From the upper to the lower sea : the rise and fall of the Akkadian empire

The first lecture, "From the Upper to the Lower Sea: The Birth and Fall of the Akkadian Empire", summarized the most important military and political events, including the reigns of five major kings: Sargon, Rimush, Manishtusu, Naram-Sin and Sharkalisharri. Selecting from contemporary inscriptions and documents, as well as from the later historical tradition, which was fascinated by this period, we have offered an account of the formation, consolidation and fall of what is considered the first Empire in world history. In particular, we paid attention to three interrelated questions: what was new and different about Akkadian achievements? Why was this Empire remembered, imitated and studied in the two millennia since its fall? Why were Akkadian kings, long after their death, regarded as subjects of both admiration and contestation?