Sargon of Akkad

All through his life Sargon held the Sumerian deities with great reverence especially his patroness Inanna (Ishtar) and the warrior god of Kish, Zababa.

His daughter Enheduanna became a High Priestess of Nanna (Sin), the moon god, in the Sumerian city-state of Ur. Her rich body of literary work inclusive of hymns renowned as "Sumerian Temple Hymns" as also many personal devotions to the goddess Inanna were used for centuries.

According to a 7th century BC Neo-Assyrian text that is claimed to be an autobiography of Sargon, he was born as an illegitimate son of a high priestess who bore him secretly and after his birth adrift him on the Euphrates River in a basket of rushes.

He was found by a drawer of water, Akki who raised him up as his son and later inducted him as his gardener. Sargon never knew who his biological father was. Sumerian Sargon legend however mentions the name as Laʻibum. The legend also mentions that his native place as Azupiranu.

The surviving fragments of the Sumerian-language Sargon legend, that was unearthed in Nippur, an age-old Sumerian city, in 1974, says that he was inducted as cup-bearer of Ur-Zababa, the second king of the 4th Dynasty of Kish, by the latter, however the reasons remained unknown. The legend also chronicles the way Sargon attained power.

Even though Sargon is counted among the most revered historic figures, his legends remained unknown to the world at large until the Legend of Sargon was published by archaeologist Sir Henry Rawlinson in 1870 CE. Rawlinson discovered it in 1867 CE in the library of Ashurbanipal during an excavation in Nineveh.

According to Sumerian legend when Lugal-zage-si of Umma started conquering the city-states of the Sumer region and after conquering Uruk he resolved to approach Kish, Ur-Zababa became anxious.

Bauer mentions "Ur-Zababa, learning that the army of the conqueror was approaching his city, grew so frightened that he ‘sprinkled his legs' . For reasons unknown Ur-Zababa somehow lost trust on Sargon and send him to Lugal-zage-si with a message on a clay tablet asking the latter to kill Sargon.

Lugal-zage-si however did not follow such advise and instead took Sargon in his side to conquer Kish while Ur-Zababa escaped for life. Although what followed next is not clear due to various versions surrounding Sargon’s legends, the two historic figures became rivals soon.

In no time Sargon conquered Uruk and his conquest of Sumer not only marked Lugal-zage-si as the last Sumerian king but also the rise of the Akkadian Empire with Sargon proclaiming himself as the king of Kish.

Inscription of a tablet from the Old Babylonian period that was discovered during a 1890s expedition at Nippur reveals that Sargon referred himself as “Sargon, king of Akkad, overseer of Inanna, king of Kish, anointed of Anu, king of the land [Mesopotamia], governor (ensi) of Enlil".