Have you ever had a time you would do anything to feel empowered? Well, Sargon was one of the first people in the world to accomplish that. Are social studies teacher told us to do a report of someone who made a big impact on ancient Mesopotamia. Here is mine. Tell me what you think.
Sargon was king of Kish, a small city-state in the Sumerian Empire. The Sumerian empire is located in ancient Mesopotamia. Sargon wanted to be king of all the city states in the Babylonian Empire. This is how he accomplished just that.
In the Sumerian Empire, they relied on two water supplies (the Euphrates and Tigris rivers) to supply their water. So Sargon got an idea. He thought if he cut off the water flow from both rivers they would have to come to him so they could get water. Then Sargon was at work. He started building dams in the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Guess what, his plan worked! People started to come to him. Within a mater of time, He became ruler of all of the Babylonian Empire. His rule did not last long though. With roughly five decades. People started to rebel against the empire. Within a matter of time, he was no longer king.
This is a passage from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sargon_of_Akkad:
A Neo-Assyrian text from the seventh century BC purporting to be Sargon’s autobiography asserts that the great king was the illegitimate son of a priestess. In the Neo-Assyrian account Sargon’s birth and his early childhood are described this:
| “ |
My mother was a high priestess, my father I knew not. The brothers of my father loved the hills. My city is Azupiranu, which is situated on the banks of the Euphrates. My high priestess mother conceived me, in secret she bore me. She set me in a basket of rushes, with bitumen she sealed my lid. She cast me into the river which rose over me. The river bore me up and carried me to Akki, the drawer of water. Akki, the drawer of water, took me as his son and reared me. Akki, the drawer of water, appointed me as his gardener. While I was a gardener, Ishtar granted me her love, and for four and […] years I exercised kingship. |
” |
In 705 BC, Sargon died in a battle against the Cimmerians, who were later to destroy the kingdoms of Urartu and Phrygia before moving even further west. Sargon was avenged by his son Sennacherib (Sin-ahhe-eriba,) at about 705 – 681 BC. by his son, sending an army to wipe out all of the Cimmerians. by: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sargon_of_Akkad:
I don’t know about you but from the picture above, I think Sargon had a painful death. Sargon is the one who is fully yellow in picture who is about to get stabbed. As you see in the picture above, Sargon did not have an easy life.
I know what most of you are thinking, “Sargon was so mean for cutting off their water supply.” What would you do if you had the chance to be ruler of all of the Sumerian Empire? I bet you would do the same thing. I know that I would!
INFORMATION ABOUT WHERE ALL THIS TOOK PLACE:
If you don’t know where Mesopotamia is, it is in the continent of Africa. It is in Egypt. It is close to the Euphrates, Tigris, and Nile rivers.
If you want background information about Sargon, go to the website below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sargon_of_Akkad
Tags: Sargon, Socialstudies
