Five kings ruled the empire of Akkad: Sargon, Rimush, Manishtushu, Naram-Sin, and Shar-kalli-shari. The history of their reigns is a record of continual revolt and palace intrigue. The short, bloody reign of Rimush appears to have ended in a palace coup, perhaps organized by his brother, Manishtushu. Only one military campaign has been recorded for the reign of Manishtushu, on a tablet discovered at Nippur. It describes a campaign which he conducted against the Elamite cities of Anshan and Shirihum, followed by a seaborne invasion across the Persian Gulf (“the Lower Sea”) into Arabia (see map below).

Conquests of Naram-Sin

Having won his throne in a palace coup, Manishtushu appears to have lost it due to another. He was succeeded by his son, Naram-Sin, whose 37 year long reign proved in no way inferior to that of his grandfather’s if measured by the amount of blood spilled and land conquered. Contemporary inscriptions refer to a series of revolts, nine in total, that occurred in a single year of Naram Sin’s reign. Known as the Great Revolt, it likely took place at the beginning of Naram-Sin’s reign although the chronology of his reign is unclear. One of the earliest and most important sources, the Bassetki Inscription, comes from an inscription recorded on the base of a remarkable copper statue discovered in the northern Iraqi village of Bassetki. Commissioned by Naram-Sin, the inscription reads:

The Bassetki inscription further relates how the victorious king was thereupon acclaimed a god and a temple was dedicated to him in the city of Akkad.

This is the first clear instance of the deification of a king.

The Attack on Magan

As noted previously, the order of Naram-Sin’s conquests is altogether unclear. We are informed of specific campaigns against the Lullubi in the Zagros, against Apishal, a city probably located in Syria, and against Magan. Information regarding the latter campaign was recorded on another statue base, discovered at Susa.

Magan appears to have been a powerful maritime power at this time. The name of its king, Mani, was accorded the title “the mighty,” a title otherwise reserved exclusively for the kings of Akkad.⁴A late Babylonian chronicle reads: “(Naram Sin) who went to Magan, and vanquished [Mannu, the mighty], king of Magan.” (See Albright 1920, 89-98.) Judging by the number of references to Magan from the Akkadian period, and the absence of Dilmun, it seems that Magan was the dominant power in the Persian Gulf during this period.

Booty from Magan

Among the objects taken by Naram-Sin as booty from Magan were vessels carved from hard and soft stones. Many have been found in Mesopotamia, inscribed with the name of the king and the place from which they were taken.

Although some of the bowls were made of hard stones, most were made from calcite, a white mineral. The same mineral, when acted upon by heat and pressure, forms marble. Softer versions are more commonly known as limestone or alabaster. Calcite may contain trace amounts of manganese, an element known for its ability to absorb light energy and re-emit it. The presence of trace amounts of manganese in calcite makes the material appear as though it were glowing (a property technically known as thermo-luminescence). The color of calcite is naturally white but trace impurities may change its color to red, yellow, brown, or any shade in between. Banded and mottled calcite are created by these slight impurities.⁵Rapp 2009

The majority of the calcite vessels bearing Akkadian inscriptions belong to Rimush—the probable predecessor of Manishtushu—who claimed to have taken them as booty from Elam and Parahshum in south-central Iran. However, a number of others were inscribed by Naram-Sin who claimed to have taken them as booty from Magan. Unlike his father, Manishtushu, who crossed the Gulf into Arabia, Naram-Sin’s campaign was probably confined to the southern part of Iran, a region known to have good calcite deposits.⁶Potts 1989, 138 This explains why most of the calcite vessels taken as booty were inscribed with the names of Rimush and Naram-Sin, the only two kings known to have campaigned in this region. In contrast, the focus of Manishtushu’s campaign seems to have been Oman, where calcite is rare.

Calcite Vessels in the Royal Cemetery of Ur

Calcite vessels were also recovered by Woolley from the Royal Cemetery of Ur. He noted with surprise in his excavation reports how similar these vessels are to alabaster vessels produced in Egypt.

Both Woolley and Petrie thought the similarities between the vessels must be due to “some connection” between the two regions. The Assyriologist and excavator of Nippur, H. V. Hilprecht, made a similar observation concerning calcite vessels recovered from Tello (ancient Girsu).

The similarities suggest some borrowing took place, although evidence for contact between the two regions during the Early Bronze III and IV is limited compared to earlier periods. As we’ve seen, numerous artifacts originating from Mesopotamia have been found in Egypt dating to the Late Uruk and Jemdet Nasr periods, but not much from the latter half of the Early Bronze period. In many respects, the Uruk Expansion was a unique event, for which no adequate explanation has yet been given.