“Structure, ideology, traditions”: defining the Akkadian State

Abstract

This research aims to reach a better understanding of the scholarly debate concerning Akkadian statecraft and the extent to which it can be called imperial. In so doing, it examines the political and cultural accomplishments of the Akkadians, as well as their so-called “imperial” characteristics. This examination investigates several surviving Akkadian royal inscriptions, administrative texts, and pieces of art and architecture, in conjunction with analyses by leading scholars in the fields of Assyriology, art history, and archaeology. These accomplishments and characteristics are synthesized and an overall picture of Akkadian statecraft is offered. A brief survey of major theoretical works dealing with empire is then considered, followed by a definition of empire that is sufficiently flexible to describe the phenomenon as it has appeared throughout its expansive geographical and temporal history.