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baghdad
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iraq
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site of so many conflicts in recent
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years
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dictators
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foreign invasion
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civil
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war scars of history run deep on this
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landscape
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with a population of some 8 million
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people it's the 4th largest in the
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middle east
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yet this isn't the first great city to
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dominate the southern mesopotamian
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plains
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not by a long shot
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heading out into the scorched deserts to
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the south-east of the city
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it doesn't take long until great earth
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and mounds line up on the horizon
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for this is a land of tells
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vast man-made hills built up from the
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refuse of thousands of years of
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occupation
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still standing guard over the country
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they once ruled
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now desolate
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remote
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[Music]
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halfway between baghdad and the persian
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gulf
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[Music]
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just to the south west of the town of
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nazarea stands one of the greatest of
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all those mounds
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[Music]
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once
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long ago the wide banks of the euphrates
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passed by here
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though little evidence of that can be
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seen now
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the great life-giving river having
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forsaken the place more than two
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thousand years before
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leaving just rubble
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dirt and bones
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[Music]
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and that's how it remained for more than
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2 000 years
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wind and time burying the place entirely
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[Music]
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by the mid 19th century however strange
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artifacts began to show up in nearby
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markets
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a great revolution in archaeology was
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taking place at the time
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and due to the painstaking efforts of an
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entirely new branch of scholarship a
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seriology
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the ancient script on many of the items
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cuneiform was deciphered
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allowing an unprecedented glimpse into
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that world before
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so long ago
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[Music]
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and what the scholars read of that great
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mound by nazarea
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completely boggled the mind
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its name
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was er
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and it had been mentioned
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in the bible
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[Music]
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as the very place where abraham
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progenitor of three of the great world
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religions
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had been born
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[Music]
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before heading forth with his wife and
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children to wander the world after the
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city's demise
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[Music]
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at the time the fledgling field of
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archaeology mostly concerned itself with
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collecting tablets and artifacts from
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ancient sites
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for further investigation elsewhere
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but by 1920 new more vigorous scientific
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styles were favored
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and for the first time a comprehensive
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investigation of the city itself would
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be attempted
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the man to lead that mission was leonard
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woolley
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he'd worked under the pioneering
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discoverer of minoan crete sir arthur
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evans
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and more recently numbered the famous
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lawrence of arabia in his team
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accompanying woolly went max malawan and
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his soon-to-be wife agatha christie
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who'd later write a book inspired by the
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journey
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the world
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was watching
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[Music]
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it was to be one of the most famous of
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all archaeological expeditions
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unearthing some of the greatest
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treasures ever found in the ancient
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world
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matching that of toot and carmoon's tomb
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almost immediately woolly confirmed the
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city to be er
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a major center of the sumerian culture
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of the early bronze age
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excavations would continue for another
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14 years
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revealing continuous occupation of the
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site from around 5000 to 500 bc
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at its height the city had been home to
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approximately 65 000 people
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one of the greatest the world had ever
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seen
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though european work in the middle east
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had begun as an effort to find the
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origins of the hebrew bible
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it ultimately revealed so much more
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[Music]
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revolutionizing our understanding of the
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sumerian world
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immensely elaborate graves of citizens
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kings and queens
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a culture surpassing even egypt
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in its antiquity
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and importance
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thousands upon thousands of graves were
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uncovered at er
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filled with a vast array of objects
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revealing links all across the known
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world
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one vast royal cemetery in particular
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dated to around the middle of the third
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millennium bc
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was the most spectacular ever found
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gold lapis lazuli carnelian
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chlorite
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bronze
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silver and other semi-precious stones
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flowed out along with expertly crafted
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items
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musical instruments and more
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a world so much older than the bible was
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unlocked
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the apogee of the sumerians
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woolly and those who followed him were
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able to construct an incredible account
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of ancient wealth and privilege
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like queen puabi whose grave goods can
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still be seen today
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and er wasn't alone
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[Music]
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just one of a glittering collection of
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metropolises
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[Music]
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in the span of barely a millennium the
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sumerians had established
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mankind's first real urban centers
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with towering walls and religious
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sanctuaries known as ziggurats
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the skyscrapers of their day
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building arguably the world's most
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advanced civilization
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[Music]
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in a landscape entirely devoid of
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natural resources
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the sumerians radically improved farming
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and irrigation techniques
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resulting in larger surpluses of grain
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and an increase in the overall food
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supply
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ultimately allowing many within their
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society to put down their plows and
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pursue other endeavors
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such as advanced mathematical and
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scientific knowledge
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perhaps the most famous of all sumerian
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inventions though was the development of
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a complex system of writing
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first used for bookkeeping and then
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later on to record their own history
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[Music]
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all of these innovations helped to lay
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the foundation for some of the most
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powerful and wealthy city-states the
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world had ever seen
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whose rulers presided over small but
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significant kingdoms
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[Music]
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within just a few centuries of queen
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pawabi however by the 24th century bc
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this prosperity was already coming to an
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end
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from its very beginnings civilization
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has been incredibly elitist
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far from everyone benefiting from the
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splendor of the first cities
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in fact most people didn't at all
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and by around 2400 bc
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the world of ancient sumer
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came to a breaking point
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texts uncovered from sumerian
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city-states such as lagash
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indicate that there was a massive chasm
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between the wealthy often hailing from
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the hereditary priestly class
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and the impoverished common people
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most of the latter being so mired in
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debt they had to sell their own children
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into slavery in an effort to pay it off
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though not as well documented it's
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believed that similar circumstances were
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prevalent in the other city-states too
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[Music]
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sometime between the years 2350 and 2340
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bc
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those scholars debate the exact date
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a new type of ruler became king of the
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city-state of umar
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lagash's great rival
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the two had been fighting armed
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conflicts for centuries
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with lagash generally being the victor
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perhaps out of spite or the desire for
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revenge
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this new ruler brutally attacked lagash
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and is said to have massacred many of
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its people as well as destroying its
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great temples
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he then went on to conquer and annex
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other city-states
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ultimately claiming to have forged an
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empire stretching from the persian gulf
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all the way to the mediterranean sea
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most scholars though don't take lugel
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zagazi at his word
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[Music]
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he really may only have controlled the
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city-states of sumer
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which in itself would have been a
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remarkable achievement
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had he done this he would have created
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the first true world empire in history
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but unfortunately for him
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that honor would go to another
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not a sumerian
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but one whose origins lay further to the
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north
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a land also remembered in the bible
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akkad
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[Music]
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though his birth name is not known
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he would later call himself shahrukh kin
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meaning legitimate king
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we know him by a different name
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sargon the first great king of the
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akkadian empire
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generally regarded as history's first
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within just a few hundred years the
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sumerians would be forgotten
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eclipsed by another power
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revered by every state to arise in the
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region for 2 000 years to come
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this is the history of that empire
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but first a quick word from our sponsor
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hello and welcome to history time as
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always i'm your host pete kelly
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currently in my underground secret
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the research for this one was undertaken
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by the great history with psy
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go check out his channel for everything
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now i'm still mostly a one-man team when
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it comes to making these things and they
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take years to make so i'm sure you won't
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mind me taking a moment to thank the
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[Music]
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it's magellan tv
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a longtime supporter of the channel
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like netflix for scholars magellan tv
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has a library of thousands of
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documentaries to choose from space
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geography history science it's all here
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streamed seamlessly to any device you
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choose
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when i'm stuck for new ideas i often put
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something on from their playlists from
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the bronze age to outer space there's
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something here for everyone
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one in particular that i recently
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enjoyed and a playlist i often go back
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to is eternal egypt
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neighbors to the acadians
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and there are plenty of other ancient
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history programs to choose from too
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and now i've teamed up with magellan to
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below
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thanks
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now back to the ancient world
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every so often in history
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an extremely capable and charismatic
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leader arises
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and for better or worse disrupts the
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world in which they live entirely
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altering it forever more
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[Music]
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whether cyrus the great of persia in the
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sixth century bc
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alexander of the greeks
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or julius caesar three centuries later
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[Music]
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the long span of antiquity has had its
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fair share of such figures
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[Music]
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and more than a thousand years before
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in the 24th century bc
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the very first arose
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[Music]
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sargon of akkad would go on to become
338
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the most powerful ruler that had ever
339
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lived up until that time
340
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in fact nearly all of the future kings
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of ancient mesopotamia and even beyond
342
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would try to imitate his style of rule
343
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adopt his empire's efficient
344
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administrative system
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and claim to be his worthy successor
346
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sargon was considered by those who came
347
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after to have been the model ruler and
348
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the epitome of all that a man could and
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should be
350
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like charlemagne and king arthur in
351
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centuries to come he was the archetypal
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king who lived long and well
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[Music]
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yet despite all of his great
355
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achievements and fame
356
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very little is concretely known about
357
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his early life
358
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myth
359
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history and legend entwine
360
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given the immense chasm of time since he
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lived
362
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the texts and inscriptions that
363
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archaeologists have uncovered about him
364
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are generally more legend than fact
365
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[Music]
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the vast majority
367
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being babylonian copies of originals
368
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thought to have existed closer to
369
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sargon's own day
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[Music]
371
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sometimes called the first histories
372
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compiled during the age of hammurabi
373
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writer of the first law code during the
374
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old babylonian period
375
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these clay tablets are copies of
376
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original royal inscriptions supposedly
377
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found on monuments from 500 years before
378
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[Music]
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though a tiny handful of original
380
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monuments survived too
381
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seized and taken to elam by a victorious
382
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king during the 12th century bc
383
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where french archaeologists found them
384
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[Music]
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one of the more complete copies from
386
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hammurabi's day
387
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believed by many to have been
388
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commissioned by sargon himself
389
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outlines the future king's humble
390
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beginnings
391
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he claims to be the son of a priestess
392
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his father he says
393
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is unknown
394
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[Music]
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unable to care for him his mother put
396
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him into a covered reed basket sending
397
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it down river
398
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where it was later discovered by a water
399
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drawer named aki
400
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who raised the child as his own
401
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it's a story that has parallels to the
402
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early biography of moses as told in the
403
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hebrew bible
404
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adding to the flood myth and the garden
405
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of eden concepts which also have their
406
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roots with the sumerians
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[Music]
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though not telling the story of his
409
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birth
410
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another document known as the sumerian
411
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king list
412
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first compiled several centuries after
413
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sargon's death
414
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stresses his humble roots
415
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by claiming him to be the son of a
416
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gardener
417
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eventually still early on in his career
418
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we're told that sargon became the
419
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cup-bearer of a man named er zababa
420
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ruler of the city-state of kish
421
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an important northern sumerian city
422
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standing upriver from all the great
423
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strongholds of the south and existing at
424
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a time of intense riverine management
425
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at times in its history kish seems to
426
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have been able to control the flow of
427
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water to a certain extent
428
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holding the lower cities to ransom
429
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of course presumably unlike his leader
430
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urza baba
431
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sargon was an acadian
432
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speakers of an eastern semitic language
433
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who occupied the regions just north of
434
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sumer known as akkad
435
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as far as the akkadians themselves
436
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however not much is known about them
437
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before sargon's reign
438
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most scholars believe they lived side by
439
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side with the sumerians in many cities
440
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being greatly influenced by their
441
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culture and religion
442
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today sumerian remains a culture and
443
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language with unknown roots
444
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though it had fully developed by the 4th
445
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millennium bc
446
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[Music]
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at vast centers like uruk and eredu
448
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the very place according to sumerian
449
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mythology where man was first chiseled
450
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out of the mud by the gods
451
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the origins of the acadians though are
452
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to be found with the so-called second
453
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phase of urbanization occurring in the
454
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mid third millennium bc in syria and
455
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northern mesopotamia
456
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at massive cities like ebla
457
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and sometimes nomadic cultures like the
458
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canaanites and the amorites
459
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living on the outer limits of the
460
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sumerian world
461
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[Music]
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by sargon's day though the acadians seem
463
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to have shared the same gods as sumer
464
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living more or less the same way of life
465
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yet given his linguistic roots
466
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sargon or at least his ancestors were
467
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outside us
468
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whether he came from the mountains or
469
00:24:17,039 --> 00:24:19,360
the desert is unclear
470
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but it is he who is given credit for the
471
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foundation of a new city
472
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not far from kish
473
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he called it
474
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a guarde
475
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agarde's existence has never been in
476
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doubt
477
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showing up in contemporary records
478
00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:39,520
throughout the third millennium bc and
479
00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:41,279
onwards
480
00:24:41,279 --> 00:24:43,840
however that great city
481
00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:47,840
has never been found
482
00:24:52,960 --> 00:24:55,120
we know roughly where it was
483
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near susa at the southern edge of sumair
484
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and the mesopotamian lowland
485
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a region with a lack of agricultural
486
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potential
487
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but excellent access to the disparate
488
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peoples all around
489
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regions and cultures sargon and his
490
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descendants would integrate into their
491
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own
492
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expanding the horizons of mesopotamia
493
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significantly
494
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[Music]
495
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without any archaeology to go on though
496
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sargon's city remains obscure
497
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it may be that he really did create the
498
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city himself
499
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he allegedly ruled for a ridiculously
500
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long time after all
501
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though some scholars now suggest his
502
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cult of personality to have become so
503
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strong that it could have caught some of
504
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the deeds of his successors in its orbit
505
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as we know it did those of his
506
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predecessors
507
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[Music]
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for those sargons is often seen as a new
509
00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:11,520
dynasty a break with the old
510
00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:14,000
really he may have inherited concepts
511
00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:15,679
that came before
512
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a continuation of the development of
513
00:26:17,919 --> 00:26:19,300
kingship
514
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[Music]
515
00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:24,320
for this was the age of the lugals
516
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local head men and warlords ruling
517
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through personal charisma and power
518
00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:31,500
rather than divine rule
519
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[Music]
520
00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:37,039
had it not been for the actions of one
521
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of those sumerian kings
522
00:26:39,279 --> 00:26:41,919
sargon might never have amounted to
523
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anything at all
524
00:26:46,159 --> 00:26:49,200
for just as he began his career at kish
525
00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:52,720
the king of uma lugal zagazi moved his
526
00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:55,840
capital to the great city of uruk
527
00:26:55,840 --> 00:26:58,480
taking ur along the way
528
00:26:58,480 --> 00:27:00,880
ultimately expanding his rule over the
529
00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:03,880
whole of southern mesopotamia
530
00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:06,799
[Music]
531
00:27:06,799 --> 00:27:09,520
sargon is often credited with many
532
00:27:09,520 --> 00:27:11,520
firsts in history
533
00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:14,559
the first standing army the first land
534
00:27:14,559 --> 00:27:15,919
empire
535
00:27:15,919 --> 00:27:18,559
but really lugel cigarsi may have been
536
00:27:18,559 --> 00:27:20,480
first
537
00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:22,640
according to archaeological evidence and
538
00:27:22,640 --> 00:27:25,360
the archives of the various city-states
539
00:27:25,360 --> 00:27:28,240
it was he who first ruled from the lower
540
00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:31,520
sea to the upper
541
00:27:31,679 --> 00:27:34,640
holding sway over 50 governors
542
00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:36,720
and bringing an end to independent
543
00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:38,190
samaria
544
00:27:38,190 --> 00:27:41,200
[Music]
545
00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:44,240
and one of those cities he annexed
546
00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:46,399
was kish
547
00:27:46,399 --> 00:27:48,159
given this burgeoning growth of
548
00:27:48,159 --> 00:27:50,640
militaristic sumerian kingship by his
549
00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:51,440
day
550
00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:54,240
it's no surprise really that sargon had
551
00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:55,050
a go
552
00:27:55,050 --> 00:27:56,799
[Music]
553
00:27:56,799 --> 00:27:58,960
he just had to cut off the head of the
554
00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:03,840
snake to make his play for power
555
00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:08,640
a snake with many enemies
556
00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:11,679
though the details are murky we're told
557
00:28:11,679 --> 00:28:15,440
that soon after lugal zagazi seized kish
558
00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:18,480
sargon with a band of faithful followers
559
00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:22,799
directly marched on uruk
560
00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:30,559
sargon the king of akhad the bailiff of
561
00:28:30,559 --> 00:28:33,120
ishtar the king of the universe the
562
00:28:33,120 --> 00:28:35,760
anointed one of ahn the king of the land
563
00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:38,240
to the governor of enlil
564
00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:40,720
he vanquished uruk in battle and smoked
565
00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:43,120
50 governors in the city by the mace of
566
00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:44,880
the god ilaba
567
00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:46,960
and he destroyed its fortress and
568
00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:50,080
captured lugul zagasi the king of uruk
569
00:28:50,080 --> 00:28:52,720
in battle
570
00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:55,360
he led him to the gate of enlil in a
571
00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:58,679
next stock
572
00:28:59,679 --> 00:29:02,559
taking lugal zagazi to the gate of enlil
573
00:29:02,559 --> 00:29:05,200
the holy city of nippor was a powerful
574
00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:08,159
symbolic gesture
575
00:29:08,159 --> 00:29:11,520
the old king's power was clearly broken
576
00:29:11,520 --> 00:29:15,760
and sargon favored by the gods
577
00:29:15,919 --> 00:29:18,159
the old king's ultimate fate
578
00:29:18,159 --> 00:29:21,120
we're not told
579
00:29:24,480 --> 00:29:27,360
unlike his early days sargon's reign as
580
00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:29,520
king as well as the actions of his new
581
00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:31,440
government are relatively well
582
00:29:31,440 --> 00:29:32,960
documented
583
00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:37,120
much more so than most at the time
584
00:29:37,520 --> 00:29:39,440
and though the records make it seem as
585
00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:42,000
if sargon had an easy time conquering so
586
00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:44,000
many territories
587
00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:46,559
holding on to them especially the proud
588
00:29:46,559 --> 00:29:51,520
cities of sumer proved to be a challenge
589
00:29:52,799 --> 00:29:54,880
most of the city-states he claims to
590
00:29:54,880 --> 00:29:57,440
have controlled eventually rose up in
591
00:29:57,440 --> 00:30:00,240
rebellion against him
592
00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:02,960
though he and his men the beginnings of
593
00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:05,440
a professional army personally loyal to
594
00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:06,320
him
595
00:30:06,320 --> 00:30:09,360
were able to put down every revolt using
596
00:30:09,360 --> 00:30:11,440
a combination of fear
597
00:30:11,440 --> 00:30:14,000
brute force and at times
598
00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:16,799
diplomacy
599
00:30:16,980 --> 00:30:19,120
[Music]
600
00:30:19,120 --> 00:30:21,679
within a number of decades sargon was
601
00:30:21,679 --> 00:30:23,600
able to establish himself as the
602
00:30:23,600 --> 00:30:27,679
undisputed ruler of both sumer and akad
603
00:30:27,679 --> 00:30:30,159
as well as reorganizing and reforming
604
00:30:30,159 --> 00:30:33,580
many aspects of the societies he ruled
605
00:30:33,580 --> 00:30:34,799
[Music]
606
00:30:34,799 --> 00:30:37,679
sargon king of akkad vanquished ur in
607
00:30:37,679 --> 00:30:38,720
battle
608
00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:41,039
and smoked the city and destroyed its
609
00:30:41,039 --> 00:30:42,240
fortress
610
00:30:42,240 --> 00:30:45,120
he smote its territory and lagash as far
611
00:30:45,120 --> 00:30:46,399
as the sea
612
00:30:46,399 --> 00:30:48,960
he vanquished uma in battle and
613
00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:51,160
destroyed its fortress
614
00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:54,320
[Music]
615
00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:55,480
by around
616
00:30:55,480 --> 00:30:57,600
2334 bc
617
00:30:57,600 --> 00:31:00,720
with the completion of sargon's conquest
618
00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:02,720
the era that scholars call the early
619
00:31:02,720 --> 00:31:06,880
dynastic period of sumer comes to an end
620
00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:10,880
the akkadian period begins
621
00:31:12,720 --> 00:31:15,039
so famed was sargon that in the two
622
00:31:15,039 --> 00:31:18,080
millennia to come babylonian kings used
623
00:31:18,080 --> 00:31:21,120
the title king of akkad all the way down
624
00:31:21,120 --> 00:31:23,120
to the persian period
625
00:31:23,120 --> 00:31:25,440
the akkadian king becoming the very
626
00:31:25,440 --> 00:31:29,039
embodiment of empire and kingship
627
00:31:29,039 --> 00:31:32,480
what it meant to be a ruler
628
00:31:32,480 --> 00:31:34,320
lugel zagazi
629
00:31:34,320 --> 00:31:37,559
was forgotten
630
00:31:47,890 --> 00:31:50,939
[Music]
631
00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:53,840
when european archaeologists first began
632
00:31:53,840 --> 00:31:56,080
excavating in mesopotamia in the early
633
00:31:56,080 --> 00:31:59,640
19th century
634
00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:02,480
seeking to understand the origins of
635
00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:05,440
their own civilization
636
00:32:05,440 --> 00:32:08,240
next to nothing was known of the ancient
637
00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:10,480
history of that land
638
00:32:10,480 --> 00:32:12,840
besides the biblical
639
00:32:12,840 --> 00:32:16,159
stories it's mud brick cities having
640
00:32:16,159 --> 00:32:18,180
died millennia before
641
00:32:18,180 --> 00:32:22,159
[Music]
642
00:32:22,159 --> 00:32:24,960
one by one as the years went by
643
00:32:24,960 --> 00:32:26,840
the great mounds began to be
644
00:32:26,840 --> 00:32:28,399
investigated
645
00:32:28,399 --> 00:32:32,880
the cities of the bible unearthed
646
00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:37,440
foremost amongst these early discoveries
647
00:32:37,440 --> 00:32:41,120
was the assyrian capital at nineveh
648
00:32:41,120 --> 00:32:43,840
made famous by the earlier cereologist
649
00:32:43,840 --> 00:32:47,360
austin henry layard
650
00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:50,000
work went on for decades
651
00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:52,720
brick by brick uncovering a vast
652
00:32:52,720 --> 00:32:55,200
metropolis of the iron age
653
00:32:55,200 --> 00:32:57,360
and great amounts of information on the
654
00:32:57,360 --> 00:33:01,030
assyrian era of the first millennium bc
655
00:33:01,030 --> 00:33:03,279
[Music]
656
00:33:03,279 --> 00:33:07,200
yet underneath that city lay far older
657
00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:08,560
foundations
658
00:33:08,560 --> 00:33:11,519
[Music]
659
00:33:11,519 --> 00:33:15,200
in 1931 the latest in a long line of
660
00:33:15,200 --> 00:33:18,159
astonishing discoveries was made
661
00:33:18,159 --> 00:33:20,240
for fifteen hundred years before the
662
00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:21,519
assyrians
663
00:33:21,519 --> 00:33:24,399
the place had originally been built by
664
00:33:24,399 --> 00:33:26,580
acadian workmen
665
00:33:26,580 --> 00:33:30,990
[Music]
666
00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:34,880
it was in the acadian layers of the city
667
00:33:34,880 --> 00:33:36,559
that a number of artifacts were
668
00:33:36,559 --> 00:33:38,159
discovered
669
00:33:38,159 --> 00:33:43,279
chief amongst them a great bronze head
670
00:33:43,279 --> 00:33:45,120
thought to be part of an impressive
671
00:33:45,120 --> 00:33:49,799
statue of an acadian king
672
00:33:52,320 --> 00:33:55,500
[Music]
673
00:33:57,200 --> 00:33:59,840
though defaced at some point in history
674
00:33:59,840 --> 00:34:02,559
today the head is rightly considered one
675
00:34:02,559 --> 00:34:06,000
of the great masterpieces of ancient art
676
00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:08,159
providing a rare glimpse into the art
677
00:34:08,159 --> 00:34:11,679
style of the akkadian world
678
00:34:14,560 --> 00:34:16,879
generally thought to represent either
679
00:34:16,879 --> 00:34:20,879
sargon or his grandson naram sin
680
00:34:20,879 --> 00:34:23,599
in reality almost nothing is known about
681
00:34:23,599 --> 00:34:25,040
the head
682
00:34:25,040 --> 00:34:27,040
though it is reminiscent of similar
683
00:34:27,040 --> 00:34:29,679
heads from gudea in the years following
684
00:34:29,679 --> 00:34:33,320
acadian rule
685
00:34:35,839 --> 00:34:37,679
this was an age when realistic
686
00:34:37,679 --> 00:34:40,000
representations of humans almost
687
00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:42,739
entirely unknown
688
00:34:42,739 --> 00:34:45,199
[Music]
689
00:34:45,199 --> 00:34:49,838
making the head entirely unprecedented
690
00:34:53,130 --> 00:34:55,040
[Music]
691
00:34:55,040 --> 00:34:56,960
this bronze artifact
692
00:34:56,960 --> 00:35:00,240
precisely and expertly crafted
693
00:35:00,240 --> 00:35:02,640
wasn't just a statement of the king's
694
00:35:02,640 --> 00:35:03,839
power
695
00:35:03,839 --> 00:35:06,800
but a perpetual embodiment of his very
696
00:35:06,800 --> 00:35:09,200
being
697
00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:11,680
more than a representation
698
00:35:11,680 --> 00:35:14,400
for those who looked upon it this statue
699
00:35:14,400 --> 00:35:16,640
would channel the very presence of the
700
00:35:16,640 --> 00:35:18,800
king himself
701
00:35:18,800 --> 00:35:22,480
working as a substitute in his absence
702
00:35:22,480 --> 00:35:24,320
the fact that the head was possibly
703
00:35:24,320 --> 00:35:26,800
still on display and defaced many
704
00:35:26,800 --> 00:35:28,800
centuries later during the sack of
705
00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:31,520
nineveh in the 7th century bc
706
00:35:31,520 --> 00:35:34,320
suggests that his power lived on for
707
00:35:34,320 --> 00:35:36,480
more than a thousand years after his
708
00:35:36,480 --> 00:35:38,510
death
709
00:35:38,510 --> 00:35:42,960
[Music]
710
00:35:42,960 --> 00:35:45,280
notably the figure is very different
711
00:35:45,280 --> 00:35:47,520
from the usual depictions of sumerian
712
00:35:47,520 --> 00:35:49,359
rulers
713
00:35:49,359 --> 00:35:52,079
generally bald with smiling benevolent
714
00:35:52,079 --> 00:35:54,240
features
715
00:35:54,240 --> 00:35:59,240
this statue has elaborate hair
716
00:35:59,760 --> 00:36:01,920
whether it was a wig or a new acadian
717
00:36:01,920 --> 00:36:04,240
hairstyle is unclear
718
00:36:04,240 --> 00:36:06,960
but it wasn't just fashion that changed
719
00:36:06,960 --> 00:36:10,200
under sargon
720
00:36:12,079 --> 00:36:14,160
he attempted in sumer
721
00:36:14,160 --> 00:36:17,359
was revolutionary
722
00:36:18,640 --> 00:36:20,560
for over a millennium the ruling
723
00:36:20,560 --> 00:36:23,040
establishment had long consisted of
724
00:36:23,040 --> 00:36:25,599
priesthood and nobility
725
00:36:25,599 --> 00:36:28,000
working hand in hand to control nearly
726
00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:30,880
every aspect of sumerian society
727
00:36:30,880 --> 00:36:34,000
especially in the cities
728
00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:36,720
often with single hereditary families
729
00:36:36,720 --> 00:36:39,440
controlling all aspects of temple life
730
00:36:39,440 --> 00:36:43,040
in their respective strongholds
731
00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:51,200
when sargon arrived however he broke the
732
00:36:51,200 --> 00:36:53,440
power of the priesthood and the noble
733
00:36:53,440 --> 00:36:55,280
families
734
00:36:55,280 --> 00:36:58,079
replacing them with hand-picked acadian
735
00:36:58,079 --> 00:37:00,079
governess
736
00:37:00,079 --> 00:37:04,320
fiercely loyal to him and him alone
737
00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:06,240
the acadians who now controlled these
738
00:37:06,240 --> 00:37:08,400
estates were able to keep the vast
739
00:37:08,400 --> 00:37:10,800
majority of the crops and revenue for
740
00:37:10,800 --> 00:37:13,359
themselves
741
00:37:13,359 --> 00:37:15,760
a sizable share of the new empire's
742
00:37:15,760 --> 00:37:18,079
wealth
743
00:37:19,280 --> 00:37:21,680
such a system also helped to ensure
744
00:37:21,680 --> 00:37:24,240
their loyalty to the new regime
745
00:37:24,240 --> 00:37:26,640
obliging them to serve it because it now
746
00:37:26,640 --> 00:37:28,800
gave them a huge stake in the state's
747
00:37:28,800 --> 00:37:30,320
success
748
00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:34,880
they'd bought in to the new system
749
00:37:34,880 --> 00:37:38,429
[Music]
750
00:37:38,480 --> 00:37:41,280
this transfer of such productive lands
751
00:37:41,280 --> 00:37:44,240
also greatly diminished if not outright
752
00:37:44,240 --> 00:37:46,800
destroyed the power and influence of the
753
00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:48,839
former religious and ruling
754
00:37:48,839 --> 00:37:51,680
establishment because up until then such
755
00:37:51,680 --> 00:37:54,000
property had been their main source of
756
00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:55,590
income
757
00:37:55,590 --> 00:37:58,800
[Music]
758
00:37:58,800 --> 00:38:00,800
while in most cases the acadian
759
00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:02,800
government compensated the previous
760
00:38:02,800 --> 00:38:06,400
owners the estates were still forcibly
761
00:38:06,400 --> 00:38:08,160
taken
762
00:38:08,160 --> 00:38:10,160
if there was resistance to the offer
763
00:38:10,160 --> 00:38:11,839
then it's safe to say there would have
764
00:38:11,839 --> 00:38:14,000
been serious consequences for those
765
00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:18,040
refusing to make the sale
766
00:38:18,720 --> 00:38:21,040
in addition to the temple estates
767
00:38:21,040 --> 00:38:23,359
those loyal to sargon were also put
768
00:38:23,359 --> 00:38:25,760
directly in charge of managing the main
769
00:38:25,760 --> 00:38:27,760
temples and religious endowments that
770
00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:31,040
were found in most large cities
771
00:38:31,040 --> 00:38:34,320
in one instance sargon put his daughter
772
00:38:34,320 --> 00:38:37,440
who later went by the name en eduana in
773
00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:39,599
charge of the great temple complex of
774
00:38:39,599 --> 00:38:44,920
the moon god nana in the city of ur
775
00:38:46,240 --> 00:38:48,880
thus allowing her to directly oversee
776
00:38:48,880 --> 00:38:51,760
that institution's wealthy endowment and
777
00:38:51,760 --> 00:38:53,920
associating the new kingship
778
00:38:53,920 --> 00:38:57,800
with divine support
779
00:39:00,240 --> 00:39:02,880
consolidating his hold on sumer
780
00:39:02,880 --> 00:39:07,359
sargon looked beyond his borders
781
00:39:11,599 --> 00:39:13,440
claiming to have conquered lands
782
00:39:13,440 --> 00:39:15,280
stretching from the western areas of
783
00:39:15,280 --> 00:39:18,320
elam in what's today's southwestern iran
784
00:39:18,320 --> 00:39:20,000
to the shores of the eastern
785
00:39:20,000 --> 00:39:22,880
mediterranean
786
00:39:24,320 --> 00:39:26,560
bringing immensely wealthy trade routes
787
00:39:26,560 --> 00:39:29,839
under his direct control
788
00:39:30,320 --> 00:39:32,880
and providing access to others yet
789
00:39:32,880 --> 00:39:35,680
further away
790
00:39:36,560 --> 00:39:39,599
these were diverse far-flung lands
791
00:39:39,599 --> 00:39:41,599
inhabited by people speaking many
792
00:39:41,599 --> 00:39:44,160
different languages
793
00:39:44,160 --> 00:39:46,240
and worshiping different gods
794
00:39:46,240 --> 00:39:49,040
[Music]
795
00:39:49,040 --> 00:39:51,359
for the first time brought under the
796
00:39:51,359 --> 00:39:55,800
sway of a single government
797
00:39:56,880 --> 00:39:58,560
though most of the places sargon
798
00:39:58,560 --> 00:40:00,960
attacked outside of sumer can't tell
799
00:40:00,960 --> 00:40:02,960
their own stories
800
00:40:02,960 --> 00:40:06,160
one place can
801
00:40:07,119 --> 00:40:09,440
discovered in the 1960s by italian
802
00:40:09,440 --> 00:40:10,800
archaeologists
803
00:40:10,800 --> 00:40:13,520
the city of ebla had one of the largest
804
00:40:13,520 --> 00:40:16,560
cuneiform archives ever found
805
00:40:16,560 --> 00:40:17,920
and a destruction level in the
806
00:40:17,920 --> 00:40:20,720
archaeological record to match acadian
807
00:40:20,720 --> 00:40:23,720
claims
808
00:40:24,560 --> 00:40:26,960
sargon may even show up briefly in the
809
00:40:26,960 --> 00:40:28,880
ebola records just before the sack of
810
00:40:28,880 --> 00:40:30,000
the city
811
00:40:30,000 --> 00:40:31,839
as the king of kish
812
00:40:31,839 --> 00:40:34,560
or father of the king of kish
813
00:40:34,560 --> 00:40:36,400
he having put his son to rule there
814
00:40:36,400 --> 00:40:39,400
perhaps
815
00:40:40,480 --> 00:40:42,400
once one of the great cities of the
816
00:40:42,400 --> 00:40:44,160
early bronze age
817
00:40:44,160 --> 00:40:46,240
instrumental in the urbanization of
818
00:40:46,240 --> 00:40:49,200
syria during the third millennium bc
819
00:40:49,200 --> 00:40:52,640
ebla now became an acadian provincial
820
00:40:52,640 --> 00:40:55,040
city
821
00:41:00,160 --> 00:41:02,800
with its millennia old cities
822
00:41:02,800 --> 00:41:05,119
religious institutions
823
00:41:05,119 --> 00:41:08,240
and complex irrigation networks
824
00:41:08,240 --> 00:41:11,040
samaria had arguably been the center of
825
00:41:11,040 --> 00:41:13,750
civilization for centuries
826
00:41:13,750 --> 00:41:16,400
[Music]
827
00:41:16,400 --> 00:41:19,680
and now sargon shifted this center
828
00:41:19,680 --> 00:41:22,000
northwards to acad
829
00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:24,640
by establishing his new capital on the
830
00:41:24,640 --> 00:41:26,240
euphrates
831
00:41:26,240 --> 00:41:28,800
[Music]
832
00:41:28,800 --> 00:41:31,359
it was here that he built elaborate
833
00:41:31,359 --> 00:41:34,480
palaces for himself and his family
834
00:41:34,480 --> 00:41:36,800
as well as temples dedicated to his
835
00:41:36,800 --> 00:41:38,880
patron deities
836
00:41:38,880 --> 00:41:43,280
most notably the goddess ishtar
837
00:41:43,280 --> 00:41:45,839
and with this new loyal city as his base
838
00:41:45,839 --> 00:41:47,520
of operations
839
00:41:47,520 --> 00:41:50,560
sargon began the great undertaking of
840
00:41:50,560 --> 00:41:52,930
governing his new empire
841
00:41:52,930 --> 00:41:57,200
[Music]
842
00:41:57,200 --> 00:41:59,839
one of the ways he did this a mainstay
843
00:41:59,839 --> 00:42:02,400
for all empires to follow through the
844
00:42:02,400 --> 00:42:04,400
long span of history
845
00:42:04,400 --> 00:42:06,800
was through ingenious political
846
00:42:06,800 --> 00:42:09,680
propaganda
847
00:42:11,680 --> 00:42:14,560
boasting for the first time in history
848
00:42:14,560 --> 00:42:16,960
of the exact numbers his forces had
849
00:42:16,960 --> 00:42:20,160
killed on campaign
850
00:42:20,319 --> 00:42:22,319
swearing to the accuracy of what he
851
00:42:22,319 --> 00:42:24,400
reported
852
00:42:24,400 --> 00:42:27,520
an unheard-of tactic for the time
853
00:42:27,520 --> 00:42:30,160
part of a new cult of personality
854
00:42:30,160 --> 00:42:31,839
developed to keep his people in
855
00:42:31,839 --> 00:42:35,119
submission by ruling through fear and
856
00:42:35,119 --> 00:42:37,359
awe
857
00:42:39,430 --> 00:42:40,800
[Music]
858
00:42:40,800 --> 00:42:43,359
one of sargon's first acts was to make
859
00:42:43,359 --> 00:42:46,000
acadian the official language for all
860
00:42:46,000 --> 00:42:49,359
administrative purposes
861
00:42:51,119 --> 00:42:52,960
part of the reason for this may have
862
00:42:52,960 --> 00:42:54,960
been to find a common language that
863
00:42:54,960 --> 00:42:57,119
could unify the disparate parts of the
864
00:42:57,119 --> 00:43:00,079
empire where in addition to acadian and
865
00:43:00,079 --> 00:43:04,079
sumerian elamite hurrian and a number of
866
00:43:04,079 --> 00:43:06,480
western semitic languages and dialects
867
00:43:06,480 --> 00:43:09,680
were also spoken
868
00:43:11,680 --> 00:43:14,400
sumerian was not abandoned though
869
00:43:14,400 --> 00:43:17,119
with scribes still studying it and using
870
00:43:17,119 --> 00:43:19,090
it widely in scribal schools
871
00:43:19,090 --> 00:43:21,119
[Music]
872
00:43:21,119 --> 00:43:23,200
but as time went on and the government
873
00:43:23,200 --> 00:43:25,760
promoted greater use of acadian as well
874
00:43:25,760 --> 00:43:27,359
as resettling large numbers of
875
00:43:27,359 --> 00:43:30,240
acadian-speaking people in sumair
876
00:43:30,240 --> 00:43:32,560
it was gradually replaced as the common
877
00:43:32,560 --> 00:43:34,000
tongue
878
00:43:34,000 --> 00:43:36,960
surviving for thousands of years more
879
00:43:36,960 --> 00:43:38,560
when sumerian
880
00:43:38,560 --> 00:43:41,839
died out
881
00:43:44,160 --> 00:43:47,280
[Music]
882
00:43:47,280 --> 00:43:49,520
as well as the political center of the
883
00:43:49,520 --> 00:43:52,560
empire agar day became its main
884
00:43:52,560 --> 00:43:55,839
commercial hub
885
00:43:57,760 --> 00:44:00,079
boats carrying goods from dilman and
886
00:44:00,079 --> 00:44:01,119
magan
887
00:44:01,119 --> 00:44:03,520
today modern bahrain and oman
888
00:44:03,520 --> 00:44:06,480
respectively docked at its ports
889
00:44:06,480 --> 00:44:09,359
[Music]
890
00:44:09,359 --> 00:44:12,000
caravans stocking a variety of tradable
891
00:44:12,000 --> 00:44:15,200
goods flowed in from anatolia
892
00:44:15,200 --> 00:44:16,640
elam
893
00:44:16,640 --> 00:44:18,160
arabia
894
00:44:18,160 --> 00:44:19,839
and the levant
895
00:44:19,839 --> 00:44:24,130
traders setting up shop for the future
896
00:44:24,130 --> 00:44:27,119
[Music]
897
00:44:27,119 --> 00:44:28,800
and it wasn't just acadians that
898
00:44:28,800 --> 00:44:31,200
benefited from this system
899
00:44:31,200 --> 00:44:33,040
surviving records from the sumerian
900
00:44:33,040 --> 00:44:35,599
cities suggest it significantly expanded
901
00:44:35,599 --> 00:44:37,760
horizons than those they'd had access to
902
00:44:37,760 --> 00:44:39,599
before
903
00:44:39,599 --> 00:44:42,079
no longer middlemen but having direct
904
00:44:42,079 --> 00:44:46,190
links to the other side of the world
905
00:44:46,190 --> 00:44:51,280
[Music]
906
00:44:51,280 --> 00:44:54,560
by around 2500 bc
907
00:44:54,560 --> 00:44:57,280
this burgeoning global trade system was
908
00:44:57,280 --> 00:45:00,319
already booming
909
00:45:00,960 --> 00:45:03,119
largely frequented by independent
910
00:45:03,119 --> 00:45:06,240
traders who'd rarely if ever make the
911
00:45:06,240 --> 00:45:08,400
entire journey from east to west
912
00:45:08,400 --> 00:45:10,240
themselves
913
00:45:10,240 --> 00:45:12,640
rather passing on goods from one region
914
00:45:12,640 --> 00:45:15,359
to the next
915
00:45:17,599 --> 00:45:20,000
it seems that like the romans did much
916
00:45:20,000 --> 00:45:23,040
later the acadians got the whole trade
917
00:45:23,040 --> 00:45:25,599
system or much of it under their direct
918
00:45:25,599 --> 00:45:27,200
control
919
00:45:27,200 --> 00:45:29,839
succeeding where all mesopotamians after
920
00:45:29,839 --> 00:45:35,200
them failed directly controlling elam ii
921
00:45:36,000 --> 00:45:40,800
and acadian traders went much further
922
00:45:42,319 --> 00:45:45,359
at the mysterious ruins of konar sandal
923
00:45:45,359 --> 00:45:47,119
in eastern iran
924
00:45:47,119 --> 00:45:51,359
once a city of 20 or 30 000 people
925
00:45:51,359 --> 00:45:54,160
part of the still largely unknown jiroft
926
00:45:54,160 --> 00:45:57,359
culture recently uncovered there
927
00:45:57,359 --> 00:45:59,520
a clay seal from akkad has been
928
00:45:59,520 --> 00:46:01,520
discovered
929
00:46:01,520 --> 00:46:04,160
complete with cuneiform and two facing
930
00:46:04,160 --> 00:46:06,480
figures typical of sargon and his
931
00:46:06,480 --> 00:46:09,119
successors
932
00:46:11,200 --> 00:46:14,000
it seems acadian travelers came here to
933
00:46:14,000 --> 00:46:17,560
barter with the trader lords of girofft
934
00:46:17,560 --> 00:46:19,440
[Music]
935
00:46:19,440 --> 00:46:21,359
standing side by side with their
936
00:46:21,359 --> 00:46:23,440
contemporaries from the indus valley
937
00:46:23,440 --> 00:46:26,240
civilization
938
00:46:27,760 --> 00:46:30,400
in bartering for the chlorite vessels
939
00:46:30,400 --> 00:46:33,680
expertly crafted by the region's workmen
940
00:46:33,680 --> 00:46:37,680
[Music]
941
00:46:37,680 --> 00:46:39,760
and because of these direct links with
942
00:46:39,760 --> 00:46:42,640
iran the gulf egypt
943
00:46:42,640 --> 00:46:45,440
and even into the eurasian steppe some
944
00:46:45,440 --> 00:46:47,760
of the earliest evidence of horses being
945
00:46:47,760 --> 00:46:49,359
found in the middle east around this
946
00:46:49,359 --> 00:46:51,680
time
947
00:46:53,440 --> 00:46:57,240
akkad prospered
948
00:46:58,350 --> 00:47:00,319
[Music]
949
00:47:00,319 --> 00:47:03,200
cedarwood flowing down from lebanon
950
00:47:03,200 --> 00:47:05,359
diorite from dill moon
951
00:47:05,359 --> 00:47:07,440
grain from sumer
952
00:47:07,440 --> 00:47:09,599
tin from the mountains of elam
953
00:47:09,599 --> 00:47:13,200
lapis lazuli chlorite and tin from far
954
00:47:13,200 --> 00:47:15,440
off afghanistan and the indus valley
955
00:47:15,440 --> 00:47:18,160
civilization
956
00:47:19,520 --> 00:47:22,319
trade ships from malua mahashi and dil
957
00:47:22,319 --> 00:47:25,839
moon coming into port
958
00:47:27,200 --> 00:47:30,240
due to sargon's conquests the world was
959
00:47:30,240 --> 00:47:32,960
growing larger
960
00:47:34,480 --> 00:47:37,520
alongside trade though agarde became
961
00:47:37,520 --> 00:47:39,920
fabulously wealthy from the taxes that
962
00:47:39,920 --> 00:47:41,920
were collected from the empire's various
963
00:47:41,920 --> 00:47:44,079
provinces
964
00:47:44,079 --> 00:47:46,960
it must have been a truly spectacular
965
00:47:46,960 --> 00:47:49,599
place in its day
966
00:47:49,599 --> 00:47:50,800
and surely
967
00:47:50,800 --> 00:47:54,800
one day it will be found
968
00:47:56,440 --> 00:47:57,760
[Music]
969
00:47:57,760 --> 00:48:00,000
the sumerian king list claims that
970
00:48:00,000 --> 00:48:03,440
sargon ruled for 56 years
971
00:48:03,440 --> 00:48:05,680
an incredible length of time in which
972
00:48:05,680 --> 00:48:07,520
such a charismatic leader would have
973
00:48:07,520 --> 00:48:10,079
without a doubt left an indelible mark
974
00:48:10,079 --> 00:48:13,839
on the society that he ruled over
975
00:48:15,520 --> 00:48:20,400
however when sargon died in 2279 bc
976
00:48:20,400 --> 00:48:23,119
apparently of natural causes
977
00:48:23,119 --> 00:48:25,839
several parts of the empire especially
978
00:48:25,839 --> 00:48:27,920
in the sumerian heartland
979
00:48:27,920 --> 00:48:33,400
broke out in rebellion once more
980
00:48:41,800 --> 00:48:43,440
[Music]
981
00:48:43,440 --> 00:48:45,680
of all the artifacts of the bronze age
982
00:48:45,680 --> 00:48:46,960
world
983
00:48:46,960 --> 00:48:48,400
the monuments
984
00:48:48,400 --> 00:48:49,839
the statues
985
00:48:49,839 --> 00:48:52,079
the inscriptions that come down to us
986
00:48:52,079 --> 00:48:53,440
today
987
00:48:53,440 --> 00:48:56,079
few would compare to a single piece of
988
00:48:56,079 --> 00:48:58,720
metal casting supposedly ordered by the
989
00:48:58,720 --> 00:49:01,119
second monarch to rule over the akkadian
990
00:49:01,119 --> 00:49:03,839
empire
991
00:49:06,000 --> 00:49:08,480
though it didn't survive to our time if
992
00:49:08,480 --> 00:49:11,280
it had due to the sheer audacity and
993
00:49:11,280 --> 00:49:13,839
opulence of its construction it surely
994
00:49:13,839 --> 00:49:16,000
would have been the envy of all the
995
00:49:16,000 --> 00:49:18,400
world
996
00:49:19,520 --> 00:49:22,960
for sargon's son and successor rimoush
997
00:49:22,960 --> 00:49:24,960
according to inscriptions referring to
998
00:49:24,960 --> 00:49:25,920
him
999
00:49:25,920 --> 00:49:28,319
not only began to account himself
1000
00:49:28,319 --> 00:49:30,400
amongst the gods
1001
00:49:30,400 --> 00:49:32,000
in a foreshadowing of the full
1002
00:49:32,000 --> 00:49:34,240
deification of his nephew a generation
1003
00:49:34,240 --> 00:49:35,599
later
1004
00:49:35,599 --> 00:49:38,000
but ordered a statue of himself to be
1005
00:49:38,000 --> 00:49:38,880
made
1006
00:49:38,880 --> 00:49:42,240
of pure tin
1007
00:49:43,520 --> 00:49:46,559
one of the rarest materials in the world
1008
00:49:46,559 --> 00:49:49,440
immensely expensive largely imported
1009
00:49:49,440 --> 00:49:52,640
into mesopotamia from half a world away
1010
00:49:52,640 --> 00:49:55,520
and found only in tiny quantities in a
1011
00:49:55,520 --> 00:49:58,240
handful of locations
1012
00:49:58,240 --> 00:50:01,040
the piece would be akin to a statue of
1013
00:50:01,040 --> 00:50:04,640
pure diamond today
1014
00:50:04,640 --> 00:50:06,720
clearly attempting to forge divine
1015
00:50:06,720 --> 00:50:09,599
legitimacy for the new ruling dynasty as
1016
00:50:09,599 --> 00:50:11,599
well as protecting their image of
1017
00:50:11,599 --> 00:50:15,280
immense wealth and power
1018
00:50:15,440 --> 00:50:17,520
it may well be that like his father
1019
00:50:17,520 --> 00:50:20,160
before him rimoush was forging his own
1020
00:50:20,160 --> 00:50:22,559
cult of personality
1021
00:50:22,559 --> 00:50:24,319
and as we shall see
1022
00:50:24,319 --> 00:50:27,839
he needed it
1023
00:50:28,640 --> 00:50:31,280
upon sargon's death almost immediately
1024
00:50:31,280 --> 00:50:34,400
the massive state he'd forged erupted
1025
00:50:34,400 --> 00:50:38,599
into war and chaos
1026
00:50:40,160 --> 00:50:42,400
it's not known why sargon's first son
1027
00:50:42,400 --> 00:50:44,559
manish tushu was passed over for the
1028
00:50:44,559 --> 00:50:46,480
position of king
1029
00:50:46,480 --> 00:50:48,000
but given the tendency of later
1030
00:50:48,000 --> 00:50:50,240
mesopotamian rulers to do the same it
1031
00:50:50,240 --> 00:50:52,559
may be that rimoush possessed certain
1032
00:50:52,559 --> 00:50:54,640
qualities of kingship that were desired
1033
00:50:54,640 --> 00:50:57,119
over his brother
1034
00:50:57,119 --> 00:50:59,680
such as decisiveness and a certain level
1035
00:50:59,680 --> 00:51:02,000
of ruthlessness that would be vital if
1036
00:51:02,000 --> 00:51:04,000
the empire were to survive its founder's
1037
00:51:04,000 --> 00:51:07,000
death
1038
00:51:08,079 --> 00:51:10,480
it may also be the due to a total lack
1039
00:51:10,480 --> 00:51:13,520
of primogeniture or succession policy
1040
00:51:13,520 --> 00:51:17,359
simply the strongest ruled
1041
00:51:18,720 --> 00:51:21,280
and rimoush seized power from his elder
1042
00:51:21,280 --> 00:51:23,839
brother
1043
00:51:26,240 --> 00:51:29,839
for rimoush as with every acadian ruler
1044
00:51:29,839 --> 00:51:32,880
it would be a baptism of fire
1045
00:51:32,880 --> 00:51:35,359
with most of the major sumerian cities
1046
00:51:35,359 --> 00:51:37,680
rising up to fight him
1047
00:51:37,680 --> 00:51:39,119
including er
1048
00:51:39,119 --> 00:51:43,440
lagash adab and uma
1049
00:51:44,319 --> 00:51:46,480
clearly inheriting the strong standing
1050
00:51:46,480 --> 00:51:48,079
army from his father
1051
00:51:48,079 --> 00:51:52,400
the king's retribution was swift
1052
00:51:55,920 --> 00:51:58,559
by his own account remoush tore down the
1053
00:51:58,559 --> 00:52:01,040
walls of the rebellious cities
1054
00:52:01,040 --> 00:52:03,359
brutally killing several thousand
1055
00:52:03,359 --> 00:52:05,760
sumerian troops
1056
00:52:05,760 --> 00:52:07,920
while selling thousands of the survivors
1057
00:52:07,920 --> 00:52:09,920
into slavery
1058
00:52:09,920 --> 00:52:11,920
but he went further too
1059
00:52:11,920 --> 00:52:14,000
expelling yet more thousands of
1060
00:52:14,000 --> 00:52:15,920
non-combatants of fighting age in the
1061
00:52:15,920 --> 00:52:18,079
defeated cities
1062
00:52:18,079 --> 00:52:21,440
subjecting them to cruel punishments
1063
00:52:21,440 --> 00:52:25,760
mass deportations and hard labor
1064
00:52:25,760 --> 00:52:28,240
documents uncovered from the city of uma
1065
00:52:28,240 --> 00:52:30,480
seem to confirm this as they tell of
1066
00:52:30,480 --> 00:52:33,280
citizens working and dying
1067
00:52:33,280 --> 00:52:35,920
in what can only be described as labor
1068
00:52:35,920 --> 00:52:38,319
camps
1069
00:52:42,880 --> 00:52:45,200
once the rebellions had been crushed
1070
00:52:45,200 --> 00:52:48,079
rimoush stripped many of these cities of
1071
00:52:48,079 --> 00:52:50,720
whatever remaining lands they had
1072
00:52:50,720 --> 00:52:53,440
and like sargon distributed them to his
1073
00:52:53,440 --> 00:52:56,079
supporters
1074
00:52:57,839 --> 00:53:00,160
in one of the largest land transactions
1075
00:53:00,160 --> 00:53:02,880
ever recorded in ancient history in one
1076
00:53:02,880 --> 00:53:05,599
fell swoop the new king seized and
1077
00:53:05,599 --> 00:53:08,960
reorganized approximately 134
1078
00:53:08,960 --> 00:53:11,920
000 hectares of farmland from the cities
1079
00:53:11,920 --> 00:53:14,880
of lagash and uma
1080
00:53:14,880 --> 00:53:17,359
lands they bitterly fought over for
1081
00:53:17,359 --> 00:53:20,000
centuries
1082
00:53:22,480 --> 00:53:24,720
before redistributing them to the new
1083
00:53:24,720 --> 00:53:27,280
acadian land holding class
1084
00:53:27,280 --> 00:53:29,839
that his father sargon had created just
1085
00:53:29,839 --> 00:53:33,200
a few decades before
1086
00:53:33,760 --> 00:53:37,040
an entire landed class of cronies
1087
00:53:37,040 --> 00:53:40,079
promoted by the new regime
1088
00:53:40,079 --> 00:53:43,200
acadians and sumerians too
1089
00:53:43,200 --> 00:53:46,319
new men all too happy to go against the
1090
00:53:46,319 --> 00:53:48,319
old order and tradition
1091
00:53:48,319 --> 00:53:50,319
in order to further themselves and their
1092
00:53:50,319 --> 00:53:52,800
families
1093
00:53:54,800 --> 00:53:57,440
this culture of nepotism was extremely
1094
00:53:57,440 --> 00:53:58,640
significant
1095
00:53:58,640 --> 00:54:00,240
because it meant that the elite and
1096
00:54:00,240 --> 00:54:02,720
temple priesthoods of these city-states
1097
00:54:02,720 --> 00:54:05,520
after perhaps thousands of years lost
1098
00:54:05,520 --> 00:54:10,359
all claims to their ancestral lands
1099
00:54:10,960 --> 00:54:13,440
it was just another example of how many
1100
00:54:13,440 --> 00:54:15,520
of the centuries-old institutions of
1101
00:54:15,520 --> 00:54:18,400
sumer were being dismantled as a result
1102
00:54:18,400 --> 00:54:21,760
of the new acadian order
1103
00:54:21,760 --> 00:54:24,000
the priests had been instated by the
1104
00:54:24,000 --> 00:54:25,119
gods
1105
00:54:25,119 --> 00:54:28,940
and now they were being demoted
1106
00:54:28,940 --> 00:54:32,880
[Music]
1107
00:54:32,880 --> 00:54:36,240
yet revolts continued to rage throughout
1108
00:54:36,240 --> 00:54:39,839
rimoushi's reign in many parts of akkad
1109
00:54:39,839 --> 00:54:42,319
as well as the south
1110
00:54:42,319 --> 00:54:45,119
one of these was in the city of kazulu
1111
00:54:45,119 --> 00:54:48,319
on the euphrates river
1112
00:54:50,000 --> 00:54:52,559
which had years before also revolted
1113
00:54:52,559 --> 00:54:54,240
against sargon
1114
00:54:54,240 --> 00:54:56,079
only to have many of its citizens
1115
00:54:56,079 --> 00:54:58,559
butchered
1116
00:54:58,799 --> 00:55:01,200
contemporary chronicles tell the city
1117
00:55:01,200 --> 00:55:03,920
fared no better under rimoush
1118
00:55:03,920 --> 00:55:06,559
whose men brutally stamped out any
1119
00:55:06,559 --> 00:55:08,960
resistance
1120
00:55:08,960 --> 00:55:11,920
acadian texts claim that 12 000 rebel
1121
00:55:11,920 --> 00:55:13,839
soldiers were killed
1122
00:55:13,839 --> 00:55:17,599
with another 5 000 sold into slavery
1123
00:55:17,599 --> 00:55:21,839
kazulu's walls were demolished
1124
00:55:25,119 --> 00:55:27,119
similar accounts have also been given
1125
00:55:27,119 --> 00:55:29,440
for campaigns in elam
1126
00:55:29,440 --> 00:55:31,680
a similarly ancient region of city
1127
00:55:31,680 --> 00:55:34,680
builders
1128
00:55:36,079 --> 00:55:39,359
in addition to the thousands butchered
1129
00:55:39,359 --> 00:55:42,079
inscriptions on various objects detailed
1130
00:55:42,079 --> 00:55:44,400
the large quantities of plunder brought
1131
00:55:44,400 --> 00:55:47,359
back to a gaday
1132
00:55:47,359 --> 00:55:49,760
and the city of nippor
1133
00:55:49,760 --> 00:55:53,839
center of mesopotamian religion
1134
00:55:55,200 --> 00:55:57,119
by the end of his reign rimousha's
1135
00:55:57,119 --> 00:55:59,440
success in mercilessly defeating his
1136
00:55:59,440 --> 00:56:04,079
enemies had clearly gone to his head
1137
00:56:05,839 --> 00:56:08,240
beginning to think of himself less as a
1138
00:56:08,240 --> 00:56:09,200
man
1139
00:56:09,200 --> 00:56:12,120
and more like a god
1140
00:56:12,120 --> 00:56:15,250
[Music]
1141
00:56:17,359 --> 00:56:20,000
soon enough though he would be proved to
1142
00:56:20,000 --> 00:56:23,119
be mortal after all
1143
00:56:23,119 --> 00:56:26,240
having ruled for only nine years rimoush
1144
00:56:26,240 --> 00:56:30,110
fell to assassins within his own court
1145
00:56:30,110 --> 00:56:33,239
[Music]
1146
00:56:33,839 --> 00:56:37,119
allegedly using not daggers or poison
1147
00:56:37,119 --> 00:56:39,440
but cylinder seals
1148
00:56:39,440 --> 00:56:43,200
strangling him in a back room
1149
00:56:43,200 --> 00:56:45,040
the texts that have been uncovered so
1150
00:56:45,040 --> 00:56:47,839
far do not state who orchestrated the
1151
00:56:47,839 --> 00:56:50,240
murder
1152
00:56:52,319 --> 00:56:55,359
though being such a brutal ruler
1153
00:56:55,359 --> 00:56:59,799
he had no shortage of enemies
1154
00:57:00,880 --> 00:57:02,960
the most likely scenario though is that
1155
00:57:02,960 --> 00:57:05,520
the assassins acted under the orders of
1156
00:57:05,520 --> 00:57:07,599
the elder brother
1157
00:57:07,599 --> 00:57:09,200
manish tushu
1158
00:57:09,200 --> 00:57:12,240
who promptly ascended the throne
1159
00:57:12,240 --> 00:57:15,119
inheriting the many wars his brother had
1160
00:57:15,119 --> 00:57:16,910
started
1161
00:57:16,910 --> 00:57:27,190
[Music]
1162
00:57:28,720 --> 00:57:30,680
around
1163
00:57:30,680 --> 00:57:34,119
4260 years ago
1164
00:57:34,119 --> 00:57:38,160
964 men sat down to a feast in the land
1165
00:57:38,160 --> 00:57:41,319
of akkad
1166
00:57:43,359 --> 00:57:46,079
great pieces of mutton and pork roasted
1167
00:57:46,079 --> 00:57:47,520
on spits
1168
00:57:47,520 --> 00:57:51,599
bread olives vegetables and of course
1169
00:57:51,599 --> 00:57:55,760
vast quantities of beer flowed
1170
00:57:55,760 --> 00:57:56,880
and yet
1171
00:57:56,880 --> 00:58:00,240
all was not well
1172
00:58:00,799 --> 00:58:03,520
49 witnesses stood by
1173
00:58:03,520 --> 00:58:06,400
ominously surveying the day's events
1174
00:58:06,400 --> 00:58:10,880
ready to step in if needed no doubt
1175
00:58:12,160 --> 00:58:15,599
for those 964 individuals we're giving
1176
00:58:15,599 --> 00:58:18,799
up their lands in return for only two
1177
00:58:18,799 --> 00:58:22,319
years worth of harvests
1178
00:58:22,319 --> 00:58:24,960
the men watching may even have been
1179
00:58:24,960 --> 00:58:28,880
those who were to be allocated this land
1180
00:58:28,880 --> 00:58:32,880
the second generation of a new elite
1181
00:58:32,880 --> 00:58:36,240
men looking for the king's patronage
1182
00:58:36,240 --> 00:58:38,480
muscling in on the old land owners of
1183
00:58:38,480 --> 00:58:40,960
the realm
1184
00:58:42,160 --> 00:58:44,960
and this scene recorded on tablets
1185
00:58:44,960 --> 00:58:47,040
during the reign of the third acadian
1186
00:58:47,040 --> 00:58:49,119
king manish tushu
1187
00:58:49,119 --> 00:58:52,079
was a common one
1188
00:58:52,130 --> 00:58:54,160
[Music]
1189
00:58:54,160 --> 00:58:56,799
like the two kings before him this new
1190
00:58:56,799 --> 00:58:59,680
ruler constantly sought to expand his
1191
00:58:59,680 --> 00:59:02,640
own household at the expense of local
1192
00:59:02,640 --> 00:59:04,360
institutions
1193
00:59:04,360 --> 00:59:07,440
[Music]
1194
00:59:07,440 --> 00:59:10,079
this is the story told by the vast
1195
00:59:10,079 --> 00:59:12,319
amounts of administrative documents
1196
00:59:12,319 --> 00:59:16,319
recorded on cuneiform tablets
1197
00:59:16,319 --> 00:59:18,640
a tale further added to by the
1198
00:59:18,640 --> 00:59:20,960
archaeological evidence of vast
1199
00:59:20,960 --> 00:59:22,880
administrative centers
1200
00:59:22,880 --> 00:59:26,880
at sites like tel brak and tel leyland
1201
00:59:26,880 --> 00:59:29,920
apparently built in part to oversee the
1202
00:59:29,920 --> 00:59:33,680
immense land reforms taking place
1203
00:59:33,680 --> 00:59:36,400
great armies of bureaucrats recording it
1204
00:59:36,400 --> 00:59:37,480
all
1205
00:59:37,480 --> 00:59:40,160
[Music]
1206
00:59:40,160 --> 00:59:42,400
and yet in comparison to his brother's
1207
00:59:42,400 --> 00:59:45,040
reign manish two shoes seems to have
1208
00:59:45,040 --> 00:59:47,839
been much more stable
1209
00:59:47,839 --> 00:59:50,079
it's possible that many of the acadian
1210
00:59:50,079 --> 00:59:53,760
court preferred the new ruler to rimoush
1211
00:59:53,760 --> 00:59:55,760
because of an inclination to maintain
1212
00:59:55,760 --> 00:59:58,640
peace in an empire perpetually riven
1213
00:59:58,640 --> 01:00:01,839
apart by war
1214
01:00:07,359 --> 01:00:10,319
a situation perhaps added to by manish
1215
01:00:10,319 --> 01:00:12,960
tushu's indignation had been passed over
1216
01:00:12,960 --> 01:00:14,960
for rule in favour of his younger
1217
01:00:14,960 --> 01:00:17,200
brother
1218
01:00:17,200 --> 01:00:19,680
it may even be that manish tushu and his
1219
01:00:19,680 --> 01:00:22,319
court faction worked behind the scenes
1220
01:00:22,319 --> 01:00:26,640
to remove rimoush from power themselves
1221
01:00:26,640 --> 01:00:29,200
perhaps even instigating an unrecorded
1222
01:00:29,200 --> 01:00:32,960
civil war between the two men
1223
01:00:33,440 --> 01:00:35,839
we'll likely never know
1224
01:00:35,839 --> 01:00:38,720
all manish tushu says is that enlil
1225
01:00:38,720 --> 01:00:42,410
called him to power
1226
01:00:42,410 --> 01:00:45,280
[Music]
1227
01:00:45,280 --> 01:00:47,599
rather than starting new wars by
1228
01:00:47,599 --> 01:00:49,680
brutally making examples of those who
1229
01:00:49,680 --> 01:00:50,880
rebelled
1230
01:00:50,880 --> 01:00:53,200
manish tushu quietly finished his
1231
01:00:53,200 --> 01:00:55,200
brother's conflicts
1232
01:00:55,200 --> 01:00:57,920
before focusing his efforts on promoting
1233
01:00:57,920 --> 01:01:00,640
commerce and opening up trade links with
1234
01:01:00,640 --> 01:01:04,799
places as far away as egypt
1235
01:01:07,360 --> 01:01:08,799
[Music]
1236
01:01:08,799 --> 01:01:12,160
by this time few alive had experienced a
1237
01:01:12,160 --> 01:01:14,559
life outside the yoke of acadian
1238
01:01:14,559 --> 01:01:17,040
kingship
1239
01:01:17,520 --> 01:01:20,240
the archaeology suggests that the empire
1240
01:01:20,240 --> 01:01:23,920
really did now stretch from c to sea
1241
01:01:23,920 --> 01:01:26,079
an immense land empire
1242
01:01:26,079 --> 01:01:28,480
stretching from the borders of anatolia
1243
01:01:28,480 --> 01:01:30,559
to the deserts of iran
1244
01:01:30,559 --> 01:01:33,440
a remarkable
1245
01:01:36,839 --> 01:01:39,839
achievement many items survive from this
1246
01:01:39,839 --> 01:01:41,359
time
1247
01:01:41,359 --> 01:01:43,520
from excavations all over the middle
1248
01:01:43,520 --> 01:01:44,720
east
1249
01:01:44,720 --> 01:01:47,520
and yet one relic in particular is
1250
01:01:47,520 --> 01:01:49,920
perhaps the best example of the immense
1251
01:01:49,920 --> 01:01:53,359
power of these earliest emperors
1252
01:01:53,359 --> 01:01:56,580
the obelisk of manish tusu
1253
01:01:56,580 --> 01:02:00,280
[Music]
1254
01:02:00,640 --> 01:02:04,079
at 1.4 metres tall this inscribed black
1255
01:02:04,079 --> 01:02:06,960
diorite stone is a legal record
1256
01:02:06,960 --> 01:02:08,960
telling of the distribution of four
1257
01:02:08,960 --> 01:02:11,200
pieces of land
1258
01:02:11,200 --> 01:02:13,440
large estates given to the king's
1259
01:02:13,440 --> 01:02:16,960
officers in the region of kish
1260
01:02:17,039 --> 01:02:19,200
we're told in acadian that the stone
1261
01:02:19,200 --> 01:02:21,599
itself was taken from magan
1262
01:02:21,599 --> 01:02:23,760
across the persian gulf
1263
01:02:23,760 --> 01:02:27,039
in what is now oman
1264
01:02:30,000 --> 01:02:32,480
loaded onto boats and docked on the key
1265
01:02:32,480 --> 01:02:35,280
at akad where the king fashioned his
1266
01:02:35,280 --> 01:02:37,450
statue and dedicated it to enlil
1267
01:02:37,450 --> 01:02:40,480
[Music]
1268
01:02:40,480 --> 01:02:45,359
this is a material previously unknown in
1269
01:02:46,839 --> 01:02:49,680
mesopotamia and then just like his
1270
01:02:49,680 --> 01:02:51,200
brother before him
1271
01:02:51,200 --> 01:02:53,920
in 2255 bc
1272
01:02:53,920 --> 01:02:55,039
the king
1273
01:02:55,039 --> 01:02:57,760
was murdered
1274
01:03:00,480 --> 01:03:03,359
conveniently his son already out on
1275
01:03:03,359 --> 01:03:04,960
military campaign
1276
01:03:04,960 --> 01:03:08,720
waited patiently in the wings
1277
01:03:10,480 --> 01:03:13,280
he would be one of the greatest acadian
1278
01:03:13,280 --> 01:03:14,839
rulers of them
1279
01:03:14,839 --> 01:03:18,640
all overseeing a new unparalleled age of
1280
01:03:18,640 --> 01:03:21,920
sophistication in art society and
1281
01:03:21,920 --> 01:03:23,760
commerce
1282
01:03:23,760 --> 01:03:25,599
this is the age
1283
01:03:25,599 --> 01:03:28,550
of naram sin
1284
01:03:28,550 --> 01:03:33,649
[Music]
1285
01:03:35,820 --> 01:03:44,960
[Music]
1286
01:03:44,960 --> 01:03:47,920
by the 6th century bc
1287
01:03:47,920 --> 01:03:50,799
nearly 2 000 years had passed since the
1288
01:03:50,799 --> 01:03:54,240
heyday of the acadians
1289
01:03:55,200 --> 01:03:56,880
it would be another 2
1290
01:03:56,880 --> 01:03:59,599
500 years before leonard woolley began
1291
01:03:59,599 --> 01:04:03,200
his excavations at ur
1292
01:04:04,559 --> 01:04:07,359
elsewhere in the world this was the age
1293
01:04:07,359 --> 01:04:08,880
of the buddha
1294
01:04:08,880 --> 01:04:10,960
confucius and the burgeoning
1295
01:04:10,960 --> 01:04:14,640
philosophers of ancient greece
1296
01:04:15,039 --> 01:04:17,920
paradigm shifting new styles of thought
1297
01:04:17,920 --> 01:04:21,170
during this so-called axial age
1298
01:04:21,170 --> 01:04:26,799
[Music]
1299
01:04:26,799 --> 01:04:29,599
and yet in mesopotamia where the great
1300
01:04:29,599 --> 01:04:32,640
kings had never truly lost their power
1301
01:04:32,640 --> 01:04:34,960
just consolidating it into the strongest
1302
01:04:34,960 --> 01:04:36,160
contender
1303
01:04:36,160 --> 01:04:38,960
a near unbroken line of culture still
1304
01:04:38,960 --> 01:04:41,680
stretched back to the very first cities
1305
01:04:41,680 --> 01:04:44,240
of the world
1306
01:04:45,839 --> 01:04:47,920
and at that time
1307
01:04:47,920 --> 01:04:53,319
babylon was the greatest of them all
1308
01:04:54,799 --> 01:04:58,720
some 200 000 occupants lived and died
1309
01:04:58,720 --> 01:05:00,880
amidst the magnificent gardens and
1310
01:05:00,880 --> 01:05:02,799
colonnades
1311
01:05:02,799 --> 01:05:05,319
center of the all-powerful
1312
01:05:05,319 --> 01:05:09,400
neo-babylonian empire
1313
01:05:10,640 --> 01:05:11,920
and it was here
1314
01:05:11,920 --> 01:05:14,640
in the year 550 bc
1315
01:05:14,640 --> 01:05:17,039
that one of the first archaeological
1316
01:05:17,039 --> 01:05:21,359
digs in history was carried out
1317
01:05:21,359 --> 01:05:24,960
in that year we're told king nabanidus
1318
01:05:24,960 --> 01:05:27,920
led men to sipar to uncover the
1319
01:05:27,920 --> 01:05:30,240
foundation deposits of the temples of
1320
01:05:30,240 --> 01:05:32,160
samas the sun god
1321
01:05:32,160 --> 01:05:34,880
anunnatu the warrior goddess
1322
01:05:34,880 --> 01:05:38,160
and the sanctuary that naram sin had
1323
01:05:38,160 --> 01:05:42,319
built to the moon god in haran
1324
01:05:42,480 --> 01:05:45,039
nabanidus then restored all of these
1325
01:05:45,039 --> 01:05:48,319
sites to their former glory
1326
01:05:48,319 --> 01:05:51,359
but he went further too
1327
01:05:51,359 --> 01:05:53,280
attempting to date the archaeological
1328
01:05:53,280 --> 01:05:57,680
artifacts at naram sin's sanctuary
1329
01:05:57,760 --> 01:05:59,920
though his estimates were off by around
1330
01:05:59,920 --> 01:06:03,799
1500 years
1331
01:06:05,039 --> 01:06:08,319
naram sin was clearly still a popular
1332
01:06:08,319 --> 01:06:12,880
and renowned figure in nabanidus's day
1333
01:06:14,720 --> 01:06:16,799
but what of that king
1334
01:06:16,799 --> 01:06:22,240
why him and not his father or uncle
1335
01:06:23,680 --> 01:06:27,520
well like sargon naram sin was portrayed
1336
01:06:27,520 --> 01:06:31,840
as the model warrior king
1337
01:06:31,840 --> 01:06:33,200
[Music]
1338
01:06:33,200 --> 01:06:35,760
later in his career he'd presided over
1339
01:06:35,760 --> 01:06:38,240
the very apogee of the state
1340
01:06:38,240 --> 01:06:40,240
the very heights of architecture and
1341
01:06:40,240 --> 01:06:42,400
material goods
1342
01:06:42,400 --> 01:06:44,880
a time known in art history as the
1343
01:06:44,880 --> 01:06:47,200
classical acadian era
1344
01:06:47,200 --> 01:06:49,760
to differentiate it from the earlier and
1345
01:06:49,760 --> 01:06:52,640
later eras
1346
01:06:54,559 --> 01:06:56,880
and yet he would be one of mesopotamia's
1347
01:06:56,880 --> 01:06:59,440
most controversial rulers too
1348
01:06:59,440 --> 01:07:02,079
with a scathing story later told about
1349
01:07:02,079 --> 01:07:04,240
him
1350
01:07:07,440 --> 01:07:11,680
and of course his reign began very badly
1351
01:07:11,680 --> 01:07:14,400
with the greatest revolt yet breaking
1352
01:07:14,400 --> 01:07:17,839
out against the new order
1353
01:07:19,520 --> 01:07:21,680
it was a conflict that could have very
1354
01:07:21,680 --> 01:07:24,000
easily stamped out the empire before it
1355
01:07:24,000 --> 01:07:27,559
really got going
1356
01:07:29,599 --> 01:07:34,319
describes the war as the great revolt
1357
01:07:35,599 --> 01:07:38,960
led by the cities of kish and uruk
1358
01:07:38,960 --> 01:07:41,599
then still perhaps the largest city in
1359
01:07:41,599 --> 01:07:43,839
the world
1360
01:07:44,079 --> 01:07:46,640
soon enough most if not all of the
1361
01:07:46,640 --> 01:07:49,200
cities of sumer along with the empire's
1362
01:07:49,200 --> 01:07:52,160
territories in elam and the west called
1363
01:07:52,160 --> 01:07:53,599
their banners
1364
01:07:53,599 --> 01:07:56,559
rising up on mass against their imperial
1365
01:07:56,559 --> 01:07:58,070
overlords
1366
01:07:58,070 --> 01:08:02,319
[Music]
1367
01:08:02,319 --> 01:08:05,200
according to naram sin's inscriptions it
1368
01:08:05,200 --> 01:08:07,920
took at least nine battles but
1369
01:08:07,920 --> 01:08:10,319
ultimately all of the rebel cities were
1370
01:08:10,319 --> 01:08:13,280
defeated and order brought back to the
1371
01:08:13,280 --> 01:08:15,599
realm
1372
01:08:15,839 --> 01:08:18,238
in what had now become standard practice
1373
01:08:18,238 --> 01:08:21,120
in acadian warfare the vanquished
1374
01:08:21,120 --> 01:08:24,000
suffered tremendously
1375
01:08:24,000 --> 01:08:26,799
in kish the euphrates river was filled
1376
01:08:26,799 --> 01:08:29,040
with the bodies of dead soldiers who'd
1377
01:08:29,040 --> 01:08:32,640
defended the gates of their city
1378
01:08:32,640 --> 01:08:33,719
while another
1379
01:08:33,719 --> 01:08:36,640
2500 were slaughtered once the acadians
1380
01:08:36,640 --> 01:08:39,839
breached the walls
1381
01:08:41,359 --> 01:08:44,479
and the destruction didn't stop there
1382
01:08:44,479 --> 01:08:46,799
after the fighting had come to an end
1383
01:08:46,799 --> 01:08:50,560
as punishment naram sin tore down kish's
1384
01:08:50,560 --> 01:08:54,100
walls and had the city flooded
1385
01:08:54,100 --> 01:08:59,520
[Music]
1386
01:08:59,679 --> 01:09:03,040
meanwhile in the sumerian heartland uruk
1387
01:09:03,040 --> 01:09:05,520
led a massive rebel coalition
1388
01:09:05,520 --> 01:09:09,520
including the cities of lagash umar adab
1389
01:09:09,520 --> 01:09:10,799
issin
1390
01:09:10,799 --> 01:09:13,839
shuripak and even the religious center
1391
01:09:13,839 --> 01:09:16,560
of nippor
1392
01:09:18,640 --> 01:09:19,679
they too
1393
01:09:19,679 --> 01:09:22,880
especially uruk suffered nearly the same
1394
01:09:22,880 --> 01:09:24,799
fate as kish
1395
01:09:24,799 --> 01:09:27,460
with thousands killed
1396
01:09:27,460 --> 01:09:29,839
[Music]
1397
01:09:29,839 --> 01:09:33,359
their lofty already ancient city walls
1398
01:09:33,359 --> 01:09:35,359
being torn down
1399
01:09:35,359 --> 01:09:36,799
and in what seems to have been a
1400
01:09:36,799 --> 01:09:39,520
hallmark of acadian campaigns their
1401
01:09:39,520 --> 01:09:42,960
cities flooded
1402
01:09:47,040 --> 01:09:49,279
it may seem excessive
1403
01:09:49,279 --> 01:09:50,880
but naram sin
1404
01:09:50,880 --> 01:09:52,960
clearly an astonishingly capable
1405
01:09:52,960 --> 01:09:55,280
military commander wanted to make the
1406
01:09:55,280 --> 01:09:57,360
point that any descent within the
1407
01:09:57,360 --> 01:10:00,000
akkadian realm would be met with death
1408
01:10:00,000 --> 01:10:03,159
and destruction
1409
01:10:03,280 --> 01:10:06,080
finally with the state under control
1410
01:10:06,080 --> 01:10:09,679
naram sin could focus on not only ruling
1411
01:10:09,679 --> 01:10:13,770
but expanding his borders yet further
1412
01:10:13,770 --> 01:10:18,949
[Music]
1413
01:10:19,120 --> 01:10:22,480
in the 36 years that naram sin ruled
1414
01:10:22,480 --> 01:10:25,040
he expanded the acadian empire's network
1415
01:10:25,040 --> 01:10:27,440
territories and tributary states to
1416
01:10:27,440 --> 01:10:30,800
their greatest extent
1417
01:10:30,800 --> 01:10:33,120
roughly from the kingdom of marhashi
1418
01:10:33,120 --> 01:10:34,880
believed to have been in what's today
1419
01:10:34,880 --> 01:10:37,760
central iran
1420
01:10:38,400 --> 01:10:39,920
all the way to the waters of the
1421
01:10:39,920 --> 01:10:41,920
mediterranean
1422
01:10:41,920 --> 01:10:46,400
and perhaps even the island of cyprus
1423
01:10:46,870 --> 01:10:50,080
[Music]
1424
01:10:50,080 --> 01:10:51,600
one of his many victories is
1425
01:10:51,600 --> 01:10:54,719
commemorated on the famous victory stele
1426
01:10:54,719 --> 01:10:56,400
of naram sin
1427
01:10:56,400 --> 01:10:58,239
in which he is seen defeating
1428
01:10:58,239 --> 01:11:01,199
tribespeople of the zagros mountains
1429
01:11:01,199 --> 01:11:03,040
trampling the bodies of their fallen
1430
01:11:03,040 --> 01:11:06,040
warriors
1431
01:11:13,120 --> 01:11:15,679
it may have been naram sin who finally
1432
01:11:15,679 --> 01:11:19,679
destroyed early bronze age ebla
1433
01:11:25,760 --> 01:11:29,280
inside the empire such was his iron grip
1434
01:11:29,280 --> 01:11:31,360
that a level of stability does seem to
1435
01:11:31,360 --> 01:11:32,960
have been reached
1436
01:11:32,960 --> 01:11:35,120
allowing less warlike pursuits to be
1437
01:11:35,120 --> 01:11:37,220
furthered
1438
01:11:37,220 --> 01:11:40,400
[Music]
1439
01:11:40,400 --> 01:11:42,640
naram sin for example was the first
1440
01:11:42,640 --> 01:11:44,800
mesopotamian ruler to boast of his
1441
01:11:44,800 --> 01:11:47,040
hunting prowess
1442
01:11:47,040 --> 01:11:49,040
a tradition that would go on for
1443
01:11:49,040 --> 01:11:51,600
millennia
1444
01:11:52,960 --> 01:11:56,320
though like all acadian rulers he failed
1445
01:11:56,320 --> 01:11:58,560
to integrate traditional mesopotamian
1446
01:11:58,560 --> 01:12:01,199
leadership with his new order naram
1447
01:12:01,199 --> 01:12:03,679
sin's reign was the most magnificent
1448
01:12:03,679 --> 01:12:06,000
period in the entire history of the
1449
01:12:06,000 --> 01:12:09,120
empire both militarily as well as
1450
01:12:09,120 --> 01:12:10,640
economically
1451
01:12:10,640 --> 01:12:13,920
[Music]
1452
01:12:13,920 --> 01:12:15,600
it's from the records of his foreign
1453
01:12:15,600 --> 01:12:16,880
campaigns
1454
01:12:16,880 --> 01:12:18,800
not to mention the great monuments
1455
01:12:18,800 --> 01:12:21,360
erected such as his victory stele that
1456
01:12:21,360 --> 01:12:24,000
naram sin is mostly remembered as a
1457
01:12:24,000 --> 01:12:27,520
fierce warrior king
1458
01:12:29,440 --> 01:12:34,320
however he was also a great builder
1459
01:12:35,120 --> 01:12:36,800
along with other sanctuaries such as
1460
01:12:36,800 --> 01:12:39,520
that at haran he completely renovated
1461
01:12:39,520 --> 01:12:42,159
ancient mesopotamia's most famous and
1462
01:12:42,159 --> 01:12:44,159
sacred temple
1463
01:12:44,159 --> 01:12:47,199
the echo at nippor which was dedicated
1464
01:12:47,199 --> 01:12:49,990
to the god enlil
1465
01:12:49,990 --> 01:12:52,080
[Music]
1466
01:12:52,080 --> 01:12:53,840
the building was to be the crowning
1467
01:12:53,840 --> 01:12:56,560
achievement of his reign
1468
01:12:56,560 --> 01:12:58,640
once finished it would have been an
1469
01:12:58,640 --> 01:13:01,199
immense sight to behold
1470
01:13:01,199 --> 01:13:05,840
one of the most ornate ever constructed
1471
01:13:07,440 --> 01:13:09,600
documents uncovered from that city
1472
01:13:09,600 --> 01:13:11,440
detail much of its construction
1473
01:13:11,440 --> 01:13:14,159
activities as well as the sheer quantity
1474
01:13:14,159 --> 01:13:16,400
of precious metals and the number of
1475
01:13:16,400 --> 01:13:20,239
workers involved in its renovation
1476
01:13:22,239 --> 01:13:24,880
overseen by the crown prince shakali
1477
01:13:24,880 --> 01:13:26,480
shari
1478
01:13:26,480 --> 01:13:28,960
one text records that in addition to
1479
01:13:28,960 --> 01:13:31,520
hundreds of workers there were at least
1480
01:13:31,520 --> 01:13:34,560
77 special woodworkers
1481
01:13:34,560 --> 01:13:37,040
86 goldsmiths
1482
01:13:37,040 --> 01:13:38,640
10 sculptors
1483
01:13:38,640 --> 01:13:41,760
54 carpenters and other groups of
1484
01:13:41,760 --> 01:13:44,400
specialized labourers brought there from
1485
01:13:44,400 --> 01:13:46,120
all over the empire
1486
01:13:46,120 --> 01:13:49,199
[Music]
1487
01:13:53,600 --> 01:13:56,880
by this time very few if anyone left
1488
01:13:56,880 --> 01:13:59,600
alive had experienced a time before
1489
01:13:59,600 --> 01:14:02,320
acadian rule
1490
01:14:02,320 --> 01:14:07,120
thus naram sin dominated religion
1491
01:14:07,330 --> 01:14:09,040
[Music]
1492
01:14:09,040 --> 01:14:10,880
perhaps seeing his predecessor's
1493
01:14:10,880 --> 01:14:13,600
downfall in their only being viewed as
1494
01:14:13,600 --> 01:14:16,239
mortals
1495
01:14:18,880 --> 01:14:22,000
naram sin had other ideas
1496
01:14:22,000 --> 01:14:26,560
seeking to claim a total monopoly over
1497
01:14:26,840 --> 01:14:29,679
religion he had a number of daughters
1498
01:14:29,679 --> 01:14:31,760
establishing them as priestesses all
1499
01:14:31,760 --> 01:14:33,679
over sumer
1500
01:14:33,679 --> 01:14:35,920
thus forging intimate links with the
1501
01:14:35,920 --> 01:14:38,880
various temples
1502
01:14:39,360 --> 01:14:42,320
naram sin though didn't just worship
1503
01:14:42,320 --> 01:14:44,960
other gods and goddesses
1504
01:14:44,960 --> 01:14:49,920
he believed himself to be a god as well
1505
01:14:50,719 --> 01:14:53,360
in one inscription found on a monument
1506
01:14:53,360 --> 01:14:55,199
in the ruins of a temple
1507
01:14:55,199 --> 01:14:57,600
the great king wanted the world to know
1508
01:14:57,600 --> 01:15:00,239
the following
1509
01:15:01,680 --> 01:15:03,840
[Music]
1510
01:15:03,840 --> 01:15:07,040
naram sin the mighty king of agadha when
1511
01:15:07,040 --> 01:15:08,960
the four quarters of the earth attacked
1512
01:15:08,960 --> 01:15:11,120
him together through the love ishtar
1513
01:15:11,120 --> 01:15:14,239
borhym was victorious in nine battles in
1514
01:15:14,239 --> 01:15:16,719
a single year and captured the kings
1515
01:15:16,719 --> 01:15:19,120
whom they had raised up against him
1516
01:15:19,120 --> 01:15:21,120
because he had defended his city in
1517
01:15:21,120 --> 01:15:23,679
crisis the people of his city asked of
1518
01:15:23,679 --> 01:15:25,679
him that he be the god of their city
1519
01:15:25,679 --> 01:15:26,880
agarde
1520
01:15:26,880 --> 01:15:29,440
with ishtar in iyana with enlil in
1521
01:15:29,440 --> 01:15:32,960
nippur with dagan in tuttle with nihusag
1522
01:15:32,960 --> 01:15:36,080
in keshe with enki in eredu with sin in
1523
01:15:36,080 --> 01:15:36,960
ur
1524
01:15:36,960 --> 01:15:40,080
with shamash in sipa with nergal in
1525
01:15:40,080 --> 01:15:41,199
kutha
1526
01:15:41,199 --> 01:15:45,600
and they built his temple in agade
1527
01:15:48,080 --> 01:15:52,159
yet unlike sargon naram sin proved to be
1528
01:15:52,159 --> 01:15:54,880
especially unpopular in the generations
1529
01:15:54,880 --> 01:15:57,280
to come
1530
01:15:58,159 --> 01:15:58,920
his
1531
01:15:58,920 --> 01:16:01,360
self-deification along with what many
1532
01:16:01,360 --> 01:16:03,840
felt was his vanity would be remembered
1533
01:16:03,840 --> 01:16:06,800
by the authors of later epic literature
1534
01:16:06,800 --> 01:16:08,880
as just a few of the reasons for his
1535
01:16:08,880 --> 01:16:11,440
downfall
1536
01:16:13,920 --> 01:16:16,320
the most notable being the curse of
1537
01:16:16,320 --> 01:16:19,320
agarday
1538
01:16:20,239 --> 01:16:22,560
a largely fictional retelling of the
1539
01:16:22,560 --> 01:16:24,880
fall of the empire
1540
01:16:24,880 --> 01:16:27,520
with naram sin cast as the reason for
1541
01:16:27,520 --> 01:16:30,239
its demise
1542
01:16:32,400 --> 01:16:34,640
as we've seen the truth seems to have
1543
01:16:34,640 --> 01:16:37,679
been far from this
1544
01:16:39,199 --> 01:16:40,880
though he may have believed himself to
1545
01:16:40,880 --> 01:16:42,400
be divine
1546
01:16:42,400 --> 01:16:45,600
after 36 years on the throne of akkad
1547
01:16:45,600 --> 01:16:49,360
like any mortal naram sin died
1548
01:16:49,360 --> 01:16:51,920
not a warrior's death in battle or from
1549
01:16:51,920 --> 01:16:54,400
the blade of an assassin's dagger
1550
01:16:54,400 --> 01:16:56,320
but simply we're told
1551
01:16:56,320 --> 01:17:01,560
natural causes that come with old age
1552
01:17:03,120 --> 01:17:04,800
soon enough though
1553
01:17:04,800 --> 01:17:08,030
everything in the empire was to change
1554
01:17:08,030 --> 01:17:21,670
[Music]
1555
01:17:22,480 --> 01:17:25,040
in 2217 bc
1556
01:17:25,040 --> 01:17:27,760
when the new king shakali shari came to
1557
01:17:27,760 --> 01:17:29,199
the throne
1558
01:17:29,199 --> 01:17:31,520
the acadian empire stood at the very
1559
01:17:31,520 --> 01:17:34,280
height of its size and prosperity
1560
01:17:34,280 --> 01:17:37,520
[Music]
1561
01:17:37,520 --> 01:17:40,960
just 25 years later only a rump state
1562
01:17:40,960 --> 01:17:45,000
around acad remained
1563
01:17:45,760 --> 01:17:49,440
hemmed in beset by hostile enemies on
1564
01:17:49,440 --> 01:17:51,090
all sides
1565
01:17:51,090 --> 01:17:54,080
[Music]
1566
01:17:54,080 --> 01:17:57,120
unfortunately unlike his predecessors
1567
01:17:57,120 --> 01:17:59,440
there are relatively few inscriptions
1568
01:17:59,440 --> 01:18:02,560
dating to his reign
1569
01:18:04,960 --> 01:18:06,960
so it's hard to get a clear picture of
1570
01:18:06,960 --> 01:18:09,120
the goings-on in mesopotamia at this
1571
01:18:09,120 --> 01:18:12,120
time
1572
01:18:13,120 --> 01:18:14,960
we know he fought a bitter struggle
1573
01:18:14,960 --> 01:18:17,920
against gutien and amorite invaders
1574
01:18:17,920 --> 01:18:21,920
amassing at the peripheries of the realm
1575
01:18:23,440 --> 01:18:26,080
and not long into his reign the south
1576
01:18:26,080 --> 01:18:28,480
finally managed to shake off acadian
1577
01:18:28,480 --> 01:18:30,719
rule
1578
01:18:32,159 --> 01:18:36,320
though the exact details are lost
1579
01:18:39,360 --> 01:18:41,280
several revolts are mentioned in the
1580
01:18:41,280 --> 01:18:44,320
acadian sources
1581
01:18:44,800 --> 01:18:46,719
but the outcome of these events given
1582
01:18:46,719 --> 01:18:49,520
the acadian propensity for propaganda
1583
01:18:49,520 --> 01:18:53,560
often remains uncertain
1584
01:18:56,480 --> 01:18:58,480
there were several short-lived kings
1585
01:18:58,480 --> 01:19:01,120
ruling in agardae after shakhali shari's
1586
01:19:01,120 --> 01:19:03,440
death
1587
01:19:06,239 --> 01:19:08,159
though their relationship to the acadian
1588
01:19:08,159 --> 01:19:12,239
dynasty of sargon isn't clear
1589
01:19:12,880 --> 01:19:16,400
the final of these rulers was shu doral
1590
01:19:16,400 --> 01:19:18,880
who later texts and traditions maintain
1591
01:19:18,880 --> 01:19:21,120
was killed when a people from the zagros
1592
01:19:21,120 --> 01:19:24,400
mountains the gutians breached agardai's
1593
01:19:24,400 --> 01:19:28,960
walls and set the city on fire
1594
01:19:30,560 --> 01:19:32,800
as mentioned earlier though the ruins of
1595
01:19:32,800 --> 01:19:35,440
agarde have yet to be found
1596
01:19:35,440 --> 01:19:37,920
and so this part of the story cannot yet
1597
01:19:37,920 --> 01:19:41,600
be confirmed with archaeology
1598
01:19:42,159 --> 01:19:44,640
though surely a city like agade
1599
01:19:44,640 --> 01:19:49,400
had to have met its end in a siege
1600
01:19:52,640 --> 01:19:55,199
in recent decades a new culprit for the
1601
01:19:55,199 --> 01:19:57,760
empire's demise is often named by a
1602
01:19:57,760 --> 01:20:00,960
majority of scholars
1603
01:20:03,040 --> 01:20:05,199
scientific data suggesting an
1604
01:20:05,199 --> 01:20:07,760
unprecedented drought descending on the
1605
01:20:07,760 --> 01:20:09,330
land between the two rivers
1606
01:20:09,330 --> 01:20:11,520
[Music]
1607
01:20:11,520 --> 01:20:14,320
specifically the northern regions around
1608
01:20:14,320 --> 01:20:16,320
accad
1609
01:20:16,320 --> 01:20:18,719
an already marginal environment at the
1610
01:20:18,719 --> 01:20:21,280
best of times
1611
01:20:21,280 --> 01:20:23,679
this drought which also may have put an
1612
01:20:23,679 --> 01:20:26,800
end to old kingdom egypt and a variety
1613
01:20:26,800 --> 01:20:29,280
of other bronze age states alike
1614
01:20:29,280 --> 01:20:30,840
lasted for
1615
01:20:30,840 --> 01:20:36,080
years possibly even decades
1616
01:20:40,000 --> 01:20:42,080
this new lack of rain would have
1617
01:20:42,080 --> 01:20:45,360
resulted in increased desertification
1618
01:20:45,360 --> 01:20:47,679
as well as a reduction in the vital flow
1619
01:20:47,679 --> 01:20:50,480
of the euphrates and tigris rivers thus
1620
01:20:50,480 --> 01:20:52,639
reducing the amount of arable land that
1621
01:20:52,639 --> 01:20:56,560
could have been irrigated and farmed
1622
01:20:57,600 --> 01:21:00,239
soon leading to famine an overall
1623
01:21:00,239 --> 01:21:02,560
collapse of the regional economy
1624
01:21:02,560 --> 01:21:05,040
and massive unrest amongst the general
1625
01:21:05,040 --> 01:21:07,760
population
1626
01:21:09,440 --> 01:21:11,440
in such conditions it would have been
1627
01:21:11,440 --> 01:21:14,239
extremely difficult for any ruler to
1628
01:21:14,239 --> 01:21:17,120
keep such a large state together
1629
01:21:17,120 --> 01:21:20,480
no matter how great
1630
01:21:20,560 --> 01:21:22,639
such conditions would also have given
1631
01:21:22,639 --> 01:21:24,639
people such as the gutians an
1632
01:21:24,639 --> 01:21:26,320
opportunity
1633
01:21:26,320 --> 01:21:29,430
and perhaps need to raid acadian lance
1634
01:21:29,430 --> 01:21:32,770
[Music]
1635
01:21:32,880 --> 01:21:35,520
and ultimately make it to the capital of
1636
01:21:35,520 --> 01:21:37,840
agarde itself
1637
01:21:37,840 --> 01:21:40,400
which as later texts make clear
1638
01:21:40,400 --> 01:21:42,960
they destroyed
1639
01:21:42,960 --> 01:21:45,600
before ruling themselves as the new
1640
01:21:45,600 --> 01:21:48,719
lords of mesopotamia for a century or
1641
01:21:48,719 --> 01:21:51,719
more
1642
01:21:58,320 --> 01:22:00,560
the story doesn't end there though
1643
01:22:00,560 --> 01:22:02,960
at least not in the popular sumerian and
1644
01:22:02,960 --> 01:22:04,960
acadian literature that would follow a
1645
01:22:04,960 --> 01:22:07,360
century or two later
1646
01:22:07,360 --> 01:22:09,040
once some semblance of order was
1647
01:22:09,040 --> 01:22:12,480
restored by the final sumerian dynasty
1648
01:22:12,480 --> 01:22:14,719
that of er which formed its own
1649
01:22:14,719 --> 01:22:18,400
successor empire to the acadians
1650
01:22:18,400 --> 01:22:21,550
[Music]
1651
01:22:21,920 --> 01:22:24,080
there are several legends about sargon
1652
01:22:24,080 --> 01:22:25,360
in particular
1653
01:22:25,360 --> 01:22:27,280
mostly revolving around his life and
1654
01:22:27,280 --> 01:22:29,440
conquests that were compiled into
1655
01:22:29,440 --> 01:22:32,639
various mini epics and recited by poets
1656
01:22:32,639 --> 01:22:34,960
and bards as they traveled from city to
1657
01:22:34,960 --> 01:22:37,960
city
1658
01:22:39,199 --> 01:22:41,199
telling stories of the great figures of
1659
01:22:41,199 --> 01:22:43,679
the past
1660
01:22:44,400 --> 01:22:46,480
interestingly there were also several
1661
01:22:46,480 --> 01:22:48,320
works of literature dealing with the
1662
01:22:48,320 --> 01:22:52,000
life of naram sin
1663
01:22:52,000 --> 01:22:54,480
but unlike those of sargon they are more
1664
01:22:54,480 --> 01:22:59,120
cautionary tales than stories of valor
1665
01:22:59,679 --> 01:23:02,159
the most famous of these being the curse
1666
01:23:02,159 --> 01:23:05,320
of agarday
1667
01:23:07,199 --> 01:23:09,760
a work of fiction loosely based around
1668
01:23:09,760 --> 01:23:12,719
historical events
1669
01:23:16,080 --> 01:23:18,480
the curse of agarday tells of the fall
1670
01:23:18,480 --> 01:23:21,360
of naram sin and the glorious city of
1671
01:23:21,360 --> 01:23:23,920
agarde
1672
01:23:26,000 --> 01:23:28,560
for reasons unknown to naram sin
1673
01:23:28,560 --> 01:23:31,040
enlil the chief deity of the sumerian
1674
01:23:31,040 --> 01:23:33,520
pantheon withdraws his favour from the
1675
01:23:33,520 --> 01:23:35,679
city
1676
01:23:35,679 --> 01:23:38,159
the acadian king implores the gods to
1677
01:23:38,159 --> 01:23:40,560
give him a sign or an omen as to how he
1678
01:23:40,560 --> 01:23:43,760
can win back their favour
1679
01:23:43,760 --> 01:23:46,239
but it's all in vain
1680
01:23:46,239 --> 01:23:49,120
after seven years of frustration
1681
01:23:49,120 --> 01:23:52,080
in anger naram sin sends his men to
1682
01:23:52,080 --> 01:23:54,080
destroy the echo
1683
01:23:54,080 --> 01:23:56,320
enlil's holy sanctuary in the city of
1684
01:23:56,320 --> 01:23:58,719
nipple
1685
01:23:59,920 --> 01:24:02,960
as punishment for his actions enlil
1686
01:24:02,960 --> 01:24:04,719
sends the mountain people known as the
1687
01:24:04,719 --> 01:24:07,840
gutians along with famine to ravage
1688
01:24:07,840 --> 01:24:11,360
agarde and its people
1689
01:24:12,800 --> 01:24:15,280
the overall moral of the story is that
1690
01:24:15,280 --> 01:24:18,159
no one should question the gods
1691
01:24:18,159 --> 01:24:20,320
let alone act with such haste and
1692
01:24:20,320 --> 01:24:24,679
disrespect towards them
1693
01:24:32,159 --> 01:24:34,239
archaeological findings along with
1694
01:24:34,239 --> 01:24:36,560
several texts from naram sin's reign
1695
01:24:36,560 --> 01:24:38,639
tend to stand at odds with much of
1696
01:24:38,639 --> 01:24:40,159
what's been described in the curse of
1697
01:24:40,159 --> 01:24:43,159
agade
1698
01:24:44,719 --> 01:24:46,880
and yet the events that may have
1699
01:24:46,880 --> 01:24:48,719
ultimately brought about the city's
1700
01:24:48,719 --> 01:24:51,440
downfall namely gutien attacks and
1701
01:24:51,440 --> 01:24:54,000
widespread famine do seem to have some
1702
01:24:54,000 --> 01:24:57,040
basis in history
1703
01:24:57,040 --> 01:24:59,520
albeit likely having taken place towards
1704
01:24:59,520 --> 01:25:02,480
the end of the reign of his successor
1705
01:25:02,480 --> 01:25:04,639
perhaps later misconstrued by
1706
01:25:04,639 --> 01:25:05,770
storytellers
1707
01:25:05,770 --> 01:25:08,239
[Music]
1708
01:25:08,239 --> 01:25:11,520
in reality naram sin himself was a very
1709
01:25:11,520 --> 01:25:14,800
pious individual who as mentioned before
1710
01:25:14,800 --> 01:25:17,360
ordered the renovation of the echo
1711
01:25:17,360 --> 01:25:21,360
and made it grander than ever before
1712
01:25:22,560 --> 01:25:24,560
regardless of their portrayals in later
1713
01:25:24,560 --> 01:25:27,760
literature both sargon and naram sin
1714
01:25:27,760 --> 01:25:29,760
would be remembered for centuries to
1715
01:25:29,760 --> 01:25:32,480
come as two of ancient mesopotamia's
1716
01:25:32,480 --> 01:25:35,040
most powerful rulers
1717
01:25:35,040 --> 01:25:37,120
their stories and achievements would
1718
01:25:37,120 --> 01:25:39,199
inspire many of the kings who would come
1719
01:25:39,199 --> 01:25:41,920
after them to establish great empires of
1720
01:25:41,920 --> 01:25:44,400
their own
1721
01:25:46,480 --> 01:25:48,960
the acadian rulers completely changed
1722
01:25:48,960 --> 01:25:51,280
the landscape of the near eastern world
1723
01:25:51,280 --> 01:25:52,840
forever
1724
01:25:52,840 --> 01:25:55,679
more gone were the days of petty
1725
01:25:55,679 --> 01:25:58,239
city-states whose citizens fought wars
1726
01:25:58,239 --> 01:26:00,560
over plots of farmland
1727
01:26:00,560 --> 01:26:02,320
and whose lives revolved around their
1728
01:26:02,320 --> 01:26:05,199
patron deity
1729
01:26:05,199 --> 01:26:07,600
as part of the acadian state these
1730
01:26:07,600 --> 01:26:10,480
cities became part of a much larger and
1731
01:26:10,480 --> 01:26:13,199
more dynamic political entity
1732
01:26:13,199 --> 01:26:15,440
unlike anything that had ever been seen
1733
01:26:15,440 --> 01:26:17,840
before
1734
01:26:17,840 --> 01:26:20,320
thus laying the framework for all
1735
01:26:20,320 --> 01:26:23,840
empires to follow
1736
01:26:23,840 --> 01:26:26,639
sargon and his descendants opened up a
1737
01:26:26,639 --> 01:26:28,719
whole new world for the people of the
1738
01:26:28,719 --> 01:26:30,800
ancient near east
1739
01:26:30,800 --> 01:26:33,760
that was not sustained by might alone
1740
01:26:33,760 --> 01:26:35,920
but through fostering trade and the
1741
01:26:35,920 --> 01:26:38,480
exchange of ideas
1742
01:26:38,480 --> 01:26:40,480
with most of the known civilizations at
1743
01:26:40,480 --> 01:26:42,880
the time
1744
01:26:45,360 --> 01:26:47,920
not just this but future empires of the
1745
01:26:47,920 --> 01:26:50,800
near east would all imitate aspects of
1746
01:26:50,800 --> 01:26:52,719
the acadian model
1747
01:26:52,719 --> 01:26:54,880
of administration and centralized
1748
01:26:54,880 --> 01:26:56,400
government
1749
01:26:56,400 --> 01:26:58,960
for at least two millennia after regard
1750
01:26:58,960 --> 01:27:01,440
as fall
1751
01:27:03,440 --> 01:27:06,400
and finally the acadians gave the region
1752
01:27:06,400 --> 01:27:09,120
and the surrounding areas their language
1753
01:27:09,120 --> 01:27:11,679
acadian which became the lingua franca
1754
01:27:11,679 --> 01:27:13,840
for the near east until it was replaced
1755
01:27:13,840 --> 01:27:17,970
by aramaic nearly 1500 years later
1756
01:27:17,970 --> 01:27:22,009
[Music]
1757
01:27:22,159 --> 01:27:25,120
thanks for watching my name's pete kelly
1758
01:27:25,120 --> 01:27:27,840
you've been watching history time
1759
01:27:27,840 --> 01:27:29,679
don't forget to like and subscribe to
1760
01:27:29,679 --> 01:27:31,440
check out all the content i've already
1761
01:27:31,440 --> 01:27:33,280
made my ancient history
1762
01:27:33,280 --> 01:27:36,719
and for much more in the future
1763
01:27:36,719 --> 01:27:38,560
check out my other self-titled history
1764
01:27:38,560 --> 01:27:39,760
channel too
1765
01:27:39,760 --> 01:27:41,840
for many more videos on history and
1766
01:27:41,840 --> 01:27:44,320
archaeology
1767
01:27:44,320 --> 01:27:46,080
thanks for watching and i'll see you
1768
01:27:46,080 --> 01:27:47,880
next time
1769
01:27:47,880 --> 01:27:51,419
[Music]
1770
01:27:53,530 --> 01:27:54,360
[Music]
1771
01:27:54,360 --> 01:27:55,120
[Applause]
1772
01:27:55,120 --> 01:28:02,739
[Music]
1773
01:28:08,639 --> 01:28:10,719
you
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