Akkadian warfare

The city of Akkad (Agade) became the centre of a great Mesopotamian empire for over a century (2300-2200 bc) as a result of the military energy of its greatest ruler Sargon (c.2334-2279). Although the site has not been identified with certainty, and no excavations have taken place, it was probably Akkad on the Tigris, lying just to the north of Lagash and Sumer, and came firmly in the orbit of Sumerian warfare. This meant the employment of phalanxes of infantry spearmen supported by ass-drawn chariots. Sargon came to the region as the leader of a Semitic people, and had a major impact on a style of warfare that had grown up at the beginning of the third millennium bc. He subjugated the Sumerian peoples, as had former rulers, but he also expanded his frontiers along the Euphrates to conquer desert tribes on the edge of the Fertile Crescent. These peoples used the bow for hunting, and part of Sargon's genius was to adopt it for use in warfare. The only contemporary representation of a bow is seen on a stela depicting his grandson Naram-Sin. In addition to the traditional Sumerian city levies, Sargon created a ‘professional’ force of 5, 400 men with which to pursue his warfare. This he did relentlessly, calling himself ‘He Who Keeps Travelling the Four Lands’ (meaning the known world), and claimed to have fought 34 wars in his half-century reign. In one year, he boasted of campaigning in what is now the Lebanon, Syria, and southern Turkey. As a result he created an empire that ran from the ‘Lower Sea’ (Persian Gulf) to the ‘Upper Sea’ (Mediterranean). He also led his forces across the Taurus and Amanus range into central Anatolia. In his empire building Sargon set the pattern for the kind of military state that endured for over a millennium. He created a professional force, trained and well equipped with the bow in addition to the usual Sumerian weapons. Such armies were flexible enough to operate in all kinds of terrain and against many different opponents. His own empire was conquered c.2000 bc by people known as the Ammurru or Amorites (a term meaning westerner) who came from northern Syria and established their power at Babylon.

Bibliography

• Hackett, Gen Sir John (ed.), Warfare in the Ancient World (London, 1989).
• Yadin, Yigael, The Art of Warfare in Biblical Lands (London, 1963)

— Matthew Bennett