Sumerian King List (Weld-Blundell Prism)
Long-lived kings before the flood, and kingship after it
Found 1922 — Acquired by Herbert Weld-Blundell for the Ashmolean; published by Stephen Langdon (1923)
Where Larsa (Tell as-Senkereh), Iraq (reported) (Iraq)
Dates from c. 1800 BCE · Old Babylonian (Isin-Larsa) · Genesis 5 and 11 genealogies; the Flood
Now at Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (AN1923.444)
How Sumerian King List (Weld-Blundell Prism) was found
Purchased in Iraq in 1922, reportedly from Larsa; it is the most complete of about 25 known copies of the list.
What it is
A four-sided baked clay prism about 20 cm tall, inscribed in Sumerian with a list of kings from the time 'kingship descended from heaven' through the flood down to the Isin dynasty. Pre-flood kings reign for tens of thousands of years; post-flood reigns shrink over time.
Why it matters for the Bible
Like Genesis 5 and 11, the list splits history at a great flood, gives enormously long lives before it and shorter ones after, and counts eight to ten pre-flood rulers—close to the ten generations from Adam to Noach. The numbers are not history, but the shared shape of the two traditions shows the biblical writers and the Sumerians drew on a common memory of an ancient flood.
The Hebrew word: mah-BOOL
מַבּוּל
מַבּוּל is pronounced mah-BOOL and means the Flood (used only of Noach's flood) (Strong's H3999).
People this discovery connects to
- Noah — נֹחַ (NO-ach) — rest, comfort
- Methuselah — מְתוּשֶׁלַח (me-too-SHEH-lach) — man of the dart
Places
- Shinar — שִׁנְעָר (shin-AHR) — Sumer/Babylonia
Events
Genealogy from Adam to Noach · The Flood · Kingship after the flood
Sumerian King List (Weld-Blundell Prism) in Scripture
Genesis 5:21 First mention of Methuselah in Scripture.
Genesis 5:27 Methuselah's 969 years; the list's pre-flood kings likewise reign for vast spans.
Genesis 7:6 The flood divides eras in both Genesis and the King List.
Questions people ask
What is Sumerian King List (Weld-Blundell Prism)?
A four-sided baked clay prism about 20 cm tall, inscribed in Sumerian with a list of kings from the time 'kingship descended from heaven' through the flood down to the Isin dynasty. Pre-flood kings reign for tens of thousands of years; post-flood reigns shrink over time.
When was Sumerian King List (Weld-Blundell Prism) discovered?
It was found in 1922 by Acquired by Herbert Weld-Blundell for the Ashmolean; published by Stephen Langdon (1923), at Larsa (Tell as-Senkereh), Iraq (reported).
Where is Sumerian King List (Weld-Blundell Prism) today?
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (AN1923.444).
Which Bible verses does Sumerian King List (Weld-Blundell Prism) relate to?
Genesis 5:21, Genesis 5:27, Genesis 7:6.
Related discoveries
- תֵּבָהGilgamesh Flood Tablet (Tablet XI)The Babylonian flood story that shook Victorian London
- תֵּבָהDurupınar Site ('Noah's Ark' boat-shaped formation)A ship-shaped mound in eastern Turkey promoted by Ron Wyatt and recent scan teams
- גִּבֹּרKish and Its 'Flood' DepositThe city where the King List says kingship resumed after the flood
- אֲדָמָהAtrahasis EpicCreation of humans and a flood in one Old Babylonian poem
- כֹּפֶרThe 'Ark Tablet' (Old Babylonian round-ark instructions)A palm-sized cuneiform text giving the flood hero a coracle to build
- מַבּוּלShuruppak (Fara) and Its Flood LayerThe Sumerian flood hero's home city, with a river-flood deposit of about 2900 BCE
Sources
Open Sumerian King List (Weld-Blundell Prism) in Hebrew Explorer →