Editing Sumerian King List (section)

=== Lines 1–39: before the flood ===
This section, which is not present in every copy of the text, opens with the line "After the kingship descended from heaven, the kingship was in Eridu." Two kings of [[Eridu]] are mentioned, before the city "fell" and the "kingship was taken to [[Bad-tibira]]". This pattern of cities receiving kingship and then falling or being defeated, only to be succeeded by the next, is present throughout the entire text, often in the exact same words. This first section lists eight kings who ruled over five cities (apart from Eridu and Bad-tibira, these also included [[Larak (Sumer)|Larag]], [[Sippar|Zimbir]] and [[Shuruppak]]). The duration of each reign is also given. In this first section, the reigns vary between 43,200 and 28,800 years for a total of 241,200 years. The section ends with the line "Then the flood swept over". Among the kings mentioned in this section is the ancient Mesopotamian god [[Dumuzid]] (the later Tammuz).