12. Who was Sargon of Akkad and why was he significant?
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Sargon of Akkad was an ancient Mesopotamian ruler who reigned approximately 2334-2279 BC, and was one of the earliest of the world's great empire builders. He conquered all of southern Mesopotamia as well as parts of current western Iran. He established the region's first semitic dynasty and was considered the founder of the Mesopotamian military tradition. According to a folktale, Sargon was a self-made man of humble origins; a gardener, having found him as a baby floating in a basket on the river, brought him up in his own calling, a lot like the story of Moses in the Bible. He then was found by a man named Akki who was a gardener for the Kind of a Sumerian city. From this, Sargon would rise to conquer all Mesopotamia and create the first multi-national empire in history. Sargon is known almost entirely from the legends and tales that followed his reputation through 2,000 years of cuneiform Mesopotamian history, not from documents that were written during his lifetime. As a result of Sargon's military powers, or skill, ability to organize, as well as of the legacy of the Sumerian city-states that he had conquered, commercial connections flourished with other nations. He created the world's first empire, reigning for 56 years. No images survived of him, but many assumed what he looked like. Later Mesopotamians looked to Sargon as the founder of many inventions like the military tradition that runs through the history of their people.
Sources:
http://history-world.org/sargon_the_great.htm
http://www.ancient.eu/Sargon_of_Akkad/
Manual Page 97
Image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sargon_of_Akkad
For More Information:
http://history-world.org/sargon_the_great.htm
Erin Oldham
