ABSTRACT
The Sumerian King List describes the transition from the Third Dynasty of Uruk to the Dynasty of Akkad in the usual fashion, by saying that Uruk was defeated and its kingship carried off to Akkad, then lists the kings and their lengths of reign. From Akkad as their base, the Semitic-speaking kings established their control of all of Lower Mesopotamia and of a much wider realm as well, and numerous Old Akkadian sources, both royal inscriptions and other texts, survive to attest their rule. The King List says further that Sargon served as cupbearer to Ur-Zababa and that he was the king of Akkad who built Akkad. Naram-Sin, son of Manishtushu and grandson of Sargon, emulated his famous grandfather in conquests and went beyond him in the titles he assumed: “The divine Naram-Sin, the mighty, the god of Akkad, king of the four quarters.”
