Uncovered throughout the years by scholars in numerous regions in ancient Mesopotamia, the copies of what is believed to be a single manuscript –referred to as the Sumerian King List— details how in the distant past, our planet was ruled by eight mysterious kings for a staggering period of 241,000 years. The list even states that these rulers ‘descended from the heaven’.

The piece that most scandalized experts are a list of Sumerian kings and their reigns over thousands of years.

This iconic tablet lists Sumerian reigns, indicating their duration and location. What has surprised experts, however, is that the table confuses predynastic rulers with rulers who are part of accepted historical chronology. Which caused intense debates in the scientific community: Why did the Sumerians record these “supposedly mythical” kings on the same tablet if they weren’t real?

The tablet is about 4,000 years old, and was found thanks to the work of the German Hermann Hilprecht, in ancient Nippur and was first published in 1906.

Since its discovery, at least 18 specimens have been found, most of them originating from the Isin dynasty, dating from around 2017 to 1794 BC. All texts are different from each other, yet all versions have enough similarities to conclude that they all start from a single copy

The most complete version of all is ”the Weld-Blundell prism“, which is part of the cuneiform writing collection from the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

It is 20 centimeters tall, has four sides with two columns of writing on each. It is said that in the past it had a kind of spinning wheel or wooden base at its center to turn it so that it could be read, this copy lists all the kings from the pre-flood dynasties up to the fourteenth ruler of the Isin Dynasty.

The Sumerian Hierarchy and Its Mythical Past

Ancient Sumer of the 3rd millennium BC., had at least 12 cities, each one of them walled and with political power falling on the citizens. Thanks to the rivalry that arose between the cities, the kingdoms were born, but the Sumerian Kings list names 8 rulers prior to the Great Universal Flood, speaks of the beginning of the monarchy as a “divine institution”.

“As royalty descended from the heavens. Furthermore, it highlights incredible and impossible time periods for any human being.” After the royalty descended from the sky, the royalty was in Eridug. At Eridug Alulim became king; he ruled for 28,800 years.

Alaljar ruled for 36,000 years. Two kings ruled for 64,800 years. Some of the rulers mentioned in the list are Etana, Lugal-banda, or Gilgamesh, are considered to be mythical heroes whose legends and incredible deeds are within the Sumerian and Babylonian legends. These kings span a staggering time span of 241,200 years in total, from the time of their arrival to the flood.

It was to be expected that these reigns would be rejected by academics, who claim they are not real or official, most claim they are misinterpretations by ancient historians or that it is just mythology. Thanks to the fact that there are experts who are not guided by the official canon of history, they claimed that its record is irrefutable proof of its existence.

This shows that divine beings ruled in antiquity, in fact, some experts have shown similarities that exist between the Sumerian king list with the biblical Genesis.

The clearest of all similarities is the appearance of the
Great Universal Flood. The time period each of these kings ruled ranges from 18,600 to 43,200 years old.

Something similar can be read in chapter 5 of Genesis, where the eight generations from God created the world until the flood are mentioned, the next monarchs appearing after the flood ruled for much shorter periods of time

This decrease in man’s life expectancy is also reflected in the Bible. There are many questions that arise with the Sumerian King List. Who were these rulers? Why did they last as long as kings? Why is it so similar to the Bible?

Obviously, the official status that was given in ancient times wanted to discredit today, although investigations continue. Will we be able to find out who these kings were?