Who built the first empire, and was it really the first?
A gardener's son, or a baby set adrift in a basket, united the cities of Sumer around 2300 BC. Historians still argue about whether to call it an empire.
▶ Start the storyThe first empire is usually credited to Sargon of Akkad, who around 2300 BC united the Sumerian under one ruler. He is sometimes identified as the first person in recorded history to rule an empire. The Akkadian Empire replaced the system of independent city-states and unified southern Mesopotamia under a centralized government, with influence stretching from the Mediterranean to Iran.
The man himself is half-hidden. Primary sources on Sargon are sparse. The says he was a to King Ur-Zababa of Kish before taking the throne, and calls him the son of a gardener. His capital, Akkad, has not yet been found by archaeologists. What we do have is boasting: an inscription describes how he defeated Uruk, tore down its walls and led its king Lugalzagesi in a collar to the gate of the god Enlil. Another inscription says he fed 5,400 men at his table every day, understood as a professional army loyal to him.
5,400
An empire is more than armies. The Akkadian language became the , although Sumerian stayed important in religion and literature. Sargon's daughter Enheduanna served as and is often recognised as the first known named author in history.
Was it really the first empire? Historians disagree. By one definition, an empire is something constantly expanding to dominate the whole known world, as Assyria later would, and by that measure Akkad does not qualify. It was short-lived, and its authority was never firmly secured. How it ended is also debated. A 2019 study of fossil corals in Oman linked longer winter winds to salty irrigated fields and famine, but the traditional explanation, attacks by the Gutians, is now viewed with some skepticism, though not completely rejected.
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Recap
Sargon united the Mesopotamian cities, but whether Akkad counts as the first empire depends on how you define empire.
💡 A trick to remember it · Sargon stitched the city patches into one quilt: it was big and grand, but a thin quilt that soon frayed.
Surprising fact · A legend of Sargon, found in Ashurbanipal's library, has him floated down a river in a basket, a motif also found in the story of Moses.
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No source, no claim. Every fact in this lesson (16 claims) cites at least one of these.