In 2334 BCE, a man called Sargon of Akkad, who is said to have grown up in the King of Sumer, Lugalzaggesi's palace, began to get the loyalty of the royal servants, army, etc. Sargon also became a cup-bearer for the king, which was a very important job; you would have to give the king his wine without adding poison. Following that, he became a gardener. This gave him control over many other workers, and these were his first soldiers. He launched a rebellion against Lugalzaggesi and managed to take over the throne with their help, declaring himself King of Akkadia (a new empire.)
But Sargon the Great wasn't done yet! He spent years taking over the surrounding territories, even into old age. Trade even reached far into Afghanistan! Sculptures and images of him were everywhere, made to honor him. Never before had the world seen such a big empire. But his empire under Rimush (2278 BC – 2270 BCE), Sargon's son, faced a lot of rebellions. Rimush crushed most them, but he really faced so many rebellions that he had to give away some territory. His son, Manishtushu, and grandson, Naram-Sin made up for that, by conquering nearly all and much more land that Rimush lost. Under Naram-Sin, the empire's borders stretched from modern day Turkey to Oman to Georgia. They had lost only lost Cyprus from the time of Sargon the Great, and had attacked so many more kingdoms.
The Greatest Extent of the Akkadian Empire
After Naram-Sin's death, Akkadia slowly began to falter. Under the reign of Shu-Turul (2170 - 2154 BCE), it became a little stronger, but the barbarous Gutians from the east invaded Akkadia and conquered the empire.
Akkadia had split into small kingdoms, mainly the kingdom of the Gutian barbarians. A few other major ones would be Assyria in 2218 BCE and, later, Babylonia in 1897 BCE.