Month: May 2022

According to the Sumerian King List, kingship was already in the third millennium BC an ancient institution. But is this correct? Where and how did Sumerian kingship originate?

The Sumerian King List is one of the oldest historiographical documents known to mankind. The earliest version dates back to the Neo-Sumerian Period (2112-2004 BC) and lists all the kings who had “held kingship” up to that time, along with their home city and the length of their reign.

The Sumerian King List presents kingship as a divine gift that had been bestowed upon mankind in primordial times and that was passed down from king to king and from city to city by the will of the gods. Interestingly, this kingship could only be held by one person at a time.

Continue reading “Evolution of Sumerian kingship”

In the distant past, when Assyria still reigned supreme, two tribes of nomadic horsemen wreaked havoc across Asia. They were known as the Cimmerians and the Scythians.

The Cimmerians lived on the steppes north of the Black Sea until they were driven from their homeland by the Scythians, who had themselves been driven from their own homeland in Central Asia by the nomadic Massagetae.

The Cimmerians fled, passing the Caucasus on the side of the Black Sea, and reached Anatolia. There, they raided the prosperous kingdoms of Phrygia and Lydia, until they were finally defeated by King Alyattes of Lydia (r. 610–560 BC), who went on to conquer all the lands west of the River Halys.

The Scythians pursued the Cimmerians, passing the Caucasus on the side of the Caspian sea, reaching Iran. When the Scythians found out that the Cimmerians had taken another route, they decided to attack the Median kingdom ruled by Cyaxares (r. 625–585 BC) instead. The Scythians ruled the region for 28 years, conducting raids as far as Palestine, until they were finally defeated by Cyaxares, who reclaimed his throne and went on to conquer all the lands east of the River Halys.

Continue reading “Cimmerians and Scythians – Herodotus reconsidered”