阿卡德王國統一了美索不達米亞，阿卡德人屬於閃族，並非蘇美爾人。
阿卡德（Akkad）是一個城市國傢，統治區域位於北美索不達米亞(今伊拉剋)，位於亞述西南和蘇美爾以北，存在於巴比倫的前期。
阿卡德人屬於閃米特人的一支，大概於公元前2500前後進入兩河流域。阿卡德人進入兩河流域時，蘇美爾城邦文明已經進入尾聲，各城邦之間鬥爭異常激烈，溫馬王盧加爾紮剋西幾乎統一蘇美爾地區。但是阿卡德王薩爾貢打敗了他，真正統一了蘇美爾地區，建立了君主製的集權國傢，蘇美爾城邦時代宣告結束。蘇美爾-阿卡德（Sumer-Akkad）時代開始。 約前2191年庫提（Guti）人滅阿卡德，統治美索不達米亞南部，建立庫提姆（Gutium）政權。美索不達米亞南部之蘇美爾-阿卡德時代結束。
ca. 2270 – 2083 BC (short chronology)
The Semitic Akkadian language is first attested in proper names of the kings of Kish ca. 2800 BC, preserved in later king lists. There are texts written entirely in Old Akkadian dating from ca. 2500 BC. Use of Old Akkadian was at its peak during the rule of Sargon the Great (ca. 2270 – 2215 BC), but even then most administrative tablets continued to be written in Sumerian, the language used by the scribes. Gelb and Westenholz differentiate three stages of Old Akkadian: that of the pre-Sargonic era, that of the Akkadian empire, and that of the "Neo-Sumerian Renaissance" that followed it. Speakers of Akkadian and Sumerian coexisted for about one thousand years, until ca. 1800 BC, when Sumerian ceased to be spoken. Thorkild Jacobsen has argued that there is little break in historical continuity between the pre- and post-Sargon periods, and that too much emphasis has been placed on the perception of a "Semitic vs. Sumerian" conflict. However, it is certain that Akkadian was also briefly imposed on neighboring parts of Elam that were conquered by Sargon.
The Akkadian Empire was an empire centered in the city of Akkad (Sumerian: Agade Hittite KUR A.GA.DÈKI "land of Akkad"; Biblical Accad) and its surrounding region (Akkadian URU Akkad KI) in Ancient Iraq (Mesopotamia). The city of Akkad was situated on the west bank of the Euphrates, between Sippar and Kish (in Iraq, about 50 km (31 mi) southwest of the center of Baghdad). Despite an extensive search, the precise site has never been found. It reached the height of its power between the 24th and 22nd centuries BC, following the conquests of king Sargon of Akkad.
Because of the policies of the Akkadian Empire toward linguistic assimilation, Akkad also gave its name to the predominant Semitic dialect: the Akkadian language, reflecting use of akkadû ("in the language of Akkad") in the Old Babylonian period to denote the Semitic version of a Sumerian text.