TIMESCAPES MAP PACK 2 – EMPIRE – THE EARLY BRONZE AGE
The early Bronze Age saw the birth of the first empires, those of Sargon of Akkad and his successors, the Gutians of the Zagros Mountains and the Neo Sumerian dynasty of Ur III.
TIMESCAPES MAP PACK 2 – EMPIRE – THE EARLY BRONZE AGE
2330 BC: SARGON OF AKKAD: THE FIRST EMPIRE : PART ONE
Sargon of Akkad was the founder of the first empire of recorded history, the Old Akkadian Dynasty, which dominated the ancient Near East during the 24th and 23rd centuries BC.
Sargonʼs first major act was the conquest of the ancient power bases of Sumer: for the first time in its 3000-year history, the first great civilisation of the Near east had fallen. It would rise again, but Sargon was not satisfied with the domination of Sumer: his title of King Of Akkad and Sumer achieved, he pushed east, conquering the ancient Elamite capital of Šuša and forcing the Elamites to retreat to their highland cities of Hidali and Anzhan.
Now he controlled the whole of the Euphrates-Tigris delta region.
TIMESCAPES MAP PACK 2 – EMPIRE – THE EARLY BRONZE AGE
2280 BC: SARGON OF AKKAD – THE FIRST EMPIRE: PART TWO
Sargon moved westwards, crushing resistance from the powerful kingdom of Mari and occupying the territory of the early Assyrian heartland.
Did he reach the Mediterranean or did the formidable Syrian kingdom of Ebla halt his progress?
The record is not clear. He probably died before accomplishing a full sea-to-sea empire. Nevertheless, Sargon is generally recognised as the first Emperor in history.
His sons would expand on his legacy, and his grandson Naram-Sin would ultimately realise his dream of a sea-to-sea empire.
TIMESCAPES MAP PACK 2 – EMPIRE – THE EARLY BRONZE AGE
2230 BC: NARAM-SIN: ZENITH OF THE AKKADIAN EMPIRE
Under Sargonʼs sons Rimuš and Maništušu, and his grandson Naram-Sin, the Akkadian empire was expanded to encompass the whole of Mesopotamia as well as most of Syria and large parts of eastern Anatolia, the Iranian highlands and the Gulf kingdoms.
The Akkadian language became the lingua franca of the ancient Near East for the next thousand years, until displaced by Aramaic.
TIMESCAPES MAP PACK 2 – EMPIRE – THE EARLY BRONZE AGE
2150 BC: THE GUTIAN DYNASTY OF SUMER: RAIDERS OF THE ZAGROS
Towards the end of the 3rd millennium BC, constant raiding by the nomadic Gutians from the Zagros mountains began to accelerate the decline of the Akkadian empire.
By around the middle of the 22nd century the Gutians had captured all the major cities of Sumer and southern Mesopotamia.
Their subsequent misrule of the territories previously administered by Akkad ushered in roughly a century of chaos, famine and the collapse of the civic institutions that had been established by the Akkadians.
TIMESCAPES MAP PACK 2 – EMPIRE – THE EARLY BRONZE AGE
2100 BC: UR-NAMMU: THE THIRD DYNASTY OF UR
By the beginning of the 21st century BC, the resurgent power of the kings of Ur was beginning to loosen the Gutiansʼ grip on Mesopotamia. Around 2050 BC, Tirigan, the last recorded king of the Gutians, was defeated by Utu-Hengal, first king of the Third Dynasty Of Ur; his two successors, Ur-Nammu and Shulgi, made great advances in restoring peace and stability in the region.
