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Akkad (; also spelt Accad, Akkade, a-ka₃-de₂ki or Agade, Akkadian: , also URIKI in Sumerian during the Ur III period) was the capital of the Akkadian Empire, which was the dominant political force in Mesopotamia during a period of about 150 years in the last third of the 3rd millennium BC.
Its Lost city. In the early days of research various unidentified mounds were considered as the location of Akkad. In modern times most of the attention has focused on an area roughly defined by 1) near Eshnunna, 2) near Sippar, 3) not far from Kish and Babylon, 4) near the Tigris River, and 5) not far from the Diyala River – all within roughly 30 kilometers of modern Baghdad in central Iraq. There are also location proposals as far afield as the Mosul area in northern Iraq.
The main goddess of Akkad was Annunitum or ‘Aštar-annunîtum (Warlike Ishtar), though it may have been a different aspect, Istar-Ulmašītum.Sharlach, T. M., "Belet-šuhnir and Belet-terraban and Religious Activities of the Queen and the Concubine(s)", in An Ox of One's Own: Royal Wives and Religion at the Court of the Third Dynasty of Ur, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 261-286, 2017 Her husband Ilaba was also revered. Ishtar and Ilaba were later worshipped at Girsu and possibly Sippar in the Old Babylonian period.Westenholz, C. F., "The Old Akkadian Period: History and Culture", in Mesopotamien: Akkade-Zeit und Ur III-Zeit (Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 160/3), Universitätsverlag Freiburg Schweiz, Freiburg, Schweiz, pp. 11-110, 1999
The city is possibly mentioned in the Hebrew Bible () where it is written ( ʾAkkaḏ, classically transliterated Accad), in a list of the cities of Nimrod in Sumer (Shinar).
In the early days of Assyriology, it was suggested that the name of Agade is not of Akkadian language origin. Proposals include Sumerian language, Hurrian language or the (though that is unattested). The non-Akkadian origin of the city's name would suggest that the site may have been occupied in pre-Sargonic times.Speiser, Ephraim Avigdor, "Elam And Sumer In The Epigraphical Sources", in Mesopotamian Origins: The Basic Population of the Near East, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, pp. 26-58, 1930
A number of fragments of royal statues of Manishtushu (–2255 BC), third Akkadian ruler, all bear portions of a "standard inscription". It mentions AgadeEppihimer, Melissa, "Assembling King and State: The Statues of Manishtushu and the Consolidation of Akkadian Kingship", American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 114, no. 3, pp. 365–80, 2010in this excerpt:
The inscription on the Bassetki Statue records that the inhabitants of Akkad built a temple for Naram-Sin after he had crushed a revolt against his rule.A. H. al-Fouadi, "Bassetki Statue with an Old Akkadian Royal Inscription of Naram-Sin of Agade (2291-2255 BC)", Sumer, vol. 32, no. 1-2, pp. 63-76, 1976
One year name of Naram-Sin reads "The year the wall of Agade was". Another is "Year in which the temple of Isztar in Agade was built".
The location "Dur(BAD₃)-DA-ga-de₃" (Fortress of Agade) was frequently mentioned in texts of the Ur III period, noting the indication of deification.Steinkeller, Piotr, "The Divine Rulers of Akkade and Ur: Toward a Definition of the Deification of Kings in Babylonia", History, Texts and Art in Early Babylonia: Three Essays, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 107-157, 2017
It is known from textual sources that the late 19th century BC rulers of Eshnunna performed cultic activities at Akkad.Nele Ziegler, "Akkad à l’époque paleo- babylonienne", in Entre les fleuves – II: D’Aššur à Mari et au- delà, ed. N. Ziegler and E. Cancik- Kirschbaum, Gladbeck: PeWe, 2014
Based on texts found at Mari, the Amorite king Shamshi-Adad (1808–1776 BC), in the final years of his reign, went to the cities of "Rapiqum and Akkad" (they having been captured earlier by his son Yasmah-Adad) as part of one of his military campaigns, in this case against Eshnunna.Lewy, Hildegard, "The Synchronism Assyria—Ešnunna—Babylon", Die Welt Des Orients, vol. 2, no. 5/6, pp. 438–53, 1959Dossin, G., "Archives royales de Mari1", Paris: Impr. Nationale, 1950 (in french)
The prologue of the Laws of Hammurabi (circa 1750 BC) includes the phrase "the one who installs Ištar in the temple Eulmaš inside Akkade city". It also holds a list of cities in order along their watercourse ie "... Tutub, Eshnunna, Agade, Ashur, ..." which would place Akkade off the Tigris between Eshnunna and Ashur. Akkade is given the modifier ribitu which is used for prominent places.Steinert, Ulrike, "Akkadian Terms for Streets and the Topography of Mesopotamian Cities", Altorientalische Forschungen, vol. 38, no. 2, pp. 309-347, 2011 Composite of Laws of Hammurabi at CDLI - RIME 4.03.06.add21 (P464358)
Centuries later, an old Babylonian text (purportedly a copy of an original Sargon of Akkad (2334–2279 BC) statue inscription) refers to ships being docked at the quay of Agade, i.e. "Sargon moored the ships of Meluhha Magan, and Tilmun] at Agade.". Cuneiform Inscription Of Defeat Of Oman & Indus Valley - MS-2814 Schoyen Collection
List of slaves from the Old Babylonian city of Sippar include two female slaves who, based on the standard naming scheme, are either from Akkad or were owned by someone from Akkad, ie "Taram-Agade and Taram-Akkadi". The former was also the name of a daughter of Akkadian ruler Naram-Sin several centuries beforehand.Harris, Rivkah, "Notes on the Slave Names of Old Babylonian Sippar", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 46–51, 1977
According to a purported brick inscription copy made during the reign of the Neo-Babylonian ruler Nabonidus (556–539 BC) many centuries later, the Kassite ruler Kurigalzu I (circa 1375 BC) reported rebuilding the Akitu house of Ishtar at Akkade.Clayden, T., "Kurigalzu I and the restoration of Babylonia", Iraq 58, pp. 109–121, 1996Frame, G., "Nabonidus and the history of the Eulmas temple at Akkad", Mesopotamia 28, pp. 21-50, 1993 Another Nabonidus period copy indicates Kurigalzu (unclear if first or second of that name) left an inscription at Akkade recording his fruitless search for the E.ul.mas (temple of Istar-Annunitum).George, A. R., "House Most High. The temples of ancient Mesopotamia", Winona Lake, 1993 Nabonidus claimed that the Assyrian ruler Esarhaddon (681–669 BC) had rebuilt the E.ul.mas temple of Istar-Annunitum at Agade.S. Langdon, "New Inscriptions of Nabuna'id", American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures 32, 1915-16
The Elamite ruler Shutruk-Nakhunte (1184 to 1155 BC) conquered part of Mesopotamia, noting that he defeated Sippar. As part of the spoils some millennium-old royal Akkadian statues were taken back to Susa including the Victory Stele of Naram-Sin and a statue of the Akkadian ruler Manishtushu. It is unknown if the statues were taken from Akkad or had been moved to Sippar.Winter, Irene J., "How Tall Was Naram-Sîn’s Victory Stele? Speculation on the Broken Bottom", in Leaving No Stones Unturned: Essays on the Ancient Near East and Egypt in Honor of Donald P. Hansen, edited by Erica Ehrenberg, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 301-312, 2021
Màr-Issâr (Mar-Istar) was assigned by Neo-Assyrian ruler Esarhaddon (681–669 BC) to the city of Akkad. In one letter from Màr-Issâr to Esarhaddon in 671 BC he reports that the "substitute king", who was the son of the temple administrator (šatammu) of Akkad, left Nineveh and arrived at the city of Akkad five days later and "sat upon the throne" and was buried there.Nissinen, Martti, "City as Lofty as Heaven: Arbela and Other Cities in Neo-Assyrian Prophecy", Prophetic Divination: Essays in Ancient Near Eastern Prophecy, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 267-300, 2019Ahmed, Sami Said, "Ashurbanipal and Shamash-shum-ukin", Southern Mesopotamia in the time of Ashurbanipal, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton, pp. 62-103, 1968Rochberg, Francesca, "Natural Knowledge in Ancient Mesopotamia", Wrestling with Nature: From Omens to Science, edited by Peter Harrison, Ronald L. Numbers and Michael H. Shank, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 9-36, 2011 In another letter he states:
In 674 BC Esarhaddon reports returning the gods (cult statues) of the city of Akkad to that city from Elam, possibly taken by Shutruk-Nakhunte five centuries earlier though more likely taken in an Elamite raid that occurred in 675 BC.A. K. Grayson, "Assyrian and Babylonian chronicles", J. J. Augustin, 1975Frame, Grant, "Uncertain Dynasties", Rulers of Babylonia, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp. 90-274, 1995
A slave sale document from the 13th year of the Neo-Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar II (605–562 BC) it states:
Cyrus the Great (c. 600–530 BC), after conquering Mesopotamia, wrote
Almost all of the proposals for the location of the city of Akkad place it on the Tigris river. A problem is that the Tigris, from Samarra south, has shifted its banks over time with its historical course being an open question. This complicates locating the city of Akkad and also opens the possibility that its location shifted over time, as sometimes happened when the Tigris or Euphrates river moved.[4]Kawakami, Naohiko, "GIS and Historical Geographical Analyses of the Reconstructed Ancient Course of the Tigris in the Northern Part of Southern Mesopotamia", al-Rāfidān, vol. 43, pp. 13-38, 2022
It has been proposed, based on kudurru from the reigns of Kassite ruler Marduk-nadin-ahhe (1095–1078 BC) and Second Dynasty of Isin ruler Nebuchadnezzar I (1121–1100 BC), that Akkad had been renamed sometime in the 2nd millennium. The kuduru suggests the new name was Dur-Sharru-Kin, "on the bank of the river Nish-Gatti in the district of Milikku". This is not to be confused with the Dur-Sharukin built by the Neo-Assyrians in the 8th century BC: the most likely site would be Dur-Rimush (a cult center of the god Adad), nine kilometers north of Dur-Sharukin (Tell el-Mjelaat).[5] Khalid al-Admi, "A New Kudurru of Maroduk-Nadin-Ahhe IM. 90585", Sumer, vol. 38, no. 1–2, pp. 121–133, 1982
The area of the Little Zab river, which originates in Iran and joins the Tigris just south of Al Zab in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, has also been suggested.[6] McGuire Gibson, "The city and area of Kish", Field Research Projects, 1972
A proposed location of Agade is Ishan Mizyad (Tell Mizyad), a large (1,000 meters by 600 meters) low site northwest from Kish and 15 kilometers east-northeast of Babylon.Harvey Weiss, "Kish, Akkad and Agade", Review of "McGuire Gibson, The city and area of Kish", Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 95, no. 3, pp. 434–53, 1975 Rashid, F., "Akkad or Bab-Aya", Sumer 43, pp. 183-214, 1984 (in Arabic) Excavations have shown that the remains at Ishan Mizyad date to the Akkadian period (about 200 Old Akkadian administrative texts were found, mainly lists of workers), Ur III period, Isin-Larsa period, and Neo-Babylonian period, including an archive of cuneiform tablets from the Ur III period."Excavations in Iraq, 1979–80." Iraq, vol. 43, no. 2, pp. 167–98, 1981Mahmoud, N. Ahmed, "The Ur III tablets from Ishan Mizyad", Acta Sumerologica, vol. 11, pp. 330–352, 1989"Excavations in Iraq, 1981–82." Iraq, vol. 45, no. 2, pp. 199–224, 1983al-Mutawali, Nawala A., "Clay Tablets from Tell Mizyad", Sumer 41, pp. 135–136, 1985 (arabic) Until Neo-Babylonian times a canal ran from Kish to Mizyad.Buccellati, Marilyn K., "Orientalists Meet at Berkeley", Archaeology, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 303–304, 1968Al-Mutawally, N.A.M., "Economical Texts from Išān-Mazyad", in De Meyer, L. and Gasche, H., (eds.), Mésopotamie et Élam, Actes de la XXXVIème Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale Gand, 10-14 juillet 1989, Ghent, pp. 45-46, 1991
On the Kassite Land grant to Marduk-apla-iddina I by Meli-Shipak II (1186–1172 BC) the recipient is given cultivated land in the communal land of the city of Agade located around the settlement of Tamakku adjacent to the Nar Sarri (Canal of the King) in Bīt-Piri’-Amurru, north of the "land of Istar-Agade" and east of Kibati canal.[7] W. J. Hinke, "A New Boundary Stone of Nebuchadrezzar I from Nippur (BE IV)", University of Philadelphia, 1907
Based on an Old Babylonian period itinerary from Mari which places Akkade between the cities of Sippar (Sippar and Sippar-Amnanum) and Khafajah (Tutub) on a route to Eshnunna, Akkad would be on the Tigris just downstream of the current city of Baghdad, near the crossing of the Tigris and its tributary Diyala River. Mari documents also indicate that Akkad is sited at a river crossing.[8] Andrew George, "Babylonian and Assyrian: a history of Akkadian", In: Postgate, J. N. (ed.), Languages of Iraq, Ancient and Modern, London: British School of Archaeology in Iraq, 2007
During the reign of Rîm-Anum, ruler of Uruk (c. 1800 BC) prisoners of war from Akkad were grouped with those of Eshnunna and Nērebtum.Jursa, M., "A ‘Prisoner Text’ from Birmingham", in G. Chambon, M. Guichard, & A-I. Langlois (Eds.), De l’argile au numérique. Mélanges assyriologiques en l’honneur de Dominique Charpin, Peeters Publishers. Publications de l'Institut du Proche-Orient Ancien du Collège de France, pp. 507-512, 2019
An Old Babylonian prisoner record from the time of Rīm-Anum of Uruk in the 18th century BC implies that Akkad is in the area of Eshnunna, in the Diyala River north-west of Sumer proper.Michael Jursa, "A 'Prisoner Text' from Birmingham", in G. Chambon, M. Guichard & A.-I. Langlois (eds), De l’argile au numérique. Mélanges assyriologiques en l’honneur de Dominique Charpin (Leuven), pp. 507-512, 2019 It has also been suggested that Akkad was under the control of Eshnunna in that period.Ziegler N. & A.-I. Langlois, "Les toponymes paléo-babyloniens de la Haute-Mésopotamie", Matériaux pour l’étude de la toponymie et de la topographie I/1, Paris, 2016 It is also known that the rulers of Eshnunna continued cult activities in the city of Akkad.Nele Ziegler, "Akkad à l’époque paleo- babylonienne," in Entre les fleuves – II: D’Aššur à Mari et au- delà, ed. N. Ziegler and E. Cancik- Kirschbaum, Gladbeck: PeWe, 2014
A text from the reign of Zimri-Lim (c. 1775–1761 BC) also suggests a location not far from Eshnunna. After Eshnunna was conquered by Atamrum of Andarig a songstress, Huššutum, was repatriated by Mari and soon reached Agade.
Tell Muhammad (possibly Diniktum) in the south-eastern suburbs of Baghdad near the confluence of the Diyala River with the Tigris, has been proposed as a candidate for the location of Akkad.Wall-Romana, Christophe "An areal location of Agade", Journal of Near Eastern Studies 49.3, pp. 205–245, 1990 No remains datable to the Akkadian Empire period have been found at the site. Excavations found remains dating to the Isin-Larsa, Old Babylonian, and Kassite periods.Gentili, Paolo, "Wandering Through Time: The Chronology Of Tell Mohammed", Studi Classici e Orientali, vol. 57, pp. 39–55, 2011
A site, locally called El Sanam (or Makan el Sanam), near Qādisiyyah (Kudsia), has been suggested based on the base fragment of an Old Akkadian statue (now in the British Museum) found there.[9]Ross, John, "A Journey from Baghdád to the Ruins of Opis, and the Median Wall, in 1834", The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, vol. 11, pp. 121–36, 1841 The statue is of black stone and was originally three meters high and thought to be of ruler Rimush. The upper portion of the statue was reportedly destroyed by a local imam for idolatry. The site in question has been partially eroded away by the Tigris and is located between Samarra and the confluence of the Tigiris and ʿAdhaim rivers.Reade, Julian, "Early monuments in Gulf stone at the British Museum, with observations on some Gudea statues and the location of Agade", vol. 92, no. 2, pp. 258-295, 2002Thomas, Ariane, "The Akkadian Royal Image: On a Seated Statue of Manishtushu", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 105, no. 1–2, pp. 86–117, 2015 The fragment was first observed and described by Claudius Rich in 1821.[10] Rich, C. J., "Narrative of a Residence in Koordistan &c, edited by his widow", London, 1836 This location had been suggested much earlier by Lane.[11] Lane, W. H., "Babylonian Problems", John Murray, London, 1923 More recently this site has been identified in a regional survey (site N) as lying not far south of the site of Samarra on the Tigris river by an old citadel.Northedge, Alastair, and Robin Falkner, "The 1986 Survey Season at Sāmarrā", Iraq, vol. 49, pp. 143–73, 1987
Màr-Issâr (Mar-Istar), agent of the Neo-Assyrian ruler Esarhaddon in the city of Akkad, was having trouble getting reports to the king. He names some of the post stations between Akkad and Nineveh. None of them are currently known though there have been proposals.
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