Why Guys Should Think About Akkad & Sumer

Mesopotamia gave rise to history’s first imperial conquerors: the Akkadians. But they could never have done it without the Sumerians, who had already invented cities, kingdoms, and civilization itself. This video tells their story. --- This is the first episode in a series covering the Akkadian Empire. Sources & further reading: Dawn of Civilization (David Graeber & David Wengrow) Mesopotamia: The Invention of the City (Gwendolyn Leick) A History of the Ancient Near East, ca. 3000-323 BC (Marc Van de Mieroop) Ancient Iraq: Third Edition (Georges Roux) Ancient Mesopotamia: Portrait of a Dead Civilization (A. Leo Oppenheim) Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, the Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others (Stephanie Dalley) Pre-Sargonic Period: Early Periods, Volume 1 (2700-2350 BC) (Douglas R. Frayne) The Age of Agade: Inventing Empire in Ancient Mesopotamia (Benjamin R. Foster) Akkad, the first world empire: structure, ideology, traditions (Mario Liverani) 0:00 - Migratory tentshow 0:50 - Intro to Akkadian Empire 1:46 - Origins of Mesopotamian civilization 5:26 - Uruk Period: temple rule 13:26 - Early Dynastic Period: rule of “great men“ 17:48 - End of the Early Dynastic Period 20:47 - Sargon of Akkad arrives...