## Background I understand that the Spartan ruling class were soldiers, and the [[Roman]] senators were large land-owners, early Roman Emperors were basically strong generals. Medieval feudal warriors had a lock on war training and technology. But I'm pretty shaky on [[Mesopotamia|Mesopotamian]] social hierarchy beyond 6th grade level "there were kings and warriors and priests and government officials, yay." When I attempted to do some research into this myself, I came across this: >Sargon’s empire reached westward as far as the Mediterranean Sea and perhaps Cyprus (Kaptara); northward as far as the mountains; eastward over Elam; and as far south as Magan (Oman)—a region over which he purportedly reigned for 56 years, though only four “year-names” survive. He replaced rulers with noble citizens of Akkad. Trade extended from the silver mines of Anatolia to the lapis lazuli mines in Afghanistan, and from the cedars of Lebanon to the copper of Magan. The empire’s breadbasket was the rain-fed agricultural system of northern [[Mesopotamia]] ([[Assyria]]), and a chain of fortresses was built to control the imperial wheat production. > ><div><cite>— <a href="https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldcivilization/chapter/the-akkadian-empire/">Lumen Learning</a></cite></div> But I'm having a lot of trouble figuring out exactly what sorts of activity led to power in places like Sumeria, [[Mesopotamia|Babylon]], and/or Akkadia. Were the nobles wealthy traders? The only people who could afford expensive chariots and so made up the backbone of the army? Educated people capable of handling the bureaucracy? ## Sources for Answers - [[Brotherhood of Kings by Amanda Podany]] covered the way in which Ancient Mesopotamian city-states were structured like families. There's probably enough there to get some good speculation going worth publishing. Remember: the best way to get a question on the internet answered isn't always to ask it -- sometimes the only way to get a good answer is to say something wrong (-- [[Scott Alexander]]) - [[The Horse The Wheel And Language by David Anthony]] has some useful speculation about maces and tribal leaders and how they accumulated wealth in a not-very-far-away region and I think covers some stuff about trade between the two groups.