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Stone tablet
inscribed with the Sumerian King List
The Sumerian
King List is an ancient stone tablet originally
recorded in the Sumerian language, listing kings
of Sumer (ancient
southern Iraq) from Sumerian
and neighboring dynasties, their supposed
reign lengths, and the locations of the kingship. Kingship was
seen as 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][2]
Contents
·
1Composition
o
1.1Sources
·
2List
o
2.1Antediluvian rulers
o
2.2First dynasty of Kish
o
2.3First rulers of Uruk
o
2.4First dynasty of Ur
o
2.5Dynasty of Awan
o
2.6Second dynasty of Kish
o
2.7Dynasty of Hamazi
o
2.8Second dynasty of Uruk
o
2.9Second dynasty of Ur
o
2.10Dynasty of Adab
o
2.11Dynasty of Mari
o
2.12Third dynasty of Kish
o
2.13Dynasty of Akshak
o
2.14Fourth dynasty of Kish
o
2.15Third dynasty of Uruk
o
2.16Dynasty of Akkad
o
2.17Fourth dynasty of Uruk
o
2.18Gutian rule
o
2.19Fifth dynasty of Uruk
o
2.20Third dynasty of Ur
o
2.21Dynasty of Isin
·
3See also
·
4References
·
5Literature
The list blends prehistorical, presumably mythical predynastic rulers
enjoying implausibly lengthy reigns with later, more plausibly historical
dynasties. Although the primal kings are historically unattested, that 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][3] 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 Enmebaragesi of Kish,
c. 2600 BC. Reference to him and his successor, Aga of Kish, in the Epic of Gilgamesh has led to
speculation that Gilgamesh himself
may have been a historical king of Uruk. Three
dynasties are absent from the list: the Larsa dynasty, which vied for
power with the (included) Isin dynastyduring 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 c. 2500 BC. The list is important 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]
Sources[edit]
The following extant ancient sources contain the Sumerian
King List or fragments:
·
Apkullu-list (W.20030,7)
·
Babyloniaca (Berossus)
·
Dynastic Chronicle (ABC 18)[4] including copies, K 11261+ and K
12054
·
Kish Tablet
·
UCBC 9-1819 ("California
Tablet")
·
WB 62
·
WB 444 (Weld-Blundell Prism) [5][6]
·
Nippur fragment (Ni. 3195)
The last two
sources (WB) are a part of the "Weld-Blundell collection", donated
by Herbert Weld Blundell to
the Ashmolean Museum. WB 62 is a
small clay tablet, inscribed only on one side, unearthed from Larsa. It is the
oldest dated source, at c. 2000 BC, that contains the
list.[7] WB 444, in
contrast, is a unique inscribed vertical prism,[1][8][9][10] dated c.
1817 BC, although some scholars prefer c. 1827 BC.[11] The Kish
Tablet or Scheil dynastic tablet is an
early 2nd millennium BC tablet which came into possession of Jean-Vincent Scheil, but only contains list entries for
four Sumerian cities.[12] UCBC
9-1819 is a clay tablet housed in the collection of the Museum of Anthropology
at the University of California.[13] The tablet
was inscribed during the reign of the Babylonian King Samsu-iluna, or slightly
earlier, with the earliest date of 1712 BC.[14] The
Dynastic Chronicle (ABC 18) is a Babylonian king list written on six columns,
beginning with entries for the antediluvian (prior to the flood) Sumerian
rulers. K 11261+[15] is one of
the copies of this chronicle, consisting of three joined Neo-Assyrian fragments
discovered at the Library of Ashurbanipal.[16] K 12054 is
another of the Neo-Assyrian fragments from Uruk (c. 640
BC) but contains a variant form of the antediluvians on the list. The
later Babylonian king lists and Assyrian king lists repeated
the earliest portions of the list, thus preserving them well into the 3rd
century BC. At this time, Berossus wrote Babyloniaca, which
popularized fragments of the list in the Hellenic world. In 1960, the Apkullu-list (Tablet No.
W.20030, 7) or “Uruk List of Kings and Sages” (ULKS)
was discovered by German archaeologists at an ancient temple at Uruk. The list,
dating to c. 165 BC, contains a series of kings, equivalent to the Sumerian
antediluvians, called "Apkullu".[17]
Early dates are approximate, and are based on available
archaeological data. For most of the pre-Akkadian rulers listed, the 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.
Antediluvian rulers[edit]
None of the following predynastic antediluvian rulers
have been verified as historical by archaeological
excavations, epigraphical inscriptions or otherwise.
While there is no evidence they ever reigned as such, the Sumerians purported
them to have lived in the mythical era before the great deluge. Some modern
scholars believe the Sumerian deluge story corresponds to localized river
flooding at Shuruppak (modern
Tell Fara, Iraq) and various
other cities as far north as Kish, as revealed by a layer of riverine sediments, radiocarbon dated to c. 2900
BC, which interrupt the continuity of settlement. Polychrome pottery
from the Jemdet Nasr period (c.
3000–2900 BC) was discovered immediately below this Shuruppak
flood stratum.[18]
The antediluvian
reigns were measured in Sumerian numerical units known as sars (units of 3,600), ners (units
of 600), and sosses(units of 60).[19] Attempts
have been made to map these numbers into more reasonable regnal lengths. [20]
|
Ruler
|
Epithet
|
Length of reign
|
Approx. dates
|
Comments
|
|
"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)
|
|
|
|
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."[21]
|
First dynasty of Kish[edit]
First rulers of Uruk[edit]
First dynasty of Ur[edit]
Dynasty of Awan[edit]
This was a dynasty from Elam.
Second dynasty of Kish[edit]
The First
dynasty of Lagash (c. 2500 –
c. 2271 BC) is not mentioned in the King List, though it is well known from
inscriptions
Dynasty of Hamazi[edit]
Second dynasty of Uruk[edit]
Second dynasty of Ur[edit]
Dynasty of Adab[edit]
Dynasty of Mari[edit]
Third dynasty of Kish[edit]
Dynasty of Akshak[edit]
Fourth dynasty of Kish[edit]
Third dynasty of Uruk[edit]
Dynasty of Akkad[edit]
Fourth dynasty of Uruk[edit]
(Possibly rulers of lower Mesopotamia
contemporary with the Dynasty of Akkad)
The Second dynasty of Lagash (before c.
2093–2046 BC (short)) is not
mentioned in the King List, though it is well known from inscriptions.
Gutian rule[edit]
Fifth dynasty of Uruk[edit]
Third dynasty of Ur[edit]
Independent Amorite states in
lower Mesopotamia. The Dynasty of Larsa (c.
1961–1674 BC (short)) from this
period is not mentioned in the King List.
Dynasty of Isin[edit]
* These epithets
or names are not included in all versions of the king list.
·
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·
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Near East
·
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·
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kings
·
List of Mesopotamian
dynasties
·
Short chronology timeline
1.
^ Jump up to:a b c d e Van De Mieroop, Marc (2004). A History of the Ancient Near East. Blackwell.
p. 41. ISBN 0-631-22552-8.
2.
^ The spelling of royal names follows the Electronic Text Corpus of
Sumerian Literature Archived 2013-10-22 at the Wayback Machine
3.
^ von Soden, Wolfram (1994). The Ancient Orient. Donald G. Schley (trans.). Wm.
B. Eerdmans. p. 47. ISBN 0-8028-0142-0.
4.
^ "ABC 18 (Dynastic
Chronicle) - Livius". www.livius.org. Archived from the original on 2006-02-28.
5.
^ "The Sumerian King
List - Livius". www.livius.org. Archived from the original on 2016-07-30.
6.
^ Langdon, S. (1923). The Weld-Blundell Collection,
vol. II. Historical Inscriptions, Containing Principally the Chronological
Prism, W-B. 444. [PDF] Oxford University Press. Available at: http://etana.org/sites/default/files/coretexts/20340.pdf[Accessed 22 Sep. 2018].
7.
^ Langdon, OECT2 (1923), pl. 6.
8.
^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF)on 2010-11-07. Retrieved 2011-02-23. Stephen Langdon, Historical inscriptions, containing
principally the chronological prism, W-B 444, Oxford University Press, 1923
9.
^ "WB-444 High
Resolution Image from CDLI". Archivedfrom
the original on 2015-05-13.
10.
^ "WB-444 Line Art
from CDLI". Archived from the original on 2015-09-15.
11.
^ Ancient Iraq: (Assyria and Babylonia), Peter Roger
Stuart Moorey, Ashmolean Museum, 1976; The Sumerian King List, T. Jacobsen,
University of Chicago Press, 1939, p. 77.
12. ^ "The Early Chronology of Sumer and Egypt and
the Similarities in Their Culture", S. Langdon, The Journal of Egyptian
Archaeology, Vol. 7, No. 3/4, Oct., 1921, p. 133. [1]
13.
^ "The Antediluvian Kings: A University of
California Tablet", J. J. Finkelstein, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, Vol.
17, No. 2, 1963, p. 39.
14. ^ Finkelstein, 1963, pp.39-40.
15. ^ Lambert and Millard, Cuneiform Texts 46 Nr. 5
16. ^ Bilingual Chronicle Fragments, Irving L. Finkel, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, Vol. 32, No. 2, Apr.,
1980, pp. 65-80.
17. ^ A copy of the tablet appears in Jan van Dijk and Werner R. Mayer, Texte
aus dem Rčs-Heiligtum in
Uruk-Warka, Bagdader Mitteilungen Beiheft 2 (Berlin:
Gebr. Mann Verlag, 1980),
text no. 89 (= BaMB 2 89). For an edition of the
text, see J. van Dijk, Die Inschriftenfunde, Vorläufiger Bericht über die... Ausgrabungen in Uruk-Warka
18 (1962), 44-52 and plate 27. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF)on 2010-07-09. Retrieved 2011-09-15.
18.
^ Harriet Crawford (2004), Sumer and the Sumerians, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-53338-6
19.
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-01-30.
Retrieved 2011-03-10. Christine
Proust, "Numerical and Metrological Graphemes: From Cuneiform to
Transliteration," Cuneiform Digital Library Journal, 2009,
ISSN 1540-8779
20.
^ R.K. Harrison, “Reinvestigating the Antediluvian
Sumerian King List,” JETS, vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 3-8, (Mar 1993)
21. ^ "The Sumerian king
list: translation". etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 2008-05-08.
22.
^ Jump up to:a b [2] Archived 2016-10-09
at the Wayback MachineGilgameš and Aga
Translation at ETCSL
·
W. F. Albright, The Babylonian Antediluvian Kings, Journal
of the American Oriental Society, vol. 43, pp. 323-329, 1923
·
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 Schřyen 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
·
Thomas Jacobs, The Sumerian King List, UGent
paper, GONO department
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