Conquests of Sargon of Agade

Sargon of Akkad was the first ruler to carve out an empire by conquest. Establishing a power base in his own city at Akkad, he then conquered the powerful city of Uruk, seizing hegemony over all the other city-states of Sumer. He came to control the rest of Mesopotamia as far as Ebla in Syria, creating an empire covering roughly the area of modern-day Iraq. His campaigns may well have extended as far as Cyprus and Anatolia. Although later sources credit him with a 56-year reign, actual dated documents have been found for only four different year-names in his reign. The year-names describe campaigns waged against Elam, Mari, and Simurrum (a Hurrian region).