The Sumerian King List and the History of Ancient Mesopotamia

The Sumerian King List is one of the oldest written documents in the history of the world. Though it lists many of the rulers and ruling city-states of ancient Sumer and Akkad, what more does it tell us with regard to the history of the region? Or does it tell us anything? In this episode, we'll understand just what the Sumerian King List is, what its purpose was, and why it may be important for our study of the history of ancient Mesopotamia.

Related Videos:

Ancient Sumer and the Sumerians (Ancient Mesopotamia in Minutes)

The Early History of Sumer and the Sumerians

The Great Sumerian Rivalry: Lagash vs. Umma

Important Cities of the Early Dynastic Period of Sumer

Sumerian Religion Simplified

Sargon the Great and the Akkadian Empire

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[connorgolden]

I never grow tired of the histories of these ancient lands. I’d love to see a video on post new kingdom Egypt, Urartu, the Medes, Lydia, and the phygrians. Especially post new kingdom Egypt.

[mambaramba]

Was waiting for you to cover the king list!

[CoolHistoryBros]

Your reading of the original text makes this really epic, CY! Awesome representation of ancient history.

[DaēnāVanguhi]

Glad you got a sponsorship even if it is Raid ha, I'll reinstall it from your link but then its gone again :')

[haha-ljsq]

One of my favorite theories for why the year list is so long is that the ancient Kings traveled with the Annunaki, and due to the properties of their space travel, the kings would only be gone, in their mind, for 10 or 20 years, but in reality, tens of thousands of years would’ve passed on earth.

[ThePrinceofParthia]

and the kingship was taken to YouTube.
In YouTube, History with Cy became king. May his rule be long and prosperous.

[TheMercian]

The last time I was this early, Alulim was still a young king of 4000 years!

[hhiskgj]

This reminds me of the Arabic chronicles when they talk about Ancient Kings that ruled for hundreds of years but when they came to times that are closer to them then we can see real dates and reasonable periods of rules.

[wesesheskhnemtuhit]

It's said (in the Babylonian standard version I think) that the gods diminished mankind with a deluge because they had become too noisy and disturbed the gods' peace. This is because they multiplied rapidly and had long ages. After the deluge we still see long reigns for kings, but they seem to decrease in time (not instantly) as we drift further from the event. Quite a smooth transition to the more sensible years of reign.

[PoliticalFuturism]

Awesome! As someone with familiarity on the subject of Sumerian king lists, I found this video to be a very useful supplement - and a good reminder of some of what I've forgotten - to my existing knowledge. Thank you Cy!

[ConnorHiggins]

5:24 The scribe was really eager to show off this new thing he just heard about called 'summation'.

[mithridatesvi]

Man, seriously, your work is simply amazing. Keep it up

[AbhishekSharma-yvhm]

I was in the Ashmolean Museum today staring at the Weld-Blundell Prism. Listening to your commentary about the SKL makes the experience truly epic.

[TheOdieD]

This show is my time machine. Thanks for your hard work Cy.

[Angayasse]

This was a fun intro :D Thanks for the cool and fact-packed video again!!

[armychowmein]

@1:10, nearly 5000 year old sarcasm. That was hilarious!

[bitkower]

I wonder if since both days and years are cycles defined by the sun, if its possible the same word might have been used for both and if perhaps these unrealistically long reigns make more sense if measured in days, rather than years. 108, 000 days is just under 300 years, which is more plausible for a long-reigning dynasty. Perhaps it was only later that separate words developed for long (year) and short (day) solar cycles and by the time writing became more common, they were conflated for the older stories?

[deacon]

Hey Cy! Big fan of your work, and great video. A Shame we don't have a king list for the smaller city states such as Lagash and Umma, but I can only lament. Also, would it be possible to have a video on Urukagina of Lagash; who supposedly was the very first reformer and maker of laws? I find the fragments of his edicts and his life fascinating, and I hope within the mounds of Telloh there lies his code.

[dianestefane]

Extremely helpful with my research in aproject I am setting up, beginning with a timeline starting with the Sumarian cultures.

[dszombieqx]

0:22 ... :) funny :) nice touch; love the content on your channel, thank you for sharing and keep up the good work; cheers! happy new year, and be safe