oi.uchicago.edu THE ORIENTAL INSTITUTE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO ASSYRIOLOGICAL STUDIES JOHN ALBERT WILSON & THOMAS GEORGE ALLEN • EDITORS oi.uchicago.edu oi.uchicago.edu THE SUMERIAN KING LIST oi.uchicago.edu oi.uchicago.edu THE SUMERIAN KING LIST BT THORKILD JACOBSEN THE ORIENTAL INSTITUTE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO ASSTRIOLOGICAL STUDIES . NO. 11 THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS • CHICAGO • ILLINOIS Internet publication of this work was made possible with the generous support of Misty and Lewis Gruber oi.uchicago.edu International Standard Book Number: 0-226-62273-8 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 39-19328 THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS, CHICAGO 60637 The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London © 1939 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. Published 1939, Fourth Impression 1973. Printed by Cushing-Malloy, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America. oi.uchicago.edu TO O. E. RAVN, TO THE MEMORY OF EDWARD CHIERA AND TO H. FRANKFORT ARE THESE STUDIES DEDICATED oi.uchicago.edu oi.uchicago.edu PREFACE The incentive to the studies here presented was furnished by the excava­ tions of the Oriental Institute at Tell Asmar. When in the season of 1931/32 we opened up strata of Agade and Early Dynastic times, the chronology of these periods naturally occupied our thoughts greatly, and the author felt prompted to resume earlier, more perfunctory studies of the Sumerian King List. The main ideas embodied in the present work took shape that season in the evenings, after days spent in the houses and among the remains of the periods with which the King List deals. The detailed working-out and re­ peated testing of these ideas have occupied much of the author's time in the years since then. He releases them—although he feels that they will continue to occupy his thoughts for a long time yet—in the sincere hope that they will prove fruitful to other workers in this field and contribute toward better under­ standing of the innumerable chronological problems which still await solution. The author is indebted to many people for help and encouragement—first of all to the three men to whom this book is dedicated. To the example of their widely different but all truly scholarly personalities I owe much. O. E. Ravn, my teacher, is the embodiment of his own sober concepts of what scholarship should be and the best mentor a young Assyriologist could have. As for Ed­ ward Chiera—only those who had the good fortune to work with this warm­ hearted, vital, and inspiring scholar can fully realize how irreparable a loss our science suffered at his untimely death in 1933. With H. Frankfort I have been associated through ten years of work in the field and at home, fruitful years of friendship and free exchange of ideas which I value highly. Toward the studies here presented he has shown a never failing interest. Sincere thanks are due, further, to the late James Henry Breasted for accept­ ing this book for the Oriental Institute series and especially to the present director of the Institute, John A. Wilson, for making the fulfilment of that promise possible although conditions have changed materially. John Wilson also suggested comparing my results with Egyptian chronology and assisted with the Egyptological literature on the subject. To my colleagues in the Oriental Institute I am indebted for suggestions and helpful criticism on many points. Several have undertaken to read the manu­ script completely or in part. I may mention Professors A. T. Olmstead and F. W. Geers and Drs. George G. Cameron, Robert M. Engberg, C. W. Mc- Ewan, Ignace J. Gelb, and Samuel I. Feigin. ix oi.uchicago.edu X PREFACE Of inestimable value has been the interest and painstaking care which Dr. T. George Allen and his associates on the editorial staff of the Oriental Insti­ tute have shown in dealing with this volume. I wish especially to emphasize my feeling of deep indebtedness to Mrs. Ruth S. Brookens, with whom every point of both style and argument has been thoroughly discussed. Through her unflagging interest, her fine scholarly approach, and excellent judgment this essay has profited materially. The index at the end of the book is also due to her. THORKILD JACOBSEN COPENHAGEN April 14, 1939 oi.uchicago.edu TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xiii I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. TEXTUAL PROBLEMS 5 The Individual Manuscripts 5 Derivation from a Single Original 13 Genealogy of the Manuscripts 14 The Postdiluvian Section 14 Evidence from the Principal Variants 14 The Atabba Variants 15 Variants in the Reigns of the Agade Rulers 23 Variants in the Formulas 28 Genealogical Table Based on the Foregoing Variants 42 Supplementary Evidence from Variants of More Limited Scope . 50 The Fourth Dynasty of Uruk 50 The Interregnum in the Agade Period 52 The Ku(g)-Baba Variant 53 Influence from the Y Group on Sui, Su2, and Li 54 The Antediluvian Section 55 III. CRITICAL EDITION OF THE TEXT, WITH TRANSLATION AND NOTES ... 69 IV. COMPOSITION 128 Date 128 The Collective i - b - LAL 129 The Disregard of Subject Element - n - and "Causative" - n - . 131 Traces of Early Redactions 135 The Term 8% u k u 1 s i g 137 Basic Ideas in the King List 138 Conclusions 140 Place 141 Sources 141 General Character of the Sources 141 Sources of the "Notes" 142 Sources of the Material Which Constitutes the Main Body of the List . 147 Individual Sources 154 Methods 158 V. HISTORICAL VALUE 165 Relative Values of Features in the King List 165 Isolation and Reconstruction of the Sources 167 The Kish Source 167 xi oi.uchicago.edu xii TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE The Uruk Source 169 The Ur Source 172 The Akshak Source 176 The Agade Source 177 Correlation of the Sources 178 Ur and Agade 178 Agade, Kish, and Uruk 178 Akshak and Kish 179 Uruk and Lagash 179 Table I. Tabulation of the Sources as Correlated facing 180 Comparisons with Data from Other Documents 180 "Missing Rulers" 180 Synchronisms 183 En-temena-Lugal-kinishe-dudu 183 En-shakush-Anna(k)-Enbi-Eshtar 183 En-shakush-Anna(k)-Elulu 184 A-Anne-pada-about Ur-Nanshe(k) 184 Gilgames-Aka 186 Types of Personal Names 187 VI. RESULTING CHRONOLOGY 191 Relevant Fixed Points of Absolute Chronology 191 Reckoning from Late Chronological Lists 191 Astronomical Dating of the Hammurabi Dynasty and of the Third Dy­ nasty of Ur 196 Connection of Datable Dynasties with Those in the King List Proper . 202 The Reign of Utu-hegal 202 Gutium and Agade 204 Table II. Chronology of Mesopotamian Rulers down to the First Dynasty of Babylon facing 208 INDEX 209 PLATE. CUNEIFORM TEXT OP J AND OF EPIC FRAGMENT K 11624 at end oi.uchicago.edu LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AH DELITZSCH, F. Assyrisches Handworterbuch (Leipzig, 1896). AJSL American journal of Semitic languages and literatures (Chicago etc., 1884 ). An. Or. Analecta orientalia (Roma, 1931 ). AO Paris. Mus6e national du Louvre. Antiquity orientales. (Fol­ lowed by catalogue number.) AOF Archiv fur Orientforschung (Berlin, 1923 [Vols. I-II called "Archiv fur Keilsehriftforschung"]). AS Chicago. University. Oriental Institute. Assyriological studies (Chicago, 1931 ). AS No. 6 JACOBSEN, THORKILD. Philological notes on Eshnunna and its inscriptions (1934). BE Pennsylvania. University. The Babylonian expedition of the University of Pennsylvania. Series A: Cuneiform texts, ed. by H. V. Hilprecht (Philadelphia, 1893-1914). BE I 1-2 HILPRECHT, H. V. Old Babylonian inscriptions, chiefly from Nip­ pur (1893-96). BE III 1 MYHRMAN, DAVID W. Sumerian administrative documents (1910). BE VI 2 POEBEL, ARNO. Babylonian legal and business documents .... chiefly from Nippur (1909). BE XX 1 HILPRECHT, H. V. Mathematical, metrological and chronologi­ cal tablets from the temple library of Nippur (1906). BE XXXI LANGDON, S. H. Historical and religious texts from the temple library of Nippur (1914). BM British Museum. (Followed by catalogue number.) Bu British Museum. Budge collection. CBS Pennsylvania. University. University Museum. Catalogue of the Babylonian section. CR Acad6mie des inscriptions et belles-lettres, Paris. Comptes ren- dus des stances (Paris, 1858 ). CT British Museum. Cuneiform texts from Babylonian tablets, &c, in the British Museum (London, 1896 ). Dec. SARZEC, ERNEST DE. D^couvertes en Chald6e. II. Partie 6pi- graphique et planches (Paris, 1884-1912). EH A SMITH, SIDNEY. Early history of Assyria to 1000 B.C. (London, 1928). GSG POEBEL, ARNO. Grundziige der sumerischen Grammatik (Ros­ tock, 1923). HRETA NIES, J. B., and KEISER, C. E. Historical, religious, and econom­ ic texts and antiquities (Babylonian inscriptions in the collec­ tion of James B. Nies. II [New Haven, Conn., 1&20]). oi.uchicago.edu xiv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ITT Istanbul. Asan Atika Muzeleri. Inventaire des tablettes de Tello conserves au Mus£e imperial ottoman (Paris, 1910-21). ITT II 1-2 GENOUILLAC, HENRI DE. Textes de Pepoque d'Agade* et de Y6- poque d'Ur (1910-11). ITT IN DELAPORTE, LOUIS. Textes de P6poque d'Ur (1912). JAOS American Oriental Society. Journal (Boston etc., 1849 ). JRAS Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Journal (London, 1834 ). JSOR Society of Oriental Research. Journal (Chicago etc., 1917 ). K British Museum. Kouyunjik collection. KAHl MESSERSCHMIDT, LEOPOLD. Keilschrifttexte aus Assur his- torischen Inhalts (WVDOG XVI [Leipzig, 1911]). KAH II SCHROEDER, OTTO. Keilschrifttexte aus Assur historischen In­ halts (WVDOG XXXVII [Leipzig, 1922]). KAR EBELING, ERICH. Keilschrifttexte aus Assur religiosen Inhalts (WVDOG XXVIII1-4 and XXXIV 1-5 [Leipzig, 1919 ]). KAT* SCHRADER, EBERHARD. Die Keilinschriften und das Alte Testa­ ment (3. Aufl., .... neu bearb. von H. ZIMMERN und H. WINCKLER; Berlin, 1903). KAV SCHROEDER, OTTO. Keilschrifttexte aus Assur verschiedenen In­ halts (WVDOG XXXV [Leipzig, 1920]). Ki British Museum. King collection.