Akkad (city)

Akkad (/ˈækæd/; also spelt Accad, Akkade, or Agade, Akkadian: 𒀀𒂵𒉈𒆠 akkadê, also 𒌵𒆠 URI^KI in Sumerian during the Ur III period) was the capital of the Akkadian Empire, which was the dominant political force in Mesopotamia during a period of about 150 years in the last third of the 3rd millennium BC.

Its location is unknown. In the early days of research various unidentified mounds were considered as the location of Akkad.^[1] In modern times most of the attention has focused on an area roughly defined by 1) near Eshnunna, 2) near Sippar, 3) not far from Kish and Babylon, 4) near the Tigris River, and 5) not far from the Diyala River - all within roughly 30 kilometers of modern Baghdad in central Iraq. There are also location proposals as far afield as the Mosul area in northern Iraq.^[2][3][4]

The main goddess of Akkad was Ishtar-Annunitum or ‘Aštar-annunîtum (Warlike Ishtar),^[5] though it may have been a different aspect, Istar-Ulmašītum.^[6] Her husband Ilaba was also revered. Ishtar and Ilaba were later worshipped at Girsu and possibly Sippar in the Old Babylonian period.^[2]

The city is possibly mentioned in the Hebrew Bible (Genesis 10:10) where it is written אַכַּד‎ (ʾAkkaḏ, classically transliterated Accad), in a list of the cities of Nimrod in Sumer (Shinar).

In the early days of Assyriology, it was suggested that the name of Agade is not of Akkadian language origin. Proposals include Sumerian language, Hurrian language or the Lullubian (though that is unattested). The non-Akkadian origin of the city's name would suggest that the site may have been occupied in pre-Sargonic times.^[7]