The Age of Agade: Inventing Empire in Ancient Mesopotamia

Cover......Page 1
Title......Page 4
Copyright......Page 5
Contents......Page 6
List of figures......Page 10
List of maps......Page 12
Acknowledgments......Page 13
Abbreviations, citation conventions, and symbols......Page 14
Introduction......Page 16
1. The king’s feast......Page 20
2. Sargon the victorious......Page 22
3. Sons of Sargon......Page 25
4. Naram-Sin, campaigner......Page 29
5. Naram-Sin, builder......Page 33
6. Naram-Sin, administrative reformer......Page 36
7. The royal family and matrimonial alliances......Page 40
8. Sharkalisharri and the fall of the empire......Page 41
1. Akkad, Agade, and their neighbors......Page 49
2. Akkadian society......Page 53
3. Law and justice......Page 56
4. Patronage and administration......Page 58
5. Resistance to Akkadian power......Page 63
1. Identifying Akkadian centers and settlements......Page 69
2. The Diyala region and Akkad, the Himrin Basin, Assyria......Page 72
3. Sumer......Page 84
4. Susiana......Page 92
5. Syria......Page 94
6. Was there an Akkadian Empire?......Page 99
1. Agricultural production......Page 109
2. Labor......Page 112
3. Flocks, herds, and land transport......Page 114
4. Water transport......Page 116
5. Fish, fowl, and swine......Page 117
6. Wild and exotic animals......Page 118
7. Food and drink......Page 120
2. Ceramics......Page 128
3. Metallurgy, faience, and glass......Page 132
4. Stone......Page 138
5. Jewelry and personal adornment......Page 140
6. Wood......Page 142
7. Reed......Page 143
9. Clothing and textiles......Page 144
11. Oils and aromatics......Page 148
1. The gods of the Akkadians......Page 154
2. Pantheon and mythology......Page 158
3. Developments in Akkadian religion......Page 159
4. Temples, images, cult, prayer, and priesthood......Page 161
5. Standards, sacred objects, and dedications......Page 171
6. Oaths and curses......Page 172
7. Festivals and the calendar......Page 174
8. Magic and divination......Page 175
1. Chosen of the gods......Page 182
2. The best man wins......Page 184
3. The king’s arm......Page 185
4. The king’s eyes and ears......Page 188
5. Diplomacy and gift exchange......Page 189
6. The king as seen by his subjects......Page 192
1. The circulation of goods......Page 197
2. The profit motive......Page 198
3. Merchants and their clients......Page 199
4. Buying and selling......Page 200
5. Accumulating a competency......Page 201
6. Wages, prices, and taxes......Page 202
7. Akkadian economics......Page 203
1. Sculpture in the round......Page 207
2. Reliefs and stelae......Page 214
3. Glyptic......Page 221
4. Architecture......Page 224
5. Poetry......Page 225
6. Prose, record keeping, and letter writing......Page 228
7. Translation and bilingualism......Page 232
8. Music......Page 233
9. Mathematics, quantification, and cartography......Page 235
10. The Akkadian style......Page 238
1. Identity......Page 246
2. Childhood and education......Page 248
3. Happiness and sorrow......Page 249
4. Competition and coercion......Page 250
5. Love and sexuality......Page 251
6. Home life and family......Page 252
7. Death and burial......Page 255
8. The good life and respect for the past......Page 258
1. Honoring dead Akkadian kings......Page 264
3. Copying Akkadian royal inscriptions......Page 268
4. Omens about Akkadian kings......Page 271
5. Historical chronicles......Page 281
6. The Age of Agade in Sumerian and Akkadian literature......Page 284
7. Akkadian artifacts......Page 289
8. Responses to the Akkadian legacy......Page 292
1. Discovering and using the sources......Page 306
2. A time for optimism: 1861–1914......Page 307
3. New sources and approaches: 1914–1947......Page 316
4. A time for synthesis: 1947–1971......Page 319
5. New theses: 1971–1993......Page 326
6. The Age of Agade on its own terms: 1993 to the present......Page 329
(a) Original inscriptions......Page 336
(b) Ancient copies of inscriptions......Page 340
(a) Queen of all cosmic powers......Page 350
(b) Passionate Inanna......Page 355
(c) Inanna and Ebih......Page 360
(a) The Sumerian Sargon legend......Page 367
(b) The curse of Agade......Page 369
Sources for figures......Page 378
Bibliography......Page 380
Index......Page 448