Dudu of Akkad

Dudu (, ; died 2168 BC) was a 22nd-century BC king of Akkad, who reigned for 21 years, c. 2189–2168 BC, according to the Sumerian king list. Unlike his two predecessors Naram-Sin and Shar-Kali-Sharri, he was not deified.

Biography He became king after a period of apparent anarchy that had followed the death of Shar-Kali-Sharri. The king list mentions four other figures who had been competing for the throne during a three-year period after Sharkalisharri's death. There are no other surviving records referencing any of these competitors, but a few artifacts with inscriptions confirming Dudu's rule over a reduced Akkadian Empire. Given activity at Umma and Girsu, and at Apiak whose location is unknown but which lay near the Tigris river to the East of Nippur, the Akkadian Empire maintained some level of control to the south at least. The find of a seal at Adab, lying further East that Apiak, of a servant of Dudu supports this view. His inscriptions present him simply as "King of Akkad":

He also seems to have campaigned against former Akkadian subjects to the south, including Girsu, Umma (where the governor of Lagash appointed by Shar-Kali-Sharri, Puzer-Mama, had declared independence at the end of that rule) and possibly Elam. One inscription relates directly to his destruction of Girsu:

An alabaster vase in the Louvre Museum, since the year 2000, has the following inscription:

Dudu was succeeded by his son Shu-turul per the king list, who became the last known king of Akkad. It has been suggested that a known high official in the Late Akkadian period, Išarum, was another son of Dudu. In inscriptions he calls himself "Išarum, son of Dudu" and calls on the tutelary gods of the Akkadian Empire, Istar and Ilaba.