阿卡德王国统一了美索不达米亚，阿卡德人属于闪族，并非苏美尔人。
阿卡德（Akkad）是一个城市国家，统治区域位于北美索不达米亚(今伊拉克)，位于亚述西南和苏美尔以北，存在于巴比伦的前期。
阿卡德人属于闪米特人的一支，大概于公元前2500前后进入两河流域。阿卡德人进入两河流域时，苏美尔城邦文明已经进入尾声，各城邦之间斗争异常激烈，温马王卢加尔扎克西几乎统一苏美尔地区。但是阿卡德王萨尔贡打败了他，真正统一了苏美尔地区，建立了君主制的集权国家，苏美尔城邦时代宣告结束。苏美尔-阿卡德（Sumer-Akkad）时代开始。 约前2191年库提（Guti）人灭阿卡德，统治美索不达米亚南部，建立库提姆（Gutium）政权。美索不达米亚南部之苏美尔-阿卡德时代结束。
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.