The Sumerian King List

David Miano Everything you wanted to know about the Sumerian King List but were afraid to ask. 

Posted on You Tube by World of Antiquity Nov 4, 2021

The Sumerian King List is an ancient Mesopotamian text that records the names of rulers who reigned over Sumer, along with the lengths of their reigns and the locations of their rule. Written in Sumerian and preserved on several clay tablets (the most complete of which is the Weld-Blundell Prism in the Ashmolean Museum), the list begins with kings who supposedly ruled before a great flood and continues through various city-states such as Kish, Uruk, Ur, and Isin. Its early sections attribute impossibly long reigns—lasting tens of thousands of years—to antediluvian kings, blending myth and legend. After the flood, reign lengths become more realistic, reflecting a transition from divine or semi-divine rule to more historical governance.

Beyond its function as a chronicle, the King List served a clear ideological purpose. By presenting kingship as a divinely ordained institution that “descended from heaven,” it legitimized political authority and reinforced the idea of a single, continuous tradition of rule—despite the region’s actual fragmentation and frequent power shifts. Scholars believe it may have been compiled during the early second millennium BCE, likely under the kings of Isin, as a way to assert their legitimacy after the fall of the Third Dynasty of Ur. As such, the Sumerian King List is both a valuable historical artifact and a piece of political propaganda, reflecting how ancient Mesopotamians sought to impose order and divine sanction on their complex and often contested political landscape.

The Weld-Blundell Prism chronicles rulers with reigns lasting thousands of years.

Antediluvian Kings

1 Alulim of Eridu: Reigned for 28,800 years.
2 Alalngar of Eridu: Reigned for 36,000 years.
3 En-men-lu-ana of Bad-tibira: Reigned for 43,200 years.
4 En-men-gal-ana of Bad-tibira: Reigned for 28,800 years.
5 Dumuzid, the Shepherd of Bad-tibira: Reigned for 36,000 years.
6 En-sipad-zid-ana of Larak: Reigned for 28,800 years.
7 En-men-dur-ana of Sippar: Reigned for 21,000 years.
8 Ubara-Tutu of Shuruppak: Reigned for 18,600 years. Postdiluvian Kings

After the great flood, the reign lengths become shorter, but some are still quite long by modern standards:

Jushur of Kish: Reigned for 1,200 years.
Kullassina-bel of Kish: Reigned for 960 years.
Nangishlishma of Kish: Reigned for 670 years.
En-tarah-ana of Kish: Reigned for 420 years.
Babum of Kish: Reigned for 300 years.
Puannum of Kish: Reigned for 840 years.
Kalibum of Kish: Reigned for 960 years.
Kalumum of Kish: Reigned for 840 years.
[...]