Shar-Kali-Sharri

Shar-Kali-Sharri (𒊬𒂵𒉌 𒈗𒌷, Shar-Gani-Sharri; reigned c. 2217-2193 BC middle chronology, c. 2153-2129 BC short chronology) was a king of the Akkadian Empire.

Succeeding his father Naram-Sin in c. 2217 BC, he came to the throne in an age of increasing troubles. The raids of the Gutian hill peoples of the Zagros mountains that began in his father's reign were becoming more and more frequent, and he was faced with a number of rebellions from vassal kings against the high taxes they were forced to pay to fund the defence against the Gutian threat. Contemporary year-names for Shar-kali-sharri of Akkad indicate that in one unknown year of his reign, he captured Sharlag, king of Gutium, while in another year, "the yoke was imposed on Gutium".

Sumer also suffered from a terrible drought during Shar-Kali-Sharri's reign in about c. 2200 BC, leading to the complete abandonment of some cities. This is complementary to Egyptian records, which suggest there was a drought around the same time during the reign of king Pepi II. After Shar-Kali-Sharri’s death in c. 2193 BC, Sumer fell into anarchy, with no king able to achieve dominance for long. The king list states:

"Then who was king? Who was not the king? Igigi, Imi, Nanum, Ilulu: four of them ruled for only 3 years."

Loss of Lagash

Rival Puzer-Mama took control of Lagash during Shar-kali-sharri’s reign, when troubles with the Guti left the Sargonic king with only “a small rump state whose center lay at the confluence of the Diyala and Tigris river.” Puzer-Mama started the 2nd Dynasty of Lagash.

Out of the 24 years of his reign, names survive for some 18 of them, and indicate successful campaigns against the Gutians, Amorites, and Elamites, as well as temple construction in Nippur and Babylon. Shar-Kali-Sharri reported defeating the Elamites at Akshak.

The next recorded king of Akkad to rule for any reasonable amount of time was Dudu, who is said by the king list to have reigned for 21 years. However, by this time the Akkadian empire was no more, and Dudu most likely controlled no more than Akkad itself, meaning Shar-Kali-Sharri was the last Akkadian king to actually have an empire under his control.

In the 1870s, Assyriologists thought Shar-Kali-Sharri was identical with the Sargon of Agade of Assyrian legend, but this identification was recognized as mistaken in the 1910s.

• Tablet in Akkadian language recording domestic animals, Bismaya, reign of Shar-kali-sharri, c. 2100 BC, clay - Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago

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  Seal of Shar-Kali-Sharri (previously attributed to Sargon), with seated deity.

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  Seal of Shar-Kali-Sharri (previously attributed to Sargon), with Gilgamesh fighting a lion.