Sumerian King List

The “Sumerian King List” is a clay prism with ancient Sumerian text that lists the kings of Sumer from Sumerian and neighboring dynasties.

This clay cuneiform inscribed vertical prism is also called the Weld-Blundell Prism. The four sides, about 20 cm high and 9 cm wide are marked in the Sumerian language.

The prism lists the Sumerian kings with each side containing the text in two columns. The list begins with the antediluvian rulers and ends with the Dynasty of Isin (1827–1817 BC). 

The list includes the King’s reign lengths and the locations of the kingship, and the list of kings is sequential.

Many of the Kings were contemporaries, reflecting the belief that kingship was handed down by the gods and could be transferred from one Sumerian city to another in southern Mesopotamia.

The list blends mythical predynastic rulers enjoying lengthy reigns with later historical dynasties with realistic life spans.

Although the primal kings are historically unattested, they may have been actual rulers who were later mythicized. However, some Assyriologists view the predynastic kings as a later fictional addition.

Insights from the King’s List

• Only one ruler listed is known to be female
• The earliest named ruler whose historicity has been archaeologically verified is Enmebaragesi of Kish, 2600 BC
• Reference to two historical Kings, from the list, appear 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 due to political reasons
• The final attested version of King List dates to the Middle Bronze Age
• Some of the earlier dynasties may be mythical
• The first archaeologically attested ruler on the list is Enmebaragesi (c. 2600 BCE)
• The best-known dynasty that of Lagash is omitted from the list

Herbert Joseph Weld Blundell (1852 –  1935) was an English traveler and archaeologist. In 1922 he presented the Weld Blundell Collection, which included the Sumerian King List, to the University of Oxford.

Gold helmet of Meskalamdug, founder of the First Dynasty of Ur

Sumer

Sumer is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia, now southern Iraq. Their prehistoric proto-writing dates back before 3000 BC.

It is also one of the first civilizations in the world, along with Ancient Egypt, Norte Chico, Minoan civilization, Ancient China, Mesoamerica, and the Indus Valley.

Living along the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates, Sumerian farmers grew an abundance of crops, and the surplus enabled them to form urban settlements.

The history of Sumer, including the prehistoric Ubaid and Uruk periods, spans the 5th to 3rd millennia BCE, ending around 2004 BCE, followed by a transitional period before the rise of Babylonia in the 18th century BCE.

The first settlement in southern Mesopotamia was Eridu. The first people at Eridu brought with them the Samarra culture from northern Mesopotamia.

The last period of Sumer was the Third Dynasty of Ur  2047–1940 BC, after which the Sumerian identity decline, as the population became continually absorbed into the Akkadian (Assyro-Babylonian) population.

Sumerian King List

• Artifact:            Sumerian King List
• Also:                 The Weld-Blundell Prism
• Date:               1827 – 1817 BC
• Material:          Clay, incised and baked
• Dimensions:    20 x 9.1 cm (height x width); 3.17 kg (weight)
• Categories:
  • Ancient Artifact
  • Mesopotamian Artifact
  • Ancient Text
• Museum:         Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology

Sumerian King List

Ancient Mesopotamia 

When Kingship came down from Heaven: Ethics and the political

A Virtual Tour of Important Historical Artifacts

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• Wolverine Pendant of Les Eyzies – 12,500 Years Ago
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• Prehistoric Deer Skull Headdress – 11,000 Years Ago
• Scorpion Macehead – 3200–3000 BC
• Narmer Palette  – 3,100 BC
• Narmer Macehead – 3,100 BC
• The Stargazer (Statuette of a Woman) – 3000 BC
• Neolithic Painted Pottery – 2,500 BC
• Dancing Girl (Mohenjo-Daro) – 2,500 BC
• Li – Chinese Tripod Jar – 2,300 BC
• Treasure from Troy – 2,200 BC
• Bronze Age Gold Lunula – 2,200 BC
• Gudea, Prince of Lagash  – 2,120 BC
• Sumerian King List – 1,817 BC
• Law Code of Hammurabi – 1,750 BC
• Nebra Sky Disk – 1600 BC
• Mask of Agamemnon – 1,500 BC
• The Sphinx of Hatshepsut – 1,470 BC
• Tutankhamun’s Mask – 1,323 BC
• Mummy of Katebet – 1,300 BC
• Book of the Dead – Papyrus of Ani and Hunefe – 1,250 BC
• Avanton Gold Cone – 1,250 BC
• Bronze Age Shield Yetholm-type -1,200 BC
• Relief of a Winged Genie – 880 BC
• Siloam Inscription – 700 BC
• The Lion Hunt – 640 BC
• Ishtar Gate – 575 BC
• The Curse of the Tabnit Sarcophagus – 500 BC
• Kleroterion – 470 BC
• The Parthenon Marbles – 440 BC
• The Alexander Sarcophagus – 300 BC
• The Winged Victory of Samothrace – 200 BC
• The Rosetta Stone – 196 BC
• The Pergamon Altar – 150 BC
• Antikythera Mechanism – 100 BC
• Battersea Shield – 50 BC
• The Temple of Dendur – 10 A.D.
• James Ossuary – 1st-century
• Lindow Man  –  2 BC and 119 AD

Sumerian King List

Early Dynastic Mesopotamia

Sumerian King List

Virtual Tour of Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology

• The Alfred Jewel
• The Messiah Stradivarius
• Arab ceremonial dress owned by Lawrence of Arabia
• Narmer Macehead – Ceremonial Weapon of Ancient Egypt
• The Macehead of King Scorpion
• Sumerian King List

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“He who possesses many things is constantly on guard.”
– Sumerian Quote

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Photo Credit: Unknown author / Public domain ; M.atkinsonross / CC BY-SA (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0); Akieboy / CC BY-SA (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)

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