Art of the First Cities: The Third Millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus | Explore & Learn | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Art of the First Cities
Writing: Mesopotamia


Cuneiform prism with the Sumerian King List, ca. 1740 B.C.; Old Babylonian period. Mesopotamia. Cuneiform inscription in Sumerian. Clay; H. 20 cm (7 7/8 in.); W. 9.1 cm (3 5/8 in.). Visitors of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford AN 1923.444.

	This text is a repetitive listing of cities, "dynasties," and kings designed to create a fiction that only one urban power center ruled southern Mesopotamia at any one time. The composition was part of the complex legitimization project of the kings of the Third Dynasty of Ur, which managed to unify southern Mesopotamia for a century (ca. 2097–1989 B.C.). There is an early version from the time of Shulgi, the second king of the dynasty. This beautiful prism is later in date (about 1740 B.C.) but is the only complete version. No two versions of the King List are the same, and the text has many variants; some begin after the flood, dynasties are listed in different order, certain expressions differ, as do the lengths of reign of individual kings. "After kingship had descended from the heavens, (the seat of) kingship was in (the city of) Eridu. In Eridu Alulim became king and reigned for 28,800 years. Alalgar reigned for 36,000 years. (In sum) 2 kings reigned for 64,800 years. Eridu was abandoned and (the seat of) kingship was taken to (the city of) Badtibira. In Badtibira, Enmenluana reigned for 43,200 years; Enmengalana reigned for 28,800 years, Dumuzi, the shepherd, reigned for 36,000 years. (In sum) 3 kings reigned for 108,000 years. Then Badtibira was abandoned and (the seat of) kingship was taken to (the city of) Larak. In Larak, Ensipaziana reigned for 28,800 years. (In sum) 1 king reigned for 28,800 years. Then Larak was abandoned and (the seat of) kingship was taken to Sippar. In Sippar Enmendurana became king and reigned for 21,000 years. (In sum) 1 king reigned for 21,000 years. Then Sippar was abandoned and (the seat of) kingship was taken to (the city of) Shuruppak. In Shuruppak Ubar-Tutu became king and reigned for 18,600 years. (In sum) 1 king reigned for 18,600 years. In 5 cities 8 kings reigned for 241,200 years. Then the flood swept over (the land). After the flood had swept over (the land and) kingship had (once again) descended from the heavens, (the seat of) kingship was in (the city of) Kish. In Kish, Gushur became king and reigned for 1,200 years . . . ."

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