administration and some property that previously belonged to the ruler was now
officially held by gods (Ningirsu, Baba and Sˇulsˇagana). However, it is likely that these
reforms, which had the goal of limiting the power of high-standing administrators,
were actually designed to strengthen the ruler’s power (Beld 2002 : 81 ).
The frequent mention of military conflicts in the royal inscriptions of the ED IIIb
period suggest that there were power struggles among the city-states. There are indi-
cations that several rulers attempted to expand their area of influence. This attempt
seems to have culminated in the efforts of Lugalzagesi, a king of Umma. The SKL
mentions him as the only ruler of a dynasty of Uruk that immediately preceded the
dynasty of Akkad (see below). Lugalzagesi finally succeeds in conquering the city-state
of Lagasˇ and deposes of its last independent ruler, UruKAgina. He claimed to have
expanded his area of influence to the entire area of Sumer, that is, southern
Mesopotamia, as well as foreign countries (Bauer 1998 : 494 ).
THE FIRST EMPIRE? THE STATE OF AKKADThe (Old) Akkadian period (c. 2330 – 2200 BC), also called the Sargonic period,
immediately follows the ED III period, and although historical information is slightly
better than before, there still remain many uncertainties relating to history and
chronology (Table 6. 4 ). To cite A. Westenholz ( 1999 : 18 ): ‘Almost everything pertaining
to the Sargonic period is a matter of controversy.’
The state of Akkad has been celebrated as the ‘First World Empire’ (Liverani 1993 a),
although there is a still ongoing debate of how to define ancient empires. Notwith-
standing, there is no doubt that the state of Akkad created a new paradigm of kingship
and statehood in early Mesopotamia – that of the territorial state seeking to expand
its boundaries and seeking to institute a centralised rule.
From about the middle of the third millennium until the end of the Old Babylonian
period, one can observe that political governance went back and forth between these
two forms of governing – the localised, relatively small city-state and the centralised,
territorial state. While territorial states never lasted very long, the history of early
Mesopotamia is full of instances in which hegemony was tried and achieved, yet only
for brief periods of time.
–– Nicole Brisch ––Table 6. 4 Kings of the Dynasty of Akkad
Sargon 2334 – 2279
Rı ̄musˇ 2278 – 2270
Manisˇtusˇu 2269 – 225
Nara ̄m-Sîn 2254 – 2218
Sˇar-kali-sˇarrı ̄ 2217 – 2193
Igigi
Naniyum 2192 – 2190
Imi
Elulu
Dudu 2189 – 2169
Sˇu-Turul 2168 – 2154
Source:after Brinkman 1977.