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ΕλληνικάPaleo-Babylonian · Sumerian scribal tradition
Sumerian King List
The Sumerian King List: who had the right to rule
A prism brings together historical rulers and reigns that are impossible to take literally.
Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.
Documentary original · Exact correspondence
Photograph of the original: Sumerian Royal List, Weld-Blundell prism. Complete prism in display case, one side with two columns and upper right corner without visible writing.
Gts-tg · Ashmolean Museum, Oxford · Inventory: AN1923.444 · CC BY-SA 4.0
History and context
Royalty passes from one city to another in a story that combines gods, flood and rulers. The excessive reigns of the beginning do not serve as literal dates. The prism preserves a way of ordering the past to explain who could exercise power.
The version ends with Sin-magir of Isin. The Ashmolean relates this selection to the legitimization of his dynasty. The question is not just who appears on the list: it also matters who is left out and why power is presented as a single succession.
Evidence and interpretation
Concrete witness of a text with several versions. The Royal List was already mentioned in Gilgamesh's record; Here the prism is incorporated as an independent piece, not as a discovery of a previously absent tradition.
Catalogue facts
- Date of piece
- Towards 1800 BCE
- Culture and period
- Paleo-Babylonian · Sumerian scribal tradition
- Provenance
- Probably Larsa, Iraq
- Material
- Clay four-sided prism
- Inventory
- AN1923.444 · Weld-Blundell prism
A SHARED TOPIC, DIFFERENT MOMENTS
Objects connected through time
Follow a topic across the collections. A shared tag is a way to compare objects, not proof that one culture influenced another.
The order uses the midpoint of each approximate date range; ranges can overlap. Spacing does not represent elapsed time. Swipe, scroll or use the arrows. With the sequence focused, use ← / →, Home or End.
Clay32 dated objects
≈29,000–27,000 years
Dolní Věstonice I
Prehistory
Approximate catalogue age; editorial reference 2026 for ordering only, not calibrated dating.
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mid-6th–5th millennium BCE
Before Sumer
Sumer
The full 6th–5th millennia BCE provide broad limits for chronological ordering; the record qualifies the date as ‘mid’; the item's date is used, not the broader preceding period.
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Early Neolithic · VI–V millennia BCE
Twin-chambered vessel from Cova de l’Or
Prehistory
Interval of the VI–V millennia BCE; no precise annual date.
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ca. 4400–3800 BCE
Before Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Date of the representative vessel, not of the entire predynastic period.
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V–IV millennium BCE
Before Nubia
Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Interval of the V–IV millennia BCE of the element, not of the entire preceding period.
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Middle Neolithic, c. 4000 BCE
Before Gojoseon
Gojoseon and early Korea
Date of the ceramic element, not of the preceding period.
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ca. 3500–3000 BCE
Bevel-rimmed bowl
Sumer
The wage ration hypothesis is not used as a functional label.
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3500–2900 BCE · proto-urban period; towards 3300 BCE as a guide, not exact date
Susa accounting bulla
Sumer
Posted range; "towards 3300" is just orientation within that range.
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c. 3100–2900 BCE
Jemdet Nasr
Sumer
Approximate dating according to the record.
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c. 3100–2900 BCE
Account of malt and barley
Sumer
Approximate dating according to the record.
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Middle Jōmon, ca. 3000 BCE
Before Yayoi
Yayoi Japan
Date of the Jōmon element, not of the entire preceding period.
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ca. 2500–2200 BCE
Vasiliki
Greek worlds
Date range for the regional pottery assemblage.
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c. 2500–2000 BCE
Before Ancient China
Ancient China
Approximate dating according to the record.
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c. 2500–2000 BCE
Longshan
Ancient China
Date range for the Longshan pottery assemblage.
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c. 19th century BCE
Before the Hittites
Hittites
Date of the representative document, not of the entire preceding period.
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Kotosh-Mito Tradition, c. 2200–1500 BCE; the enclosure is usually situated around 1800 BCE.
Overlapping datesBefore Pre-Inca Cultures
Pre-Inca cultures
Element tradition interval; "around 1800" orients the enclosure.
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19th–18th centuries BCE
Overlapping datesQueen of the Night
Sumer
Approximate dating according to the record.
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Paleo-Babylonian period · around 1800 BCE
Overlapping datesPlimpton 322
Sumer
Approximate dating according to the record.
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You are viewingTowards 1800 BCE
Sumerian King List
Sumer
Date of preserved copy, not of reigns listed.
Current record
Paleo-Babylonian copy, around 1900–1600 BCE according to CDLI
Overlapping datesLove song to Shu-Sin
Sumer
Date of the preserved Paleo-Babylonian copy, not of the origin of the song.
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Towards 1900–1600 BCE · paleobabylonian; uncertain chronological attribution in CDLI
Overlapping datesSi.427 tablet
Sumer
Unclear chronological attribution in CDLI.
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≈1700–1650 BCE
Phaistos Disc
Greek worlds
The signs have no accepted reading.
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Towards 1650 BCE
Sumerian Flood of Nippur
Sumer
Approximate dating according to the record.
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Above all 17th–13th centuries BCE
Boğazköy Archive
Hittites
Main date range for the archive, not a single date for all the tablets.
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c. 1375 BCE
Linear B
Greek worlds
Approximate dating according to the record.
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c. 1300 BCE
Alaksandu of Wilusa
Hittites
Approximate dating according to the record.
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c. 1259 BCE, year 21 of Ramesses II
Treaty with Egypt
Hittites
Date of the treaty and its copy; not of the origin of relations between the two kingdoms.
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7th century BCE
Flood Tablet
Sumer
Approximate dating according to the record.
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Towards 700–500 BCE
Babylonian map of the world
Sumer
Approximate dating according to the record.
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522–486 BCE
Glazed brick guards
Achaemenid Persia
Date range associated with the reign of the decoration.
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Towards 509–493 BCE
Rations for women and children
Achaemenid Persia
Date range of the archive and its documents.
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regional range c. 800 BCE–650 CE
Urewe vessel
Bantu-speaking worlds
Regional date range for the Urewe type, not an individual date for each vessel.
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Also connected, without a comparable date (8)
These objects are not placed after the others: an unknown date does not mean a more recent object.
- A White Wall on the DanubeCeltic worlds · 6th century BCE
- Blue that does not yieldMaya worlds · Documented use from the Classic, c. 300–1500 CE
- Cyrus speaks as king of BabylonAchaemenid Persia · After the conquest of Babylon in 539 BCE
- Early potteryMande Worlds · before ca. 9400 cal BCE
- Made in GaramaGaramantes · I millennium BCE–I millennium CE
- Piece-mold castingAncient China · c. 1600–1046 BCE
- The unfinished gestureBatwa / Twa histories · 1947
- Vessels without a languageBantu-speaking worlds · Urewe, broad regional range ca. 800 BCE–650 CE
A closer look
About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: .
Shaping political memory
Its eight columns are distributed between four faces. The shape of the object requires you to rotate it to continue reading. It is a source to study how legitimacy was built; not a guarantee that all the kings listed ruled consecutively or for the time that the text attributes to them.
- Museum · Ashmolean · Sumerian King ListAccess recorded: .
Location and territory
REGIONAL AREA
Probably Larsa, IraqSouthern Mesopotamia and cities of the alluvial plain. The footprint marks the indicative center of the area, not a border or an exact point.Where it is held
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
Item or group in the record · Documented collection
Institution that preserves the piece; Check with the museum about its availability to visit.
The holding institution is documented; public display may change. Check its official record before visiting.
Sources and references
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