Sumerian King List

Ancient; Mesopotamia
Euphrates · Tigris
Sumer
	Eridu · Kish · Uruk · Ur; Lagash · Nippur · Ngirsu
Elam
	Susa · Anshan
Akkadian Empire
	Akkad · Mari
Amorites
	Isin · Larsa
Babylonia
	Babylon · Chaldea
Assyria
	Assur · Nimrud; Dur-Sharrukin · Nineveh
Hittites · Kassites; Ararat / Mitanni
Chronology
	Mesopotamia
	Sumer (king list)
	Kings of Elam; Kings of Assyria; Kings of Babylon
Mythology
	Enûma Elish · Gilgamesh
	Assyro-Babylonian religion
Language
	Sumerian · Elamite
	Akkadian · Aramaic
	Hurrian · Hittite

The Sumerian King List is an ancient manuscript originally recorded in the Sumerian language, listing kings of Sumer from Sumerian and neighboring dynasties, their supposed reign lengths, and the locations of "official" kingship. Kingship was believed to have been handed down by the gods, and could be transferred from one city to another, reflecting perceived hegemony in the region.^[1] Throughout its Bronze Age existence, the document evolved into a political tool. Its final and single attested version, dating to the Middle Bronze Age, aimed to legitimize Isin's claims to hegemony when Isin was vying for dominance with Larsa and other neighboring city-states in southern Mesopotamia.^[1]

Composition[]

The list blends prehistorical, presumably mythical predynastic rulers with implausibly lengthy reigns with later, more plausibly historical dynasties. Although the primal kings are historically unattested, this does not preclude their possible correspondence with historical rulers who were later mythicized. Some Assyriologists view the predynastic kings as a later fictional addition.^[1]^[2] Only one ruler listed is known to be female: Kug-Bau "the (female) tavern-keeper", who alone accounts for the Third Dynasty of Kish.

The earliest listed ruler whose historicity has been archaeologically verified is En-me-barage-si of Kish, ca. 2600 BC. Reference to this individual in the Epic of Gilgamesh has led to speculation that Gilgamesh himself may be historical.

Three dynasties are notably excluded from the list: the Larsa dynasty, which vied for power with the (included) Isin dynasty during the Isin-Larsa period; and the two dynasties of Lagash, which respectively preceded and ensued the Akkadian Empire, when Lagash exercised considerable influence in the region. Lagash in particular is known directly from archaeological artifacts dating from ca. 2500 BC.

For lack of a more accurate source, the list is central to the chronology of the 3rd millennium BC. However, the fact that many of the dynasties listed reigned simultaneously from varying localities makes it difficult to reproduce a strict linear chronology.^[1]

The oldest extant inscriptions containing the list, such as the Weld-Blundell Prism,^[3]^[4]^[5] date from the early 2nd millennium BC.^[1] The later Babylonian and Assyrian king lists that were based on it still preserved the earliest portions of the list well into the 3rd century BC, when Berossus popularized the list in the Hellenic world.

The list[]

Sumer3 — Sites mentioned in the Sumer Kinglist before the flood

The spelling follows the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature^[6]

Early dates are approximate, and are based on available archaeological data; for most pre-Akkadian rulers listed, this king list is itself the lone source of information. Beginning with Lugal-zage-si and the Third Dynasty of Uruk (which was defeated by Sargon of Akkad), a better understanding of how subsequent rulers fit into the chronology of the ancient Near East can be deduced. The short chronology is used here.

Early Bronze Age I[]

None of the following predynastic "antediluvian" rulers have been verified via archaeological excavations, epigraphical inscriptions, or otherwise. It is possible that they correspond to the Early Bronze Age Jemdet Nasr period culture which ended approximately 2900 BC, immediately preceding the dynasts.^[7] It is also possible that they were fictional creations to make the kingdom seem more legitimate and ancient to its subjects which would explain the exaggerated lifespans and recurring and composite characters that have overwhelming similarities with their predecessors.

Antediluvian Rulers[]

The following reigns were measured in Sumerian numerical units known as sars (units of 3600), ners (units of 600), and sosses (units of 60).^[8]

Early Bronze Age II[]

First Dynasty of Kish[]

First Dynasty of Uruk[]

Early Bronze Age III[]

First dynasty of Ur[]

Dynasty of Awan[]

Second Dynasty of Kish[]

The First Dynasty of Lagash (ca. 2500 – ca. 2271 BC) is not mentioned in the King List, though it is well known from inscriptions

Dynasty of Hamazi[]

Second Dynasty of Uruk[]

Second Dynasty of Ur[]

Dynasty of Adab[]

Dynasty of Mari[]

Third Dynasty of Kish[]

Dynasty of Akshak[]

Fourth Dynasty of Kish[]

Third Dynasty of Uruk[]

Dynasty of Akkad[]

Fourth Dynasty of Uruk[]

(Possibly rulers of lower Mesopotamia contemporary with the Dynasty of Akkad)

Early Bronze Age IV[]

The 2nd Dynasty of Lagash (before ca. 2093–2046 BC (short)) is not mentioned in the King List, though it is well known from inscriptions.

Gutian Rule[]

Fifth Dynasty of Uruk[]

Third Dynasty of Ur[]

Middle Bronze Age I[]

Independent Amorite states in lower Mesopotamia.

The Dynasty of Larsa (ca. 1961–1674 BC (short)) from this period is not mentioned in the King List.

Dynasty of Isin[]

* These epithets or names are not included in all versions of the king list.

Notes[]

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 Van De Mieroop, Marc (2004). A History of the Ancient Near East. Blackwell. pp. 41. ISBN 0631225528. http://books.google.com/books?id=oknsEhcALLEC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0#PPA41,M1.
↑ von Soden, Wolfram; Donald G. Schley, translator (1994). The Ancient Orient. Wm. B. Eerdmans. pp. 47. ISBN 0802801420. http://books.google.com/books?id=n6u2t7dtcEcC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0#PPA47,M1.
↑ [1] Stephen Langdon, Historical inscriptions, containing principally the chronological prism, W-B 444, Oxford University Press, 1923
↑ "WB-444 High Resolution Image from CDLI". http://www.cdli.ucla.edu/dl/photo/P384786.jpg.
↑ "WB-444 Line Art from CDLI". http://www.cdli.ucla.edu/dl/lineart/P384786_l.jpg.
↑ Black, J.A., Cunningham, G., Flückiger-Hawker, E., Robson, E., Taylor, J., and Zólyomi, G. (1998) Translation of the Sumerian King List (alternate site), The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (Ox.ac.uk/), Oxford
↑ Wright, Henry. "The Earliest Bronze Age in Southwest Asia (3100-2700 BC)". http://eclectic.ss.uci.edu/~drwhite/Civ/papers/Jemdt_Nasr_04D.pdf. Retrieved 2008-07-04.
↑ [2] Christine Proust, Numerical and Metrological Graphemes: From Cuneiform to Transliteration, Cuneiform Digital Library Journal, 2009, ISSN 1540-8779
↑ Harriet Crawford, Sumer and the Sumerians, Cambridge University Press, 2004, ISBN 978-0-521-53338-6
↑ ^10.0 ^10.1 [3] Gilgameš and Aga Translation at ETCSL

References[]

Jacobsen, Thorkild. The Sumerian King List. Oriental Institute, Assyriological Studies 11, University of Chicago Press, 1939
Rowton, M. B. The Date of the Sumerian King List, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 156-162, 1960
P. Steinkeller, An Ur III Manuscript of the Sumerian King List. In Literatur, Politik und Recht in Mesopotamien: Festschrift fur Claus Wilcke, ed. W. Sallaberger et al., Harrassowitz Verlag, pp. 267-92, 2003
Young, Dwight W. The Incredible Regnal Spans of Kish I in the Sumerian King List, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 50, no. 1, pp. 23-35, 1991
Hallo, William W. Beginning and End of the Sumerian King List in the Nippur Recension, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 52-57, 1963
Vincente, Claudine-Adrienne, "The Tall Leilan Recension of the Sumerian King List", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie 50 (1995), 234–270
Friberg, Jöran. "The Beginning and the End of the Sumerian King List", in A remarkable collection of Babylonian mathematical texts: Manuscripts in the Schøyen Collection Cuneiform Texts I, Springer, 2007, ISBN 0-387-34543-4
Michalowski, Piotr. History as Charter Some Observations on the Sumerian King List, Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 103, no. 1, pp. 237-248, 1983
Jean-Jacques Glassner, Mesopotamian Chronicles, Brill, 2005, ISBN 90-04-13084-5
J. J. Finkelstein, The Antediluvian Kings: A University of California Tablet, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 39-51, 1963
Albrecht Goetze, Early Kings of Kish, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 105-111, 1961

[Mieroop-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 Van De Mieroop, Marc (2004). A History of the Ancient Near East. Blackwell. pp. 41. ISBN 0631225528. http://books.google.com/books?id=oknsEhcALLEC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0#PPA41,M1.

[2] von Soden, Wolfram; Donald G. Schley, translator (1994). The Ancient Orient. Wm. B. Eerdmans. pp. 47. ISBN 0802801420. http://books.google.com/books?id=n6u2t7dtcEcC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0#PPA47,M1.

[3] [1] Stephen Langdon, Historical inscriptions, containing principally the chronological prism, W-B 444, Oxford University Press, 1923

[4] "WB-444 High Resolution Image from CDLI". http://www.cdli.ucla.edu/dl/photo/P384786.jpg.

[5] "WB-444 Line Art from CDLI". http://www.cdli.ucla.edu/dl/lineart/P384786_l.jpg.

[6] Black, J.A., Cunningham, G., Flückiger-Hawker, E., Robson, E., Taylor, J., and Zólyomi, G. (1998) Translation of the Sumerian King List (alternate site), The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (Ox.ac.uk/), Oxford

[7] Wright, Henry. "The Earliest Bronze Age in Southwest Asia (3100-2700 BC)". http://eclectic.ss.uci.edu/~drwhite/Civ/papers/Jemdt_Nasr_04D.pdf. Retrieved 2008-07-04.

[8] [2] Christine Proust, Numerical and Metrological Graphemes: From Cuneiform to Transliteration, Cuneiform Digital Library Journal, 2009, ISSN 1540-8779

[9] Harriet Crawford, Sumer and the Sumerians, Cambridge University Press, 2004, ISBN 978-0-521-53338-6

[Ox.ac.uk-10] 10.0 ^10.1 [3] Gilgameš and Aga Translation at ETCSL

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

Ruler	Epithet	Length of reign	Approx. dates
"After the kingship descended from heaven, the kingship was in Eridug. In Eridug, Alulim became king; he ruled for 28800 years."
Alulim		8 sars (28,800 years)	30th century BC or earlier
Alalngar		10 sars (36,000 years)
"Then Eridug fell and the kingship was taken to Bad-tibira."
En-men-lu-ana		12 sars (43,200 years)
En-men-gal-ana		8 sars (28,800 years)
Dumuzid, the Shepherd	"the shepherd"	10 sars (36,000 years)
"Then Bad-tibira fell and the kingship was taken to Larag."
En-sipad-zid-ana		8 sars (28,800 years)
"Then Larag fell and the kingship was taken to Zimbir."
En-men-dur-ana		5 sars and 5 ners (21,000 years)
"Then Zimbir fell and the kingship was taken to Shuruppag."
Ubara-Tutu		5 sars and 1 ner (18,600 years)
"Then the flood swept over." Excavations in Iraq have revealed evidence of localized flooding at Shuruppak (modern Tell Fara, Iraq) and various other Sumerian cities. A layer of riverine sediments, radiocarbon dated to ca. 2900 BC, interrupts the continuity of settlement, extending as far north as the city of Kish. Polychrome pottery from the Jemdet Nasr period (3000-2900 BC) was discovered immediately below the Shuruppak flood stratum.^[9]

Ruler	Epithet	Length of reign	Approx. dates	Comments
"After the flood had swept over, and the kingship had descended from heaven, the kingship was in Kish."
Ngushur		1200 years	after ca. 2900 BC
Kullassina-bel		960 years
Nangishlishma		670 years
En-tarah-ana		420 years
Babum		300 years
Puannum		840 years
Kalibum		960 years
Kalumum		840 years
Zuqaqip		900 years
Atab (or A-ba)		600 years
Mashda	"the son of Atab"	840 years
Arwium	"the son of Mashda"	720 years
Etana	"the shepherd, who ascended to heaven and consolidated all the foreign countries"	1500 years
Balih	"the son of Etana"	400 years
En-me-nuna		660 years
Melem-Kish	"the son of En-me-nuna"	900 years
Barsal-nuna	("the son of En-me-nuna")*	1200 years
Zamug	"the son of Barsal-nuna"	140 years
Tizqar	"the son of Zamug"	305 years
Ilku		900 years
Iltasadum		1200 years
En-me-barage-si	"who made the land of Elam submit"	900 years	ca. 2600 BC	the earliest ruler on the List confirmed independently from epigraphical evidence
Aga of Kish	"the son of En-me-barage-si"	625 years	ca. 2600 BC	contemporary with Gilgamesh of Uruk, according to the Epic of Gilgamesh^[10]
"Then Kish was defeated and the kingship was taken to E-ana."

Ruler	Epithet	Length of reign	Approx. dates	Comments
Mesh-ki-ang-gasher of E-ana	"the son of Utu"	324 years	ca. 27th
"Mesh-ki-ang-gasher entered the sea and disappeared."
Enmerkar	"the son of Mesh-ki-ang-gasher, the king of Unug, who built Unug (Uruk)"	420 years
Lugalbanda	"the shepherd"	1200 years
Dumuzid (Dumuzi)	"the fisherman whose city was Kuara." ("He captured En-me-barage-si single-handed.")*	100 years	ca. 2600 BC
Gilgamesh	"whose father was a phantom (?), the lord of Kulaba"	126 years	ca. 2600 BC	contemporary with Aga of Kish, according to the Epic of Gilgamesh^[10]
Ur-Nungal	"the son of Gilgamesh"	30 years
Udul-kalama	"the son of Ur-Nungal"	15 years
La-ba'shum		9 years
En-nun-tarah-ana		8 years
Mesh-he	"the smith"	36 years
Melem-ana		6 years
Lugal-kitun		36 years
"Then Unug was defeated and the kingship was taken to Urim (Ur)."

Ruler	Epithet	Length of reign	Approx. dates
Mesh-Ane-pada		80 years	ca. 26th century BC
Mesh-ki-ang-Nanna	"the son of Mesh-Ane-pada"	36 years
Elulu		25 years
Balulu		36 years
"Then Urim was defeated and the kingship was taken to Awan."

Ruler	Epithet	Length of reign	Approx. dates	Comments
Three kings of Awan		356 years	ca. 26th century BC
"Then Awan was defeated and the kingship was taken to Kish."