Enmerkar, ancient Sumerian ruler, according to the Sumerian king list, is listed as having reigned for "420 years" (some copies read "900 years").
The Sumerian king list implies that Enmerkar inherited official kingship at E-ana after his father Mesh-ki-ang-gasher, son of Utu, had "entered the sea and disappeared."
Enmerkar is also known from a few other Sumerian legends, most notably Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta, where a previous confusion of the languages of mankind is mentioned. Here, Enmerkar is called 'the son of Utu', the Sumerian sun god. Besides founding Uruk, he is documented having built a temple at Eridu, and is even credited with the invention of writing on clay tablets for purposes of coercing Aratta into submission.
David Rohl has claimed parallels between Enmerkar, builder of Uruk, and Nimrod, ruler of biblical Erech and architect of the Tower of Babel in extra-biblical legends. Rohl has also suggested that Eridu near Ur is the original site of Babel, and that the incomplete ziggurat found there - by far the oldest and largest of its kind - is none other than the remnants of the Biblical tower.[1]
See also
References
- ^ Legends: The Genesis of Civilization (1998) and The Lost Testament (2002) by David Rohl
External links
| Preceded by Mesh-ki-ang-gasher |
Ensi[citation needed] of Uruk early 3rd millennium BC or legendary |
Succeeded by Lugalbanda |
| Notable rulers of Sumer | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ante-diluvian kings | Alulim · Dumuzid, the Shepherd · Ziusudra | 3rd Dynasty of Kish | Kubaba |
| 1st Dynasty of Kish | Etana · Enmebaragesi | 3rd Dynasty of Uruk | Lugal-Zage-Si |
| 1st Dynasty of Uruk | Enmerkar · Lugalbanda · Dumuzid, the Fisherman · Gilgamesh | Dynasty of Akkad | Sargon · Manishtushu · Naram-Sin · Shar-Kali-Sharri · Dudu · Shu-turul |
| 1st Dynasty of Ur | (Meskalamdug)* · Mesannepada · (Puabi)* | ||
| 2nd Dynasty of Uruk | Enshakushanna | 2nd Dynasty of Lagash | Puzer-Mama · Gudea |
| 1st Dynasty of Lagash | Ur-Nanshe · Eannatum · En-anna-tum I · Entemena · Urukagina | 5th Dynasty of Uruk | Utu-hegal |
| Dynasty of Adab | Lugal-Anne-Mundu | 3rd dynasty of Ur | Ur-Nammu · Shulgi · Amar-Sin · Shu-Sin · Ibbi-Sin |
| * Meskalamdug and Puabi, though not necessarily rulers, are famous for their grave finds. | |||
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