ā kǎ dé wáng guó tǒng yī liǎo měi suǒ bù dá mǐ yà，
ā kǎ dé rén shǔ yú shǎn zú，
bìng fēi sū měi '
ěr rén。
ā kǎ dé（ Akkad）
shì yī gè chéng shì guó jiā，
tǒng zhì qū yù wèi yú běi měi suǒ bù dá mǐ yà (
jīn yī lā kè )，
wèi yú yà shù xī nán hé sū měi '
ěr yǐ běi，
cún zài yú bā bǐ lún de qián qī。
ā kǎ dé rén shǔ yú shǎn mǐ tè rén de yī zhī，
dà gài yú gōng yuán qián 2500
qián hòu jìn rù liǎng hé liú yù。
ā kǎ dé rén jìn rù liǎng hé liú yù shí，
sū měi '
ěr chéng bāng wén míng yǐ jīng jìn rù wěi shēng，
gè chéng bāng zhī jiān dǒu zhēng yì cháng jī liè，
wēn mǎ wáng lú jiā '
ěr zhā kè xī jīhū tǒng yī sū měi '
ěr dì qū。
dàn shì '
ā kǎ dé wáng sà '
ěr gòng dǎ bài liǎo tā，
zhēn zhèng tǒng yī liǎo sū měi '
ěr dì qū，
jiàn lì liǎo jūn zhù zhì de jí quán guó jiā，
sū měi '
ěr chéng bāng shí dài xuān gào jié shù。
sū měi '
ěr -
ā kǎ dé（ Sumer-Akkad）
shí dài kāi shǐ。
yuē qián 2191
nián kù tí（ Guti）
rén miè '
ā kǎ dé，
tǒng zhì měi suǒ bù dá mǐ yà nán bù，
jiàn lì kù tí mǔ（ Gutium）
zhèng quán。
měi suǒ bù dá mǐ yà nán bù zhī sū měi '
ěr -
ā kǎ dé shí dài jié shù。
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.