Origin/Historian/Author: Akkadian (ca 2300 BCE)
Source: The Sacred Books and Literature of the East, By Prof. Charles F. Horne, Ph.D.
The Sacred Books and Literature of the East Translations conducted by:
Morris Jastrow, Jr., LL.D., Rev. A.H. Sayce, LL.D., Robert W. Rogers, LL.D., George A. Barton, LL.D., Leonard W. King, F.S.A., Stephen Langdon, PH.D., Arno Poebel, PH.D., and other scholars.
Full Text Below
Sargon, the mighty king, the King of Agade, am I,
My mother was lowly, my father I knew not,
And the brother of my father dwells in the mountain.
My city is Azupiranu,(7) which lies on the bank of the Euphrates.
5 My lowly mother conceived me, in secret she brought me forth.
She set me in a basket of rushes, with bitumen she closed my door;
She cast me into the river, which rose not over me.
The river bore me up, unto Akki, the irrigator, it carried me.
Akki, the irrigator, with . . . lifted me out,
10 Akki, the irrigator, as his own son . . . reared me,
Akki, the irrigator, as his gardener appointed me.
While I was a gardener the goddess Ishtar loved me,
And for . . . -four years I ruled the kingdom.
the black-headed peoples (8) I ruled, I governed;
15 Mighty mountains with axes of bronze did I destroy.
I climbed the upper mountains;
I burst through the lower mountains.
The Country of the Sea three times did I besiege;
Dilmun(9) did . . .
20 Unto the great Dur-ilu (10) I went up, I
. . . I altered . . .
Whatsover king shall be exalted after me,
. . . . . . . . . .
Let him rule, let him govern the black-headed peoples;
25 Mighty mountains with axes of bronze let him destroy.
Let him climb the upper mountain;
Let him burst through the lower mountains.
The country of the Sea let him three times besiege
And Dilmun . . .
30 To the great Dur-ilu let him go up …
. . . from my city of Akkad . . .
(7) The location of this city is unknown.
(8) A common phrase for the people of the Euphrates valley.
(9) Dilmun was an island in the Persian Gulf.
(10) A city in eastern Babylonia. The name signifies, “Wall of God.”