Akkad (city)

Akkad (ˈækæd; also spelt Accad, Akkade, or Agade, Akkadian: akkadê, 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 location is unknown. In the early days of research various unidentified mounds were considered as the location of Akkade. In modern times most of the attention has focused on a 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. Basically within 30 or so kilometers of modern Baghdad in central Iraq. Of course there are still outlying proposals as far afield as the Mosul area in northern Iraq. The main goddess of Akkad was Ishtar-Annunitum, who was called ‘Aštar-annunîtum or "Warlike Ishtar". It has also been suggested that a different aspect, Istar-Ulmašītum, was the patron goddess of the city of Akkad. Her husband Ilaba was also revered in Akkad. Ishtar and Ilaba were later worshipped at Girsu and possibly Sippar in the Old Babylonian period. The city is possibly mentioned in the Hebrew Bible in the Genesis 10:10 where it is written (ʾĂkăḏ), rendered in the Bible as Accad. The name appears 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 Lullubian (though that is unattested). The non-Akkadian origin of the city's name suggests that the site may have already been occupied in pre-Sargonic times. A year name of En-šakušuana (2350 BC) , king of Uruk and a contemporary of Lugal-zage-si of Umma, was "Year in which En-šakušuana defeated Akkad". This would have been shortly before the rise of the Akkadian Empire and part of his northern campaign that also defeated Kish and Akshak. A number of fragments of royal statues of Manishtushu (c.