In 1931, while excavating Nineveh, British archaeologist Campbell Thompson found a magnificent, life-size, bronze bust of a king. Cast using the cire perdue method discussed in a previous entry, the head is technically perfect. Besides the quality of the casting, the most curious feature of the bust is its astonishingly complex coiffure, described by Max Mallowan as “a triumph of hairdressing.”¹Mallowan 1936, 104 The braided hair, plaited beard, closely trimmed mustache, curly locks of hair behind the ear, fillets of hair on the forehead, royal bun… is this for real?  Mallowan thought the head was likely a portrait of Sargon of Akkad but left open the possibility that it might also belong to one of his successors.

Sargon “the Great”

Many stories were told about Sargon, the historical accuracy of which cannot always be verified. According to one of these, Sargon began as a cup bearer to Ur-Zababa, the king of Kish. He seems to disappear from the scene after Ur-Zababa is defeated in battle by Lugalzagesi, the governor of Umma. Lugalzagesi established himself in Uruk and boasted of a domain that stretched from the “Upper Sea to the Lower Sea”—that is from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf. It is doubtful whether he actually controlled such a large territory, but he is nevertheless the first king to lay claim to it.²Astour argues that Lugalzagesi was responsible for the destruction of Palace G at Ebla (Astour 2002, 54).

Through circumstance which remain shrouded by the mists of time, Sargon reemerges and defeats Lugalzagesi in battle, conquering southwards to the shores of the Lower Sea (“Persian Gulf”) where he famously “washed his weapons in the sea.”³Hamblin 2006, 75 The symbolic gesture communicated that he had conquered to the edge of the earth until there was nothing left conquer, but there was plenty left to conquer, and Sargon was just getting started. Beginning with the Elamites in the east, Sargon proceeded to conquer the Hurrians in the north, and the Eblaites in the west until he could claim to possess an empire which extended from the Upper to the Lower Sea. There was substance to his claim, proven by the numerous Akkadian building projects which have been discovered in many different regions, especially at Naggar (Tel Brak), where the kings of Akkad built a palace.⁴Hallo and Simpson 1994, 61 But whatever mastery the Akkadians exerted over their subjects was interrupted by constant revolt.

Akkadian

The conquests of Sargon spelled the beginning of the end for Sumerian civilization. From this point on, southern Mesopotamia increasingly came under the influence of Akkadian culture and the Akkadian language, which was destined to become the lingua franca (the common spoken language) of the Ancient Near East for over a millennium. The Akkadian language is an eastern dialect of the semitic branch; western dialects include Ugaritic, Amorite, Hebrew, and Aramaic. Eblaite lies somewhere in between east and west. Like other cultures in the region, the Akkadians adopted the Sumerian cuneiform script to write their language.

Origins

It is generally thought that the Akkadians were nomadic sheepherders who migrated into Mesopotamia from the west. If such a migration did occur, it must have happened very early since kings bearing semitic names are already found among the kings of the First Dynasty of Kish in the Sumerian King List.⁵Kramer 1963, 42 Of course, it has been argued that the Sumerians themselves migrated to Sumer, perhaps from Iran.⁶Kramer 1963, 42 When these migrations occurred and who were the “indigenous” peoples of Mesopotamia (the so-called “Sumerian Problem” which we discussed previously) are interesting questions which have, unfortunately, generated more heat than light. We know that by the late fourth millennium BC, Sumerian culture predominated in southern Mesopotamia and remained dominant until the conquests of Sargon of Akkad in the late the third millennium BC.

Having conquered all of Sumer, Sargon consolidated power by making Akkadian the official administrative language of the court and appointing Akkadian governors over the cities. But in other respects, the culture of the Akkadian court looks Sumerian. The mingling of Akkadian and Sumerian cultural influence is evident in the bronze bust of the Akkadian king, which, although it displays certain northern “Akkadian” features, such as the lean face, high cheekbones, and full beard, nevertheless retains the traditional hairstyle of a Sumerian ensi.

Birth Legend

According to a late Assyrian text (7th century BC), Sargon was born in secret to a priestess of Ishtar residing in Nineveh. She placed the baby Sargon in a reed basket, sealed it with pitch, and set it adrift down the Tigris River. The infant was rescued by, Akki, a drawer of water, who raised the child as his own. It was there, in Akki’s orchard, that the goddess Ishtar is supposed “to have found” the young Sargon, “and loved him.”⁷Foster 2005, IV.18  It is probably not an accident that the bronze bust was found in the precincts of the temple of Ishtar in Nineveh. Max Mallowan, who was a young archaeologists on staff when the head was found at Nineveh, thought that it was likely placed in the temple, known as the E-me-nu-e, by Sargon’s son, Manishtushu, and that this temple endured in one form or another until Neo-Assyrian times (7th century BC).⁸Mallowan 2010, 78

There are some obvious parallels between this story and the birth of Moses recorded in the book of Exodus.  Like Sargon, Moses was placed in a basket sealed with pitch and set among the reeds of a river. But the river was the Nile and the rescuer was the the pharaoh’s daughter.  Many scholars have suggested that the Biblical story was derived from the birth legend of Sargon, or perhaps from an earlier myth, but as the Assyriologist, William Hallo, points out, “a third possibility is too often overlooked – namely that the tale of Sargon is modeled on that of Moses!”⁹Hallo 2010, 229  Hallo notes that textual evidence for the birth legend of Sargon is very late (7th century BC). The story could just as readily have been borrowed from the Israelites than vice-versa since by that time the Assyrians had conquered northern Israel and taken many Israelites captive.

It is also worth pointing out that it may not have been that unusual for an Assyrian or Egyptian woman to place her unwanted child in a basket and set it adrift down the river, just as it was customary among the Greeks to place an unwanted infant in a large earthenware vessel and set it on a road where it was likely to be found by passerby’s.¹⁰Cartledge 2006, 80

The King

The bronze head has suffered considerable abuse.  One eye is gouged out, the nose is flattened, and the ears are cut off. This damage looks intentional although the responsible party cannot be known. Undoubtedly, there were many who would have liked to take a swing at the Akkadian king. If the head had been made of softer stuff, it probably would have been pulverized, but the toughness of bronze combined with its ability to form a corrosion-resistant patina (the surface of the metal oxidizes, turning green), makes it very nearly eternal. Sargon was the archetypal empire builder. Of course, Sumerian kings had for many centuries fought among each other, but never with the goal of complete subjection and domination. Sargon made a practice of destroying the cities he conquered, and installing one of his lieutenants as governor. Ancient literary accounts of Sargon’s campaigns depict him as eager for war. “My warriors! With [the land of] Kanish I desire war!”¹¹Hamblin 2006, 77

Sargon retained a body of 5,400 men who ate at his table—the earliest instance of a standing army in recorded history. Until then, rulers probably could not afford to feed and equip so many men on a continual basis. Only through constant acquisition of land and booty could a ruler justify such lavish spending on the military. Hamblin notes that this may be the earliest instance of a predatory army whose very existence depended upon perpetual warfare. There is much about this picture that is reminiscent of the future Assyrians. Both used cruelty and violence to exploit their subjects. Both enjoyed a period of apparent invincibility when their armies conquered vast regions of the ANE, followed by a near total collapse. It is somehow fitting that one of the kings of Assyria should have adopted the name Sargon, and that Sargon’s bust was set up in an Assyrian temple.

Nimrod

A popular interpretation links Sargon with Nimrod, the archetypal king singled out in the Table of Nations in Genesis 10.

It is possible, therefore, that the short passage in Genesis 10 preserves the memory of Sargon of Akkad. The different name may be explained by the fact that Nimrod is likely not a proper name but the Hebrew epithet “we shall rebel.” Nimrod stands at the beginning of a long line of kings named in the Bible whose arrogance was typified by the first tower builders of Babel, and whose lust for power was a foreshadowing of the final beast in Daniel’s vision.