SUMERIAN,Akkadian Postal history

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SUMERIAN,Akkadian Postal history

The Akkadian Empire was an empire centered in the city of Akkad Biblical Accad in central Mesopotamia present

day Iraq.The city of Akkad was situated on the west bank of the Euphrates, between Sippar and Kish (in Iraq,

about 50 km (31 mi) southwest of the center of Baghdad). Despite an extensive search, the precise site has

never been found. It reached the height of its power between the 24th and 22nd centuries BC, following the

conquests of king Sargon of Akkad.
Because of the policies of the Akkadian Empire toward linguistic assimilation, Akkad also gave its name to the

predominant Semitic dialect: the Akkadian language, reflecting use of akkadû (”in the language of Akkad”) in

the Old Babylonian period to denote the Semitic version of a Sumerian text.
The form Agade appears in Sumerian, for example in the Sumerian King List; the later Assyro-Babylonian form

Akkadû belonging to Akkad It is possible that the Sumerian name, despite its unetymological spelling A.GA.DÈ,

is from AGA.DÈ, meaning “Crown of Fire” in allusion to Ishtar, “the brilliant goddess”, whose cult was observed

from very early times in Agade. Centuries later, the neo-Babylonian king Nabonidus mentioned in his

archaeological records[4] that Ishtar’s worship in Agade was later superseded by that of the goddess Anunit,

whose shrine was at Sippar—suggesting proximity of Sippar and Agade.Despite numerous searches, the city has

never been found. One theory holds that Agade was situated opposite Sippar on the left bank of the Euphrates,

and was perhaps the oldest part of the city of Sippar. Another theory is that the ruins of Akkad are to be

found beneath modern Baghdad. Reputedly it was destroyed by invading Gutians with the fall of the Akkadian

Empire.

The first known mention of the city of Akkad is in an inscription of Enshakushanna of Uruk, where he claims to

have defeated Agade—indicating that it was in existence well before the days of Sargon of Akkad, who the

Sumerian kinglist claims to have built it.Akkad is mentioned once in the Tanakh—Book of Genesis 10:10: And the

beginning of his Nimrod’s kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. The Greek

(LXX) spelling in this passage is Archad.