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==Later copies and literary compositions== So great was the Akkadian Empire, especially Sargon and Narim-Sin, that its history was passed down for millennia. This ranged on one end to purported copies of still existing Sargonic period inscriptions to literary tales made up from the whole cloth at the other.<ref>Westenholz, Joan Goodnick, "Heroes of Akkad", Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 103, no. 1, pp. 327–36, 1983</ref> A few examples: *[[Gutian rule in Mesopotamia#Great Revolt against Naram-Sin|Great Rebellion Against Naram-Sin]] – At one point in his reign much of the Empire, especially in the old mainly Sumerian city-states, rose up against Naram-Sin. The revolt was crushed but the echoes of the event were passed down in history. Some of the tales, like "Naram-Sin and the Enemy Hordes" (Old Babylonian – purported to be a copy of an inscription at the temple of Nergal in Cutha) and "Gula-AN and the Seventeen Kings against Naram-Sin" were literary compositions which further developed and changed the themes. The earliest examplar, from the Old Babylonian period, is found in several incomplete tablets and fragments, which differ somewhat, purporting to be copies of an inscription on a statue of Naram-Sin standing in the Ekur temple of [[Enlil]] at [[Nippur]]. Because it aligns with known contemporary inscriptions and year name it is considered authentic, which the usual Mesopotamian slant that something going wrong means you displeased the gods.<ref>Tinney, Steve, "A New Look at Naram-Sin and the ‘Great Rebellion’", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 47, pp. 1–14, 1995</ref><ref>Michalowski, Piotr, "New Sources Concerning the Reign of Naram-Sin", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 32, no. 4, pp. 233–46, 1980</ref><ref>Westenholz, Joan Goodnick, "Naram-Sin and the Enemy Hordes": The “Cuthean Legend” of Naram-Sin", Legends of the Kings of Akkade: The Texts, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 263–368, 1997</ref> {{Blockquote|"... By the verdict of the goddess Astar-Annunltum, Naram-Sin, the mighty, [was vic]torious over the Kisite in battle at TiWA. [Further], Ili-resi, the general; Ilum-muda, Ibbi-Zababa, Imtalik, (and) Puzur-Asar, captains of Kis; and Puzur-Ningal, governor of TiWA; Ili-re'a, his captain; Kullizum, captain of Eres; Edam'u, captain of Kutha ..."<ref name="Frayne" /> }} *[[Gutian rule in Mesopotamia#Curse of Akkad|Cursing of Agade]] – A purely literary composition which was handed down for millennia in Mesopotamia. Composed in the Ur III period, a century or at most two after the events, it is essentially artistic propaganda. After a long period of Akkadian dominance the Sumerians from the south are back in ascendancy. The Ur rule is sometimes called the Neo-Sumerian Empire. This composition lays all the troubles before the rise of Ur at the feet of the Akkadian Empire (because Naram-Sin leveled the Ekur temple of Enlil while rebuilding it causing the eight chief deities of Mesopotamia to withdraw their support and protection from Akkad). While basically fiction, it is still useful to historians.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.2.1.5|title=The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature}}</ref> {{Blockquote|"...Enlil brought out of the mountains those who do not resemble other people, who are not reckoned as part of the Land, the Gutians, an unbridled people, with human intelligence but canine instincts and monkeys' features. Like small birds they swooped on the ground in great flocks. Because of Enlil, they stretched their arms out across the plain like a net for animals. Nothing escaped their clutches, no one left their grasp. Messengers no longer traveled the highways, the courier's boat no longer passed along the rivers. The Gutians drove the trusty (?) goats of Enlil out of their folds and compelled their herdsmen to follow them, they drove the cows out of their pens and compelled their cowherds to follow them. Prisoners manned the watch. Brigands occupied the highways. The doors of the city gates of the Land lay dislodged in mud, and all the foreign lands uttered bitter cries from the walls of their cities ..."<ref>Cooper, Jerrold S., The Curse of Agade., The Johns Hopkins University Press: Baltimore/London, 1983</ref><ref>Jacobsen, Thorkild, The Harps that Once .... Sumerian Poetry in Translation. Yale University Press: New Haven/London, 1987</ref>}} There were a number of these, passed down as part of scribel tradition including The Birth Legend of Sargon (Neo-Assyrian), Weidner Chronicle, and the Geographical Treatise on Sargon of Akkad's Empire.<ref>Lenzi, Alan, "Legends of Akkadian Kings", in An Introduction to Akkadian Literature: Contexts and Content, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 123–132, 2019</ref><ref>E. A. Speiver, "Akkadian Myths and Epics", in Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament with Supplement, edited by James B. Pritchard, Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp. 60–119, 1955</ref><ref>Albright, W. F., "A Babylonian Geographical Treatise on Sargon of Akkad's Empire", Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 45, pp. 193–245, 1925</ref><ref>Al-Rawi, F. N. H. “Tablets from the Sippar Library. I. The ‘Weidner Chronicle’: A Supposititious Royal Letter Concerning a Vision.” Iraq, vol. 52, pp. 1–13, 1990</ref>
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