Thorkild Jacobsen's 1939 critical edition of the Sumerian King List, presenting the cuneiform text with transliteration, translation and notes, and establishing the reading of the list as a political document legitimizing successive dynasties rather than a literal chronicle. Its strength is that it remains the standard citation for the list's overall structure and purpose. Its limit is its age: exemplars of the list discovered after 1939 have superseded some of Jacobsen's specific readings, so a claim about a particular king or reign length should be checked against more recent Assyriological scholarship.
Facts
Assessment
Reliability Tier1
Tier one: a scholarly critical edition presenting the cuneiform text with transliteration, translation and notes, and establishing the reading of the list as a political document. Superseded in particular readings by exemplars discovered after 1939 but still the standard citation for the list's structure and purpose. NotesThe classic scholarly critical edition, Assyriological Studies No. 11, presenting the cuneiform text with transliteration, translation and notes, and establishing the reading of the list as a political document legitimizing a single unbroken monarchy rather than a historical chronicle. Superseded in particular readings by exemplars discovered after 1939 but still the standard citation for the list's structure and purpose. Tier 1: a scholarly critical edition.
Citation
AuthorThorkild Jacobsen
PublisherOriental Institute of the University of Chicago / University of Chicago Press
Publication Year1939
URLhttps://isac.uchicago.edu/research/publications/as/11-sumerian-king-list
Source TypeCritical edition
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names Sumerians directly: "Thorkild Jacobsen's 1939 critical edition of the Sumerian King List, presenting the cuneiform text with transliteration, translation and notes, and establishing the reading of the list as a..."
Claims Backed By This Source (15 claims)
This source backs 15 claims across the atlas. As facts: 13 well-attested. As cited relationships: 1 holds. Plus 1 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Sources, 9 claims: 8 well-attested, 1 holds.
- Doctrines, 4 claims: 4 well-attested.
- Religious Events, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.
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