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Naram-Suen (also transcribed Naram-Sîn, Naram-Sin), ca. 2190 – 2154 BC short chronology, was the third successor and grandson of Sargon of Akkad
Sargon of Akkad

Sargon of Akkad, also known as Sargon the Great , was an Akkadian Empire emperor famous for his conquest of the Sumerian city-states in the 24th and 23rd centuries BC....
; under Naram-Suen the Akkadian Empire reached its zenith. He was the first Mesopotamian king to claim divinity for himself, and the first to be called "King of the Four Quarters". He traded with Meluhha
Meluhha

is the Sumerian language name of a prominent trading partner of Sumer during the Middle Bronze Age. Its identification remains an open question....
 (possibly corresponding to the Indus Valley civilization
Indus Valley Civilization

The Indus Valley Civilization , abbreviated IVC, was an ancient civilization that flourished in the Indus River basin. Primarily centered along the Indus river, the civilization encompassed most of Pakistan, including its Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan provinces, and extending into modern day Indian states of Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab...
), and controlled a large portion of land along the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf

The Persian Gulf, in the Southwest Asian region, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. Historically and commonly known as the Persian Gulf, this body of water is sometimes Persian Gulf naming dispute referred to as the Arabian Gulf by certain Arab countries or simply The Gulf, although nei...
.






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Naram-Suen (also transcribed Naram-Sîn, Naram-Sin), ca. 2190 – 2154 BC short chronology, was the third successor and grandson of Sargon of Akkad
Sargon of Akkad

Sargon of Akkad, also known as Sargon the Great , was an Akkadian Empire emperor famous for his conquest of the Sumerian city-states in the 24th and 23rd centuries BC....
; under Naram-Suen the Akkadian Empire reached its zenith. He was the first Mesopotamian king to claim divinity for himself, and the first to be called "King of the Four Quarters". He traded with Meluhha
Meluhha

is the Sumerian language name of a prominent trading partner of Sumer during the Middle Bronze Age. Its identification remains an open question....
 (possibly corresponding to the Indus Valley civilization
Indus Valley Civilization

The Indus Valley Civilization , abbreviated IVC, was an ancient civilization that flourished in the Indus River basin. Primarily centered along the Indus river, the civilization encompassed most of Pakistan, including its Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan provinces, and extending into modern day Indian states of Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab...
), and controlled a large portion of land along the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf

The Persian Gulf, in the Southwest Asian region, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. Historically and commonly known as the Persian Gulf, this body of water is sometimes Persian Gulf naming dispute referred to as the Arabian Gulf by certain Arab countries or simply The Gulf, although nei...
. Naram-Suen expanded his empire by defeating the King of Magan
Magan

Magan was an ancient region which was referred to in Sumerian cuneiform texts of around 2300 BC as a source of copper and diorite for Mesopotamia....
 at the southern end of the Persian Gulf, and conquering the hill tribes northwards in the Taurus Mountains
Taurus Mountains

Taurus Mountains are a mountain range in southern Turkey, from which the Euphrates and Tigris descend into Syria and Iraq. It divides the Mediterranean Region, Turkey of southern Turkey from the central Anatolia#Anatolian plateau....
. He built administrative centers at Nagar
Nagar, Syria

Nagar was an ancient late Neolithic, Sumerian and Akkadian Empire city on the Khabur River. At 40m in height, one of the tallest archaeology mounds in the Middle East, and about a kilometer long, it forms the remains of one of the largest urban sites in northern Mesopotamia....
 (Tell Brak) and Nineveh
Nineveh

Nineveh , an "exceeding great city", as it is called in the Book of Jonah, lay on the eastern bank of the Tigris in ancient Assyria, across the river from the modern-day major city of Mosul, Iraq....
.

One Mesopotamian myth has it that the goddess Inanna
Inanna

Inanna ; ) is the Sumerian goddess of sexual love, fertility, and warfare.Alternative Sumerian names include Innin, Ennin, Ninnin, Ninni, Ninanna, Ninnar, Innina, Ennina, Irnina, Innini, Nana and Nin, commonly derived from an earlier Nin-ana "lady of the sky", although Gelb presented th...
 abandoned the former capital of Akkad
Akkad

The Akkadian Empire was an empire centered in the city of Akkad Sumerian language: Agade KUR A.GA.D?KI "land of Akkad". ; Biblical Accad) and its surrounding region Akkadian URU Akkad KI in central Mesopotamia....
 following Naram-Suen's plunder of the Ekur (temple of the god Enlil) in Nippur
Nippur

Nippur , from the Sumerian for 'lord wind' , is modern Nuffar in Afak Al Qadisyah Governorate, Iraq. Nippur was one of the most ancient of all the Sumerian cities....
. In his anger, Enlil brought the Gutians down from the hills east of the Tigris, to bring plague, famine and death throughout Mesopotamia. To prevent this destruction, eight of the gods decreed that Agade (Akkad) should be destroyed to spare the remaining cities. While this story may be mythological, it does suggest that Gutian raids were already beginning during this period.

Soon after the death of Naram-Suen, the Gutians invaded Akkad. By around 2124 BC, all Akkad was in the hands of the Gutians. The Gutians remained there for 125 years before being thrown out by the neo-Sumerian Empire.

Victory stele

Naram-Suen's famed victory stele
Stele

A stele is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living ? inscribed, carved in relief , or painted onto the slab....
 (illustration) depicts him as a god-king (symbolized by his horned helmet) climbing a mountain above his soldiers and enemies. Although the stele was broken off at the top when it was stolen and carried off by the Elam
Elam

Elam was an ancient civilization located in what is now southwest Iran.Elam was centered in the far west and southwest of modern-day Iran, stretching from the lowlands of Khuzestan and Ilam Province , as far as Jiroft in Kerman province and Burned City in Zabol, as well as a small part of southern Iraq....
ites, it still strikingly reveals the pride, glory, and divinity of Naram-Suen. This may be the first instance in history when a king was depicted as a god. The stele broke from tradition by using successive diagonal tiers, rather than a horizontal format, to communicate the story to viewers. It is six feet and seven inches tall, and made from pink sandstone
Sandstone

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-size mineral or rock Particle size . Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust ....
.

The stele was found at Susa
Susa

Susa was an ancient city of the Elamite, Persian Empire and Parthian empires of Iran, located about 250 km east of the Tigris River.The modern town of Shush, Iran is located at the site of ancient Susa....
, and is now in the Louvre Museum. A similar bas-relief depicting Naram-Suen was found a few miles north-east of Diarbekr, at Pir Hüseyin.

See also

  • History of Sumer
    History of Sumer

    The history of Sumer, taken to include the prehistoric Ubaid period and Uruk period periods, spans the 5th to 3rd millennia BC, ending with the downfall of the Third Dynasty of Ur around 2004 BC, followed by a transition period of Amorite states before the rise of Babylonia in the 18th century BC....
  • Akkad
    Akkad

    The Akkadian Empire was an empire centered in the city of Akkad Sumerian language: Agade KUR A.GA.D?KI "land of Akkad". ; Biblical Accad) and its surrounding region Akkadian URU Akkad KI in central Mesopotamia....
  • Sumerian king list
    Sumerian king list

    The Sumerian King List is an ancient text in the Sumerian language that lists monarch of Sumer from Sumerian and foreign dynasties. It records the location of "official" kingship, along with the rulers and the lengths of their rule....


Sources

  • H.W.F. Saggs, The Babylonians, Fourth Printing, 1988, Macmillan Publishers Ltd.
  • J. P. Naab, E. Unger, Die Entdeckung der Stele des Naram-Sin in Pir Hüseyin, Istanbul Asariatika Nesriyati XII (1934).


External links