The Age of Agade: Inventing Empire in Ancient Mesopotamia

by Benjamin R. Foster

The Age of Agade is the first book-length study of the Akkadian period of Mesopotamian history, which saw the rise and fall of the world’s first empire during more than a century of extraordinary political, social, and cultural innovation. It draws together more than 40 years of research by one of the world’s leading experts in Assyriology to offer an exhaustive survey of the Akkadian empire. Addressing all aspects of the empire, including its statecraft and military, territory and cities, arts, religion, economy, and production, The Age of Agade considers what can be said of Akkadian political and social history, material culture, and daily life. A final chapter also explores how the empire has been presented in modern historiography, from the decipherment of cuneiform to the present, including the extensive research of Soviet historians, summarized here in English for the first time. Drawing on contemporaneous written and artifactual sources, as well as relevant materials from succeeding generations, Foster introduces the reader to the wealth of evidence available. Accessibly written by a specialist in the field, this book is an engaging examination of a critical era in the history of early Mesopotamia.

Genres: History, Ancient History, Nonfiction

456 pages, Paperback

First published November 4, 2015

About the author

Benjamin R. Foster is Laffan Professor of Assyriology and Babylonian Literature. His research interests focus on cuneiform literature and the social and economic history of Mesopotamia.

Reviews

[Iset · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has to be one of the best books I’ve read about early Bronze Age Mesopotamia thus far. Admittedly my pool of comparison isn’t huge – it’s pretty difficult to find books focused specifically on Mesopotamia and not comparing it alongside other ancient cultures, and specifically focused on the first half of the Bronze Age. I’ve also been looking for modern, up-to-date texts on the subject – whilst the work of decades gone by is a useful starting point, it lacks the insight of new discoveries and fresh review of the material. This book focuses solely on the Akkadian empire established by Sharrukin (Sargon, is the better recognised anglicised name), and does for the Akkadian period what Harriet Crawford’s The Sumerian World does for the preceding native dynasties of Sumer – provide an overview broadly covering the most common aspects of Akkadian life, and, if you want to know in more detail about the Akkadian faience industry or the layout of city temple complexes, a wealth of references point the reader to even narrower material. The book also includes an excellent appendix with translations of the key inscriptions from each ruler, plus the poems of Enheduanna, and later Mesopotamian works of fiction about the Akkadian dynasty, which is difficult to find all in one place. The writing gets a little dry at times, but for the most part the author maintains a lucidity and fluidity to the writing that sustains interest throughout. An interesting read and definitely a useful book I can see myself referencing again in future.

8 out of 10

[Apocryphal Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first print length book to deal solely with the Akkadian Age of Mesopotamian history. The Akkadian kings reigned in what is now Iraq and parts of Iran, and Syria for a little over 100 years c.2300 BC. It's the dynasty started by Sargon the Great. Foster is one of the great scholars of the Akkadian language, so you know you're in good hands.

The Age of Agade is incredibly well researched, The bibliography along is 68 pages long, with about 20 entries per page! It's wide ranging, too, covering specifics of the period including the reigns of the five main kings, society, culture and so on. More unusually, it has a long and interesting section on the legacy that these kings left to future kings like Hammurabi and my own personal favorite ancient character: Shamshi-Adad.

The end of the book has three appendices with full translations of the inscriptions of the kings, the poetic works of Enheduanna (daughter of Sargon and the earliest attributable author - period), and translations of legacy poems, the birth legend of Sargon and the Curse of Agade.

All in all, it's a fascinating read, even for me who is widely read in this era of history. This book filled in a few gaps for me, and I found out a few interesting new tit-bits. This book is now the go-to book for this period, though I wouldn't recommend it as an intro to this branch of ancient history - its focus is too narrow for that.

Recommended to Ancient Near Eastern history buffs.

[Rob Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant book and wonderfully easy read by THE expert! What more can you ask for?

[David Tagliaferri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an interesting book, for me because there is no much less in our pop culture about this ancient civilization, we learn nothing about it, unlike for example ancient Egyptians. it is just fascinating as a layman with an interest in history to read on this niche topic.