First Sealand dynasty
Conquest of the Sea-Land by the
Kassites. 20th century reconstruction.
The First Sealand dynasty (URU.KÙKI), or the 2nd Dynasty of Babylon (although it was independent of Amorite-ruled Babylon), very speculatively c. 1732–1460 BC (short chronology), is an enigmatic series of kings attested to primarily in laconic references in the king lists A and B, and as contemporaries recorded on the Assyrian Synchronistic king list A.117. Initially it was named the "Dynasty of the Country of the Sea" with Sealand later becoming customary.
The dynasty, which had broken free of the short lived, and by this time crumbling Old Babylonian Empire, was named for the province in the far south of Mesopotamia, a swampy region bereft of large settlements which gradually expanded southwards with the silting up of the mouths of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (the region known as mat Kaldi "Chaldaea" in the Iron Age). Sealand pottery has been found at Girsu, Uruk, and Lagash but in no site north of that.
The later kings bore pseudo-Sumerian names and harked back to the glory days of the dynasty of Isin. The third king of the dynasty was even named for the ultimate king of the dynasty of Isin, Damiq-ilišu. Despite these cultural motifs, the population predominantly bore Akkadian names and wrote and spoke in the Akkadian language. There is circumstantial evidence that their rule extended at least briefly to Babylon itself. In later times, a Sealand province of the Neo-Babylonian Empire also existed.
History
Traditionally, all that was known about Sealand came from a few Kings List entries and the stray chronicle mention. It has been suggested that much of the writing in this period used waxed wooden boards, as a way of explaining the paucity of standard tablets found. Recently (2009) 450 published tablets mainly from the Martin Schøyen collection, the largest privately held collection of manuscripts to be assembled during the 20th century, cover a 15 to 18 year period extending over part of each king’s reign. They seem to originate from a single cache but their provenance was lost after languishing in smaller private collections since their acquisition on the antiquities market a century earlier.: v Most of the tablets pertain to
administration of resources. An additional 32 unpublished Sealand tablets are held in Brussels. The tablets include letters, receipts, ledgers, personnel rosters, etc., and provide year-names and references which hint at events of the period. Messengers from Elam are provisioned, Anzak, a god of Dilmun (ancient Bahrain) appears as a theophoric element in names, and Nūr-Bau asks whether he should detain the boats of Ešnunna, a rare late reference to this once thriving Sumerian conurbation. In addition to normal commercial activity, two omen texts from another private collection are dated to the reign of Pešgaldarameš and a kurugu-hymn dedicated to the gods of Nippur mentions Ayadaragalama. A variant version of the Epic of Gilgameš relocates the hero to Ur and is a piece from this period.
Excavations conducted between 2013 and 2017 at Tell Khaiber, around 20 km from Ur, have revealed the foundations of a large mudbrick fortress with an unusual arrangement of perimeter close-set towers. The site is dated, by an archive of 152 (after joins were made) clay cuneiform tablets found there, to Ayadaragalama. Tablets at Tell Khaiber fell into the same short time period as those published from the Schoyen Collection, that being the later part of Pešgal and early part of Ayadara reigns. Excavators were also able to develop a stratified ceramic array for Sealand allowing other sites to be identified. Sealand ceramics and faunal remains were found at the site of Tell Sakhariya, a few miles east of Ur.
The home city of the Sealand Dynasty is currently unknown. A kings list fragment states that Babylon's "kingship passed to E'urukuga". Given its site being known as uru.ku this capital has been speculated as being Lagash of which little is known in this period. Nippur, and Tell Deḥaila are also in consideration. Modern thinking is that the capital was a Dūr-Enlil (or Dūr-Enlile). There was a Dūr-Enlil in Neo-Babylonian times in the general area between Uruk and Larsa as well as one in Neo-Assyrian times. It is not clear it either is the same place as the potential Sealand capital.
The King list tradition
The king list references which bear witness to the sequence of Sealand kings are summarized below:
Position |
King List A |
King List B |
Purported reign |
Contemporary
|
1 |
Ilima |
Ilum-ma-ilī |
60 years |
Samsu-iluna and Abi-ešuh (Babylon)
|
2 |
Ittili |
Itti-ili-nībī |
56 years |
|
3 |
Damqili |
Damqi-ilišu II |
36 years |
Adasi (Assyria)
|
4 |
Iški |
Iškibal |
15 years |
Belu-bāni (Assyria)
|
5 |
Šušši, brother |
Šušši |
24 years |
Lubaia (Assyria)
|
6 |
Gulki… |
Gulkišar |
55 years |
Sharma-Adad I (Assyria)
|
6a |
|
mDIŠ-U-EN |
? |
LIK.KUD-Šamaš (Assyria)
|
7 |
Peš-gal |
Pešgaldarameš, his son, same |
50 years |
Bazaia (Assyria)
|
8 |
A-a-dàra |
Ayadaragalama, his son, same |
28 years |
Lullaya (Assyria)
|
9 |
Ekurul |
Akurduana |
26 years |
Shu-Ninua (Assyria)
|
10 |
Melamma |
Melamkurkurra |
7 years |
Sharma-Adad II (Assyria)
|
11 |
Eaga |
Ea-gam |
9 years |
Erishum III (Assyria)
|
An additional king list provides fragmentary readings of the earlier dynastic monarchs. The king list A totals the reigns to give a length of 368 years for this dynasty. The Synchronistic King List A.117 gives the sequence from Damqi-ilišu onward, but includes an additional king between Gulkišar and Pešgaldarameš, mDIŠ-U-EN (reading unknown). This source is considered reliable in this respect because the forms of the names of Pešgaldarameš and Ayadaragalama match those on recently published contemporary economic tablets (see below).
Rulers
Ilum-ma-ilī
Ilum-ma-ilī, or Iliman (mili-ma-an), the founder of the dynasty, is known from the account of his exploits in the Chronicle of Early Kings which describes his conflicts with his Amorite Babylonian contemporaries Samsu-iluna and Abi-ešuḫ. It records that he “attacked and brought about the defeat of (Samsu-iluna’s) army.” He is thought to have conquered Nippur late in Samsu-iluna’s reign as there are legal documents from Nippur dated to his reign. Abi-eshuh, the Amorite king of Babylon, and Samsu-iluna’s son and successor, “set out to conquer Ilum-ma-ilī,” by damming the Tigris, to flush him out of his swampy refuge, an endeavor which was apparently confounded by Ilum-ma-ilī’s superior use of the terrain.
Damqi-ilišu
The last surviving year-name for Ammi-ditana commemorates the “year in which (he) destroyed the city wall of Der/Udinim built by the army of Damqi-ilišu. In the original "MU am-mi-di-ta-na LUGAL.E BÀD.DA UDINIMki.MA (ÉREN) dam-qí-ì-lí-šu.KE4 BÍ.IN.DÙ.A BÍ.IN.GUL.LA". This is the only current contemporary indication of the spelling of his name, contrasting with that of the earlier king of Isin.
Gulkišar
Gulkišar, meaning “raider of the earth,” has left few traces of his apparently lengthy reign. He was the subject of a royal epic (Tablet HS 1885+ plus 2 recent fragment joins) concerning his enmity with Samsu-ditāna, the last king of the first dynasty of Babylon. The text describes Gulkišar addressing his troops and being accompanied by the god Istar. The colophon of a tablet giving a chemical recipe for glaze reads “property of a priest of Marduk in Eridu,” thought to be a quarter of Babylon rather than the city of Eridu, is dated mu.us-sa Gul-ki-šar lugal-e "year after (the one when) Gul-kisar (became?) king.” A kudurru of the period of Babylonian king Enlil-nādin-apli, c. 1103–1100 BC, records the outcome of an inquiry instigated by the king into the ownership of a plot of land claimed by a temple estate. The governors of Bit-Sin-magir and Sealand, upheld the claim based on the earlier actions of Gulkišar who had “drawn for Nanse, his divine mistress, a land boundary.” It is an early example of a Distanzangaben statement recording that 696 years had elapsed between Nabû-kudurrī-uṣur, Enlil-nādin-apli’s father, and Gulkišar.
Pešgaldarameš and Ayadaragalama
Pešgaldarameš, “son of the ibex,” and Ayadaragalama, “son of the clever stag,” were successive kings and descendants (DUMU, "sons" in its broadest meaning) of Gulkišar.
Ayadaragalama’s reign seems to have been eventful, as a year-name records expelling the “massed might of two enemies,” speculated to be Elamites and Kassites, the Kassites having previously deposed the Amorites as rulers in Babylon. Another records the building of a “great ring against the Kalšu (Kassite) enemy” and a third records the “year when his land rebelled.” A year-name gives “year when Ayadaragalama was king – after Enlil established (for him?) the shepherding of the whole earth,” and a list of gods includes Marduk and Sarpanitum, the tutelary deities of the Sealand.
A neo-Babylonian official took a bronze band dedicatory inscription of A-ia-da-a-ra, MAN ŠÚ “king of the world,” to Tell en-Nasbeh, probably as an antique curio, where it was discarded to be found in the 20th century.
Ea-gâmil
Ea-gâmil, the ultimate king of the dynasty, fled to Elam ahead of an army led by Kassite chief Ulam-Buriaš, brother of the king of Babylon Kashtiliash III, who conquered the Sealand, incorporated it into Babylonia and “made himself master of the land.” Agum III, successor to Ulam-Buriaš, is also described as attacking Sealand and destroying a temple in "Dūr-Enlil".
A serpentine or diorite mace head or possibly door knob found in Babylon, is engraved with the epithet of Ulaburariaš, “King of Sealand”. The object was excavated at Tell Amran ibn-Ali, during the German excavations of Babylon, conducted from 1899 to 1912, and is now housed in the Pergamon Museum.
See also
Inscriptions
- ^ MS 2200/40 and MS 2200/455.
- ^ MS 2200/394, 444, 321 and so on.
- ^ MS 2200/3.
- ^ a b Babylonian King List A, BM 33332, i 4 to 14 where the names are abbreviated but give their lengths of reign.
- ^ a b Babylonian King List B, BM 38122, reverse 1 to 13.
- ^ a b Chronicle of Early Kings, tablets BM 26472 and BM 96152, B rev. (Ilum-ma-ilī) 7-10 (Ea-gâmil) 12–14.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Synchronistic King List A.117, Assur 14616c, i 1 to 10.
- ^ Formed from BM 35572 and eleven other fragments.
- ^ Tablet Ashm. 1922.353 from Larsa.
- ^ Five legal tablets such as CBS 4956, published in Chiera (1914), CBS 11013, published as BE VI 2 text 68, 3N-T 87, UM 55-21-239 catalogued as SAOC 44 text 12, and OIMA 1 45, from Nippur.
- ^ Tablets MCS 2 52, YOS 13 359.
- ^ Tablet BM 120960 thought to have been recovered from Tall 'Umar (Seleucia) on the Tigris.
- ^ Kudurru in the University Museum, Philadelphia, BE I/1 83 15.
- ^ MS 2200/81.
Notes
- ^ Where ŠEŠ-ḪA of King List A and ŠEŠ-KÙ-KI of King List B are read as URU.KÙ.KI
- ^ Given as PEŠ.GAL-DÀRA.MAŠ.
- ^ Given as A-DÀRA-GALAM.MA.
References
- ^ Oppenheim, A. Leo (1977). Ancient Mesopotamia: Portrait of a Dead Civilization. University of Chicago. p. 414. ISBN 978-0-22663186-8 – via The Internet archive.
- ^ King, L.W., "Chronicles concerning Early Babylonian Kings", vol. 2. London: Luzac, 1907
- ^ Al-Hamdani, A. (2020). The Settlement and Canal Systems During the First Sealand Dynasty (1721–1340 BCE). In S. Paulus & T. Clayden (Ed.), Babylonia under the Sealand and Kassite Dynasties, Berlin, pp. 28–57.
- ^ Paul-Alain Beaulieu, Ea-dayān, Governor of the Sealand, and Other Dignitaries of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 54, pp. 99–123, The American Schools of Oriental Research, 2002
- ^ Paulus, Susanne, "Die babylonischen Kudurru-Inschriften von der kassitischen bis zur frühneubabylonischen Zeit. Untersucht unter besonderer Berücksichtigung gesellschafts-und rechtshistorischer Fragestellungen", AOAT 51, Münster: Ugarit Verlag, 2014
- ^ Chapin, Michael Arthur, "'My-Mother-Is-Precious': Names and Naming Practices in the First Dynasty of the Sealand (ca. 1500 BCE)", Dissertation, Johns Hopkins University, 2023
- ^ a b c d Stephanie Dalley (2009). Cornell University Studies in Assyriology and Sumerology. Volume 9 Babylonian Tablets from the First Sealand Dynasty in the Schoyen Collection. CDL Press. pp. 1–16.
- ^ Odette Boivin, "Agricultural Economy and Taxation in the Sealand I Kingdom", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 68, pp. 45–65, 2016
- ^ Boivin, Odette, "Accounting for livestock: principles of palatial administration in Sealand I Babylonia", Iraq, vol. 78, 2016, pp. 3–23, 2016
- ^ Gabbay, Uri and Boivin, Odette. "A Hymn of Ayadaragalama, King of the First Sealand Dynasty, to the Gods of Nippur: The Fate of Nippur and Its Cult during the First Sealand Dynasty" Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 108, no. 1, pp. 22-42, 2018
- ^ Text - Supplement - Campbell, S.; Killick, R.; Moon, J.; Calderbank, D.; Robson, E. (2021). "Summary report on excavations at Tell Khaiber, an administrative centre of the Sealand period, 2013-2017". Sumer. A Journal of Archaeology and History in Arab World. 65: 15–46. ISSN 0081-9271.
- ^ Eleanor Robson, Information Flows in Rural Babylonia c. 1500 BC, in C. Johnston (ed.), The Concept of the Book: the Production, Progression and Dissemination of Information, London: Institute of English Studies/School of Advanced Study, January 2019 ISBN 9780992725747
- ^ "Castle of the Sealand kings: Discovering ancient Iraq's rebel rulers - The Guardian". www.theguardian.com/. 2017-09-01. Retrieved 2017-09-02.
- ^ Odette Boivin, The First Dynasty of the Sealand in Mesopotamia, Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG, 2018, ISBN 9781501507823
- ^ Twiss, Katheryn C. "Animals of the Sealands: Ceremonial Activities in the Southern Mesopotamian “Dark Age”." Iraq 79, pp. 257-267, 2017
- ^ W. G. Lambert (1974). "The Home of the First Sealand Dynasty". Journal of Cuneiform Studies. 26 (4): 208–209. doi:10.2307/1359442. JSTOR 1359442. S2CID 163967718.
- ^ Dalley, S. (2020). The First Sealand Dynasty: Literacy, Economy, and the Likely Location of Dūr- Enlil(ē) in Southern Mesopotamia at the end of the Old Babylonian Period. In S. Paulus & T. Clayden (Ed.), Babylonia under the Sealand and Kassite Dynasties (pp. 9-27). Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter
- ^ MacGinnis, J., "Further Evidence for Intercity Co-Operation among Neo-Babylonian Temples", Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 16, no. 2, pp. 127–32, 2006
- ^ Wiseman, D. J., "The Vassal-Treaties of Esarhaddon", Iraq, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. i–99, 1958
- ^ J. A. Brinkman (1999). Dietz Otto Edzard (ed.). Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie: Meek – Mythologie. Vol. 8. Walter De Gruyter. p. 7.
- ^ Albert Kirk Grayson (1975). Assyrian and Babylonian chronicles. J. J. Augustin. p. 221.
- ^ Steinmeyer, Nathan, "Samsuiluna and the Reconquest of Nippur", The IOS Annual Volume 23:"Drought Will Drive You Even Toward Your Foe", Brill, pp. 37-55, 2022
- ^ Horsnell, M. J. A., "The Year- Names of the First Dynasty of Babylon", 2 vols. Hamilton: McMaster University Press, 1999
- ^ William W. Hallo (2009). The world's oldest literature: studies in Sumerian belles-lettres. BRILL. p. 183. ISBN 9789004173811.
- ^ Elyze Zomer (2019). Middle Babylonian Literary Texts from the Frau Professor Hilprecht Collection, Jena. Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 3–38.
- ^ a b Zomer, Elyze. "Chapter 25. Enmity Against Samsu-ditāna". Law and (Dis)Order in the Ancient Near East: Proceedings of the 59th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale Held at Ghent, Belgium, 15–19 July 2013, edited by Katrien De Graef and Anne Goddeeris, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, 2021, pp. 324-332
- ^ A. Leo Oppenheim (1970). Glass and Glassmaking in Ancient Mesopotamia. The Corning Museum of Glass Press. p. 60.
- ^ J. A. Brinkman (1968). A political history of post-Kassite Babylonia, 1158–722 B.C. Analecta Orientalia. p. 118.
- ^ Boivin, Odette, "A political history of the Sealand kingdom", The First Dynasty of the Sealand in Mesopotamia, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 86-125, 2018
- ^ Mace head VA Bab. 645 (BE 6405) with ten line possession inscription, in the Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin.
- ^ B. Landsberger (1954). "Assyrische Königsliste und "Dunkles Zeitalter" (Continued)". Journal of Cuneiform Studies. 8 (2): 70–71. doi:10.2307/1359531. JSTOR 1359531. S2CID 224831525. n. 182
Further reading
- Al-Zubaidi, Ahmed K. Taher, and Mohammed S. Attia, "A Cylinder Seal From TELL Abu Al-Dhahab Dated To THE First Sealand Dynasty (1740–1374 BC)", IRAQ 83, pp. 13-24, 2021
- Boivin, Odette, "Kār-Šamaš as a South-Western Palace Town of the Sealand I Kingdom", NABU, pp. 162–64, 2015
- Boivin, Odette, "Taxpayers and the Palace at the Time of the First Dynasty of the Sealand: Social Aspects, Officials, and Keeping Track of the Barley", In Economic Complexity in the Ancient Near East: Management of Resources and Taxation (Third–Second Millennium BC), edited by Jana Mynářová and Sergio Alivernini, 279–297. Prague: Charles University, Faculty of Arts, 2020
- Boivin, Odette, "Kār-Šamaš as a South-Western Palace Town of theSealand I Kingdom", NABU, pp. 162–64, 2015
- Boivin, Odette, "On the Origin of the Goddess Ištar-of-the-Sealand, Ayyabītu", NABU, pp. 24–26, 2015
- Calderbank, Daniel, "Pottery from Tell Khaiber: a craft tradition of the first Sealand dynasty", Moonrise Press Ltd, 2021
- Calderbank, Daniel, "Moulding Clay to Model Sealand Society Pottery Production and Function at Tell Khaiber, Southern Iraq", The University of Manchester (United Kingdom), 2018
- Cavigneaux, Antoine and Béatrice André-Salvini. Forthcoming. Cuneiform tablets from Qal’at Dilmun and the Sealand at the dawn of the Kassite era. In Twenty years of Bahrain Archaeology, 1986–2006. Actes du colloque international de Manama, 9–12 décembre 2007, ed. Pierre Lombard et al. Bahrain: Ministry of Culture
- Dalley, Stephanie, "Gods from North-eastern and North-western Arabia in Cuneiform Texts from the First Sealand Dynasty, and a Cuneiform Inscription from Tell en-Nasbeh, c. 1500 BC", Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 23, pp. 177–85, 2013
- de Ridder, Jacob Jan, "HS 200B: A Bridal Gift (Tuppu Bibli) from the First Sealand Dynasty.", Journal of Cuneiform Studies 73.1, pp. 89-102, 2021
- Gabbay, Uri, "A balaĝ to Enlil from the First Sealand Dynasty", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie 104.2, pp. 146-170, 2014
- Højlund, Fleming, "Dilmun and the Sealand", Northern Akkad Project Reports 2, pp. 9–14, 1989
- Zadok, Ran, "On Population Groups in the Documents from the Time of the First Sealand Dynasty", Tel Aviv 41, pp. 222–37, 2014
External links
Kings of Babylon |
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Babylon under foreign rule (539 BC – AD 224) |
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Rulers of the Ancient Near East |
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Territories/ dates
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Egypt |
Canaan |
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Akshak/ Akkad |
Uruk |
Adab |
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Lagash |
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Elam
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4000–3200 BCE
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Naqada I Naqada II
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Egypt-Mesopotamia relations
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Pre-Dynastic period (4000–2900 BCE)
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Susa I
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Uruk period (4000–3100 BCE)
(Anu Ziggurat, 4000 BCE)
(Anonymous "King-priests")
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Susa II
(Uruk influence or control)
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3200–3100 BCE
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Proto-Dynastic period (Naqada III) Early or legendary kings:
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Upper Egypt Finger Snail Fish Pen-Abu Animal Stork Canide Bull Scorpion I Shendjw Iry-Hor Ka Scorpion II Narmer / Menes
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Lower Egypt Hedju Hor Ny-Hor Hsekiu Khayu Tiu Thesh Neheb Wazner Nat-Hor Mekh Double Falcon Wash
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3100–2900 BCE
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Early Dynastic Period First Dynasty of EgyptNarmer Palette Narmer Menes Neithhotep♀ (regent) Hor-Aha Djer Djet Merneith♀ (regent) Den Anedjib Semerkhet Qa'a Sneferka Horus Bird
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Canaanites
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Jemdet Nasr period (3100–2900 BCE)
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Proto-Elamite period (Susa III) (3100–2700 BCE)
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2900 BCE
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Second Dynasty of Egypt
Hotepsekhemwy Nebra/Raneb Nynetjer Ba Nubnefer Horus Sa Weneg-Nebty Wadjenes Senedj Seth-Peribsen Sekhemib-Perenmaat Neferkara I Neferkasokar Hudjefa I Khasekhemwy
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Early Dynastic Period I (2900–2700 BCE)
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First Eblaite Kingdom
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First kingdom of Mari
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Kish I dynasty Jushur, Kullassina-bel Nangishlishma, En-tarah-ana Babum, Puannum, Kalibum
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2800 BCE
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Kalumum Zuqaqip Atab Mashda Arwium Etana Balih En-me-nuna Melem-Kish Barsal-nuna
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Uruk I dynasty Mesh-ki-ang-gasher
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Enmerkar ("conqueror of Aratta")
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2700 BCE
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Early Dynastic Period II (2700–2600 BCE)
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Zamug, Tizqar, Ilku Iltasadum
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Lugalbanda Dumuzid, the Fisherman
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Enmebaragesi ("made the land of Elam submit")
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Aga of Kish
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Gilgamesh
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Old Elamite period (2700–1500 BCE)
Indus-Mesopotamia relations
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2600 BCE
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Third Dynasty of Egypt
Djoser
(First Egyptian pyramids) Sekhemkhet Sanakht Nebka Khaba Qahedjet Huni
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Early Dynastic Period III (2600–2340 BCE)
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Sagisu Abur-lim Agur-lim Ibbi-Damu Baba-Damu
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Kish II dynasty (5 kings) Uhub Mesilim
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Ur-Nungal Udulkalama Labashum
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Lagash En-hegal Lugal- shaengur
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Ur A-Imdugud Ur-Pabilsag Meskalamdug (Queen Puabi) Akalamdug
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Enun-dara-anna Mes-he Melamanna Lugal-kitun
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Adab Nin-kisalsi Me-durba Lugal-dalu
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2575 BCE
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Old Kingdom of Egypt Fourth Dynasty of Egypt Snefru Khufu
Djedefre Khafre Bikheris Menkaure Shepseskaf Thamphthis
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Ur I dynasty Mesannepada "King of Ur and Kish", victorious over Uruk
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2500 BCE
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Phoenicia (2500-539 BCE)
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Second kingdom of Mari
Ikun-Shamash Iku-Shamagan
Ansud Sa'umu Ishtup-Ishar Ikun-Mari Iblul-Il Nizi
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Kish III dynasty Ku-Baba♀
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Akshak dynasty Unzi Undalulu
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Uruk II dynasty Ensha- kushanna
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Mug-si
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Umma I dynasty
Pabilgagaltuku
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Lagash I dynasty
Ur-Nanshe
Akurgal
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A'annepada Meskiagnun Elulu Balulu
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Awan dynasty Peli Tata Ukkutahesh Hishur
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2450 BCE
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Fifth Dynasty of Egypt
Userkaf Sahure Neferirkare Kakai Neferefre Shepseskare Nyuserre Ini Menkauhor Kaiu Djedkare Isesi Unas
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Enar-Damu Ishar-Malik
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Ush Enakalle
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Elamite invasions (3 kings)
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Shushun- tarana Napilhush
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2425 BCE
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Kun-Damu
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Eannatum (King of Lagash, Sumer, Akkad, conqueror of Elam)
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2400 BCE
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Adub-Damu Igrish-Halam Irkab-Damu
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Kish IV dynasty Puzur-Suen Ur-Zababa
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Urur
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Lugal-kinishe-dudu Lugal-kisalsi
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E-iginimpa'e Meskigal
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Ur-Lumma Il Gishakidu (Queen Bara-irnun)
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Enannatum Entemena Enannatum II Enentarzi
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Ur II dynasty Nanni Mesh-ki-ang-Nanna II
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Kiku-siwe-tempti
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2380 BCE
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Sixth Dynasty of Egypt Teti Userkare Pepi I Merenre Nemtyemsaf I Pepi II Merenre Nemtyemsaf II Netjerkare Siptah
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Adab dynasty Lugalannemundu "King of the four quarters of the world"
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2370 BCE
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Isar-Damu
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Enna-Dagan Ikun-Ishar Ishqi-Mari
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Invasion by Mari Anbu, Anba, Bazi, Zizi of Mari, Limer, Sharrum-iter
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Ukush
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Lugalanda Urukagina
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Luh-ishan
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2350 BCE
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Puzur-Nirah Ishu-Il Shu-Sin
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Uruk III dynasty Lugalzagesi (Governor of Umma, King of all Sumer)
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2340 BCE
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Akkadian Period (2340–2150 BCE)
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Akkadian Empire
Sargon of Akkad Rimush Manishtushu
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Akkadian Governors: Eshpum Ilshu-rabi Epirmupi Ili-ishmani
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2250 BCE
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Naram-Sin
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Lugal-ushumgal (vassal of the Akkadians)
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2200 BCE
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First Intermediate Period Seventh Dynasty of Egypt Eighth Dynasty of Egypt Menkare Neferkare II Neferkare Neby Djedkare Shemai Neferkare Khendu Merenhor Neferkamin Nikare Neferkare Tereru Neferkahor Neferkare Pepiseneb Neferkamin Anu Qakare Ibi Neferkaure Neferkauhor Neferirkare
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Second Eblaite Kingdom
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Third kingdom of Mari (Shakkanakku dynasty)
Ididish Shu-Dagan Ishma-Dagan (Vassals of the Akkadians)
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Shar-Kali-Sharri
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Igigi, Imi, Nanum, Ilulu (3 years) Dudu Shu-turul
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Uruk IV dynasty Ur-nigin Ur-gigir
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Lagash II dynasty Puzer-Mama Ur-Ningirsu I Pirig-me Lu-Baba Lu-gula Ka-ku
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Hishep-Ratep Helu Khita Puzur-Inshushinak
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2150 BCE
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Ninth Dynasty of Egypt Meryibre Khety Neferkare VII Nebkaure Khety Setut
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Ur III period (2150–2000 BCE)
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Nûr-Mêr Ishtup-Ilum
Ishgum-Addu Apil-kin
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Gutian dynasty (21 kings)
La-erabum Si'um
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Kuda (Uruk) Puzur-ili Ur-Utu
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Umma II dynasty Lugalannatum (vassal of the Gutians)
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Ur-Baba Gudea Ur-Ningirsu Ur-gar Nam-mahani
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Tirigan
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2125 BCE
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Tenth Dynasty of Egypt Meryhathor Neferkare VIII Wahkare Khety Merykare
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Uruk V dynasty Utu-hengal
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2100 BCE
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(Vassals of UR III)
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Iddi-ilum Ili-Ishar Tura-Dagan Puzur-Ishtar (Vassals of Ur III)
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Ur III dynasty "Kings of Ur, Sumer and Akkad" Ur-Nammu Shulgi Amar-Sin Shu-Sin
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2025-1763 BCE
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Amorite invasions
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Ibbi-Sin
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Elamite invasions Kindattu (Shimashki Dynasty)
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Middle Kingdom of Egypt Eleventh Dynasty of Egypt Mentuhotep I Intef I Intef II Intef III Mentuhotep II Mentuhotep III Mentuhotep IV
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Third Eblaite Kingdom (Amorites) Ibbit-Lim
Immeya Indilimma
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(Amorite Shakkanakkus) Hitial-Erra Hanun-Dagan (...)
Lim Dynasty of Mari (Amorites) Yaggid-Lim Yahdun-Lim Yasmah-Adad Zimri-Lim (Queen Shibtu)
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Old Assyria Puzur-Ashur I Shalim-ahum Ilu-shuma Erishum I Ikunum Sargon I Puzur-Ashur II Naram-Sin Erishum II
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Isin-Larsa period (Amorites) Dynasty of Isin: Ishbi-Erra Shu-Ilishu Iddin-Dagan Ishme-Dagan Lipit-Eshtar Ur-Ninurta Bur-Suen Lipit-Enlil Erra-imitti Enlil-bani Zambiya Iter-pisha Ur-du-kuga Suen-magir Damiq-ilishu Dynasty of Larsa: Naplanum Emisum Samium Zabaia Gungunum Abisare Sumuel Nur-Adad Sin-Iddinam Sin-Eribam Sin-Iqisham Silli-Adad Warad-Sin Rim-Sin I (...) Rim-Sin II Uruk VI dynasty: Alila-hadum Sumu-binasa Naram-Sin of Uruk Sîn-kāšid Sîn-iribam Sîn-gāmil Ilum-gamil Anam of Uruk Irdanene Rim-Anum Nabi-ilišu
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Sukkalmah dynasty
Siwe-Palar-Khuppak
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Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt Amenemhat I Senusret I Amenemhat II Senusret II Senusret III Amenemhat III Amenemhat IV Sobekneferu♀
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1800–1595 BCE
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Thirteenth Dynasty of Egypt Fourteenth Dynasty of Egypt
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Abraham (Biblical) Kings of Byblos Kings of Tyre Kings of Sidon
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Yamhad (Yamhad dynasty) (Amorites)
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Old Assyria
(Shamshi-Adad dynasty 1808–1736 BCE) (Amorites) Shamshi-Adad I Ishme-Dagan I Mut-Ashkur Rimush Asinum Ashur-dugul Ashur-apla-idi Nasir-Sin Sin-namir Ipqi-Ishtar Adad-salulu Adasi
(Non-dynastic usurpers 1735–1701 BCE)
Puzur-Sin Ashur-dugul Ashur-apla-idi Nasir-Sin Sin-namir Ipqi-Ishtar Adad-salulu Adasi
(Adaside dynasty 1700–722 BCE) Bel-bani Libaya Sharma-Adad I Iptar-Sin Bazaya Lullaya Shu-Ninua Sharma-Adad II Erishum III Shamshi-Adad II Ishme-Dagan II Shamshi-Adad III Ashur-nirari I Puzur-Ashur III Enlil-nasir I Nur-ili Ashur-shaduni Ashur-rabi I Ashur-nadin-ahhe I Enlil-Nasir II Ashur-nirari II Ashur-bel-nisheshu Ashur-rim-nisheshu Ashur-nadin-ahhe II
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First Babylonian dynasty ("Old Babylonian Period") (Amorites) Sumu-abum Sumu-la-El Sin-muballitSabium Apil-Sin Sin-muballit Hammurabi Samsu-iluna Abi-eshuh Ammi-ditana Ammi-saduqa Samsu-Ditana
Early Kassite rulers
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Second Babylonian dynasty ("Sealand Dynasty") Ilum-ma-ili Itti-ili-nibi Damqi-ilishu Ishkibal Shushushi Gulkishar mDIŠ+U-EN Peshgaldaramesh Ayadaragalama Akurduana Melamkurkurra Ea-gamil
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Second Intermediate Period Sixteenth Dynasty
Abydos Dynasty
Seventeenth Dynasty
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Fifteenth Dynasty of Egypt ("Hyksos") Pharaoh Ahmose I slaying a Hyksos Semqen 'Aper-'Anati Sakir-Har Khyan Apepi Khamudi
|
Mitanni (1600–1260 BCE) Kirta Shuttarna I Parshatatar
|
1531–1155 BCE
|
TutankhamunNew Kingdom of Egypt Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt Ahmose I Amenhotep I
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Third Babylonian dynasty (Kassites) Agum-Kakrime Burnaburiash I Kashtiliash III Ulamburiash Agum III Karaindash Kadashman-harbe I Kurigalzu I Kadashman-Enlil I Burnaburiash II Kara-hardash Nazi-Bugash Kurigalzu II Nazi-Maruttash Kadashman-Turgu Kadashman-Enlil II Kudur-Enlil Shagarakti-Shuriash Kashtiliashu IV Enlil-nadin-shumi Kadashman-Harbe II Adad-shuma-iddina Adad-shuma-usur Meli-Shipak II Marduk-apla-iddina I Zababa-shuma-iddin Enlil-nadin-ahi
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Middle Elamite period
(1500–1100 BCE) Kidinuid dynasty Igehalkid dynasty Untash-Napirisha
|
Thutmose I Thutmose II Hatshepsut♀ Thutmose III
|
Amenhotep II Thutmose IV Amenhotep III Akhenaten Smenkhkare Neferneferuaten♀ Tutankhamun Ay Horemheb
|
Hittite Empire
Ugarit
|
Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt Ramesses I Seti I Ramesses II Merneptah Amenmesses Seti II Siptah Twosret♀
|
Elamite Empire Shutrukid dynasty Shutruk-Nakhunte
|
1155–1025 BCE
|
Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt
Setnakhte Ramesses III Ramesses IV Ramesses V Ramesses VI Ramesses VII Ramesses VIII Ramesses IX Ramesses X Ramesses XI
Third Intermediate Period
Twenty-first Dynasty of Egypt Smendes Amenemnisu Psusennes I Amenemope Osorkon the Elder Siamun Psusennes II
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Phoenicia Kings of Byblos Kings of Tyre Kings of Sidon
Kingdom of Israel Saul Ish-bosheth David Solomon
|
Syro-Hittite states
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Middle Assyria Eriba-Adad I Ashur-uballit I Enlil-nirari Arik-den-ili Adad-nirari I Shalmaneser I Tukulti-Ninurta I Ashur-nadin-apli Ashur-nirari III Enlil-kudurri-usur Ninurta-apal-Ekur Ashur-dan I Ninurta-tukulti-Ashur Mutakkil-Nusku Ashur-resh-ishi I Tiglath-Pileser I Asharid-apal-Ekur Ashur-bel-kala Eriba-Adad II Shamshi-Adad IV Ashurnasirpal I Shalmaneser II Ashur-nirari IV Ashur-rabi II Ashur-resh-ishi II Tiglath-Pileser II Ashur-dan II
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Fourth Babylonian dynasty ("Second Dynasty of Isin") Marduk-kabit-ahheshu Itti-Marduk-balatu Ninurta-nadin-shumi Nebuchadnezzar I Enlil-nadin-apli Marduk-nadin-ahhe Marduk-shapik-zeri Adad-apla-iddina Marduk-ahhe-eriba Marduk-zer-X Nabu-shum-libur
|
Neo-Elamite period (1100–540 BCE)
|
1025–934 BCE
|
Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth Babylonian dynasties ("Period of Chaos") Simbar-shipak Ea-mukin-zeri Kashshu-nadin-ahi Eulmash-shakin-shumi Ninurta-kudurri-usur I Shirikti-shuqamuna Mar-biti-apla-usur Nabû-mukin-apli
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911–745 BCE
|
Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt Shoshenq I Osorkon I Shoshenq II Takelot I Osorkon II Shoshenq III Shoshenq IV Pami Shoshenq V Pedubast II Osorkon IV
Twenty-third Dynasty of Egypt Harsiese A Takelot II Pedubast I Shoshenq VI Osorkon III Takelot III Rudamun Menkheperre Ini
Twenty-fourth Dynasty of Egypt Tefnakht Bakenranef
|
Kingdom of Samaria
Kingdom of Judah
|
Neo-Assyrian Empire Adad-nirari II Tukulti-Ninurta II Ashurnasirpal II Shalmaneser III Shamshi-Adad V Shammuramat♀ (regent) Adad-nirari III Shalmaneser IV Ashur-Dan III Ashur-nirari V
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Ninth Babylonian Dynasty Ninurta-kudurri-usur II Mar-biti-ahhe-iddina Shamash-mudammiq Nabu-shuma-ukin I Nabu-apla-iddina Marduk-zakir-shumi I Marduk-balassu-iqbi Baba-aha-iddina (five kings) Ninurta-apla-X Marduk-bel-zeri Marduk-apla-usur Eriba-Marduk Nabu-shuma-ishkun Nabonassar Nabu-nadin-zeri Nabu-shuma-ukin II Nabu-mukin-zeri
|
Humban-Tahrid dynasty
Urtak Teumman Ummanigash Tammaritu I Indabibi Humban-haltash III
|
745–609 BCE
|
Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt Taharqa("Black Pharaohs") Piye Shebitku Shabaka Taharqa Tanutamun
|
Neo-Assyrian Empire
(Sargonid dynasty) Tiglath-Pileser† Shalmaneser† Marduk-apla-iddina II Sargon† Sennacherib† Marduk-zakir-shumi II Marduk-apla-iddina II Bel-ibni Ashur-nadin-shumi† Nergal-ushezib Mushezib-Marduk Esarhaddon† Ashurbanipal Ashur-etil-ilani Sinsharishkun Sin-shumu-lishir Ashur-uballit II
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Assyrian conquest of Egypt
|
Assyrian conquest of Elam
|
626–539 BCE
|
Late Period Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt Necho I Psamtik I Necho II Psamtik II Wahibre Ahmose II Psamtik III
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Neo-Babylonian Empire Nabopolassar Nebuchadnezzar II Amel-Marduk Neriglissar Labashi-Marduk Nabonidus
|
Median Empire Deioces Phraortes Madyes Cyaxares Astyages
|
539–331 BCE
|
Twenty-seventh Dynasty of Egypt (First Achaemenid conquest of Egypt)
|
Kings of Byblos Kings of Tyre Kings of Sidon
|
Achaemenid Empire Cyrus Cambyses Darius I Xerxes Artaxerxes I Darius II Artaxerxes II Artaxerxes III Artaxerxes IV Darius III
|
Twenty-eighth Dynasty of Egypt Twenty-ninth Dynasty of Egypt Thirtieth Dynasty of Egypt
|
Thirty-first Dynasty of Egypt
|
331–141 BCE
|
Argead dynasty and Ptolemaic Egypt Ptolemy I Soter Ptolemy Keraunos Ptolemy II Philadelphus Arsinoe II♀ Ptolemy III Euergetes Berenice II Euergetis♀ Ptolemy IV Philopator Arsinoe III Philopator♀ Ptolemy V Epiphanes Cleopatra I Syra♀ Ptolemy VI Philometor Ptolemy VII Neos Philopator Cleopatra II Philometor Soter♀ Ptolemy VIII Physcon Cleopatra III♀ Ptolemy IX Lathyros Cleopatra IV♀ Ptolemy X Alexander Berenice III♀ Ptolemy XI Alexander Ptolemy XII Auletes Cleopatra V♀ Cleopatra VI Tryphaena♀ Berenice IV Epiphanea♀ Ptolemy XIII Ptolemy XIV Cleopatra VII Philopator♀ Ptolemy XV Caesarion Arsinoe IV♀
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Hellenistic Period Seleukos I Nikator Tetradrachm from BabylonArgead dynasty: Alexander III Philip III Alexander IV Antigonid dynasty: Antigonus I Seleucid Empire: Seleucus I Antiochus I Antiochus II Seleucus II Seleucus III Antiochus III Seleucus IV Antiochus IV Antiochus V Demetrius I Alexander III Demetrius II Antiochus VI Dionysus Diodotus Tryphon Antiochus VII Sidetes
|
141–30 BCE
|
Kingdom of Judea Simon Thassi John Hyrcanus Aristobulus I Alexander Jannaeus Salome Alexandra♀ Hyrcanus II Aristobulus II Antigonus II Mattathias
|
Alexander II Zabinas Seleucus V Philometor Antiochus VIII Grypus Antiochus IX Cyzicenus Seleucus VI Epiphanes Antiochus X Eusebes Antiochus XI Epiphanes Demetrius III Eucaerus Philip I Philadelphus Antiochus XII Dionysus Antiochus XIII Asiaticus Philip II Philoromaeus
|
Parthian Empire Mithridates I Phraates Hyspaosines Artabanus Mithridates II Gotarzes Mithridates III Orodes I Sinatruces Phraates III Mithridates IV Orodes II Phraates IV Tiridates II Musa Phraates V Orodes III Vonones I Artabanus II Tiridates III Artabanus II Vardanes I Gotarzes II Meherdates Vonones II Vologases I Vardanes II Pacorus II Vologases II Artabanus III Osroes I
|
30 BCE–116 CE
|
Roman Empire
|
(Roman conquest of Egypt) Province of Egypt
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Judea
|
Syria
|
116–117 CE
|
Province of Mesopotamia under Trajan
|
Parthamaspates of Parthia
|
117–224 CE
|
Syria Palaestina
|
Province of Mesopotamia
|
Sinatruces II Mithridates V Vologases IV Osroes II Vologases V Vologases VI Artabanus IV
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224–270 CE
|
Sasanian Empire Province of Asoristan Coin of Ardashir I, Hamadan mint.Ardashir I Shapur I Hormizd I Bahram I Bahram II Bahram III Narseh Hormizd II Adur Narseh Shapur II Ardashir II Shapur III Bahram IV Yazdegerd I Shapur IV Khosrow Bahram V Yazdegerd II Hormizd III Peroz I Balash Kavad I Jamasp Kavad I Khosrow I Hormizd IV Khosrow II Bahram VI Chobin Vistahm
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270–273 CE
|
Palmyrene Empire Vaballathus Zenobia♀ Antiochus
|
273–395 CE
|
Roman Empire
|
Province of Egypt
|
Syria Palaestina
|
Syria
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Province of Mesopotamia
|
395–618 CE
|
Byzantine Empire
|
Byzantine Egypt
|
Palaestina Prima, Palaestina Secunda
|
Byzantine Syria
|
Byzantine Mesopotamia
|
618–628 CE
|
(Sasanian conquest of Egypt) Province of Egypt Shahrbaraz Sahralanyozan Shahrbaraz
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Sasanian Empire Province of Asoristan Khosrow II Kavad II
|
628–641 CE
|
Byzantine Empire
|
Ardashir III Shahrbaraz Khosrow III Boran♀ Shapur-i Shahrvaraz Azarmidokht♀ Farrukh Hormizd Hormizd VI Khosrow IV Boran Yazdegerd III Peroz III Narsieh
|
Byzantine Egypt
|
Palaestina Prima, Palaestina Secunda
|
Byzantine Syria
|
Byzantine Mesopotamia
|
639–651 CE
|
Muslim conquest of Egypt
|
Muslim conquest of the Levant
|
Muslim conquest of Mesopotamia and Persia
|
Chronology of the Neolithic period
|
Rulers of Ancient Central Asia
|
- ^ Rulers with names in italics are considered fictional.
- ^ Hallo, W.; Simpson, W. (1971). The Ancient Near East. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich. pp. 48–49.
- ^ "Rulers of Mesopotamia". cdli.ox.ac.uk. University of Oxford, CNRS.
- ^ Thomas, Ariane; Potts, Timothy (2020). Mesopotamia: Civilization Begins. Getty Publications. p. 14. ISBN 978-1-60606-649-2.
- ^ Roux, Georges (1992). Ancient Iraq. Penguin Books Limited. pp. 532–534 (Chronological Tables). ISBN 978-0-14-193825-7.
- ^ a b c Per Sumerian King List
- ^ Unger, Merrill F. (2014). Israel and the Aramaeans of Damascus: A Study in Archaeological Illumination of Bible History. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-62564-606-4.
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