AKKAD
(CITY)
![](Empire_akkad.svg.png)
Map
of the Near East showing the extent of the Akkadian Empire and the
general area in which Akkad was located
Akkad
(Agade, A-ga-de3ki in Akkadian, also URIKI in Sumerian during the
Ur III period) was the name of a Mesopotamian city and its surrounding
area. Akkad 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
location is unknown, although there are a number of candidate sites,
mostly situated east of the Tigris, roughly between the modern cities
of Samarra and Baghdad.
Textual
sources :
![](396px-Agade-ki_on_a_cylinder_seal_of_Shar-Kali-Sharri.jpg)
Agade-ki
("Country of Akkad"), on a cylinder seal of Shar-Kali-Sharri
Before the decipherment of cuneiform in the 19th century, the city
was known only from a single reference in Genesis 10:10 where it
is written ( 'Akkad), rendered in the KJV as Accad. The name appears
in a list of the cities of Nimrod in Sumer (Shinar).
Sallaberger
and Westenholz (1999) cite 160 known mentions of the city in the
extant cuneiform corpus, in sources ranging in date from the Old
Akkadian period itself down to the Neo-Babylonian period. The name
is spelled logographically as URIKI, or phonetically as a-ga-dèKI,
variously transcribed into English as Akkad, Akkade or Agade.
The
etymology of the name is unclear, but it is not of Akkadian (Semitic)
origin. Various suggestions have proposed Sumerian, Hurrian or Lullubian
etymologies. The non-Akkadian origin of the city's name suggests
that the site may have already been occupied in pre-Sargonic times,
as also suggested by the mention of the city in one pre-Sargonic
year-name.
Black-and-white
photograph of a statue consisting of an inscribed, round pedestal
on top of which sits a seated nude male figure of which only the
legs and lower torso are preserved.
The
Bassetki Statue, found in Dohuk Governorate, Iraqi Kurdistan, dated
to the reign of Naram-Sin (c.2254–2218) with an inscription
mentioning the construction of a temple in Akkad
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.
The
main goddess of Akkad was Ishtar-Astarte (Inanna), who was called
‘Aštar-annunîtum or "Warlike Ishtar".
Her husband Ilaba was also revered in Akkad. Ishtar and Ilaba were
later worshipped at Sippar in the Old Babylonian period, possibly
because Akkad itself had been destroyed by that time. The city was
certainly in ruins by the mid-first millennium BC.
Location
:
Many older proposals put Akkad on the Euphrates, but more recent
discussions conclude that a location on the Tigris is more likely.
The
identification of Akkad with Sippar ša Annunîtum (modern
Tell ed-Der), along a canal opposite Sippar ša Šamaš
(Sippar, modern Tell Abu Habba) was rejected by Unger (1928) based
on a Neo-Babylonian text (6th century BC) that lists Sippar ša
Annunîtum and Akkad as separate places.
Harvey
Weiss (1975) proposed Ishan Mizyad, a large (1000 meters by 600
meters) low site 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) northwest from Kish. Excavations
have shown that the remains at Ishan Mizyad date to the Ur III period
and not to the Akkadian period, though Akkadian fragements were
found in a surface survey.
Discussion
since the 1990s has focused on sites along or east of the Tigris.
Wall-Romana (1990) suggested a location near the confluence of the
Diyala River with the Tigris, and more specifically Tell Muhammad
in the south-eastern suburbs of Baghdad as the likeliest candidate
for Akkad, although admitting that no remains datable to the Akkadian
period had been found at the site.
Sallaberger
and Westenholz (1999) suggested a location close to the confluence
of the 'Adhaim river east of Samarra (at or near Dhuluiya). Similarly,
Reade (2002) suggested a site in this vicinity, by Qadisiyyah, based
on a fragment of an Old Akkadian statue (now in the British Museum)
found there. This had been suggested much earlier by Lane.
The
area of the Little Zab river has also been suggested.
Based
on an Old Babylonian period itinerary from Mari, Akkad would be
on the Tigris just downstream of the current city of Baghdad. Mari
documents also indicate that Akkad is sited at a river crossing.
Source
:
https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Akkad_(city)