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Historical Period

Sargon's first empire and the Sumerian renaissance of Ur that followed.

Use the timeline below to navigate through major events and milestones.

Akkad & Ur III · 2334-2004 BC
Ancient Mesopotamia

The Akkadian Empire & the Third Dynasty of Ur

Sargon of Akkad forged the world's first empire, binding Sumer and the Semitic north under one crown and one god-like king. After Akkad fell to drought and the Gutians, the kings of Ur raised a last, brilliant Sumerian renaissance — with its towering ziggurat, vast bureaucracy, and the oldest law code yet found — before it too was swept away. Slide across the centuries to follow the first age of empire.

2334 BC
Akkadian Empire
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2334 BC

Akkadian Empire
  • Political

    Sargon founds the first empire

    Sargon of Akkad overthrows Lugalzagesi, conquers all Sumer, and builds a realm reaching from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean.

9 milestones

Meanwhile

Around 2334 BC

Full Chronicle

The Akkadian Empire & the Third Dynasty of Ur

Sargon of Akkad forged the world's first empire, binding Sumer and the Semitic north under one crown and one god-like king. After Akkad fell to drought and the Gutians, the kings of Ur raised a last, brilliant Sumerian renaissance — with its towering ziggurat, vast bureaucracy, and the oldest law code yet found — before it too was swept away. Slide across the centuries to follow the first age of empire.

  1. Akkadian Empire

    • Sargon founds the first empire

      Sargon of Akkad overthrows Lugalzagesi, conquers all Sumer, and builds a realm reaching from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean.

  2. Akkadian Empire

    • Enheduanna, the first author

      Sargon's daughter, high priestess of the moon god at Ur, writes hymns signed with her own name — the earliest author known to history.

  3. Akkadian Empire

    • Naram-Sin, king of the four quarters

      Sargon's grandson Naram-Sin raises the empire to its height and becomes the first Mesopotamian king to declare himself a living god.

  4. Gutian Interlude

    • The fall of Akkad

      Drought, revolt, and raids by the mountain Gutians break the Akkadian Empire, an end later poets blamed on the anger of the gods.

  5. Gutian Interlude

    • Gudea of Lagash

      While the Gutians hold the north, the pious governor Gudea makes Lagash a centre of temple-building and art.

  6. Third Dynasty of Ur

    • Ur-Nammu revives Sumer

      Ur-Nammu drives out the Gutians, unites the south under Ur, and proclaims the oldest law code yet discovered.

  7. Third Dynasty of Ur

    • The Great Ziggurat of Ur

      Ur-Nammu raises the towering ziggurat to the moon god Nanna, the best-preserved of all Mesopotamian temple-mountains.

  8. Third Dynasty of Ur

    • Shulgi and the perfect state

      King Shulgi builds a vast bureaucracy, standardizes weights and calendars, and has himself worshipped as a god.

  9. Third Dynasty of Ur

    • The fall of Ur

      Famine, Amorite pressure, and an Elamite assault destroy Ur and carry off its last king, ending Sumerian power forever.