Hi everyone, this is Scott.

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Thanks again for listening. Acadian kings were a narcissistic bunch, and I'm not just talking about the statues and monuments.

I mean that each king was 100% focused on their own personal deeds and accomplishments,

to the point where none of them even mentioned their predecessors or ancestors in any of their

inscriptions. Niram sin wasn't Niram sin, son of Manish Tushu, grandson of Sargon the Great.

He was just Niram sin the mighty, king of the four quarters of the earth.

No Acadian royal tomb has ever been found.

They certainly had them,

but they didn't get the same attention as palaces or temples or administrative buildings.

And they were certainly never mentioned in royal inscriptions.

A focus on tombs would mean looking backward and shining a light on one's predecessors.

By the same token, Acadian kings didn't repeat conquests or complete construction projects.

Each accomplishment was entirely novel, performed from scratch by each king.

Which explains why Nerem sin didn't start off his reign by addressing how he put his father to rest

or how he dealt with his murderers. That had mean admitting that he'd inherited his mantle,

and even worse, that he'd inherited

it from someone imperfect enough to allow himself to be killed.

...