The earliest historical records of Anatolia stem from the south east of the region, and are from the Mesopotamian based Akkadian Empire during the reign of Sargon of Akkad in the 24th century BC.

The Akkadian Empire reached its political peak between the 24th and 22nd centuries BC, following the conquests of its founder Sargon of Akkad ( 2334 – 2279 BC ).

The first known mention of the city of Akkad is in an inscription of Enshakushanna of Uruk, where he claims to have defeated Agade — indicating that it was in existence well before the days of Sargon of Akkad, whom the Sumerian King List claims to have built it.

Sargon has often been cited as the first ruler of a combined empire of Akkad and Sumer, although more recently discovered data suggests there had been Sumerian expansions under previous kings, including Lugal-Anne-Mundu of Adab, Eannatum of Lagash, and Lugal-Zage-Si.

These alleged refugees claimed the ancestry of Sargon of Akkad ( whose dynasty died out some 15 centuries before the fall of Assyria ), they also contradictionally claimed ancestry from Nabopolassar, a Babylonian king of Chaldean extraction who played a major part in the destruction of the Assyrian Empire.

Additionally, the claimants to this ancestry also claim descendancy from Sargon of Akkad ( whose dynasty died out over 1500 years before the Assyrian dynasty fell ), and from Nabopolassar, who was a Chaldean, politically and militarily opposed to Assyria, and not in fact an Assyrian.

Two, from the Venus tablet of Ammisaduqa ( compiled in Babylon around 1700 BCE ) are reported to have been made during the reign of king Sargon of Akkad ( 2334 – 2279 BCE ).

The earliest mention of the city of Babylon can be found in a tablet from the reign of Sargon of Akkad, dating back to the 24th century BC.

The tablet, measuring, is usually dated from the dynasty of Sargon of Akkad between 2500-2300 BC ; an even earlier date for the tablet was promulgated by archeologist Leo Bagrow, placing it in the Agade Period ( 3800 BC ).

The Eblaite civilization was likely conquered by Sargon of Akkad around 2260 BCE ; the city was restored as the nation of the Amorites a few centuries later and flourished through the early second millennium BCE until conquered by the Hittites.

In this millennium, larger empires succeeded the last, and conquerors grew in stature until the great Sargon of Akkad pushed his empire to the whole of Mesopotamia and beyond.

* Sargon the Great, founder of the empire of Akkad and Sumer ( 2371 – 2316 BC middle chronology )

The earliest mention of the city of Babylon can be found in a tablet from the reign of Sargon of Akkad ( 2334-2279 BC ), dating back to the 23rd century BC.

* Sargon of Akkad, founder of the Akkadian Empire and the earliest empire builder in recorded history

2300 BC was incorporated into the Mesopotamian based Akkadian empire of Sargon the Great and Naram-Sin of Akkad ( Biblical Accad ).

* c. 2332 BC — Sargon of Akkad starts to rule

Beginning with Lugal-zage-si and the Third Dynasty of Uruk ( which was defeated by Sargon of Akkad ), a better understanding of how subsequent rulers fit into the chronology of the ancient Near East can be deduced.

* Sargon of Akkad ( 2334 BC – 2279 BC ), also known as Sargon the Great or Sargon I, Mesopotamian king

In addition the story of Moses ' origins shares a similarity with that of Sargon of Akkad, and the Ten Commandments mirror Assyrian-Babylonian legal codes to some degree.

Hegemony, which came to be conferred by the Nippur priesthood, alternated among a number of competing dynasties, hailing from Sumerian city-states traditionally including Kish, Uruk, Ur, Adab and Akshak, as well as some from outside of southern Mesopotamia, such as Awan, Hamazi, and Mari, until the Akkadians, under Sargon of Akkad, overtook the area.

His empire was overthrown by Sargon of Akkad.

Enheduanna, the " wife ( Sumerian " dam " = high priestess ) of Nanna Sumerian moon god and daughter of Sargon " of the temple of Sin at Ur, who lived ca.

Sargon is an Assyrian name, originally Šarru-kin ( Akkadian: " the true King " or " the legitimate King "), which may refer to:

The name ' Sargon ' means ' the king is legitimate ' in Akkadian.

On those tablets Assyrian traders implored the help of the Akkadian king Sargon.

Originally a cupbearer ( Rabshaqe ) to a king of Kish with a Semitic name, Ur-Zababa, Sargon thus became a gardener, responsible for the task of clearing out irrigation canals.

Displacing Ur-Zababa, Sargon was crowned king, and he entered upon a career of foreign conquest.

However, Sargon took this process further, conquering many of the surrounding regions to create an empire that reached westward as far as the Mediterranean Sea and perhaps Cyprus ( Kaptara ); northward as far as the mountains ( a later Hittite text asserts he fought the Hattite king Nurdaggal of Burushanda, well into Anatolia ); eastward over Elam ; and as far south as Magan ( Oman ) — a region over which he reigned for purportedly 56 years, though only four " year-names " survive.

With Naram-Sin, Sargon's grandson, this went further than with Sargon, with the king not only being called " Lord of the Four Quarters ( of the Earth )", but also elevated to the ranks of the dingir (= gods ), with his own temple establishment.

Some have suggested that this was Sargon's original employment for the king of Kish, giving him experience in effectively organising large groups of men ; a tablet reads, " Sargon, the king, to whom Enlil permitted no rival — 5, 400 warriors ate bread daily before him ".

One tablet reads " Sargon, the king of Kish, triumphed in thirty-four battles ( over the cities ) up to the edge of the sea ( and ) destroyed their walls.

Sargon the king prostrated himself before ( the god ) Dagan ( and ) made supplication to him ; ( and ) he ( Dagan ) gave him the upper land, namely Mari, Yarmuti, ( and ) Ebla, up to the Cedar Forest ( and ) up to the Silver Mountain ".

The earliest " year names ", whereby each year of a king's reign was named after a significant event performed by that king, date from the reign of Sargon the Great.

The new king of Assyria Sargon II attacked and deposed Marduk-apla-iddina II in 710 BC.

Although mythical elements are not so prominent in Exodus as in Genesis, the echoes of ancient legends are crucial to understanding the book's origins and purpose: for example, the story of the infant Moses's salvation from the Nile has its basis in an earlier legend of king Sargon, while the story of the parting of the Red Sea trades on Mesopotamian creation mythology.

Between the death of the Assyrian king Sargon, and the succession of his son Sennacherib, Hezekiah sought to throw off his subservience to the Assyrian kings.

For the unnamed " king of Babylon " a wide range of identifications have been proposed. They include a Babylonian ruler of the prophet Isaiah's own time the later Nebuchadnezzar II, under whom the Babylonian captivity of the Jews began, or Nabonidus, and the Assyrian kings Tiglath-Pileser, Sargon II and Sennacherib, Herbert Wolf held that the " king of Babylon " was not a specific ruler but a generic representation of the whole line of rulers.

Some of the important historical Mesopotamian leaders were Ur-Nammu ( king of Ur ), Sargon ( who established the Akkadian Empire ), Hammurabi ( who established the Old Babylonian state ), Ashur-uballit II and Tiglath-Pileser I ( who established the Assyrian Empires ).

Assyrian tablets from the reign of Sargon II record attacks by a " Mita ", king of the Mushki, against Assyria's eastern Anatolian provinces.

According to 2 Kings and Josephus the people of Israel were removed by the king of the Assyrians ( Sargon II ) to Halah, to Gozan on the Khabur River and to the towns of the Medes.

Bas-relief from the king Sargon II's palace at Dur Sharrukin in Assyria ( now Khorsabad in Iraq ), c. 713 – 716 BC.

* 722 BC: Israel is conquered by Assyrian king Sargon II.

* 717 BC: Assyrian king Sargon conquers the Hittites stronghold of Carchemish.

* 705 BC: Sennacherib succeeds Sargon II as king of Assyria.