Mesopotamia · Early Bronze Age

Akkadian Empire

The first multi-ethnic empire in Mesopotamia

2,334 BCE – 2,154 BCE · 180 years

Founded by Sargon of Akkad, often cited as history's first empire to unify multiple city-states under one ruler.

Where it sits on the calendar

14,000 BCE 2026 CE

Akkadian Empire

2,334 BCE–2,154 BCE

Government

Centralized empire

Writing system

Cuneiform (Akkadian)

Estimated peak population

500,000

How it ended

Climate shift or drought

Abrupt aridification around 2200 BCE is linked to agricultural collapse and unrest.

6 other civilizations in this dataset overlap with Akkadian Empire's 180-year span.

14,000 BCE 300 BCE

Akkadian Empire

2,334 BCE–2,154 BCE

3,300 BCE–1,300 BCE

3,000 BCE–1,100 BCE

3,000 BCE–1,600 BCE

2,700 BCE–539 BCE

14,000 BCE–300 BCE

2,686 BCE–2,181 BCE