from other places near the empire

Culture of The Akkadian Empire

The Akkadian empire had social class levels. A social level is the classification of people in a community based on money, power ... etc. For example kings, scribes and priests are high class, are middle class, and slaves and farmers are lower class. After the people of akkad would win a battel or do something worthy then they would document it on upright slabs of stone

Writing System
The Akkadians used cuneiform as there writing system. At first they would write by scratching lines, then it developed into them using stylists to print onto clay tablets. Each symbol standed for an dividual word.

Military of the Akkadian Empire

When they went into battle they would send a infantry of spearmen followed with chariots to startle the enemy quickly and get the upper hand in battle. The Akkadians used a long list of weapons and armor to defeat their enemies in combat: 1. They used copper helmets to protect them from strong blows to the head. 2. They also had armored cloaks that covered the important body parts with metal disks lined with leather. 3. One big roll player in the Akkadians arsenal of weaponry was the socket axe made of bronze that was used for penetrating armor, it was a large and heavy weapon. 4. The last important weapon was the composite bow that went though early bronze armor and leather it could shoot up to 100 yards efficiently.

Achievements
The empire was bound together by roads, along which there was a regular postal service. Clay seals that took the place of stamps bear the names of Sargon and his son. It is probable that the first collection of astronomical observations and terrestrial omens was made for a library established by Sargon.

THANK YOU
PRESENted by:
Sonakshi Pooja Disha Kalpana Manali Sajid