It’s a bit of a cliché to say empires rise and fall, but have you ever wondered what the oldest empire in recorded history was? Well that title seems to go to the Akkadian Empire, the first ...

From Sumerian, Babcock explains, the name translates to something like “high priestess, ornament of the heaven.” The Akkadian ruler Sargon created the world’s first empire by unifying several ...

Over the past few years, I’ve often returned to that image from four millennia ago, fascinated by this remarkable woman — thought to be Enheduana, daughter of the Akkadian ruler Sargon the ...

Long after their empire fell, Akkadian rulers were seen as models by Mesopotamian dynasties such as the Assyrians and Babylonians. “Their relics were admired, their inscriptions were studied ...