The Akkadian Empire was the first known ancient empire of Mesopotamia, succeeding the long-lived civilization of Sumer. Centered on the city of Akkad and its surrounding region, the empire united Akkadian and Sumerian speakers under one rule and exercised significant influence across Mesopotamia, the Levant, and Anatolia, sending military expeditions as far south as Dilmun and Magan in the Arabian Peninsula.
The Sumerian King List or Chronicle of the One Monarchy is an ancient literary composition written in Sumerian that was likely created and redacted to legitimize the claims to power of various city-states and kingdoms in southern Mesopotamia during the late third and early second millennium BC. It does so by repetitively listing Sumerian cities, the kings that ruled there, and the lengths of their reigns. Especially in the early part of the list, these reigns often span thousands of years. In the oldest known version, dated to the Ur III period but probably based on Akkadian source material, the SKL reflected a more linear transition of power from Kish, the first city to receive kingship, to Akkad. In later versions from the Old Babylonian period, the list consisted of a large number of cities between which kingship was transferred, reflecting a more cyclical view of how kingship came to a city, only to be inevitably replaced by the next. In its best-known and best-preserved version, as recorded on the Weld-Blundell Prism, the SKL begins with a number of antediluvian kings, who ruled before a flood swept over the land, after which kingship went to Kish. It ends with a dynasty from Isin, which is well-known from other contemporary sources.
The history of Sumer spans the 5th to 3rd millennia BCE in southern Mesopotamia, and is taken to include the prehistoric Ubaid and Uruk periods. Sumer was the region's earliest known civilization and ended with the downfall of the Third Dynasty of Ur around 2004 BCE. It was followed by a transitional period of Amorite states before the rise of Babylonia in the 18th century BCE.
Shar-Kali-Sharri reigned c. 2217–2193 BC as the ruler of the Akkadian Empire. In the early days of cuneiform scholarship the name was transcribed as "Shar-Gani-sharri". In the 1870s, Assyriologists thought Shar-Kali-Sharri was identical with the Sargon of Akkad, first ruler of the Akkadian Empire, but this identification was recognized as mistaken in the 1910s. His name was sometimes written with the leading Dingir sign demarking deification and sometimes without it. Clearly at some point he was deified and two of his designations marked his divine status, "heroic god of Akkade", and "god of the land of Warium". He was the son and successor of Naram-Sin who deified himself during his lifetime.
Shu-turul was the last king of the Akkadian Empire, ruling for 15 years according to the Sumerian king list. It indicates that he succeeded his father Dudu. A few artifacts, seal impressions etc. attest that he held sway over a greatly reduced Akkadian territory that included Kish, Tutub, Nippur, and Eshnunna. The Diyala river also bore the name "Shu-durul" at the time.
The Gutian dynasty was a line of kings, originating among the Gutian people. Originally thought to be a horde that swept in and brought down Akkadian and Sumerian rule in Mesopotamia, the Gutians are now known to have been in the area for at least a century by then. By the end of the Akkadian period, the Sumerian city of Adab was occupied by the Gutians, who made it their capital. The Gutian Dynasty came to power in Mesopotamia near the end of the 3rd millennium BC, after the decline and fall of the Akkadian Empire. How long Gutian kings held rulership over Mesopotamia is uncertain, with estimates ranging from a few years up to a century. The end of the Gutian dynasty is marked by the accession of Uruk ruler Utu-hengal, marking the short-lived "Fifth dynasty of Uruk", followed by Ur ruler Ur-Nammu, founder of the Third Dynasty of Ur.
Lugal-Zage-Si of Umma was the last Sumerian king before the conquest of Sumer by Sargon of Akkad and the rise of the Akkadian Empire, and was considered as the only king of the third dynasty of Uruk, according to the Sumerian King List. Initially, as king of Umma, he led the final victory of Umma in the generation-long conflict with the city-state Lagash for the fertile plain of Gu-Edin. Following up on this success, he then united Sumer briefly as a single kingdom.
Dudu was a 22nd-century BC king of the Akkadian Empire, who reigned for 21 years c. 2189-2169 BC according to the Sumerian king list. Unlike his two predecessors Naram-Sin and Shar-Kali-Sharri he was not deified.
Puzur-Inshushinak, also sometimes thought to read Kutik-Inshushinak in Elamite, was king of Elam, around 2100 BC, and the last from the Awan dynasty according to the Susa kinglist. He mentions his father's name as Šimpi-išhuk, which, being an Elamite name, suggests that Puzur-Inshuhinak himself was Elamite.
Lugal-Anne-Mundu was the most important king of the city-state of Adab in Sumer. The Sumerian king list claims he reigned for 90 years, following the defeat of Mesh-ki-ang-Nanna II, son of Nanni, of Ur. There are few authentic contemporary inscriptions for Lugal-Anne-Mundu's reign; he is known mainly from a much later text, purporting to be copied from one of his inscriptions.
Tirigan was the 19th and last Gutian ruler in Sumer mentioned on the "Sumerian King List" (SKL). According to the SKL: Tirigan was the successor of Si'um. Tirigan ruled for 40 days before being defeated by Utu-hengal of Uruk, c. 2050 BC.
The Awan dynasty was the first dynasty of Elam of which very little of anything is known today—appearing at the dawn of recorded history. The dynasty corresponds to the early part of the first Paleo-Elamite period ; additionally, succeeded by the Shimashki and Sukkalmah dynasties. The Elamites were likely major rivals of neighboring Sumer from remotest antiquity—they were said to have been defeated by Enmebaragesi of Kish c. 2750 BC—who is the earliest archaeologically attested king named on the Sumerian King List (SKL); moreover, by a later monarch, Eannatum of Lagash c. 2450 BC. Awan was a city-state or possibly a region of Elam whose precise location is not certain; but, it has been variously conjectured to have been within the: Ilam and/or Fars provinces of what is today known as the Islamic Republic of Iran, to the north of Susa, close to Dezful, or Godin Tepe.
Utu-hengal, also written Utu-heg̃al, Utu-heĝal, and sometimes transcribed as Utu-hegal, Utu-hejal, Utu-Khengal, was one of the first native kings of Sumer after two hundred years of Akkadian and Gutian rule, and was at the origin of the foundation of the Third Dynasty of Ur by his son-in-law Ur-Nammu. He was officially "King of Uruk" in his inscriptions, and is therefore considered as the founder, and only member, of the "Fifth dynasty of Uruk".
Enshakushanna, or Enshagsagana, En-shag-kush-ana, Enukduanna, En-Shakansha-Ana, En-šakušuana was a king of Uruk around the mid-3rd millennium BC who is named on the Sumerian King List, which states his reign to have been 60 years. He conquered Hamazi, Akkad, Kish, and Nippur, claiming hegemony over all of Sumer.
The Guti, also known by the derived exonyms Gutians or Guteans, were a people of the ancient Near East who both appeared and disappeared during the Bronze Age. Their homeland was known as Gutium . Conflict between people from Gutium and the Akkadian Empire has been linked to the collapse of the empire, towards the end of the 3rd millennium BC. The Guti subsequently overran southern Mesopotamia and formed the short lived Gutian dynasty of Sumer. The Sumerian king list suggests that the Guti ruled over Sumer for several generations following the fall of the Akkadian Empire.
Sargon of Akkad, also known as Sargon the Great, was the first ruler of the Akkadian Empire, known for his conquests of the Sumerian city-states in the 24th to 23rd centuries BC. He is sometimes identified as the first person in recorded history to rule over an empire.
Lugal-kinishe-dudu also Lugal-kiginne-dudu , was a King and (ensi) of Uruk and Ur who lived towards the end of the 25th century BCE. The Sumerian King List mentions Lugal-kinishe-dudu as the second king of the dynasty after En-shakansha-ana, attributing to him a fanciful reign of 120 years.
Lugal-kisalsi, also Lugaltarsi was a King of Uruk and Ur who lived towards the end of the 25th century BCE, succeeding his father Lugal-kinishe-dudu, according to contemporary inscriptions, although he does not appear in the Sumerian King List. In one of his inscriptions, he appears as "Lugalkisalsi, the first-born son of Lugalkigenedudu, king of Uruk and Ur".
Ur-nigin, also Ur-nigina or Ur-nigar was a Governor (ensi) of Uruk who lived in 22nd century BCE.
Lugal-ushumgal was a Sumerian ruler of Lagash ("Shirpula"), c. 2230 – c. 2210 BCE. Several inscriptions of Lugal-ushumgal are known, particularly seal impressions, which refer to him as governor of Lagash and at the same time a vassal of the Akkadian Empire rulers Naram-Sin and his successor Shar-Kali-Sharri.
