How the First Empire in History Rose and Vanished

A royal cupbearer overthrew his king and built the first empire the world had ever seen. ▶ More from Mapestry:    / @mapestry   Four thousand three hundred years ago in Mesopotamia, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, a cupbearer named Sargon of Akkad seized power and forged history's first empire. This is the full story of the Akkadian Empire: how Sargon the Great united the Sumerian city-states of Kish, Uruk, Ur and Lagash under a single crown, how his daughter Enheduanna became the first author known by name in all of history, and how his grandson Naram-Sin declared himself a living god. It ends in collapse, a great drought, famine, and the Gutians tearing the first empire apart, leaving a lost capital, Agade, that has never been found. From the rise of Sargon to the fall of Akkad, this is where empires began. New episodes on the channel. Subscribe so you do not miss the next empire. Which empire should we cover next? Tell us in the comments. Imagery: NASA Earth Observatory and Natural Earth (public domain). Maps are programmatic; characters are AI-generated. #history #ancienthistory #mesopotamia #akkad #ancientcivilizations