Few artifacts found in excavations in Iraq, where the thriving cities of the Sumerians were once located, are more intriguing than the Sumerian "Royal List", which is an ancient manuscript written in the Sumerian language containing a complete list of Sumerian rulers (now the territory southern Iraq) and ruling dynasties both in the Sumerian itself and in neighboring territories. It also indicates the alleged period of the reign of these rulers, as well as the "official" place of the reign. What makes this artifact unique is that it seems to mix the mythical rulers that existed before the dynasties, with the rulers whose existence has been proven by historians.
The first fragment of this rare and unique text, printed on a wedge-shaped board, which is 4,000 thousand years old, was found in 1900 by the German-American scientist Herman Hilpresht, at the excavation of ancient Nipur and published in 1906. Since the discovery of Helpresht, more than 18 fragments of this list have been found, most of which date from the second period of the Izin dynasty (2017-1974 BC) No duplicate fragments have been found. However, the collected fragments of the list are enough to claim that they are all taken from one source describing the history of the Sumerians.
Among other examples of cuneiform writing, the Nel-Blundel prism from the Oxford Cuneiform Collection at the Ashmolean Museum is the best-preserved and most complete version of the Royal List. The 20 cm high prism contains inscriptions on all 4 sides, two columns of text on each. It is believed that once the prism rested on some kind of stand with a wooden rod inside, so that it could be rotated and the inscriptions on all four sides could be read. The list includes rulers from ancient dynasties ("before the flood"), which ends with the fourteenth ruler of the Isin dynasty. (1763-1753 BC)
The list is of great value, since, on the one hand, it describes very ancient traditions and, on the other, presents a clear chronological sequence of different periods of the reign in Sumer, which can be used to compile a family tree.
Ancient civilization of the Sumerians
The Kingdom of the Sumerians (or Sumeria) is the area of existence of earlier civilizations, located in the southernmost parts of Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, in the vastness that later became known as the Kingdom of Babylon, and currently stretching from Baghdad to the Persian Gulf.
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By the third millennium BC e. the kingdom of the Sumerians included at least 12 city-states: Kish, Erech, Ur, Sipar, Akshak, Lurak, Nipur, Adab, Umma, Lagash, Bad Tibir, and Larsa. Each state included a walled city, surrounding villages and lands, and each city worshiped its own deity, whose temple was the central building in the city. Power usually belonged to the people, but as the rivalry between cities increased, each had its own institution of succession to the throne.
The Sumerian list says that eight kings ruled before the great flood. After him, some cities and their dynasties temporarily assumed power in other cities.
The mythical past of the Sumerians
The Sumerian list describes the very beginning of the emergence of the succession to the throne, which was considered as a divine institution: "the king descended from heaven." The rulers of the early dynasties are described as if they ruled for a fantastically long period: “When the King descended from heaven, the kingdom was in Yeriduga. In Yeridug Alulim became king, he ruled for 28,800 years. Alaijar ruled for 36,000 years. Two kings, they ruled for 64,800 years."
Some of the rulers mentioned in the early lists, such as Etana, Lugal Banda and Gilgamesh, are mythical figures or heroes of legend, whose heroic deeds are the basis of Sumerian and Babylonian writings.
Earlier lists mention eight kings who ruled for a total of 241,200 years, from the time when the "king descended from heaven" to the time when the "Flood" washed away the earth and again "the kingdom came down to earth" after the "Flood".
Interpreting long reigns
The unrealistically long reigns of the early kings gave rise to attempts to interpret this puzzle. Some argue that the use of such astronomical dates is simply a neglect in calculus and should not be taken seriously. Others believe that such periods really took place and the first Kings were actually Gods, able to live much longer than people.
Between these two extremes, it is hypothesized that such long dates reflect significant power, triumph, or importance. For example, in ancient Egypt, the phrase "he died at the age of 110" referred to someone who had lived a rich life and made a great contribution to the development of society. Therefore, the incredibly long reigns of the first kings may reflect the value and importance they represented in the eyes of the people. However, this does not explain why later periods of reign were reflected in realistic terms.
There is also an opinion that the first kings are just fiction, and there is no connection between them and the historically proven rulers who were later sung in myths.
Some scholars have tried to explain these long periods of rule by mathematical calculations. (Harrison 1993)
Relationship with the family tree
Several scholars, including Wood, drew attention in 2003 to the fact that there are interesting similarities between the Sumerian "Royal List" and the family tree, Genesis. For example, Genesis tells the story of the "great flood" and Noah's efforts to save all animals on earth from destruction. Likewise, the Sumerian list tells of the great flood: "the flood covered the earth."
The Sumerian list points to eight kings (some say 10) who ruled for long periods before the flood, these periods ranging from 18,600 years to 43,200 years. This converges with Genesis, which reflects the generations from Creation to the Flood. It is interesting that Adam and Noah are separated by eight generations, just as in the Sumerian list between the emergence of the kingdom and the great flood, the periods of the reign of eight kings are indicated.
After the flood, the Sumerian lists reflect shorter reign dates. Thus, the Sumerian "Royal List" documents not only the great flood in early human history, but, like the Bible, the tendency towards decreasing longevity - human life expectancy was much longer before the flood, and in the periods after the flood it became much shorter. (Wood, 2003)
The Sumerian list is truly a great mystery. Why did the Sumerians need to combine mythical rulers with real ones in one document? Why are there so many similarities with Genesis? Why are the Sumerian kings described as if they ruled for thousands of years? These are just a few of the questions that remain unanswered despite over a century of research.
