The Sumerian King List. The Sumerian King List is the main surviving document for understanding the early political history of ancient Mesopotamia. The text lists Mesopotamian rulers in order and gives the length of their reigns from the time kingship first appeared before the flood through the First Dynasty of Isin (circa 1794 B.C.E.)- The first legendary kings are said to have reigned for thousands of years. Although the Sumerian King List claims that the kings all ruled consecutively, it can be shown that many ruled concurrently. The list was composed to support the Mesopotamian ideology that only one urban city and its divinely legitimized king ruled at any one time.

Royal Inscriptions. Royal inscriptions are one of the most important sources for reconstructing the political history of ancient Mesopotamia. The earliest ones, dating to...