The list of Assyrian kings are compiled from the Assyrian King List, which begins approximately 2500 BC and continues to the 8th century BC. It begins listing Kings of the Sumero-
Akkadian city-state of Assur, and later kings of the Assyrian Empires. Assyria is an ancient civilization in northern Mesopotamia (modern northern Iraq, northeastern Syria, and southeastern
Turkey). The Assyrian King List includes regnal lengths that appear to have been based on now lost limmu lists (which list the names of eponymous officials for each year). These regnal
lengths mostly accord well with Hittite, Babylonian and ancient Egyptian king lists and with the archaeological record, and are generally considered reliable for the age.[1] It is somewhat
pendently verified.[2]
fictional however, as some known kings are not found on the list and other listed kings are not inde
Prior to the discovery of cuneiform tablets listing ancient Assyrian kings, scholars before the 19th century only had access to two complete Assyrian King Lists, one found in Eusebius of
Caesarea's Chronicle (c. 325 AD), of which two editions exist[3] and secondly a list found in the Excerpta Latina Barbari. An incomplete list of 16 Assyrian kings was also preserved in the
literature of Sextus Julius Africanus. Other very fragmentary Assyrian king lists have come down to us written by the Greeks and Romans such as Ctesias of Cnidus (c. 400 BC) and the
Roman authors Castor of Rhodes (1st century BC) and Cephalion (1st century AD). Unlike the cuneiform tablets, the Greek-language lists are only considered to contain minor historical
truths. Some scholars argue further that they are either entire fabrications or fiction.
Contents
Cuneiform sources
Early Assyrian period
Old Assyrian period
Middle Assyrian period
Neo-Assyrian period
Fragmentary Greek and Roman lists
Ctesias
Castor of Rhodes and Cephalion
Julius Africanus
Eusebius of Caesarea
Excerpta Latina Barbari
List in Arabic
See also
Notes
References
External links
Cuneiform sources
[4] They date to the early first millennium BC — the oldest, List A (8th century BC) stopping at
There are three extantcuneiform tablet versions of the Assyrian King List, and two fragments.
Tiglath-Pileser II (c. 967–935 BC) and the youngest, List C, at Shalmaneser V (727–722 BC). Assyriologists believe the list was originally compiled to link Shamshi-Adad I (fl. c. 1700 BC
(short)), an Amorite who had conquered Assur, to the native rulers of the land of Assur. Scribes then copied the List and added to it over time.[5] Before Erishum I, the list gives no regnal
lengths.
The following kings are listed from the list of cuneiform tablets.
This section shows marked similarities to the ancestors of the firstBabylonian dynasty.[5] According to the Cambridge Ancient History, the conclusion of this section "marked
[6]
the end of the nomadic period of the Assyrian people" and "visualized Ushpia as the actual founder of the Semitic city of Ashur"
This section, which in contrast to the rest of the list, was written in reverse order, beginning with Aminu and ending with Apiashal, has often been interpreted as a list of
Shamshi-Adad's ancestors.[5] In keeping with this assumption, scholars have inferred that the original form of the Assyrian Kinglist was written, among other things, as an
"attempt to justify that Shamshi-Adad was a legitimate ruler of the city-state Assur and to obscure his non-Assyrian antecedents by incorporating his ancestors into a native
Assyrian genealogy".[5] However, this interpretation was not accepted universally; the Cambridge Ancient History rejected this interpretation and instead interpreted the
section as the ancestors ofSulili.[6]
[8]
Dates from 1179 to 912 BC, although less securethan dates from 911 BC onwards, are not subject to the chronology debate.
Neo-Assyrian period
Synchronisms between the limmu lists and absolute dates known from Babylonian chronology provide good absolute dates for the years between
911 BC and 649 BC.
The dates for the very end of the Assyrian period are uncertain due to the lack of limmu lists after 649 BC. Some sources list Ashurbanipal's death in
631 BC, rather than 627 BC; Ashur-etil-ilani then reigns from 631 to 627, and Sin-shar-ishkun reigns until 612 BC, when he is known to have died
in the sack of Nineveh.[8]
Ctesias
Ctesias, as court physician to Artaxerxes II, claimed to have access to the royal historical records. Ctesias' list of Assyrian kings was included in his
Persica, a work covering the history of Persia, but the first 3 books were dedicated to pre-Persian Assyria entitled "The History of the Assyrians".
How much of Ctesias' king list is factual history is still debated. While most scholars agree large parts are fiction, it is generally agreed that there is
historical truth based on the probability his list was rooted in transmitted oral tradition.[25][26] Classical scholar Robert Drews, however, has argued
that Ctesias' list contains information from Babylonian tablets.[27] Although Ctesias's entire work is lost, fragments of it are found preserved in
Diodorus Siculus, Nicolaus of Damascusand Photius. From these fragments it is known Ctesias dated the founding of the Assyria to c. 2166 BC, by
King Ninus, husband of Queen Semiramis, and 30 further Assyrian kings followed for 1,300 years in succession to Sardanapalus (c. 866 BC).[28]
Ctesias' list of 30 successors from Ninus (andSemiramis) to Sardanapalus is lost.
Julius Africanus
An incomplete list of 16 Assyrian kings is found inSextus Julius Africanus' Chronographiai (early 3rd century AD):[30]
“ Of the Assyrian Kings the 1st was Belus who reigned 55 years.
Neenus .. .. 52 years.
Semiramis .. .. 42.
Ninaus (Ninyas?) who is called Zamis the son of Neenus and Semiramis; he reigned 38 years.
Arius .. .. 30 years.
Aralius .. .. .. 40.
Xerxes .. .. .. 30.
Armamithres .. 38.
Belochos .. .. 35.
Balaeus .. .. .. 52.
Sethos .. .. .. 50.
Mamuthos .. .. 30.
Aschalius .. .. 28.
Sphaerus .. .. 22.
Mamulus .. .. 30.
Spartheos .. .. 42. ”
Eusebius of Caesarea
Eusebius of Caesarea's Chronicle (c. 325 AD) contains a complete list of 36 Assyrian kings.Eusebius' King List
List in Arabic
The Arab historian al-Ya'qūbī included in his Kitāb al-ta'rīkh written in 873 AD a list of kings of "Mosul and Nineveh" comprising three identifiable Assyrian kings and a queen:
Palūs/Tiglath-pileser II (965-936), Ninūs/Tukulti-Ninurta II (890-884), Lāwasnasir/Assurnasirpal II (883-859) and Shamīram/Semiramis (810-806).[32]
[33]
According to Arab Scholars (Al Biruni) and reviewed by Sir Issac Newton in The Chronology of Nations
Notes
17. Glassner, Jean-Jacques (2004).Mesopotamian Chronicles(https://books.googl
1. Rowton, M.B. (1970). The Cambridge Ancient History(https://books.google.co
e.com/books?id=1i5b6STWnroC&printsec=frontcover&cad=0#PP A88,M1).
m/books?id=7SOL7ypj7bAC&printsec=frontcover&cad=0#PP A194,M1). 1.1.
Society of Biblical Literature. p. 88.ISBN 1589830903.
Cambridge University Press. pp. 194–195.ISBN 0521070511.
18. For variants, see footnotes 49–56 inGlassner, Jean-Jacques (2004).
2. International Dictionary of Historic Places: Middle East and Africa, olume
V 4 (htt
Mesopotamian Chronicles(https://books.google.com/books?id=1i5b6STWnroC
ps://books.google.com/books?id=R44VRnNCzA YC&pg=PA89&lpg=PA89&dq=a
&printsec=frontcover&cad=0#PPA155,M1). Society of Biblical Literature. p. 155.
ssur&source=bl&ots=xpdZ0XG04T&sig=2tZ3paHPfNYT7O9rnBIjPZzVtRE&hl=e
ISBN 1589830903.
n&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj5o6ScjJLQAhUG4iYKHRrFBys4ChDoAQg2MAk)
19. Comments on the Nassouhi Kinglist and the Assyrian Kinglist radition,
T J.A.
3. One the standard, the other a later Armenian translation.
Brinkman, Orientalia N.S 42, 1973
4. For discussion of king lists, see Poebel, “Assyrian King List,” 71–90; IJ Gelb,
20. Assyrian Rulers of the Third and Second Millennia BC, A.K. Grayson, University
“Two Assyrian King Lists,”Journal of Near Eastern Studies 13 (1954): 209–30.
of Toronto Press, 1987, ISBN 0-8020-2605-2
5. Meissner, Bruno (1990). Reallexikon der Assyriologie(https://books.google.co
21. The Chronology of Ancient Assyria Re-assessed, B. Newgrosh, JACF
, vol. 08,
m/books?id=OIeiZaIo91IC&printsec=frontcover&cad=0#PP A101,M1). 6. Berlin:
pp. 78-106, 1999
Walter de Gruyter. pp. 101–102. ISBN 3110100517.
22. Landscape and Settlement in the Neo-Assyrian Empire, .TJ. Wilkinson, E. B.
6. Hildegard Levy, "Assyria c. 2600-1816 B.C.",Cambridge Ancient History.
Wilkinson, J. Ur, M. Altaweel, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental
Volume 1, Part 2: Early History of the MiddleEast, 729-770, p. 745-746.)
Research, November 2005
7. Hamilton, Victor (1995). The Book of Genesis, Chapters 1 - 17. Wm. B.
23. "Assyrian Eponym List"(http://www.livius.org/li-ln/limmu/limmu_1.html).
Eerdmans Publishing.ISBN 9780802825216.
24. Bedford, P. (2001). "Empires and Exploitation: The Neo-Assyrian Empire"(http
8. Rowton, M.B. (1970). The Cambridge Ancient History(https://books.google.co
s://web.archive.org/web/20080827192547/http://sshi.stanford.edu/Conferences/
m/books?id=7SOL7ypj7bAC&printsec=frontcover&cad=0#PP A202,M1). 1.1.
2000-2001/empires2/bedford.pdf)(PDF). WA Perth. Archived fromthe original
Cambridge University Press. pp. 202–204.ISBN 0521070511.
(http://sshi.stanford.edu/Conferences/2000-2001/empires2/bedford.pdf)
(PDF)
9. Glassner, Jean-Jacques (2004).Mesopotamian Chronicles(https://books.googl on 2008-08-27.
e.com/books?id=1i5b6STWnroC&printsec=frontcover&cad=0#PP A137,M1).
25. "Ctesias' Persian History: Introduction, text, and translation", Jan .PStronk,
Society of Biblical Literature. p. 137.ISBN 1589830903.
Wellem Verlag, 2010, pp.30-36.
10. Meissner, Bruno (1990). Reallexikon der Assyriologie(https://books.google.co
26. Felix Jacoby cf. FGrH 688 T 11, T 13, T 19, shows ancient authorities that
m/books?id=OIeiZaIo91IC&printsec=frontcover&cad=0#PP A103,M1). 6. Berlin:
considered the king list to be sensational, semi-fictional or unrealistic at the
Walter de Gruyter. p. 103. ISBN 3110100517.
time.
11. Meissner, Bruno (1990). Reallexikon der Assyriologie(https://books.google.co
27. Assyria in Classical Universal Histories,Robert Drews, Historia: Zeitschrift für
m/books?id=OIeiZaIo91IC&printsec=frontcover&cad=0#PP A104,M1). 6. Berlin:
Alte Geschichte, Bd. 14, H. 2 (Apr., 1965), pp. 129-142
Walter de Gruyter. p. 104. ISBN 3110100517.
28. Drews, 1965, p. 30.
12. J. A. Brinkman (2001). "Assyria". In Bruce Manning Metzger
, Michael David
Coogan. The Oxford companion to the Bible. Oxford University Press. p. 63. 29. "Ovid, Varro, and Castor of Rhodes: The Chronological Architecture of the
'Metamorphoses'", Thomas Cole, Harvard Studies in Classical Philology , Vol.
13. Meissner, Bruno (1990). Reallexikon der Assyriologie(https://books.google.co
102, (2004), pp. 355-422.
m/books?id=OIeiZaIo91IC&printsec=frontcover&cad=0#PP A105,M1). 6. Berlin:
Walter de Gruyter. p. 105. ISBN 3110100517. 30. Preserved by George Syncellus, found in Cory's Ancient Fragments, 1826, p.
70.
14. Rowton, M.B. (1970). The Cambridge Ancient History(https://books.google.co
m/books?id=7SOL7ypj7bAC&printsec=frontcover&cad=0#PP A195,M1). 1.1. 31. The Assyrian King list in theExcerpta Latina Barbariclaims Belus ruled 1430
Cambridge University Press. p. 195.ISBN 0521070511. years before the first Olympiad (776 BC) thus dating him to 2206 BC.
15. Glassner, Jean-Jacques (2004).Mesopotamian Chronicles(https://books.googl 32. Dierk Lange, The founding of Kanem by Assyrian Refugees ca. 600 BCE:
e.com/books?id=1i5b6STWnroC&printsec=frontcover&cad=0#PP A136,M1). Documentary, Linguistic, and ArchaeologicalEvidence (http://dierklange.com/pd
Society of Biblical Literature. pp. 136–144.ISBN 1589830903. f/reviews/dierklange_allgemein/FOUNDING_9.5.2011.pdf) , Boston, 2011, p. 29.
16. Lendering, Jona (31 March 2006)."Assyrian King List" (http://www.livius.org/k/ki 33. Abū al-Rayhān Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Bīrūnīاﻵﺛﺎر اﻟﺒﺎﻗﻴﺔ ﻋﻦ اﻟﻘﺮون اﻟﺨﺎﻟﻴﺔ-
nglist/assyrian.html). Retrieved 2008-08-13. vestiges of the past. pp. 194–195.
References
Ascalone, Enrico (2007).Mesopotamia: Assyrians, Sumerians, Babylonians (Dictionaries of Civilizations; .1)Berkeley: University of California Press.
ISBN 0520252667.
Grayson, Albert Kirk (1975).Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles. Locust Valley, N.Y.
Healy, Mark (1992). The Ancient Assyrians. ISBN 978-1-85532-163-2.
Leick, Gwendolyn (2003).Mesopotamia. ISBN 0140265740.
Lloyd, Seton (1984). The Archaeology of Mesopotamia: From the Old Stone Age to the Persian Conquest . ISBN 0500790094.
Nardon, Don (1998). Assyrian Empire. ISBN 1560063130.
External links
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