Eridu is an archaeological site in southern Mesopotamia. Eridu was long considered the earliest city in southern Mesopotamia. Located 12 kilometers southwest of Ur, Eridu was the southernmost of a conglomeration of Sumerian cities that grew around temples, almost in sight of one another. These buildings were made of mud brick and built on top of one another. With the temples growing upward and the village growing outward, a larger city was built. In Sumerian mythology, Eridu was originally the home of Enki, later known by the Akkadians as Ea, who was considered to have founded the city. His temple was called E-Abzu, as Enki was believed to live in Abzu, an aquifer from which all life was believed to stem.
The Sumerian King List or Chronicle of the One Monarchy is an ancient literary composition written in Sumerian that was likely created and redacted to legitimize the claims to power of various city-states and kingdoms in southern Mesopotamia during the late third and early second millennium BC. It does so by repetitively listing Sumerian cities, the kings that ruled there, and the lengths of their reigns. Especially in the early part of the list, these reigns often span thousands of years. In the oldest known version, dated to the Ur III period but probably based on Akkadian source material, the SKL reflected a more linear transition of power from Kish, the first city to receive kingship, to Akkad. In later versions from the Old Babylonian period, the list consisted of a large number of cities between which kingship was transferred, reflecting a more cyclical view of how kingship came to a city, only to be inevitably replaced by the next. In its best-known and best-preserved version, as recorded on the Weld-Blundell Prism, the SKL begins with a number of fictional antediluvian kings, who ruled before a flood swept over the land, after which kingship went to Kish. It ends with a dynasty from Isin, which is well-known from other contemporary sources.
Ziusudra of Shuruppak is listed in the WB-62 Sumerian King List recension as the last king of Sumer prior to the Great Flood. He is subsequently recorded as the hero of the Sumerian creation myth and appears in the writings of Berossus as Xisuthros.
Bad-tibira, "Wall of the Copper Worker(s)", or "Fortress of the Smiths", identified as modern Tell al-Madineh, between Ash Shatrah and Tell as-Senkereh in southern Iraq, was an ancient Sumerian city, which appears among antediluvian cities in the Sumerian King List. Its Akkadian name was Dûr-gurgurri. It was also called Παντιβίβλος (Pantibiblos) by Greek authors such as Berossus, transmitted by Abydenus and Apollodorus. This may reflect another version of the city's name, Patibira, "Canal of the Smiths".
Alulim was a mythological Mesopotamian ruler, regarded as the first king to ever rule. He is known from the Sumerian King List, Ballad of Early Rulers, and other similar sources which invariably place him in Eridu and assign a reign lasting thousands of years to him. A myth describing his appointment by the gods and incantations treating him as the creator of insects are also known. He is absent from Early Dynastic sources, and he is considered fictional by Assyriologists. His name was preserved in later Greek, Arabic and Persian works.
Ubara-tutu of Shuruppak was the last antediluvian king of Sumer, according to some versions of the Sumerian King List. He was said to have reigned for 18,600 years. He was the son of En-men-dur-ana, a Sumerian mythological figure often compared to Enoch, as he entered heaven without dying. Ubara-Tutu was the king of Sumer until a flood swept over his land.
Dumuzid, titled the Fisherman, was a legendary Sumerian king of Uruk listed originating from Kuara. According to legend, in the one-hundredth year of his reign, he was captured by Enmebaragesi.
The earliest record of a Sumerian creation myth, called The Eridu Genesis by historian Thorkild Jacobsen, is found on a single fragmentary tablet excavated in Nippur by the Expedition of the University of Pennsylvania in 1893, and first recognized by Arno Poebel in 1912. It is written in the Sumerian language and dated to around 1600 BCE. Other Sumerian creation myths from around this date are called the Barton Cylinder, the Debate between sheep and grain and the Debate between Winter and Summer, also found at Nippur.
En-men-lu-ana appears as the first king of Bad-tibira in some version of the Sumerian King List. The list claims that En-men-lu-ana ruled for 43,200 years, and succeeded by Dumuzid the Shepard. The kings on the early part of the SKL are usually not considered historical, except when they are mentioned in contemporary documents. En-men-lu-ana is not one of them.
En-men-gal-ana appears as the second king of Bad-tibira in some version of the Sumerian King List. According to that literary composition, En-men-gal-ana ruled for 28,800 years. The kings on the early part of the SKL are usually not considered historical, except when they are mentioned in Early Dynastic documents. En-men-gal-ana is not one of them.
Jushur (cuneiform: 𒄑𒃡ĜIŠ.UR3; Sumerian: Ĝušur) appears as a king of Kish in the Sumerian king list, a literary composition created in Mesopotamia at the beginning of the second millennium BC. He is either the first king on the list to be mentioned, or the first king after a flood, depending on the version of the SKL. According to the list, Jushur reigned for 1200 years. Jushur does not appear in Early Dynastic inscriptions. His historicity, like that of many other kings of the earlier parts of the Sumerian King List, is considered unlikely.
The Weld-Blundell Prism is a clay, cuneiform inscribed vertical prism housed in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. The prism was found in a 1922 expedition in Larsa in modern-day Iraq by British archaeologist Herbert Weld Blundell. The four sides, about 20 cm high and 9 cm wide, are inscribed in the Sumerian language with lists of Sumerian kings; each side contains the text in two columns: this is the famous Sumerian King List. It is considered as the most complete of the Sumerian King Lists which have been found, of which there are approximately 25 more or less complete fragments as of 2016.
Iddin-Dagan, fl.c. 1910 BC — c. 1890 BC by the short chronology or c. 1975 BC — c. 1954 BC by the middle chronology) was the 3rd king of the dynasty of Isin. Iddin-Dagan was preceded by his father Shu-Ilishu. Išme-Dagān then succeeded Iddin-Dagan. Iddin-Dagan reigned for 21 years He is best known for his participation in the sacred marriage rite and the sexually-explicit hymn that described it.
Larak was a city in Sumer that appears in some versions of the Sumerian King List as the third of five cities to exercise kingship in the antediluvian era. The only king of Larak to be mentioned in the SKL is En-sipad-zid-ana. The city is also mentioned in the Lament for Ur. The city has not yet been identified archaeologically, but a location to the east of Kish and near Isin has been suggested. Its patron deity was Pabilsag, a Ninurta-like warrior god additionally associated with judgment, medicine and the underworld, usually portrayed as the husband of Ninisina. A Larak is mentioned in writings of Neo-Babylonian and Neo-Assyrian times but it is not certain if this is the same city.
Lugal-kinishe-dudu also Lugal-kiginne-dudu , was a King and (ensi) of Uruk and Ur who lived towards the end of the 25th century BCE. The Sumerian King List mentions Lugal-kinishe-dudu as the second king of the dynasty after En-cakanca-ana, attributing to him a fanciful reign of 120 years.
Susada appears as the first king of the second dynasty of Kish in some versions of the Sumerian King List. According to that literary composition, Susada ruled for 201 years. The kings on the early part of the SKL are usually not considered historical, except when they are mentioned in contemporary documents. Susada is not one of them.
Dadasig appears as the second king of the second dynasty of Kish in some versions of the Sumerian King List. According to that literary composition, Dadasig ruled for 81 years. The kings on the early part of the SKL are usually not considered historical, except when they are mentioned in contemporary documents. Dadasig is not one of them.
Lugalnamniršumma was an ancient Iraqi ruler. He ruled sometime during the Early Dynastic IIIb period ; additionally, temp. Akalamdug, Urnanshe, Akurgal, Paraganedu, and Ennail. Ursangpae may have preceded Lugalnamniršumma as a king of Uruk. Lugalnamniršumma may have also been succeeded by Lugalsilâsi I as a great king of Kish.
Lugalsilâsi I was an ancient Iraqi ruler. He ruled sometime during the Early Dynastic IIIb period ; additionally, temp. Eannatum, Akurgal, Ush, E-iginimpa'e, and Ikun-Mari. Lugalsilâsi I was preceded by Lugalnamniršumma as the king of Uruk. Lugalsilâsi I may have also been succeeded by Meskalamdug as a great king of Kish.
Urzage was an ancient Iraqi ruler. He ruled sometime during the Early Dynastic IIIb period ; additionally, temp. A'annepada, Entemena, Il, and Ishtup-Ishar. Urzage was preceded by Lugalsilâsi I as the king of Uruk. Urzage may have also been succeeded by Lugalkinishedudu as a great king of Kish.
