The Mystery of the Sumerian Kings List Explained

The Sumerian Kings List is one of the most mind-bending ancient texts, blending myth, legend, and history into a wild narrative that spans thousands of years. From kings who ruled for impossibly long lifespans to dramatic floods that reset civilization, this list offers a glimpse into the fascinating and chaotic world of early Mesopotamian beliefs about power and time.

Gösta Gabriel is postdoctoral researcher in Ancient Near Eastern Studies at the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Germany. He received his doctorate in Ancient Near Eastern Studies in 2013 from Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, with the first overall interpretation of the so-called "Babylonian Epic of Creation" (enūma eliš). His project at the Mahindra Humanities Center – "A Mythical Critique of Violence" – is on the ancient concept of violence as it can be derived from Mesopotamian flood mythology (i.e. Epic of Atramḫasīs, Sumerian Flood Story, Epic of Gilgameš, ca. 2000–1000 BCE). He did his habilitation on the Sumerian Kings List.


Thanks to JS from Helsinki for working to get this interview setup

Book referenced by Dr. Gabriel is by Samuel Chen: “The Primeval Flood Catastrophe: Origins and Early Development in Mesopotamian Traditions”

There's a similar article here by Dr. Chen titled: The Flood Motif as a Stylistic and Temporal Device in Sumerian Literary Traditions

Thanks to Jari, a student of theology at the University of Helsinki, for helping to set up this interview!

[js]

1:25:32 In Finland we also have the rank of "docent", which is can be applied for after an academic has done enough research which corresponds to a second doctorate. Here a few papers seem enough, while Germany demands a proper monograph. Eckart Frahm, Daniel Schwemer and Christoph Berner have all had an habilitation as well.

[js]

1:27:02 One has to remember that developments Sumerian and Akkadian linguistics have come a long way since the days of Jacobson. People such as Nathan Wasserman, Uri Gabbay, Michael P. Streck, Martin Worthington, Mikko Luukko and Jay Crisostomo have all added to research.

[r.a.panimefan]

Slept through the live stream

Was up late washing all the dishes in house... mouse.
Gotta love em...
... all sarcasm intended. Im here now

[lcmlcm]

Crazy how people believe the ancient alien theory but the truth is normally boring as heck ❤

[NeptunesLagoon]

The dates are sacred geometry numbers.. and all add up to 432, 000 which is also sacred geometry and a “Sun number “
😮

[clancynielsen]

Hey can you post the name of the author and the title of the article that discusses the flood as political catastrophe?

[schoolshields]

Plus how do you explain that the Sumerian Kings list match 14 other King list prisms or Egyptian Kings List..?

[pisstoffcat]

Keep studying, don't believe everything you read and somewhere between it all lies the truth, don't be deceived .

[AthenaNKnight]

10:17 METAPHOR!? this guy has never seen a satellite image of africa and the middle east even once has he.

[roundhouserenovations]

Pure speculation absolutely no evidence just simply I think this is true because it appears to be so therefore everything that's been believed before me has been crazy I'm getting tired of listening to everybody's way of getting rid of God it's beginning to become disgusting I don't want to believe so therefore I'm going to make up a story and everybody else who doesn't want to believe will find an excuse to believe what I say I will need very little if any evidence whatsoever because I am based on the implicit bias of the listener