Context

Children of Dune, 111

[Leto II sits in the desert with Stilgar, contemplating the expanse of time both before and after this moment and all that his father, Paul, left undone.]

He felt himself caught in one of those poised moments just before dawn. Time pressed at him. It was already the month of Akkad and behind him lay the last of an interminable waiting time: long hot days and hot dry winds, nights like this one tormented by gusts and endless blowings from the furnace lands of the Hawkbled.

Background 

Akkad was the name of a Mesopotamian city that was once the capital of the Akkadian Empire, the ruling force in Mesopotamia in the last years of the 3rd millennium BCE. Though the name is well-attested in Akkadian texts, its exact location is unknown. Modern scholarship suggests that the site lies east of the Tigris River in what is now the suburbs of Baghdad.

The Akkadian Empire is often referred to as the first ancient empire in the region. Though its rulers lost power around 2150 BCE, the city of Akkad would go on to be considered an important Mesopotamian city with textual references dating as late as the Neo-Babylonian period in the 7th and 6th centuries BCE. Sargon of Akkad is the best-known king of the Akkadian Empire. He is often referred to as the founder of Akkad, though the city likely existed in some form before he came to power. 

The name of the city is transcribed into English as Akkad, Akkade, or Agade. Akkad gives its name to the Akkadian language and to the Akkadian Empire, but the name Akkad does not come from Akkadian, a semitic language used for much of Mesopotamian history. Rather, the name is thought to be Sumerian or Hurrian in origin. In later years, the name would become an abstract way to refer to the southern portion of Mesopotamia. For example, in some omen texts, when referring to the king in Babylonia, a text might refer to the King of Akkad as an affected party. 

In Children of Dune, Akkad is used as a month name and not a place name. 

Further Reading

Foster, Benjamin R. (2013). "Akkad (Agade)." In Roger S. Bagnall (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Ancient History (pp. 266-267). Chicago: Blackwell. 

van de Mieroop, Marc. (2007). A History of the Ancient Near East, ca. 3000-323 BC. Second Edition. Malden: Blackwell.

Wall-Romana, Christophe. (1990). "An Areal Location of Agade." Journal of Near Eastern Studies 49(3), 205-245. 

Entry prepared by Sara Mohr, Hamilton College