Kish
The city where the Sumerian King List says kingship came down again after the Flood, home of the legendary king Etana.
- Location
- East of Babylon, south-central Iraq
- Modern name
- Tall al-Uhaimir (with Ingharra)
- In tradition
- Seat of the first dynasty after the Flood (Sumerian King List)
- Rulers
- Mesilim; Etana (legendary); Agga, defeated by Gilgamesh
- Notable
- Earliest extant royal inscription (Mesilim)
- Excavated by
- Oxford–Field Museum expedition, 1923–1933
What is Kish known for?
Kish was a city-state east of Babylon, today the mounds of Tall al-Uhaimir and Ingharra in Iraq. The Sumerian King List says that after the Flood, kingship descended from heaven first at Kish. Its kings included Mesilim, author of the earliest surviving royal inscription, and Agga, whose defeat by Gilgamesh of Uruk is told in a Sumerian poem.
The list's early Kish kings include Etana, 'who ascended to heaven,' credited with an impossibly long reign. Sargon of Akkad began, according to legend, as cupbearer to a king of Kish, and later kings used the title 'king of Kish' to claim wide rule.
Excavations in the 1920s found flood deposits here, as at Ur and Shuruppak. Because they date to different periods, most archaeologists read them as separate local river floods rather than evidence of one worldwide event.
The first post-Flood kingship in the Sumerian King List and the city of Etana, who flew to heaven on an eagle.
Mentioned on these pages
- Rabbit holeEtana
- Rabbit holeShuruppak
- Rabbit holeSumerian King List
- PassageKingship descended from heaven (Sumerian King List)
- PersonCush
- PlaceAkkad (Agade)
- PlaceUr
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, 'Kish'Reference
- ETCSL, 'The Sumerian king list' (t.2.1.1)Primary text
- Wikipedia, 'Kish (Sumer)'Reference
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