Of the many remarkable artifact that had been recovered from the historical sites in Iraq where Sumerian cities once stood, the most interesting is a list of the kings of Sumer or King List, a codex that recorded in the Sumerian language, contains the name Sumerian kings (archaic southern Iraq) from the Sumerian dynasties and its neighbors, the length of his reign, and the kingdom's official site. What makes this so unique artifact is the fact that the list of pre-dynastic rulers blends which apparently is a myth with a ruler that actually exist in the known history.
The first fragments of texts is a rare and unique, is a 4,000-year-old nail tablets, discovered in the early 1900s by German-American scientist Hermann Hilprecht at the site of ancient Nippur. Since the discovery Hilprecht, at least 18 copies of a list of other kings have been found, most of them come from the second half of Isin dynasty (2017-1794 BC.). None of those documents were identical. However, there is a common material in all versions of the list of kings can be concluded that they originated from a single account, which is ideal Sumerian history.
Among all the examples of the Sumerian king list, Weld-Blundell prism located in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford is a version of the most extensive and most complete copy of the List of the King. 8-inch tall prism consists of four sides with two columns on each side. Prisma is believed originally had a wooden spindle through the center so that it can be rotated to read all four sides with ease. This prism contains a list of the rulers of dynasties antediluvian (before the great flood) to fourteenth ruler of Isin dynasty (1763-1753 BC).
This list is of great value because it only reflects very old tradition, at the same time give a chronological framework is important with regard to periods different from the rulers in Sumer, and even showed alignment remarkable with what is written in the Book of Genesis ( Genesis).
Ancient Sumerian civilization
Sumerians, is the site of the earliest known civilization, located in the most southern part of Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates, in the area that later became Babylon and now southern Iraq from around Baghdad to the Persian Gulf.
From the time of the 3rd Millennium BC, Sumerian was the site of at least twelve separate city states: Kish, Erech, Ur, Sippar, Akshak, Larak, Nippur, Adab, Umma, Lagash, Bad-tibira, and Larsa. Each country is composed of the walled city (the wall around) and the surrounding villages and land, and each worshiped its own god, whose temple is located in the town center. Political power was originally owned by residents, but, as the competition between the various city-states increases, the royal institution began to grow in every city-state.
Sumerian king list noted that there were eight kings ruled before the Great Flood. After the Great Flood, various city-states and their dynasty of kings turns beating each other and the control of other towns.
Sumerian king list begins with the origins of the kingdom, which is seen as a gift of the gods: the kingdom has come down from heaven. The rulers in the early dynastic period depicted ruled with a very very long reign:
After the kingdom descended from heaven, the kingdom was in Eridug. In Eridug, Alulim be king; He ruled 28,800 years. Alaljar ruled for 36000 years. 2 king; they ruled for 64 800 years.
Some authorities mentioned in the initial list, such as Ethane, Lugal-banda and Gilgamesh, is a myth or legend that their heroic story is the subject of a series of stories mixture of Sumer and Babylon.
A total of eight kings reign early in the King List was 241 200 years from the time the kingdom of heaven down to earth when the flood swept and once again the kingdom descended from heaven after the flood.
Why Sumerians combining myth with the ruling authorities that actually exists in the real history in a single document?
One answer may lie in the early history of Sumer. Cities like Kish, Ur, and Akshak (all cities with walls around) was originally sovereign complete with their own gods, and political power belongs to the people. But as competition between cities increases, the royal institution began to emerge and take over, so that the prevailing view is that the document becomes a political tool to strengthen the religious and political hegemony between the cities, provide justification for the authorities to bring them together in one civilization.
Interpretation of a very long reign
The reign of the extraordinary length of the kings initial interpretation has led to much effort. One interpretation says that the great figures that show the reign of kings before the flood actually fabricated and is not worth considering seriously. Another interpretation says that the numbers are actually real and that the early kings are gods or aliens who are able to live longer than men.
In between these two extremes above interpretation is no hypothesis has been suggested that the reign of the extraordinary length of the only numbers that represent the greatness, glory, and success. For example, in ancient Egypt, the sentence he died at the age of 110 "means a person who lives his life with an important contribution to society. In the same way, a very long period of government early kings can represent their importance in the eyes of the people. However this hypothesis does not explain why the period after the great flood switch to a realistic time frame.
Related to this perspective there is a belief that even though there is no historical evidence that supports the existence of the Kings early in the Register of King, this does not preclude the possibility that they may indeed be the real ruler then over the length of time passed into myth.
Relation to the Book of Genesis (Genesis)
Some scholars (eg Wood, 2003) has given attention to the fact that there is a remarkable similarity between the Sumerian King List that is written in the book of Genesis. For example, Genesis tells the story of the great flood and Noah attempt to rescue all animal species on Earth from destruction. Likewise, in the Sumerian King List, there is a note about the great flood: floods that swept the earth.
Sumerian king list provides a list of eight kings (some versions have 10) who ruled for long periods of time before flood, ranging from 18,600 to 43,200 years. It is similar to Genesis 5, where generations of Creation to the Flood recorded. Interestingly, between Adam and Noah there were eight generations, as there were eight kings between the kingdom and flooding in early Sumerian king list.
After the flood, List King noted the reigning king for a period much shorter. Thus, the Sumerian king list is not only documenting major flooding beginning of human history, but also reflects the same pattern of decrease in longevity as found in the Bible men have aged very long stretches before the flood and live with periods of relatively shorter after flood (Wood, 2003). As for the legend of the floods around the world.
Sumerian king list really is a puzzling mystery. Why Sumerian myth merge with the ruling authorities that actually exist in the real history in a single document? Why are there so many similarities with the Genesis? Why the ancient kings depicted as rulers over the tens of thousands of years? These are just some questions that are still unanswered after more than a century of research
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