title: On the Road

text: The book received a mixed reaction from the media in 1957. Some of the earlier reviews spoke highly of the book, but the backlash to these was swift and strong. Although this was discouraging to Kerouac, he still received great recognition and notoriety from the work. Since its publication, critical attention has focused on issues of both the context and the style, addressing the actions of the characters as well as the nature of Kerouac's prose.


title: On the Road

text: In his review for "The New York Times," Gilbert Millstein wrote, "its publication is a historic occasion insofar as the exposure of an authentic work of art is of any great moment in an age in which the attention is fragmented and the sensibilities are blunted by the superlatives of fashion" and praised it as "a major novel." Millstein was already sympathetic toward the Beat Generation and his promotion of the book in the "Times" did wonders for its recognition and acclaim. Not only did he like the themes, but also the style, which would come to be just as hotly contested in the reviews that followed. "There are sections of "On the Road" in which the writing is of a beauty almost breathtaking ... there is some writing on jazz that has never been equaled in American fiction, either for insight, style, or technical virtuosity." Kerouac and Joyce Johnson, a younger writer he was living with, read the review shortly after midnight at a newsstand at 69th Street and Broadway, near Joyce's apartment in the Upper West Side. They took their copy of the newspaper to a neighborhood bar and read the review over and over. "Jack kept shaking his head," Joyce remembered later in her memoir "Minor Characters", "as if he couldn't figure out why he wasn't happier than he was." Finally, they returned to her apartment to go to sleep. As Joyce recalled: "Jack lay down obscure for the last time in his life. The ringing phone woke him the next morning, and he was famous."


title: On the Road

text: The backlash began just a few days later in the same publication. David Dempsey published a review that contradicted most of what Millstein had promoted in the book. "As a portrait of a disjointed segment of society acting out of its own neurotic necessity, "On the Road", is a stunning achievement. But it is a road, as far as the characters are concerned, that leads to nowhere." While he did not discount the stylistic nature of the text (saying that it was written "with great relish"), he dismissed the content as a "passionate lark" rather than a novel.


title: On the Road

text: Other reviewers were also less than impressed. Phoebe Lou Adams in "Atlantic Monthly" wrote that it "disappoints because it constantly promises a revelation or a conclusion of real importance and general applicability, and cannot deliver any such conclusion because Dean is more convincing as an eccentric than as a representative of any segment of humanity." While she liked the writing and found a good theme, her concern was repetition. "Everything Mr. Kerouac has to say about Dean has been told in the first third of the book, and what comes later is a series of variations on the same theme."


title: On the Road

text: Robert Kirsch in The Los Angeles Times said, "Mr. Kerouac may one day be a good writer, but that day will come when he stops riding around in a compulsive search for “material” and settles down to learn some of the first things about the craft...Mr. Kerouac calls this “The Beat Generation,” but a much more accurate description would be “The Deadbeat Generation.” I don’t know whether such people really exist, but if they do, he has thoroughly failed to make them believable."


title: On the Road

text: The review from "Time" exhibited a similar sentiment. "The post-World War II generation—beat or beatific—has not found symbolic spokesmen with anywhere near the talents of Fitzgerald, Hemingway, or Nathanael West. In this novel, talented Author Kerouac, 35, does not join that literary league, either, but at least suggests that his generation is not silent. With his barbaric yawp of a book, Kerouac commands attention as a kind of literary James Dean." It considers the book partly a travel book and partly a collection of journal jottings. While Kerouac sees his characters as "mad to live ... desirous of everything at the same time," the reviewer likens them to cases of "psychosis that is a variety of Ganser Syndrome" who "aren't really mad—they only seem to be."


title: On the Road

text: "On the Road" has been the object of critical study since its publication. David Brooks of "The New York Times" compiled several opinions and summarized them in an Op-Ed from October 2, 2007. Whereas Millstein saw it as a story in which the heroes took pleasure in everything, George Mouratidis, an editor of a new edition, claimed "above all else, the story is about loss." "It's a book about death and the search for something meaningful to hold on to—the famous search for 'IT,' a truth larger than the self, which, of course, is never found," wrote Meghan O'Rourke in Slate. "Kerouac was this deep, lonely, melancholy man," Hilary Holladay of the University of Massachusetts Lowell told "The Philadelphia Inquirer". "And if you read the book closely, you see that sense of loss and sorrow swelling on every page." "In truth, 'On the Road' is a book of broken dreams and failed plans," wrote Ted Gioia in "The Weekly Standard".


title: On the Road

text: John Leland, author of "Why Kerouac Matters: The Lessons of On the Road (They're Not What You Think)," says "We're no longer shocked by the sex and drugs. The slang is passé and at times corny. Some of the racial sentimentality is appalling" but adds "the tale of passionate friendship and the search for revelation are timeless. These are as elusive and precious in our time as in Sal's, and will be when our grandchildren celebrate the book's hundredth anniversary."


title: On the Road

text: To Brooks, this characterization seems limited. "Reading through the anniversary commemorations, you feel the gravitational pull of the great Boomer Narcissus. All cultural artifacts have to be interpreted through whatever experiences the Baby Boomer generation is going through at that moment. So a book formerly known for its youthful exuberance now becomes a gloomy middle-aged disillusion." He laments how the book's spirit seems to have been tamed by the professionalism of America today and how it has only survived in parts. The more reckless and youthful parts of the text that gave it its energy are the parts that have "run afoul of the new gentility, the rules laid down by the health experts, childcare experts, guidance counselors, safety advisers, admissions officers, virtuecrats and employers to regulate the lives of the young." He claims that the "ethos" of the book has been lost.


title: On the Road

text: Mary Pannicia Carden feels that traveling was a way for the characters to assert their independence: they "attempt to replace the model of manhood dominant in capitalist America with a model rooted in foundational American ideals of conquest and self-discovery." "Reassigning disempowering elements of patriarchy to female keeping, they attempt to substitute male brotherhood for the nuclear family and to replace the ladder of success with the freedom of the road as primary measures of male identity."


title: On the Road

text: Kerouac's writing style has attracted the attention of critics. "On the Road" has been considered by Tim Hunt to be a transitional phase between the traditional narrative structure of "The Town and the City" (1951) and the "wild form" of his later books like "Visions of Cody" (1972). Kerouac's own explanation of his style in "Essentials of Spontaneous Prose" (1953) is that his writing is like the Impressionist painters who sought to create art through direct observation. Matt Theado feels he endeavored to present a raw version of truth which did not lend itself to the traditional process of revision and rewriting but rather the emotionally charged practice of the spontaneity he pursued. Theado argues that the personal nature of the text helps foster a direct link between Kerouac and the reader; that his casual diction and very relaxed syntax was an intentional attempt to depict events as they happened and to convey all of the energy and emotion of the experiences.


title: On the Road

text: Music is an important part of the scene that Kerouac sets in "On the Road". Early in the book (Pt. 1, Ch. 3), he establishes the time period with references to the musical world: "At this time, 1947, bop was going like mad all over America. The fellows at the Loop blew, but with a tired air, because bop was somewhere between its Charlie Parker Ornithology period and another period that began with Miles Davis. And as I sat there listening to that sound of the night which bop has come to represent for all of us, I thought of all my friends from one end of the country to the other and how they were really all in the same vast backyard doing something so frantic and rushing-about."


title: On the Road

text: Main characters Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty are clearly enthusiastic fans of the jazz/bebop and early rhythm-and-blues musicians and records that were in the musical mix during the years when story took place, 1947 to 1950. Sal, Dean, and their friends are repeatedly depicted listening to specific records and going to clubs to hear their musical favorites.


title: On the Road

text: For example, in one of two separate passages where they go to clubs to hear British jazz pianist George Shearing, the effect of the music is described as almost overwhelming for Dean (Pt. 2, Ch. 4): "Shearing began to play his chords; they rolled out of the piano in great rich showers, you'd think the man wouldn't have time to line them up. They rolled and rolled like the sea. Folks yelled for him to 'Go!' Dean was sweating; the sweat poured down his collar. 'There he is! That's him! Old God! Old God Shearing! Yes! Yes! Yes!' And Shearing was conscious of the madman behind him, he could hear every one of Dean's gasps and imprecations, he could sense it though he couldn't see. 'That's right!' Dean said. 'Yes!' Shearing smiled; he rocked. Shearing rose from the piano, dripping with sweat; these were his great 1949 days before he became cool and commercial. When he was gone Dean pointed to the empty piano seat. 'God's empty chair,' he said."


title: On the Road

text: Kerouac mentions many other musical artists and their records throughout "On the Road": Charlie Parker – "Ornithology" (Pt. 1, Ch. 3; also Pt. 3, Ch. 10); Lionel Hampton – "Central Avenue Breakdown" (Pt. 1, Ch. 13; also Pt. 4, Ch. 4); Billie Holiday – "Lover Man" (Pt.1, Ch. 13; also Pt. 3, Ch. 4); Dexter Gordon and Wardell Gray – "The Hunt" (Pt. 2, Ch. 1; Pt. 2, Ch. 4); Dizzy Gillespie – "Congo Blues" (Pt. 3, Ch. 7 – recorded under Red Norvo's name and also featuring Charlie Parker; also Pt. 3, Ch. 10; Pt. 4, Ch. 3); Willis Jackson – "Gator Tail" (Pt. 4, Ch. 1 – recorded with the Cootie Williams Orchestra); Wynonie Harris – "I Like My Baby's Pudding" (Pt. 4, Ch. 4); and Perez Prado -- "More Mambo Jambo," "Chattanooga de Mambo," "Mambo Numero Ocho" ("Mambo No. 8") (Pt. 4, Ch. 5).


title: On the Road

text: Kerouac also notes several other musical artists without mentioning specific records: Miles Davis (Pt. 1, Ch. 3; Pt. 3, Ch. 10); George Shearing and his drummer Denzil Best (Pt. 2, Ch. 4; Pt. 3, Ch. 10); Slim Gaillard (Pt. 2, Ch. 11); Lester Young (Pt. 3, Ch. 10; Pt. 4, Ch. 1); Louis Armstrong (Pt. 3, Ch. 10); Roy Eldridge (Pt. 3, Ch. 10); Count Basie (Pt. 3, Ch. 10); Bennie Moten (Pt. 3, Ch. 10); Hot Lips Page (Pt. 3, Ch. 10); Thelonious Monk (Pt. 3, Ch. 10); Anita O'Day (Pt. 3, Ch. 10); Stan Getz (Pt. 4, Ch. 1); Lucky Millinder (Pt. 4, Ch. 4); and Duke Ellington (Pt. 5).


title: On the Road

text: Jazz and other types of music are also featured more generally as a backdrop, with the characters often listening to music in clubs or on the radio. For example, while driving across the upper Midwest toward New York City, Sal mentions that he and Dean are listening to the radio show of well-known jazz deejay Symphony Sid Torin (Pt. 3, Ch. 11).


title: On the Road

text: Kerouac even delves into the classical music genre briefly, having Sal attend a performance of Beethoven's sole opera, "Fidelio" (1805), in Central City, Colorado, as performed by "stars of the Metropolitan" who are visiting the area for the summer (Pt. 1, Ch. 9).


title: On the Road

text: "On the Road" has been an influence on various poets, writers, actors and musicians, including Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Jim Morrison, Jerry Garcia, David Bowie and Hunter S. Thompson.


title: On the Road

text: In his book "Light My Fire: My Life with The Doors," Ray Manzarek (keyboard player of The Doors) wrote "I suppose if Jack Kerouac had never written "On the Road", The Doors would never have existed."


title: On the Road

text: "On the Road" influenced an entire generation of musicians, poets, and writers including Allen Ginsberg. Because of Ginsberg's friendship with Kerouac, Ginsberg was written into the novel through the character Carlo Marx. Ginsberg recalled that he was attracted to the beat generation, and Kerouac, because the beats valued "detachment from the existing society," while at the same time calling for an immediate release from a culture in which the most "freely" accessible items—bodies and ideas—seemed restricted (1). Ginsberg incorporated a sense of freedom of prose and style into his poetry as a result of the influence of Kerouac (1).


title: On the Road

text: Eric Kripke, creator of long-running series "Supernatural", has also cited "On the Road" as a major inspiration for the fantasy series.


title: On the Road

text: A film adaptation of "On the Road" had been proposed in 1957 when Jack Kerouac wrote a one-page letter to actor Marlon Brando, suggesting that he play Dean Moriarty while Kerouac would portray Sal Paradise. Brando never responded to the letter; later on Warner Bros. offered $110,000 for the rights to Kerouac's book, but his agent, Sterling Lord, declined it, hoping for a $150,000 deal from Paramount Pictures, which did not occur.


title: On the Road

text: The film rights were bought in 1980 by producer Francis Ford Coppola for $95,000. Coppola tried out several screenwriters, including Michael Herr, Barry Gifford, and novelist Russell Banks, even writing a draft himself with his son Roman, before settling on José Rivera. Several different plans were considered: Joel Schumacher as director, with Billy Crudup as Sal Paradise, and Colin Farrell as Dean Moriarty; then Ethan Hawke as Paradise and Brad Pitt as Moriarty; in 1995, he planned to shoot on black-and-white 16mm film and held auditions with poet Allen Ginsberg in attendance, but all those projects fell through.


title: On the Road

text: After seeing Walter Salles' "The Motorcycle Diaries" (2004), Coppola appointed Salles to direct the movie. In preparation for the film, Salles traveled the United States, tracing Kerouac's journey and filming a documentary on the search for "On the Road". Sam Riley starred as Sal Paradise. Garrett Hedlund portrayed Dean Moriarty. Kristen Stewart played Mary Lou. Kirsten Dunst portrayed Camille. The film screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012 and was nominated for the Palme d'Or.


title: On the Road

text: In 2007, BBC Four aired "Russell Brand On the Road", a documentary presented by Russell Brand and Matt Morgan about Kerouac, focusing on "On the Road". The documentary "American Road", which explores the mystique of the road in US culture and contains an ample section on Kerouac, premiered at the AMFM Festival in California on 14 June 2013, when it won the award for Best Documentary.


title: On the Road

text: While many critics still consider the word "beat" in its literal sense of "tired and beaten down," others, including Kerouac himself promoted the generation more in sense of "beatific" or blissful. Holmes and Kerouac published several articles in popular magazines in an attempt to explain the movement. In the November 16, 1952 "New York Times Sunday Magazine", he wrote a piece exposing the faces of the Beat Generation. "[O]ne day [Kerouac] said, 'You know, this is a really beat generation' ... More than mere weariness, it implies the feeling of having been used, of being raw. It involves a sort of nakedness of mind, and ultimately, of soul: a feeling of being reduced to the bedrock of consciousness. In short, it means being undramatically pushed up against the wall of oneself." He distinguishes Beats from the Lost Generation of the 1920s pointing out how the Beats are not lost but how they are searching for answers to all of life's questions. Kerouac's preoccupation with writers like Ernest Hemingway shaped his view of the beat generation. He uses a prose style which he adapted from Hemingway and throughout "On the Road" he alludes to novels like "The Sun Also Rises". "How to live seems much more crucial than why." In many ways, it is a spiritual journey, a quest to find belief, belonging, and meaning in life. Not content with the uniformity promoted by government and consumer culture, the Beats yearned for a deeper, more sensational experience. Holmes expands his attempt to define the generation in a 1958 article in "Esquire" magazine. This article was able to take more of a look back at the formation of the movement as it was published after "On the Road". "It describes the state of mind from which all unessentials have been stripped, leaving it receptive to everything around it, but impatient with trivial obstructions. To be beat is to be at the bottom of your personality, looking up."


title: Dota: Dragon's Blood

text: Dota: Dragon's Blood is an adult animated epic fantasy streaming television series. It is based on "Dota 2", a 2013 video game by Valve. The show is produced by Studio Mir in association with Ashley Edward Miller's company Kaiju Boulevard. The series premiered on Netflix on March 25, 2021, and has seen three seasons.


title: Dota: Dragon's Blood

text: Set in a fantasy world of magic and mysticism, the story follows a Dragon Knight, Davion, who hunts and slays dragons to make the world a safer place. In a battle between demons and the dragon race of Eldwurm, the dragon Slyrak merges his soul with Davion. Along with the sun princess Mirana, Davion pursues a journey to stop the demon Terrorblade, who wants to kill all dragons and collect their souls.


title: Dota: Dragon's Blood

text: The series was announced by Netflix on 17 February 2021. It is a joint collaboration between South Korean studio Mir and American company Kaiju Boulevard. Production Reve which is another studio in South Korea provided the animation services for Book One while Studio Mir took over for Book Two. The animation style is a blend of anime and Western animation.


title: Dota: Dragon's Blood

text: "Dota: Dragon's Blood" debuted on March 25, 2021, on Netflix. A teaser trailer was released on February 19, followed by a full trailer on March 1. A promotional video, titled "Basshunter Dota Revival", was released on YouTube alongside the show's debut. In it, Swedish musician Basshunter is singing "Vi sitter i Ventrilo och spelar DotA" while playing "Dota 2", with scenes from "Dragon's Blood" shown in between. During The International 2021 immediately following a trailer for season two, a video with 2D animation from Studio Mir was shown revealing original character Marci was being added to "Dota 2" as a playable hero. Marci was added to the game as a part of gameplay update 7.30e on October 28.


title: Dota: Dragon's Blood

text: A second season was announced on April 19, 2021. Originally set for release on January 6, 2022, Book Two premiered on January 18. A third season premiered on August 11, 2022.


title: Dota: Dragon's Blood

text: For the first season, the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports a 75% approval rating, based on 12 reviews, with an average rating of 7.60/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "While knowledge of the game isn't necessary, it might have been nice if "Dota: Dragon's Blood" had translated more of its narrative prowess to the small screen."


title: FIFA World Cup top goalscorers

text: A total of over 2,700 goals have been scored in the 22 editions of the FIFA World Cup final tournaments, not counting penalties scored during shoot-outs. Since the first goal scored by French player Lucien Laurent at the 1930 FIFA World Cup, 1,298 footballers have scored goals in the World Cup final tournaments, of whom just 101 have scored five or more.


title: FIFA World Cup top goalscorers

text: The top goalscorer of the inaugural competition was Argentina's Guillermo Stábile with eight goals. Since then, only 25 players have scored more at all the games played at the World Cup than Stábile did throughout the 1930 tournament. The first was Hungary's Sándor Kocsis with eleven in 1954. At the next tournament, France's Just Fontaine improved on this record with 13 goals in only six games. Gerd Müller scored 10 for West Germany in 1970 and broke the overall record when he scored his 14th goals in the World Cup final tournament during West Germany's win in the 1974 final. His record stood for more than three decades until Ronaldo's 15 goals between 1998 and 2006 for Brazil. Germany's Miroslav Klose went on to score a record 16 goals across four consecutive tournaments between 2002 and 2014.


title: FIFA World Cup top goalscorers

text: Of all the players who have played in the World Cup finals, only six have achieved an average of two goals or more per game played: Kocsis, Fontaine, Stábile, Russia's Oleg Salenko, Switzerland's Josef Hügi, and Poland's Ernst Wilimowski — the last of these scored four in his single World Cup game in 1938. The top 101 goalscorers have represented 30 nations, with 14 players scoring for Brazil, and another 14 for Germany or West Germany. In total, 67 footballers came from UEFA (Europe), 30 from CONMEBOL (South America), and only four from elsewhere: Cameroon, Ghana, Australia, and the United States.


title: FIFA World Cup top goalscorers

text: Fontaine holds the record for the most goals scored in a single tournament, with 13 goals in 1958. The players that came closest were Kocsis in 1954, Müller in 1970 and Portugal's Eusébio in 1966, with 11, 10 and 9, respectively. The lowest scoring top scorer was in 1962, when six players tied at only four goals each. Across the 22 editions of the World Cup finals, 31 footballers have been credited with the most tournament goals, and no one has achieved this feat twice. Ten of them scored at least seven goals in a tournament, while Brazil's Jairzinho and Argentine's Lionel Messi were the only footballers to score at least seven goals without being the top goalscorer of the tournament in 1970 and 2022, respectively. These 31 top goalscorers played for 20 nations, the most (five) for Brazil. Another five came from other South American countries, with the remaining 21 coming from Europe.


title: FIFA World Cup top goalscorers

text: Ronaldo has the joint record for the most goals scored in World Cup knockout stage along with Leônidas and Kylian Mbappé, with a total of 8 goals. Ronaldo scored 8 goals in 3 tournaments (1998, 2002 and 2006) for Brazil. While, Brazil's Leônidas and France's Kylian Mbappé scored 8 goals in 2 tournaments (Leônidas: 1934 and 1938; +2 in third-place playoff), (Kylian Mbappé: 2018 and 2022; +3 in the final).


title: Vitamin K

text: Vitamin K refers to structurally similar, fat-soluble vitamers found in foods and marketed as dietary supplements. The human body requires vitamin K for post-synthesis modification of certain proteins that are required for blood coagulation (K from "Koagulation", German for "coagulation") or for controlling binding of calcium in bones and other tissues. The complete synthesis involves final modification of these so-called "Gla proteins" by the enzyme gamma-glutamyl carboxylase that uses vitamin K as a cofactor.


title: Vitamin K

text: Vitamin K is used in the liver as the intermediate VKH to deprotonate a glutamate residue and then is reprocessed into vitamin K through a vitamin K oxide intermediate. The presence of uncarboxylated proteins indicates a vitamin K deficiency. Carboxylation allows them to bind (chelate) calcium ions, which they cannot do otherwise. Without vitamin K, blood coagulation is seriously impaired, and uncontrolled bleeding occurs. Research suggests that deficiency of vitamin K may also weaken bones, potentially contributing to osteoporosis, and may promote calcification of arteries and other soft tissues.


title: Vitamin K

text: Chemically, the vitamin K family comprises 2-methyl-1,4-naphthoquinone (3-) derivatives. Vitamin K includes two natural vitamers: vitamin K (phylloquinone) and vitamin K (menaquinone). Vitamin K, in turn, consists of a number of related chemical subtypes, with differing lengths of carbon side chains made of isoprenoid groups of atoms. The two most studied ones are menaquinone-4 (MK-4) and menaquinone-7 (MK-7).


title: Vitamin K

text: Vitamin K is made by plants, and is found in highest amounts in green leafy vegetables, because it is directly involved in photosynthesis. It is active as a vitamin in animals and performs the classic functions of vitamin K, including its activity in the production of blood-clotting proteins. Animals may also convert it to vitamin K, variant MK-4. Bacteria in the gut flora can also convert K into MK-4. All forms of K other than MK-4 can only be produced by bacteria, which use these during anaerobic respiration. Vitamin K (menadione), a synthetic form of vitamin K, was used to treat vitamin K deficiency, but because it interferes with the function of glutathione, it is no longer used this way in human nutrition.


title: Vitamin K

text: Vitamin K refers to structurally similar, fat-soluble vitamers found in foods and marketed as dietary supplements. "Vitamin K" include several chemical compounds. These are similar in structure in that they share a quinone ring, but differ in the length and degree of saturation of the carbon tail and the number of repeating isoprene units in the side chain (see figures in Chemistry section). Plant-sourced forms are primarily vitamin K. Animal-sourced foods are primarily vitamin K. Vitamin K has several roles: an essential nutrient absorbed from food, a product synthesized and marketed as part of a multi-vitamin or as a single-vitamin dietary supplement, and a prescription medication for specific purposes.


title: Vitamin K

text: The US National Academy of Medicine does not distinguish between K and K – both are counted as vitamin K. When recommendations were last updated in 1998, sufficient information was not available to establish an estimated average requirement or recommended dietary allowance, terms that exist for most vitamins. In instances such as these, the academy defines adequate intakes (AIs) as amounts that appear to be sufficient to maintain good health, with the understanding that at some later date, AIs will be replaced by more exact information. The current AIs for adult women and men ages 19 and older are 90 and 120 μg/day, respectively, for pregnancy is 90 μg/day, and for lactation is 90 μg/day. For infants up to 12 months, the AI is 2.0–2.5 μg/day; for children ages 1–18 years the AI increases with age from 30 to 75 μg/day. As for safety, the academy sets tolerable upper intake levels (known as "upper limits") for vitamins and minerals when evidence is sufficient. Vitamin K has no upper limit, as human data for adverse effects from high doses are not sufficient.


title: Vitamin K

text: In the European Union, adequate intake is defined the same way as in the US. For women and men over age 18 the adequate intake is set at 70 μg/day, for pregnancy 70 μg/day, and for lactation 70 μg/day. For children ages 1–17 years, adequate intake values increase with age from 12 to 65 μg/day. Japan set adequate intakes for adult women at 65 μg/day and for men at 75 μg/day. The European Union and Japan also reviewed safety and concluded – as had the United States – that there was insufficient evidence to set an upper limit for vitamin K.


title: Vitamin K

text: For US food and dietary supplement labeling purposes, the amount in a serving is expressed as a percentage of daily value. For vitamin K labeling purposes, 100% of the daily value was 80 μg, but on 27 May 2016 it was revised upwards to 120 μg, to bring it into agreement with the highest value for adequate intake. Compliance with the updated labeling regulations was required by 1 January 2020 for manufacturers with US$10 million or more in annual food sales, and by 1 January 2021 for manufacturers with lower volume food sales. A table of the old and new adult daily values is provided at Reference Daily Intake.


title: Vitamin K

text: According to the Global Fortification Data Exchange, vitamin K deficiency is so rare that no countries require that foods be fortified. The World Health Organization does not have recommendations on vitamin K fortification.


title: Vitamin K

text: Vitamin K is primarily from plants, especially leafy green vegetables. Small amounts are provided by animal-sourced foods. Vitamin K is primarily from animal-sourced foods, with poultry and eggs much better sources than beef, pork or fish. One exception to the latter is "nattō", which is made from bacteria-fermented soybeans. It is a rich food source of vitamin K variant MK-7, made by the bacteria.


title: Vitamin K

text: Animal-sourced foods are a source of vitamin K The MK-4 form is from conversion of plant-sourced vitamin K in various tissues in the body.


title: Vitamin K

text: Because vitamin K aids mechanisms for blood clotting, its deficiency may lead to reduced blood clotting, and in severe cases, can result in reduced clotting, increased bleeding, and increased prothrombin time.


title: Vitamin K

text: Normal diets are usually not deficient in vitamin K, indicating that deficiency is uncommon in healthy children and adults. An exception may be infants who are at an increased risk of deficiency regardless of the vitamin status of the mother during pregnancy and breast feeding due to poor transfer of the vitamin to the placenta and low amounts of the vitamin in breast milk.


title: Vitamin K

text: Secondary deficiencies can occur in people who consume adequate amounts, but have malabsorption conditions, such as cystic fibrosis or chronic pancreatitis, and in people who have liver damage or disease. Secondary vitamin K deficiency can also occur in people who have a prescription for a vitamin K antagonist drug, such as warfarin. A drug associated with increased risk of vitamin K deficiency is cefamandole, although the mechanism is unknown.


title: Vitamin K

text: Vitamin K is given as an injection to newborns to prevent vitamin K deficiency bleeding. The blood clotting factors of newborn babies are roughly 30–60% that of adult values; this appears to be a consequence of poor transfer of the vitamin across the placenta, and thus low fetal plasma vitamin K. Occurrence of vitamin K deficiency bleeding in the first week of the infant's life is estimated at 0.25–1.7%, with a prevalence of 2–10 cases per 100,000 births. Human milk contains 0.85–9.2 μg/L (median 2.5 μg/L) of vitamin K, while infant formula is formulated in range of 24–175 μg/L. Late onset bleeding, with onset 2 to 12 weeks after birth, can be a consequence of exclusive breastfeeding, especially if there was no preventive treatment. Late onset prevalence reported at 35 cases per 100,000 live births in infants who had not received prophylaxis at or shortly after birth. Vitamin K deficiency bleeding occurs more frequently in the Asian population compared to the Caucasian population.


title: Vitamin K

text: Bleeding in infants due to vitamin K deficiency can be severe, leading to hospitalization, brain damage, and death. Intramuscular injection, typically given shortly after birth, is more effective in preventing vitamin K deficiency bleeding than oral administration, which calls for weekly dosing up to three months of age.


title: Vitamin K

text: Warfarin is an anticoagulant drug. It functions by inhibiting an enzyme that is responsible for recycling vitamin K to a functional state. As a consequence, proteins that should be modified by vitamin K are not, including proteins essential to blood clotting, and are thus not functional. The purpose of the drug is to reduce risk of inappropriate blood clotting, which can have serious, potentially fatal consequences. The proper anticoagulant action of warfarin is a function of vitamin K intake and drug dose. Due to differing absorption of the drug and amounts of vitamin K in the diet, dosing must be monitored and individualized for each patient. Some foods are so high in vitamin K that medical advice is to avoid those (examples: collard greens, spinach, turnip greens) entirely, and for foods with a modestly high vitamin content, keep consumption as consistent as possible, so that the combination of vitamin intake and warfarin keep the anti-clotting activity in the therapeutic range.


title: Vitamin K

text: Vitamin K is a treatment for bleeding events caused by overdose of the drug. The vitamin can be administered by mouth, intravenously or subcutaneously. Oral vitamin K is used in situations when a person's International normalised ratio is greater than 10 but there is no active bleeding. The newer anticoagulants apixaban, dabigatran and rivaroxaban are not vitamin K antagonists.


title: Vitamin K

text: Coumarin is used in the pharmaceutical industry as a precursor reagent in the synthesis of a number of synthetic anticoagulant pharmaceuticals. One subset, 4-hydroxycoumarins, act as vitamin K antagonists. They block the regeneration and recycling of vitamin K. Some of the 4-hydroxycoumarin anticoagulant class of chemicals are designed to have high potency and long residence times in the body, and these are used specifically as second generation rodenticides ("rat poison"). Death occurs after a period of several days to two weeks, usually from internal hemorrhaging. For humans, and for animals that have consumed either the rodenticide or rats poisoned by the rodenticide, treatment is prolonged administration of large amounts of vitamin K. This dosing must sometimes be continued for up to nine months in cases of poisoning by "superwarfarin" rodenticides such as brodifacoum. Oral vitamin K is preferred over other vitamin K routes of administration because it has fewer side effects.


title: Vitamin K

text: An increase in prothrombin time, a coagulation assay, has been used as an indicator of vitamin K status, but it lacks sufficient sensitivity and specificity for this application. Serum phylloquinone is the most commonly used marker of vitamin K status. Concentrations <0.15 µg/L are indicative of deficiency. Disadvantages include exclusion of the other vitamin K vitamers and interference from recent dietary intake. Vitamin K is required for the gamma-carboxylation of specific glutamic acid residues within the Gla domain of the 17 vitamin K–dependent proteins. Thus, a rise in uncarboxylated versions of these proteins is an indirect but sensitive and specific marker for vitamin K deficiency. If uncarboxylated prothrombin is being measured, this "Protein induced by Vitamin K Absence/antagonism (PIVKA-II)" is elevated in vitamin K deficiency. The test is used to assess risk of vitamin K–deficient bleeding in newborn infants. Osteocalcin is involved in calcification of bone tissue. The ratio of uncarboxylated osteocalcin to carboxylated osteocalcin increases with vitamin K deficiency. Vitamin K2 has been shown to lower this ratio and improve lumbar vertebrae bone mineral density. Matrix Gla protein must undergo vitamin K dependent phosphorylation and carboxylation. Elevated plasma concentration of dephosphorylated, uncarboxylated MGP is indicative of vitamin K deficiency.


title: Vitamin K

text: No known toxicity is associated with high oral doses of the vitamin K or vitamin K forms of vitamin K, so regulatory agencies from US, Japan and European Union concur that no tolerable upper intake levels needs to be set. However, vitamin K has been associated with severe adverse reactions such as bronchospasm and cardiac arrest when given intravenously. The reaction is described as a nonimmune-mediated anaphylactoid reaction, with incidence of 3 per 10,000 treatments. The majority of reactions occurred when polyoxyethylated castor oil was used as the solubilizing agent.


title: Vitamin K

text: Forms not found in nature, and thus not "vitamins", are menadione and 4-amino-2-methyl-1-naphthol ("K"). Menadione, a synthetic compound sometimes referred to as vitamin K, is used in the pet food industry because once consumed it is converted to vitamin K. The US Food and Drug Administration has banned this form from sale as a human dietary supplement because large doses have been shown to cause allergic reactions, hemolytic anemia, and cytotoxicity in liver cells. Research with K suggests it may inhibit fungal growth in fruit juices.


title: Vitamin K

text: The structure of phylloquinone, Vitamin K, is marked by the presence of a phytyl sidechain. Vitamin K has an (E) trans double bond responsible for its biological activity, and two chiral centers on the phytyl sidechain. Vitamin K appears as a yellow viscous liquid at room temperature due to its absorption of violet light in the UV-Vis Spectra. The structures of menaquinones, vitamin K, are marked by the polyisoprenyl side chain present in the molecule that can contain four to 13 isoprenyl units. MK-4 is the most common form. The large size of Vitamin K gives many different peaks in mass spectroscopy, most of which involve derivatives of the naphthoquinone ring base and the alkyl side chain.


title: Vitamin K

text: In animals, the MK-4 form of vitamin K is produced by conversion of vitamin K in the testes, pancreas, and arterial walls. While major questions still surround the biochemical pathway for this transformation, the conversion is not dependent on gut bacteria, as it occurs in germ-free rats and in parenterally administered K in rats. There is evidence that the conversion proceeds by removal of the phytyl tail of K to produce menadione (also referred to as vitamin K) as an intermediate, which is then prenylated to produce MK-4.


title: Vitamin K

text: In animals, vitamin K is involved in the carboxylation of certain glutamate residues in proteins to form gamma-carboxyglutamate (Gla) residues. The modified residues are often (but not always) situated within specific protein domains called Gla domains. Gla residues are usually involved in binding calcium, and are essential for the biological activity of all known Gla proteins.


title: Vitamin K

text: 17 human proteins with Gla domains have been discovered; they play key roles in the regulation of three physiological processes:


title: Vitamin K

text: Vitamin K is absorbed through the jejunum and ileum in the small intestine. The process requires bile and pancreatic juices. Estimates for absorption are on the order of 80% for vitamin K in its free form (as a dietary supplement) but much lower when present in foods. For example, the absorption of vitamin K from kale and spinach – foods identified as having a high vitamin K content – are on the order of 4% to 17% regardless of whether raw or cooked. Less information is available for absorption of vitamin K from foods.


title: Vitamin K

text: The intestinal membrane protein Niemann–Pick C1-like 1 (NPC1L1) mediates cholesterol absorption. Animal studies show that it also factors into absorption of vitamins E and K. The same study predicts potential interaction between SR-BI and CD36 proteins as well. The drug ezetimibe inhibits NPC1L1 causing a reduction in cholesterol absorption in humans, and in animal studies, also reduces vitamin E and vitamin K absorption. An expected consequence would be that administration of ezetimibe to people who take warfarin (a vitamin K antagonist) would potentiate the warfarin effect. This has been confirmed in humans.


title: Vitamin K

text: Vitamin K is distributed differently within animals depending on its specific homologue. Vitamin K is mainly present in the liver, heart and pancreas, while MK-4 is better represented in the kidneys, brain and pancreas. The liver also contains longer chain homologues MK-7 to MK-13.


title: Vitamin K

text: The function of vitamin K in the animal cell is to add a carboxylic acid functional group to a glutamate (Glu) amino acid residue in a protein, to form a gamma-carboxyglutamate (Gla) residue. This is a somewhat uncommon posttranslational modification of the protein, which is then known as a "Gla protein". The presence of two −COOH (carboxylic acid) groups on the same carbon in the gamma-carboxyglutamate residue allows it to chelate calcium ions. The binding of calcium ions in this way very often triggers the function or binding of Gla-protein enzymes, such as the so-called vitamin K–dependent clotting factors discussed below.


title: Vitamin K

text: Within the cell, vitamin K participates in a cyclic process. The vitamin undergoes electron reduction to a reduced form called vitamin K hydroquinone, catalyzed by the enzyme vitamin K epoxide reductase (VKOR). Another enzyme then oxidizes vitamin K hydroquinone to allow carboxylation of Glu to Gla; this enzyme is called gamma-glutamyl carboxylase or the vitamin K–dependent carboxylase. The carboxylation reaction only proceeds if the carboxylase enzyme is able to oxidize vitamin K hydroquinone to vitamin K epoxide at the same time. The carboxylation and epoxidation reactions are said to be coupled. Vitamin K epoxide is then restored to vitamin K by VKOR. The reduction and subsequent reoxidation of vitamin K coupled with carboxylation of Glu is called the vitamin K cycle. Humans are rarely deficient in vitamin K because, in part, vitamin K is continuously recycled in cells.


title: Vitamin K

text: Warfarin and other 4-hydroxycoumarins block the action of VKOR. This results in decreased concentrations of vitamin K and vitamin K hydroquinone in tissues, such that the carboxylation reaction catalyzed by the glutamyl carboxylase is inefficient. This results in the production of clotting factors with inadequate Gla. Without Gla on the amino termini of these factors, they no longer bind stably to the blood vessel endothelium and cannot activate clotting to allow formation of a clot during tissue injury. As it is impossible to predict what dose of warfarin will give the desired degree of clotting suppression, warfarin treatment must be carefully monitored to avoid underdose and overdose.


title: Vitamin K

text: The following human Gla-containing proteins ("Gla proteins") have been characterized to the level of primary structure: blood coagulation factors II (prothrombin), VII, IX, and X, anticoagulant protein C and protein S, and the factor X-targeting protein Z. The bone Gla protein osteocalcin, the calcification-inhibiting matrix Gla protein (MGP), the cell growth regulating growth arrest specific gene 6 protein, and the four transmembrane Gla proteins, the function of which is at present unknown. The Gla domain is responsible for high-affinity binding of calcium ions (Ca) to Gla proteins, which is often necessary for their conformation, and always necessary for their function.


title: Vitamin K

text: Gla proteins are known to occur in a wide variety of vertebrates: mammals, birds, reptiles, and fish. The venom of a number of Australian snakes acts by activating the human blood-clotting system. In some cases, activation is accomplished by snake Gla-containing enzymes that bind to the endothelium of human blood vessels and catalyze the conversion of procoagulant clotting factors into activated ones, leading to unwanted and potentially deadly clotting.


title: Vitamin K

text: Another interesting class of invertebrate Gla-containing proteins is synthesized by the fish-hunting snail "Conus geographus". These snails produce a venom containing hundreds of neuroactive peptides, or conotoxins, which is sufficiently toxic to kill an adult human. Several of the conotoxins contain two to five Gla residues.


title: Vitamin K

text: Vitamin K is an important chemical in green plants, where it functions as an electron acceptor in photosystem I during photosynthesis. For this reason, vitamin K is found in large quantities in the photosynthetic tissues of plants (green leaves, and dark green leafy vegetables such as romaine lettuce, kale, and spinach), but it occurs in far smaller quantities in other plant tissues.


title: Vitamin K

text: Many bacteria, including "Escherichia coli" found in the large intestine, can synthesize vitamin K (MK-7 up to MK-11), but not vitamin K. Green algae and some species of cyanobacteria (sometimes referred to as blue-green algae) are able to synthesize vitamin K. In the vitamin K synthesizing bacteria, menaquinone transfers two electrons between two different small molecules, during oxygen-independent metabolic energy production processes (anaerobic respiration). For example, a small molecule with an excess of electrons (also called an electron donor) such as lactate, formate, or NADH, with the help of an enzyme, passes two electrons to menaquinone. The menaquinone, with the help of another enzyme, then transfers these two electrons to a suitable oxidant, such as fumarate or nitrate (also called an electron acceptor). Adding two electrons to fumarate or nitrate converts the molecule to succinate or nitrite plus water, respectively. Some of these reactions generate a cellular energy source, ATP, in a manner similar to eukaryotic cell aerobic respiration, except the final electron acceptor is not molecular oxygen, but fumarate or nitrate. In aerobic respiration, the final oxidant is molecular oxygen, which accepts four electrons from an electron donor such as NADH to be converted to water. "E. coli", as facultative anaerobes, can carry out both aerobic respiration and menaquinone-mediated anaerobic respiration.


title: Vitamin K

text: In 1929, Danish scientist Henrik Dam investigated the role of cholesterol by feeding chickens a cholesterol-depleted diet. He initially replicated experiments reported by scientists at the Ontario Agricultural College. McFarlane, Graham and Richardson, working on the chick feed program at OAC, had used chloroform to remove all fat from chick chow. They noticed that chicks fed only fat-depleted chow developed hemorrhages and started bleeding from tag sites. Dam found that these defects could not be restored by adding purified cholesterol to the diet. It appeared that – together with the cholesterol – a second compound had been extracted from the food, and this compound was called the coagulation vitamin. The new vitamin received the letter K because the initial discoveries were reported in a German journal, in which it was designated as "Koagulationsvitamin". Edward Adelbert Doisy of Saint Louis University did much of the research that led to the discovery of the structure and chemical nature of vitamin K. Dam and Doisy shared the 1943 Nobel Prize for medicine for their work on vitamin K and K published in 1939. Several laboratories synthesized the compound(s) in 1939.


title: Vitamin K

text: For several decades, the vitamin K–deficient chick model was the only method of quantifying vitamin K in various foods: the chicks were made vitamin K–deficient and subsequently fed with known amounts of vitamin K–containing food. The extent to which blood coagulation was restored by the diet was taken as a measure for its vitamin K content. Three groups of physicians independently found this: Biochemical Institute, University of Copenhagen (Dam and Johannes Glavind), University of Iowa Department of Pathology (Emory Warner, Kenneth Brinkhous, and Harry Pratt Smith), and the Mayo Clinic (Hugh Butt, Albert Snell, and Arnold Osterberg).


title: Vitamin K

text: The first published report of successful treatment with vitamin K of life-threatening hemorrhage in a jaundiced patient with prothrombin deficiency was made in 1938 by Smith, Warner, and Brinkhous.


title: Vitamin K

text: The precise function of vitamin K was not discovered until 1974, when prothrombin, a blood coagulation protein, was confirmed to be vitamin K dependent. When the vitamin is present, prothrombin has amino acids near the amino terminus of the protein as γ-carboxyglutamate instead of glutamate, and is able to bind calcium, part of the clotting process.


title: Vitamin K

text: Vitamin K is required for the gamma-carboxylation of osteocalcin in bone. The risk of osteoporosis, assessed via bone mineral density and fractures, was not affected for people on warfarin therapy – a vitamin K antagonist. Higher dietary intake of vitamin K may modestly decrease the risk of fractures. However, there is mixed evidence to support a claim that vitamin K supplementation reduces risk of bone fractures. For women who were post-menopausal and for all people diagnosed with osteoporosis, supplementation trials reported increases in bone mineral density, a reduction to the odds of any clinical fractures but no significant difference for vertebral fractures. There is a subset of literature on supplementation with vitamin K MK-4 and bone health. A meta-analysis reported a decrease in the ratio of uncarboxylated osteocalcin to carboxylated, an increase in lumbar spine bone mineral density, but no significant differences for vertebral fractures.


title: Vitamin K

text: Matrix Gla protein is a vitamin K-dependent protein found in bone, but also in soft tissues such as arteries, where it appears to function as an anti-calcification protein. In animal studies, animals that lack the gene for MGP exhibit calcification of arteries and other soft tissues. In humans, Keutel syndrome is a rare recessive genetic disorder associated with abnormalities in the gene coding for MGP and characterized by abnormal diffuse cartilage calcification. These observations led to a theory that in humans, inadequately carboxylated MGP, due to low dietary intake of the vitamin, could result in increased risk of arterial calcification and coronary heart disease.


title: Vitamin K

text: In meta-analyses of population studies, low intake of vitamin K was associated with inactive MGP, arterial calcification and arterial stiffness. Lower dietary intakes of vitamin K and vitamin K were also associated with higher coronary heart disease. When blood concentration of circulating vitamin K was assessed there was an increased risk in all cause mortality linked to low concentration. In contrast to these population studies, a review of randomized trials using supplementation with either vitamin K or vitamin K reported no role in mitigating vascular calcification or reducing arterial stiffness. The trials were too short to assess any impact on coronary heart disease or mortality.


title: Vitamin K

text: Population studies suggest that vitamin K status may have roles in inflammation, brain function, endocrine function and an anti-cancer effect. For all of these, there is not sufficient evidence from intervention trials to draw any conclusions. From a review of observational trials, long-term use of vitamin K antagonists as anticoagulation therapy is associated with lower cancer incidence in general. There are conflicting reviews as to whether agonists reduce the risk of prostate cancer.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: The Bell AH-1 Cobra is a single-engined attack helicopter developed and manufactured by the American rotorcraft manufacturer Bell Helicopter. A member of the prolific Huey family, the AH-1 is also referred to as the HueyCobra or Snake.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: The AH-1 was rapidly developed as an interim gunship in response to the United States Army's needs in the Vietnam War. It used the same engine, transmission and rotor system of the Bell UH-1 Iroquois, which had already proven itself to be a capable platform during the conflict, but paired it with a redesigned narrow fuselage among other features. The original AH-1, being a dedicated attack helicopter, came equipped with stub wings for various weapons, a chin-mounted gun turret, and an armored tandem cockpit, from which its was operated by a pilot and gunner. Its design was shaped to fulfil a need for a dedicated armed escort for transport helicopter, giving the latter greater survivability in contested environments. On 7 September 1965, the "Model 209" prototype performed its maiden flight; after rapidly gaining the support of various senior officials, quantity production of the type proceeded rapidly with little revision.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: During June 1967, the first examples of the AH-1 entered service with the US Army and was promptly deployed to the Vietnam theatre. It commonly provided fire support to friendly ground forces, escorted transport helicopters, and flew in "hunter killer" teams by pairing with Hughes OH-6A Cayuse scout helicopters. In the Vietnam War alone, the Cobra fleet cumulatively chalked up in excess of one million operational hours; roughly 300 AH-1s were also lost in combat. In addition to the US Army, various other branches of the US military also opted to acquire the type, particularly the United States Marine Corps. Furthermore, numerous export sales were completed with several overseas countries, including Israel, Japan, and Turkey.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: For several decades, the AH-1 formed the core of the US Army's attack helicopter fleet, seeing combat in Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, and the Gulf War. In US Army service, the Cobra was progressively replaced by the newer and more capable Boeing AH-64 Apache during the 1990s, with the final examples being withdrawn during 2001. The Israeli Air Force (IAF) operated the Cobra most prolifically along its land border with Lebanon, using its fleet intensively during the 1982 Lebanon War. Turkish AH-1s have seen regular combat with Kurdish insurgents near Turkey's southern borders. Upgraded versions of the Cobra have been developed, such as the twin engined AH-1 SeaCobra/SuperCobra and the experimental Bell 309 KingCobra. Furthermore, surplus AH-1 helicopters have been reused for other purposes, including civilian ones; numerous examples have been converted to perform aerial firefighting operations.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: Closely related to the development of the Bell AH-1 is the story of the Bell UH-1 Iroquois transport helicopter—an icon of the Vietnam War and one of the most numerous helicopter types built. The UH-1 made the theory of air cavalry practical, as the new tactics called for US forces to be highly mobile across a wide area. Unlike before, they would not stand and fight long battles, and they would not stay and hold positions. Instead, the plan was that the troops carried by fleets of UH-1 "Hueys" would range across the country, to fight the enemy at times and places of their own choice.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: The massive expansion of American military presence in Vietnam opened a new era of war from the air. The linchpin of US Army tactics was the helicopters, and the protection of those helicopters became a vital role. It became clear that unarmed troop helicopters were vulnerable against ground fire from Viet Cong and North Vietnamese troops, particularly as they approached landing zones to disembark or embark troops. Without friendly support from artillery or ground forces, the only way to pacify a landing zone was from the air, preferably with an aircraft that could closely escort the transport helicopters, and loiter over the landing zone as the battle progressed. By 1962, a small number of armed UH-1As were used as escorts, armed with multiple machine guns and rocket mounts. However, these makeshift gunships came with considerable tradeoffs, particularly being barely able to keep up with the troop transports they were intended to protect.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: While some officials within the Pentagon, particularly those within the US Army, had recognised the potential value of purpose-built armed rotary aircraft as early as 1962 and were keen to see such a vehicle developed promptly, the issue was complicated in part due to inter-service politics. The United States Air Force (USAF) largely held the opinion that most forms of US military aircraft should be operated only by their service, and that the US Army would be intruding into their domain by developing a complex armed aerial combatant, and ought to be largely restricted to transport aircraft. Meanwhile, some Army officials were concerned that the USAF did not take the close air support (CAS) mission as seriously as it ought to be, and that response times of 30 minutes or more for fixed-wing aircraft would be unacceptable.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: Bell had been investigating helicopter gunships since the late 1950s, paying particular attention to the Algerian War, in which French forces mounted weapons onto helicopters to fight the growing insurgency. The company created a mockup of its D-255 helicopter gunship concept, named "Iroquois Warrior". The Iroquois Warrior was planned to be a purpose-built attack aircraft based on UH-1B components with a new, slender airframe and a two-seat, tandem cockpit. It featured a grenade launcher in a ball turret on the nose, a 20 mm belly-mounted gun pod, and stub wings for mounting rockets or SS.10 anti-tank missiles.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: In June 1962, Bell displayed the mockup to US Army officials, hoping to solicit funding for further development; rival manufacturers issued protests to this approach, alleging that it was an attempt by Bell to circumvent the competitive process. Nevertheless, the Army was interested and awarded Bell a proof-of-concept contract in December 1962. Bell modified a Model 47 into the Model 207 Sioux Scout which first flew in July 1963. The Sioux Scout had all the key features of a modern attack helicopter: a tandem cockpit, stub wings for weapons, and a chin-mounted gun turret. After evaluating the Sioux Scout in early 1964, the Army was impressed but also felt that it was undersized, underpowered, and that the Sioux Scout was generally not suited for practical operations.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: The Army's solution to the shortcomings of the Sioux Scout was to launch the Advanced Aerial Fire Support System (AAFSS) competition. This called for a heavily armed helicopter capable of at least 200 MPH. A total of seven companies, including Bell, opted to respond to the requirement. It was out of the AAFSS program that the Lockheed AH-56 Cheyenne emerged, a heavy attack helicopter with high speed capability. During testing, it proved to be too sophisticated and costly, and was ultimately canceled in 1972 after ten years of development. In its place, the Advanced Attack Helicopter program was launched. Under this initiative, the Army sought a conventional attack helicopter with a greater level of survivability.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: Despite the Army's preference for the AAFSS program —for which Bell Helicopter was not selected to compete— the company persisted with their own idea of a smaller and lighter gunship, noting that Lockheed had little experience in developing rotorcraft and correctly predicted that it would encounter considerable difficulties. Bell employee Mike Folse played a key role in developing this new gunship, which he intentionally based around the existing UH-1 on the rationale that, while the Army could not purchase a completely original helicopter without a formal design competition, the service was able to procure a modification of an aircraft that was already in its inventory without invoking such hurdles. This initiative quickly caught the approval of Bell's senior management team.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: In January 1965, Bell elected to invest $1 million to proceed with the concept's detailed design. Mating the proven transmission, the "540" rotor system of the UH-1C augmented by a Stability Control Augmentation System (SCAS), and the T53 turboshaft engine of the UH-1 with the design philosophy of the Sioux Scout, Bell produced the "Model 209". It largely resembled the "Iroquois Warrior" mockup, particularly in its cockpit and tail book; in broad visual terms, there was relatively little shared between the proposed design and the UH-1. Despite appearance, much of the Model 209's major elements, such as the tail rotor and much of the dynamic systems, were identical. Roughly 80 percent of its components already had existing Huey part numbers.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: On 3 September 1965, Bell rolled out its Model 209 prototype, and four days later it made its maiden flight, only eight months after the project's go-ahead and slightly under budget. This first flight was witnessed by around 20 US Army officials, the service having had no awareness of the project's existence prior to this, and rapidly drew the government's attention. One early test flight was met with a reportedly enthusiastic visit by US secretary of defense Robert McNamara. Bell claimed at this phase of the project that production units could be ready for service within one year


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: As the Vietnam War proceeded, pressure accumulated in favor of the Model 209. Attacks on US forces were increasing and, by the end of June 1965, there were already 50,000 US ground troops in Vietnam. 1965 was also the deadline for AAFSS selection, but the program would become stuck in technical difficulties and political bickering. The US Army needed an interim gunship for Vietnam and it approached five separate companies with its request to provide a quick solution. Submissions came in for armed variants of the Boeing-Vertol ACH-47A, Kaman HH-2C Tomahawk, Piasecki 16H Pathfinder, Sikorsky S-61, and the Bell 209.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: During April 1966, Bell's submission emerged victorious in an evaluation against the other rival helicopters. The US Army promptly signed the first production contract, ordering an initial batch of 110 aircraft. By the end of the year, rapid follow-on orders had increased this to 500 Cobras. Bell added "Cobra" to the UH-1's Huey nickname to produce its "HueyCobra" name for the 209. The Army applied the "Cobra" name to its AH-1G designation for the helicopter. The Bell 209 demonstrator was used for the next six years to test weapons and fit of equipment. An additional use for the demonstrator was participating in marketing initiatives. It was also modified to match the AH-1 production standard by the early 1970s. The demonstrator was retired to the Patton Museum at Fort Knox, Kentucky and converted to approximately its original appearance.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: The Bell 209 design was modified in several respects for production. The retractable skids were replaced by simpler fixed skids; this was not due to any recorded design flaw or serviceably, but it was feared that the landing gear bay could become inundated with mud. Furthermore, a new wide-chord rotor blade was adopted. It was also decided that a plexiglass canopy should replace the Model 209's armored glass canopy, which was heavy enough to negatively impact performance. The umbrella-shaped dive brake was deleted, having reportedly self-destructed during its first test flight.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: Numerous changes of the design were incorporated after the Cobra had entered service. The principal amongst these changes was the repositioning of the tail rotor from the helicopter's left side to the right, which facilitated an increase in the effectiveness of the tail rotor. The AH-1 was the first U.S. Army helicopter not named for a Native American people since the practice began with the H-13 Sioux and continued with the UH-1 Iroquois, AH-56 Cheyenne, OH-58 Kiowa, and later helicopters.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: Within its first decade of service, the US Army had put the original Cobra model through various exercises and operations, which highlighted both the attack helicopter's promise and areas in which it could be improved. By 1972, the US Army openly sought an improved anti-armor capability. Under the Improved Cobra Armament Program (ICAP), trials of eight AH-1s fitted with TOW missiles were conducted in October 1973. After passing qualification tests the following year, Bell was contracted with upgrading 101 AH-1Gs to the TOW-capable AH-1Q configuration. While early-production examples were not compatible with night vision goggles, the cockpit instrumentation of later Cobras was altered to facilitate their use.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: Further variants of the Cobra were promptly developed, with both new-build models and early production examples being modified to incorporate the improvements. During March 1978, the US Army opted to procure a batch of 100 new-build Cobras that featured a new T-shaped instrument panel, improved composite rotor blades, revised transmission and gearboxes, the M128 helmet-mounted sight, and the M28A3 armament system. A major feature was the adoption of the more powerful T53 engine. Designated AH-1S, the Cobra was upgraded in three stages, culminating with the AH-1F. The AH-1F integrated numerous countermeasures, including an infrared jammer, a radar jammer, and a hot plume exhaust suppressor.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: The U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) quickly became interested in the Cobra, opting to order an improved twin-engine version in 1968 under the designation AH-1J. During the early 1970s, the USMC proceeded to order an upgraded model, the AH-1T, which featured dynamic elements derived from the abortive Bell 309 KingCobra; as such, it featured a longer fuselage and tailboom. These dynamic changes were combined with the adoption of heavier armaments, which provided the USMC with an effective anti-armour capacity, unlike the preceding model. The USMC's interest in the Cobra would lead to the production of more twin-engine variants of the helicopter.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: The Bell AH-1 Cobra is a dedicated attack helicopter, built to provide close air support and to escort friendly troop transports. The visual design of the Cobra was intentionally made to be sleek and be akin to that of a jet fighter. Aviation author Stanley McGowen observed that its appearance differed radically from any prior rotorcraft designed by Bell, possessing a relatively narrow fuselage and a then-unusual cockpit arrangement. This cockpit was covered by a large fighter-like canopy and its occupants protected by armor, such included tempered-steel seats and personal body armor. It was operated by both a pilot and gunner, who were seated in a stepped tandem arrangement in which the commander was placed in the rear seat while the gunner occupied the forward position. This forward position provided a higher level of visibility to that of the rear seat. Both positions were provided with flying controls while both crew would typically be certified pilots, enabling control of the Cobra to be exchanged quickly through the course of the mission.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: Much of the Cobra's armaments could be installed upon the multiple hardpoints that were attached to the stub wings set on either side of the fuselage. In comparison to armed UH-1s, the Cobra would typically carried twice as much ammunition and arrive on station in half the time, it also had three times the loiter time, which enabled the type to arrive in a designated landing zone ahead of transport helicopters to clear it, provide support fire while they are present, and to continue fighting as they withdraw. The slim profile of the helicopter allegedly provided defensive benefits by making it harder for opponents to accurately hit it with small arms fire, although man-portable air-defense system (MANPADS) did prove to be effective against the Cobra. Particularly vulnerable areas included the tail rotor drive shaft and to the main transmission.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: Typically, the Cobra would avoid hovering at any point in an active engagement; instead, emphasis was placed on maintaining speed and mobility. The gunner often fired the chin-mounted cannon with the intention of suppressing hostile targets in between barrages of 2.75-inch rockets, held in pods upon the stub wings, which were fired by the back-seater. It was unusual for Cobras to operate alone; instead, two or more would be dispatched and teamwork encouraged, leading to hunter-killer tactics being used to flush out and eliminate ground targets. Pairings with other helicopters, such as the Bell OH-58 Kiowa scout helicopter, were also common occurrences. Radio communications were handled by the gunner. Regardless of mission profile, low altitude flying was commonplace.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: By June 1967, the first AH-1G HueyCobras had been delivered. Originally designated as UH-1H, the "A" for attack designation was soon adopted and when the improved UH-1D became the UH-1H, the HueyCobra became the AH-1G. The AH-1 was initially considered a variant of the H-1 line, resulting in the G series letter.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: The first six AH-1s arrived at Bien Hoa Air Base, South Vietnam on 30 August 1967 for combat testing by the U.S. Army Cobra New Equipment Training Team. On 4 September, the type scored its first combat kill by sinking a sampan boat, killing four Viet Cong. The first AH-1 unit, the 334th Assault Helicopter Company, was declared operational on 6 October 1967. The Army operated the Cobra continuously up to the U.S. withdrawal from South Vietnam in 1973. Typically, the AH-1 provided fire support for ground forces and escorted transport helicopters, in addition to other roles, including aerial rocket artillery (ARA) battalions in the two Airmobile divisions. They also formed "hunter killer" teams by pairing with OH-6A Cayuse scout helicopters; a team normally comprised a single OH-6 flying slow and low to find enemy forces. If the OH-6 drew fire, the Cobra could strike at the then revealed enemy.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: On 12 September 1968, Capt. Ronald Fogleman was flying an F-100 Super Sabre when the aircraft was shot down and he ejected north of Bien Hoa. Fogleman became the only pilot to be rescued by holding on to an Army AH-1G's deployed gun-panel door. Bell built 1,116 AH-1Gs for the U.S. Army between 1967 and 1973, and the Cobras chalked up over a million operational hours in Vietnam; the number of Cobras in service peaked at 1,081. Out of nearly 1,110 AH-1s that were delivered between 1967 and 1973, approximately 300 were lost to a combination of combat and accidents during the conflict. During Operation Lam Son 719 in Southeastern Laos, 26 U.S Army AH-1Gs were destroyed while a further 158 sustained some level of damage.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: The U.S. Marine Corps also operated the AH-1G Cobra in Vietnam for a short time before acquiring the twin-engine AH-1J Cobras. The AH-1Gs had been adopted by the Marines as an interim measure, a total of 38 helicopters having been transferred from the U.S. Army to the Marines in 1969.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: During Operation Urgent Fury, the invasion of Grenada in 1983, several AH-1T Cobras were deployed to fly close air support and helicopter escort missions. On the first day of the invasion, two of the four Cobras involved were lost to anti-aircraft fire in the attack on Fort Frederick.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: During 1989, Army Cobras participated in Operation Just Cause, the U.S. invasion of Panama. It operated alongside its eventual successor in US Army service, the Boeing AH-64 Apache, for the first time during the combat in Panama.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: During Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in the Gulf War (1990–91), both the Cobras and SuperCobras deployed in a support role. The USMC deployed 91 AH-1W SuperCobras while the US Army operated 140 AH-1 Cobras of various models in the theatre; these were typically operated from dispersed forward operating bases in close proximity to Saudi Arabia's border with Iraq. Three AH-1s were lost in accidents during fighting and afterward. Cobras successfully destroyed large numbers of Iraqi armored vehicles and various other targets during the intense fighting of the conflict.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: US Cobras were deployed in further operations across the 1990s. Army Cobras provided support for the US humanitarian intervention during Operation Restore Hope in Somalia in 1993. They were also employed during the US invasion of Haiti in 1994.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: During the 1990s, the US Army gradually phased out its Cobra fleet, completely retiring the type from active service in March 1999. The service, which had long sought a more capable successor to the Cobra, had procured a large fleet of AH-64 Apaches since receiving the first example of the type during early 1984. The withdrawn AH-1s were typically offered to other potential operators, usually NATO allies. The Army retired the AH-1 from its reserves in September 2001. The retired AH-1s were then disposed of, often through sales to overseas customers; the final portion of the fleet was liquidated in 2010. Some were also given to the USDA's Forest Service. The US Marine Corps retired the AH-1W SuperCobra in 2020, and continues to operate the AH-1Z Viper.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: Israel was an early export customer for the Cobra, purchasing six AH-1Gs from the US Army. The government was keen to procure a capable attack helicopter as recent combat in the Yom-Kippur War had shown a need for a capable platform for countering enemy armour. The type was operated by the Israeli Air Force (IAF), with the First Attack Helicopter Squadron formally commencing on 1 December 1977. The service named the type as the "Tzefa" (, for Viper).


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: On 9 May 1979, the IAF's Cobras performed their first attack, firing four Orev missiles at a house near Tyre, Lebanon, that was occupied by militants. Israel's fleet of Cobras was particularly active on the Lebanon front, having participated in the fighting there for in excess of 20 years. They were intensively used during the 1982 Lebanon War to destroy Syrian armor and fortifications alike, being reportedly responsible for the destruction of dozens of Syrian ground vehicles. In one operation alone, a pair of IAF Cobras destroyed three enemy tanks and one truck. Based upon its performance in the conflict, it was decided to remove the rocket pods and increase the amount of ammunition carried for the cannon instead. Other operational changes included a greater emphasis on cooperation with ground units to avoid friendly fire incidents.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: Largely due to a US embargo that prevented the purchase of further Cobras, Israel procured alternative platforms instead, including around 20 McDonnell Douglas MD 500 Defenders in late 1979. Between 1983 and 1985, by which time the embargo had been lifted, 24 new Cobras were purchased; the expanded fleet enabled the creation of a second squadron, known as the Fighting Family Squadron, on 1 June 1985. During 1990, the IAF received its first Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, having acquired a fleet of 42 by 2000. At the time of the Apache's procurement, there was considerable political controversy over the IAF's decision to overlook upgrades to its existing Cobra fleet in favour of acquiring an entirely separate model of attack helicopter.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the Cobras continued to play a role in major operations against groups such as Hezbollah, including Operations "Accountability" and "Grapes of Wrath", in southern Lebanon. During August 1996, the IAF's Cobra fleet was expanded yet again via 14 surplus US Army AH-1F Cobras being acquired, some of which were used by the front line squadrons while others were operated exclusively for flight training purposes. During the 2000s, the Cobra's precision strike capability was bolstered by the adoption of the Spike missile.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: During late 2013, Israel opted to retire the last of its 33 AH-1 Cobras from front line service, largely due to budget cuts. Its role was taken up entirely by the IAI's squadrons of AH-64 attack helicopters, while an extensive fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) took over the role of patrolling combat zones. The Cobra fleet was considerably older than the Apaches, which contributed to several fatal crashes of the type. The Cobras were also more expensive to maintain than UAVs and their use exposed pilots to attacks from man-portable air-defense systems operated by guerrilla groups. Around the same time frame, the IAF also pursued upgrades to its AH-64 fleet. In late 2014, Israel transferred 16 of the recently-withdrawn Cobras to the Royal Jordanian Air Force to bolster the numbers of their existing fleet.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: Japan manufactured 89 AH-1S Cobras under license by Fuji Heavy Industries from 1984 to 2000. The type is used by the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, and are Step 3 models, which are roughly the equivalent to the U.S. Army's AH-1Fs. The engine is the T53-K-703 turboshaft, which Kawasaki Heavy Industries produced under license. During the 2010s, Japan was examining options for procuring a fleet of new rotorcraft to replace its aging Cobras; it has been specified that the replacement helicopter would need to be optimized for marine use and able to operate from expeditionary airstrips or sea bases, and that between 30 and 50 such craft would be purchased.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: In December 2022, the Japanese government decided to replace 47 AH-1S, 12 AH-64D, 33 OH-1, and 26 U-125A with unmanned aerial vehicles. Japan plans to increase its defense budget from 1.24% of GDP in fiscal 2021 to around 2.0% within 10 years, and has decided to retire these helicopters and aircraft as part of an effort to spend its defense budget efficiently.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: Jordan obtained an initial batch of 24 AH-1Fs during the late 1980s. In 2001, nine additional ex-US Army Cobras were acquired to supplement the fleet. During 2010, Jordan transferred 16 AH-1F helicopters to Pakistan under a US-sponsored support program that provided Islamabad with 40 AH-1 refurbished helicopters.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: In late 2014, Israel and Jordan came to an agreement under which the former transferred 16 ex-IAF Cobras to the Royal Jordanian Air Force. The deal was publicly stated to be for the purpose of increasing border security, which was viewed as a pressing concern of both nations due to the threats posed by Islamic State (IS) militants, as well as by other insurgent groups, at that time.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: The Royal Jordanian Air Force has at least one squadron of Cobras in service, and is supposed to have used them in combat in Iraq and Syria.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: Turkey bought ten AH-1Ws in the early 1990s, and supplemented them with 32 ex-US Army Cobras. These additional units included several TAH-1P trainers while the majority were brought up to the AH-1F standard. During the 2010s, Turkish Cobras have repeatedly seen combat in operations against Kurdish insurgents around Turkey's borders with both Syria and Iraq. Several Cobras have reportedly been lost to enemy fire during these operations. Amid the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt, Turkish Cobras were alleged to have fired upon several police vehicles.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: Between 1984 and 1986, Pakistan was supplied with an initial batch of 20 AH-1S gunships by the US; these were later upgraded with the C-NITE thermal imaging package. Operated by Pakistan Army Aviation, the service first used Cobra overseas in Somalia during the United Nations Operation in Somalia II, where a single squadron was deployed in 1994. Pakistani Cobras subsequently saw action in Sierra Leone.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: By 2013, Pakistan reportedly operated a fleet of 35 AH-1F helicopters. Maintaining these aircraft has been difficult, but possible through commercial channels. Additionally, the US government provided $750,000 through 2013 to update the existing AH-1F/S Cobra fleet. However, controversy over how much of this funding has actually been spent on Pakistan's Cobras has also been present throughout the 2010s. Turkey has also become a key supplier of spare parts for the Cobra, often free of cost, to Pakistan. During the 2010s, Pakistan lost a total of three aircraft in separate incidents.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: Pakistan repeatedly sought the Bell AH-1 SuperCobra from the US to supplement and replace its current AH-1 Cobras. Attempts to acquire the AH-1Z Viper or AH-64 Apache from the US were rejected, so Pakistan turned to buying other foreign attack helicopters. Possible candidates have included the Turkish T129, the Chinese CAIC Z-10, and the Russian Mi-35 Hind. In November 2014, Russia approved the sale of Mi-35M helicopters to Pakistan. In April 2015, China delivered three Z-10s to Pakistan. During the same month, the US Department of State approved the sale of 15 AH-1Zs and associated equipment to Pakistan. During October 2017, the T129 was also reported to be a contender for further orders.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: The Jordanian government offered to provide up to four surplus AH-1F Cobras to the Philippines for counter terrorism operations. The offer was later reduced to two units, which the Philippine government accepted. On 26 November 2019, an Antonov An-124 airlifter carried the two Bell AH-1F Cobras from Jordan to Clark International Airport/Clark Air Base. The helicopters are reportedly painted in a light grey livery similar to the paint scheme of the PAF's AgustaWestland AW109E armed helicopters.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: In 2003, the US Forest Service acquired 25 retired AH-1Fs from the US Army. These have been designated Bell 209 and are being converted into Firewatch Cobras with infrared and low light sensors and systems for real time fire monitoring. The last two Firewatch Cobras were retired in October 2021.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: The Florida Division of Forestry also acquired three AH-1Ps from the US Army. These are called Bell 209 "Firesnakes" and are equipped to carry a water/fire retardant system.


title: Bell AH-1 Cobra

text: A small number of former military helicopters are operated by civil organizations for display and demonstration, for example by Red Bull.


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: Sargon of Akkad (; "Šarrugi"), also known as Sargon the Great, was the first ruler of the Akkadian Empire, known for his conquests of the Sumerian city-states in the 24th to 23rd centuries BC. He is sometimes identified as the first person in recorded history to rule over an empire.


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: He was the founder of the "Sargonic" or "Old Akkadian" dynasty, which ruled for about a century after his death until the Gutian conquest of Sumer.


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: His empire is thought to have included most of Mesopotamia, parts of the Levant, besides incursions into Hurrian and Elamite territory, ruling from his (archaeologically as yet unidentified) capital, Akkad (also "Agade").


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: The Akkadian name is normalized as either "Šarru-ukīn" or "Šarru-kēn". The name's cuneiform spelling is variously LUGAL-"ú-kin",


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: In Old Babylonian tablets relating the legends of Sargon, his name is transcribed as ("Šar-ru-um-ki-in").


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: In Late Assyrian references, the name is mostly spelled as LUGAL-GI.NA or LUGAL-GIN, i.e. identical to the name of the Neo-Assyrian king Sargon II.


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: The spelling "Sargon" is derived from the single mention of the name (in reference to Sargon II) in the Hebrew Bible, as , in Isaiah 20:1.


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: The first element in the name is "šarru", the Akkadian (East Semitic) for "king" (c.f. Hebrew "sár" ). The second element is derived from the verb "kīnum" "to confirm, establish" (related to Hebrew "kūn" ).


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: A possible interpretation of the reading "Šarru-ukīn" is "the king has established (stability)" or "he [the god] has established the king". Such a name would however be unusual; other names in "-ukīn" always include both a subject and an object, as in "Šamaš-šuma-ukīn" "Shamash has established an heir".


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: The reading "Šarru-kēn" has been interpreted adjectivally, as "the king is established; legitimate", expanded as a phrase "šarrum ki(e)num".


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: The terms "Pre-Sargonic" and "Post-Sargonic" were used in Assyriology based on the chronologies of Nabonidus before the historical existence of Sargon of Akkad was confirmed.


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: The form "Šarru-ukīn" was known from the Assyrian Sargon Legend discovered in 1867 in Library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh.


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: A contemporary reference to Sargon thought to have been found on the cylinder seal of Ibni-sharru, a high-ranking official serving under Sargon. Joachim Menant published a description of this seal in 1877, reading the king's name as "Shegani-shar-lukh", and did not yet identify it with "Sargon the Elder" (who was identified with the Old Assyrian king Sargon I).


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: In 1883, the British Museum acquired the "mace-head of Shar-Gani-sharri", a votive gift deposited at the temple of Shamash in Sippar. This "Shar-Gani" was identified with the Sargon of Agade of Assyrian legend.


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: The identification of "Shar-Gani-sharri" with Sargon was recognised as mistaken in the 1910s. Shar-Gani-sharri (Shar-Kali-Sharri) is, in fact, Sargon's great-grandson, the successor of Naram-Sin.


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: It is not entirely clear whether the Neo-Assyrian king Sargon II was directly named for Sargon of Akkad, as there is some uncertainty whether his name should be rendered "Šarru-ukīn" or as "Šarru-kēn(u)".


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: Primary sources pertaining to Sargon are sparse; the main near-contemporary reference is that in the various versions of the "Sumerian King List".


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: Here, Sargon is mentioned as the son of a gardener, former cup-bearer of Ur-Zababa of Kish. He usurped the kingship from Lugal-zage-si of Uruk and took it to his own city of Akkad. Note that the Weidner chronicle has Sargon ruling sirectly afer Ur-Zababa and does not mention Lugal-zage-si. Various copies of the king list give the duration of his reign as either 54, 55 or 56 years. Numerous fragmentary inscriptions relating to Sargon are also known.


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: In absolute years, his reign would correspond to c. 2334–2279 BC in the middle chronology. His successors until the Gutian conquest of Sumer are also known as the "Sargonic Dynasty" and their rule as the "Sargonic Period" of Mesopotamian history.


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: Foster (1982) argued that the reading of 55 years as the duration of Sargon's reign was, in fact, a corruption of an original interpretation of 37 years. An older version of the king list gives Sargon's reign as lasting for 40 years.


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: Thorkild Jacobsen marked the clause about Sargon's father being a gardener as a lacuna, indicating his uncertainty about its meaning. Ur-Zababa and Lugal-zage-si are both listed as kings, but separated by several additional named rulers of Kish, who seem to have been merely governors or vassals under the Akkadian Empire.


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: The claim that Sargon was the original founder of Akkad has been called into question with the discovery of an inscription mentioning the place and dated to the first year of Enshakushanna, who almost certainly preceded him. The "Weidner Chronicle" (ABC 19:51) states that it was Sargon who "built Babylon in front of Akkad." The "Chronicle of Early Kings" (ABC 20:18–19) likewise states that late in his reign, Sargon "dug up the soil of the pit of Babylon, and made a counterpart of Babylon next to Agade." Van de Mieroop suggested that those two chronicles may refer to the much later Assyrian king, Sargon II of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, rather than to Sargon of Akkad.


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: Some of the regnal year names of Sargon are preserved, and throw some light in the events of his reign, particularly the conquest of the surrounding territories of Simurrum, Elam and Mari, and Uru'a, thought to be a city in Elam:


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: He frequently calls himself "king of Akkad" first, after he apparently founded the city of Akkad. He appears to have taken over the rule of Kish at some point, and later also much of Mesopotamia, referring to himself as


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: "Sargon, king of Akkad, overseer of Inanna, king of Kish, anointed of Anu, king of the land [Mesopotamia], governor (ensi) of Enlil".


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: During Sargon's reign, East Semitic was standardized and adapted for use with the cuneiform script previously used in the Sumerian language into what is now known as the "Akkadian language". A style of calligraphy developed in which text on clay tablets and cylinder seals was arranged amidst scenes of mythology and ritual.


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: While various copies of the Sumerian king list credit Sargon with a 56, 55, or 54-year reign, dated documents have been found for only four different year-names of his actual reign. The names of these four years describe his campaigns against Elam, Mari, Simurrum (a Hurrian region), and Uru'a (an Elamite city-state).


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: Among the most important sources for Sargon's reign is a tablet of the Old Babylonian period recovered at Nippur in the University of Pennsylvania expedition in the 1890s. The tablet is a copy of the inscriptions on the pedestal of a statue erected by Sargon in the temple of Enlil. Its text was edited by Arno Poebel (1909) and Leon Legrain (1926).


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: In the inscription, Sargon styles himself "Sargon, king of Akkad, overseer ("mashkim") of Inanna, king of Kish, anointed ("guda") of Anu, king of the land [Mesopotamia], governor ("ensi") of Enlil".


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: It celebrates the conquest of Uruk and the defeat of Lugalzagesi, whom Sargon brought "in a collar to the gate of Enlil":


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: Sargon then conquered Ur and E-Ninmar and "laid waste" the territory from Lagash to the sea, and from there went on to conquer and destroy Umma:


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: Submitting himself to the (Levantine god) Dagan, Sargon conquered territories of Upper Mesopotamia and the Levant, including Mari, Yarmuti (Jarmuth?) and Ibla "up to the Cedar Forest (the Amanus) and up to the Silver Mountain (Aladagh?)", ruling from the "upper sea" (Mediterranean) to the "lower sea" (Persian Gulf).


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: Sargon also claims in his inscriptions that he is "Sargon, king of the world, conqueror of Elam and Parahshum", the two major polities to the east of Sumer. He also names various rulers of the east whom he vanquished, such as "Luh-uh-ish-an, son of Hishibrasini, king of Elam, king of Elam" or "Sidga'u, general of Parahshum", who later also appears in an inscription by Rimush.


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: Sargon triumphed over 34 cities in total. Ships from Meluhha, Magan and Dilmun, rode at anchor in his capital of Akkad.


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: A group of four Babylonian texts, summarized as "Sargon Epos" or "Res Gestae Sargonis", shows Sargon as a military commander asking the advice of many subordinates before going on campaigns.


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: The narrative of "Sargon, the Conquering Hero," is set at Sargon's court, in a situation of crisis. Sargon addresses his warriors, praising the virtue of heroism, and a lecture by a courtier on the glory achieved by a champion of the army, a narrative relating a campaign of Sargon's into the far land of "Uta-raspashtim", including an account of a "darkening of the Sun" and the conquest of the land of "Simurrum",


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: The narrative of "King of Battle" relates Sargon's campaign against the Anatolian city of Purushanda in order to protect his merchants.


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: The Hittite version is extant in six fragments, the Akkadian version is known from several manuscripts


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: The narrative is anachronistic, portraying Sargon in a 19th-century milieu. The same text mentions that Sargon crossed the Sea of the West (Mediterranean Sea) and ended up in Kuppara, which some authors have interpreted as the Akkadian word for Keftiu, an ancient locale usually associated with Crete or Cyprus.


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: Famine and war threatened Sargon's empire during the latter years of his reign. The "Chronicle of Early Kings" reports that revolts broke out throughout the area under the last years of his overlordship:


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: A. Leo Oppenheim translates the last sentence as "From the East to the West he [i.e. Marduk] alienated (them) from him and inflicted upon (him as punishment) that he could not rest (in his grave)."


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: Shortly after securing Sumer, Sargon embarked on a series of campaigns to subjugate the entire Fertile Crescent. According to the "Chronicle of Early Kings", a later Babylonian historiographical text:


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: In the east, Sargon defeated four leaders of Elam, led by the king of Awan. Their cities were sacked; the governors, viceroys, and kings of Susa, Waraḫše, and neighboring districts became vassals of Akkad.


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: Sargon became the subject of legendary narratives describing his rise to power from humble origins and his conquest of Mesopotamia in later Assyrian and Babylonian literature. Apart from these secondary, and partly legendary, accounts, there are many inscriptions due to Sargon himself, although the majority of these are known only from much later copies. The Louvre has fragments of two Sargonic victory steles recovered from Susa (where


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: The Sumerian-language "Sargon legend" contains a legendary account of Sargon's rise to power. It is an older version of the previously known Assyrian legend, discovered in 1974 in Nippur and first edited in 1983.


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: The extant versions are incomplete, but the surviving fragments name Sargon's father as La'ibum. After a lacuna, the text skips to Ur-Zababa, king of Kish, who awakens after a dream, the contents of which are not revealed on the surviving portion of the tablet. For unknown reasons, Ur-Zababa appoints Sargon as his cup-bearer. Soon after this, Ur-Zababa invites Sargon to his chambers to discuss a dream of Sargon's, involving the favor of the goddess Inanna and the drowning of Ur-Zababa by the goddess in a river of blood. Deeply frightened, Ur-Zababa orders Sargon murdered by the hands of Beliš-tikal, the chief smith, but Inanna prevents it, demanding that Sargon stop at the gates because of his being "polluted with blood." When Sargon returns to Ur-Zababa, the king becomes frightened again and decides to send Sargon to king Lugal-zage-si of Uruk with a message on a clay tablet asking him to slay Sargon. The legend breaks off at this point; presumably, the missing sections described how Sargon becomes king.


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: The part of the interpretation of the king's dream has parallels to the biblical story of Joseph, the part about the letter with the carrier's death sentence has similarities to the Greek story of Bellerophon and the biblical story of Uriah.


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: A Neo-Assyrian text from the 7th century BC purporting to be Sargon's autobiography asserts that the great king was the illegitimate son of a priestess.


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: Only the beginning of the text (the first two columns) is known, from the fragments of three manuscripts.


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: Similarities between the Sargon Birth Legend and other infant birth exposures in ancient literature, including Moses, Karna, and Oedipus, were noted by psychoanalyst Otto Rank in his 1909 book "The Myth of the Birth of the Hero". The legend was also studied in detail by Brian Lewis, and compared with many different examples of the infant birth exposure motif found in European and Asian folktales. He discusses a possible archetype form, giving particular attention to the Sargon legend and the account of the birth of Moses. Joseph Campbell has also made such comparisons.


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: Sargon is also one of the many suggestions for the identity or inspiration for the biblical Nimrod. Ewing William (1910) suggested Sargon based on his unification of the Babylonians and the Neo-Assyrian birth legend. Yigal Levin (2002) suggested that Nimrod was a recollection of Sargon and his grandson Naram-Sin, with the name "Nimrod" derived from the latter.


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: The name of Sargon's main wife, Queen Tashlultum, and those of a number of his children are known to us. His daughter Enheduanna was a high priestess of the moon God in Ur who composed ritual hymns. Many of her works, including her "Exaltation of Inanna", were in use for centuries thereafter. Sargon was succeeded by his son Rimush; after Rimush's death another son, Manishtushu, became king. Manishtushu would be succeeded by his own son, Naram-Sin. Two other sons, Shu-Enlil (Ibarum) and Ilaba'is-takal (Abaish-Takal), are known.


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: Sargon of Akkad is sometimes identified as the first person in recorded history to rule over an empire (in the sense of the central government of a multi-ethnic territory), although earlier Sumerian rulers such as Lugal-zage-si might have a similar claim. His rule also heralds the history of Semitic empires in the Ancient Near East, which, following the Neo-Sumerian interruption (21st/20th centuries BC), lasted for close to fifteen centuries until the Achaemenid conquest following the 539 BC Battle of Opis.


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: Sargon was regarded as a model by Mesopotamian kings for some two millennia after his death. The Assyrian and Babylonian kings who based their empires in Mesopotamia saw themselves as the heirs of Sargon's empire.


title: Sargon of Akkad

text: Sargon may indeed have introduced the notion of "empire" as understood in the later Assyrian period; the Neo-Assyrian "Sargon Text", written in the first person, has Sargon challenging later rulers to "govern the black-headed people" (i.e. the indigenous population of Mesopotamia) as he did. An important source for "Sargonic heroes" in oral tradition in the later Bronze Age is a Middle Hittite (15th century BC) record of a Hurro-Hittite song, which calls upon Sargon and his immediate successors as "deified kings" ("šarrena").