This tablet belongs to
Sargon of Akkad, "The Great King", "The True King", "The Legitimate King" and the founder of the Dynasty of
Akkad. Isn't it interesting that some 4,300 years later, we still associate "greatness", "trueness" and "legitimacy" with the same things his people associated Sargon with. Below is the text of the tablet on display at the
Museum of Anatolian Civilizations:
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Tablet Belonging to Sargon of Akkad
Terracotta, Kultepe, 19th-18th Centuries, B.C.
Tablet belongs to Sargon, founder of the State of Akkad (2334-2279 BC). It is inscribed in the ancient Assyrian dialect. In the text beginning with "the King, Sarruking, Akkadian King, the king of four worlds, the strong king", it is described that Sargon held down all countries from the East to the West, defeated 70 cities in a day, captured their kings, and ruined the cities.
There is something
truly wrong with civilization! Sargon was the first individual in history to form an empire and keep a standing army of paid, full-time soldiers. Hungry for "greatness", we have been
doing the same ever since. Insanity.