Naram-Sin of Akkad, the king his own city made a god
TL;DR — Naram-Sin’s inscription says his city asked eight gods to make him the god of Agade, and built him a temple, after he won nine battles in one year.
Naram-Sin, king of Agade and grandson of Sargon of Akkad, was made a god of his own capital, according to his own inscription. On a copper statue found at Bassetki in northern Iraq, the text says that the four quarters of the world rose against him together, that “in nine battles during one year he was victorious,” and that the people of his city asked the great gods to make him the god of Agade. Sophus Helle, writing on the Akkadian empire, calls him the first king “in the cuneiform cultures” to have himself declared a living god.
Quick facts
- When
- Old Akkadian period (CDLI dates the statue c. 2340–2200 BC); the stele was carried to Susa in the 12th century BC
- Where
- Agade (Akkad); the statue was found at Bassetki (ancient Mardaman), northern Iraq
- Who
- Naram-Sin (Narām-Suen), grandson of Sargon and son of Man-ištiššu; the Elamite king Šutruk-Nahhunte
- Outcome
- The people of Agade asked eight gods to make him their city's god and built him a temple; later tradition turned his victories into defeats
Grandson of Sargon, after two murdered kings
Naram-Sin came to a throne that had already cost two kings their lives. Helle writes that “both of Sargon’s sons and successors,” Rimush and Manishtushu, “were assassinated in court conspiracies,” and that ancient chronicles disagree about which of them was the elder. “Afterwards, the throne passed to Sargon’s grandson Naram-Sîn.”
The Sumerian King List, in the translation of the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature at Oxford, calls him “Narām-Suen, the son of Man-ištiššu.” Two of its manuscripts give him 56 years. His son Šar-kali-šarrī follows with 25 years, or 24 in another copy, and one manuscript closes the line with “157 are the years of the dynasty of Sargon.”
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Nine battles in one year
The fullest account of his war is his own. The statue that carries it was excavated at Mardaman, modern Bassetki, and is now in the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad (IM 077823); the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI) dates it to the Old Akkadian period, about 2340–2200 BC.
The inscription begins with “Naram-Sin, the mighty, king of Agade,” and with the four quarters of the world revolting against him together. Then, in the CDLI’s line-by-line translation, it says that “through the love which the goddess Ištar showed him, in nine battles during one year he was victorious, and the kings which had risen (against him), he captured.”
A temple in the middle of Agade
The same inscription explains what followed. Because he had kept the foundations of his city safe from danger, the people of Agade made a request of eight gods: Ištar in the Eanna, Enlil in Nippur, Dagan in Tuttul, Ninḫursag in Keš, Ea in Eridu, Sin in Ur, Šamaš in Sippar and Nergal in Kutha. They asked that Naram-Sin become the god of their city, Agade, “and in the middle of Agade a temple to him they built.”
The text ends with a warning to anyone who removes it, calling on Šamaš, Ištar and Nergal, “the bailiff of the king,” and on all the gods it has named, against that person and his descendants.
What the spelling of his name shows
His name on the statue is written na-ra-am-{d}suen. The mark {d} is the sign the scribes placed before the name of a god, and the same inscription uses it for every deity it lists, from {d}inanna, Ištar, to {d}utu, Šamaš. In Naram-Sin’s name it stands before suen, the god Sin, not before the king’s name as a whole, so the spelling alone does not mark him as divine. The evidence for his deification is in what the inscription says the people of Agade asked for and built. The CDLI lists Walter Farber’s 1983 article on the subject, “Die Vergöttlichung Narām-Sîns” (The deification of Naram-Sin), among its references.
A stele at Susa and a relief in the Zagros
Images carried the same claim. Helle describes a stele now in the Louvre that shows Naram-Sin over his defeated enemies, wearing horns, “which were the traditional signs of divinity in Sumerian and Akkadian art.” It did not stay in Mesopotamia. The Encyclopaedia Iranica records that the Elamite king Šutruk-Nahhunte, who was active around 1158 BC, “brought to Susa such renowned documents as the code of Hammurabi and the stele of Naram-Sin.”
Naram-Sin’s own power had reached into Elam. Iranica notes that in his reign a treaty was made between “Naram-Sin’s vassal ruling at Susa and a king of Awan,” and calls it “the first known Elamite text to have been written in cuneiform characters.” In the Zagros Mountains, a rock relief at Darband-i-Gawr, according to the Penn Museum’s Expedition magazine, commemorates his defeat of the Lullubu in about 2300 BC.
Nine defeats in later memory
Later Mesopotamian writers kept his story but changed its point. Sargon, Helle writes, “was remembered as the paragon of kingship, and Naram-Sîn as a tragic, hubristic king.” The account of his victories “was turned on its head, so that he was instead said to have lost nine revolts in a single year, because he failed to heed the gods.”
Key facts
- The Bassetki statue, a copper figure in the National Museum of Iraq (IM 077823), carries Naram-Sin’s account of nine battles won in one year (CDLI).
- The people of Agade asked eight gods to make him the god of their city, and built him a temple in Agade (CDLI).
- On the statue his name is written na-ra-am-{d}suen; the divine sign stands before the god’s name Suen inside it (CDLI).
- The Sumerian King List calls him the son of Man-ištiššu and, in two manuscripts, gives him 56 years (ETCSL).
- Sargon’s sons Rimush and Manishtushu were both assassinated in court conspiracies (Helle).
- The Elamite king Šutruk-Nahhunte carried the stele of Naram-Sin to Susa in the 12th century BC (Encyclopaedia Iranica).
- Later tradition said he lost nine revolts in a single year (Helle).
FAQ
Who was Naram-Sin?
A king of Agade (Akkad) in the Old Akkadian period, the grandson of Sargon. The Sumerian King List names his father as Man-ištiššu and, in two manuscripts, gives him a reign of 56 years.
Did Naram-Sin declare himself a god?
His Bassetki inscription presents it as the request of his city: the people of Agade asked eight gods to make him the god of Agade and built him a temple. Sophus Helle calls him the first king in the cuneiform cultures to have himself declared a living god.
Was Naram-Sin's name written with the sign for "god"?
On the Bassetki statue the sign stands before suen, the god's name inside "Naram-Sin," not before his whole name. The spelling alone does not show his deification; the text of the inscription does.
What is the Victory Stele of Naram-Sin?
A stele now in the Louvre that shows Naram-Sin over his defeated enemies, wearing the horns of divinity. The Elamite king Šutruk-Nahhunte carried it to Susa in the 12th century BC.
How was Naram-Sin remembered later?
As a tragic, hubristic king. Later tradition reversed his nine victories, saying instead that he lost nine revolts in a single year because he did not heed the gods.
Sources
- Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative, RIME 2.01.04.10 composite, Bassetki statue inscription of Naram-Sin (P461986)
- Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative, RIME 2.01.04.10, ex. 01, Bassetki statue (P216558), National Museum of Iraq IM 077823
- ETCSL, University of Oxford, "The Sumerian king list" (t.2.1.1)
- Sophus Helle, "The Old Akkadian Empire," enheduana.org
- Encyclopaedia Iranica, "Elam i. The history of Elam"
- Penn Museum, Expedition Magazine, "The Stone Spirits"
Cite this article
- APA
- Song Letter. (2026, October 11). Naram-Sin of Akkad, the king his own city made a god. Our Earth's History. https://ourearthshistory.com/west-asia/ancient/naram-sin-akkad-living-god-king/
- Chicago
- Song Letter. “Naram-Sin of Akkad, the king his own city made a god.” Our Earth's History, October 11, 2026. https://ourearthshistory.com/west-asia/ancient/naram-sin-akkad-living-god-king/.
- MLA
- Song Letter. “Naram-Sin of Akkad, the king his own city made a god.” Our Earth's History, 11 Oct. 2026, https://ourearthshistory.com/west-asia/ancient/naram-sin-akkad-living-god-king/.
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