SARGON

flourished 23rd century BC byname Sargon Of Akkad ancient Mesopotamian ruler (reigned c. 23342279 BC), one of the earliest of the world's great empire builders, conquering all of southern Mesopotamia as well as parts of Syria, Anatolia, and Elam (western Iran). He established the region's first Semitic dynasty and was considered the founder of the Mesopotamian military tradition. Additional reading C.J. Gadd, The Dynasty of Agade and the Gutian Invasion, in the Cambridge Ancient History, rev. ed., vol. 1, ch. 19 (1963), contains both general and particular bibliographies.