This story appears in the April 2009 issue of National Geographic magazine. The world's first empire, known as Akkad, was founded some 4,300 years ago, between the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers.

The ancient Assyrian language is classified as Akkadian; it was the language of the Assyrians and Babylonians, written in Cuneiform. To facilitate administrative tasks of the Assyrian Empire Aramaic ...

the first ruler of the Akkadian Empire. One area on the map is described as a place "where the Sun is not visible." As ...