Assyrian King List in the context of "Ishme-Dagan I"

Puzur-Ashur I (Akkadian: 𒁍𒀫𒀸𒋩, romanized: Pu-AMAR-Aš-ŠUR; died c. 2008 BC) was an Assyrian king in the 21st century BC. He is generally regarded as the founder of Assyria as an independent state, c. 2025 BC, although there are predecessors listed on the Assyrian King List dating to the early 22nd century BC.

He is in the Assyrian King List and is referenced in the inscriptions of later kings (his son and successor Shalim-ahum and the later Ashur-rim-nisheshu and Shalmaneser III). These later kings mentioned him among the kings who had renewed the city walls of Assur begun by Kikkia.

Erishum I or Erišu(m) I (inscribed e-ri-šu, or APIN-ìš in later texts but always with an initial i in his own seal, inscriptions, and those of his immediate successors, “he has desired,”) c. 1974–1935 BCE (middle chronology), son of Ilu-shuma, was the thirty-third ruler of Assyria to appear on the Assyrian King List. He reigned for forty years. One of two copies of the Assyrian King List which include him gives his reign length as only 30 years, but this contrasts with a complete list of his limmu, some 40, which are extant from tablets recovered at Karum Kanesh. He had titled himself both as, "Ashur is king, Erishum is vice-regent" and the, “Išši’ak Aššur” (“steward of Assur”), at a time when Assur was controlled by an oligarchy of the patriarchs of the prominent families and subject to the “judgment of the city”, or dīn alim. According to Veenhof, Erishum I’s reign marks the period when the institution of the annually appointed limmu (eponym) was introduced. The Assyrian King List observes of his immediate predecessors, “in all six kings known from bricks, whose limmu have not been marked/found”.

Naram-Sin, or Narām-Sîn or –Suen, inscribed in cuneiform on contemporary seal impressions as na-ra-am-EN.ZU, had been the "waklum" (ugula, Overseer) or "Išši’ak Aššur" (énsi a-šùr, Steward of Ashur) of the city-state Assur.

Ushpia (Akkadian: 𒍑𒉿𒀀, romanized: Uš-pi-a) was according to the Assyrian King List (AKL) the 16th Assyrian monarch, ruling in Assyria's early period during the late 22nd or early 21st century BC,, though he is not attested in any known contemporary artefacts. The list places him as the second last within the section "kings who lived in tents”. According to the Cambridge Ancient History, the conclusion of this section, "marked the end of the nomadic period of the Assyrian people." Ushpia is alleged to have founded the temple for the god Aššur within the city-state of Aššur, according to the much later inscriptions of both of these Assyrian kings: Shalmaneser I (fl. c. 1273 BC) and Esarhaddon (fl. 681 BC). Ushpia is succeeded on the AKL by Apiashal. Arthur Ungnad interpreted both Ushpia's and Kikkia's names as being that of the Hurrian language (as opposed to the Assyrian dialect of the Semitic Akkadian language), but; Arno Poebel was not convinced by this interpretation and more recent research no longer holds Ungnad's thesis as tenable.

Shalim-ahum or Šalim-ahum (died c. 1991 BC) was a ruler of Assyria in the late 21st century to early 20th century BC. The Assyrian King List records his name as Šallim-aḫḫe, inscribed šal-lim-PAB, meaning, “keep the brothers safe”, and he appears among the six kings “whose eponyms are not found”, meaning that the length of his reign was unknown. He was described as the son of Puzur-Ashur I (dumu Puzu Assur) in his only known inscription. He is the earliest independent ruler to be attested in a contemporary inscription. Carved in curious archaic character mirror-writing in Old Assyrian on an alabaster block found during the German excavations at Assur under Walter Andrae, this sole exemplar of his contemporary inscriptions records that the god Ashur “requested of him” the construction of a temple and that he had “beer vats and storage area” built in the “temple area”.

He ruled during a period when nascent Assyrian merchant companies in karums were branching out into Anatolia to trade textiles and tin from Assur for silver. He was succeeded by his son, Ilu-shuma who died around 1974 BC, as recorded in his brick and limestone inscriptions and he appears in the genealogy of his grandson, Erishum I. His name appears in an inscription of Adad-nirari I and one of Shalmaneser I but only in the context of references to his son, Ilu-shuma. Shalim-ahum and his successors bore the title išši’ak Aššur, vice regent of Assur, as well as ensí.

Aššur-rā’im-nišēšu, inscribed aš-šur-ÁG-UN.MEŠ-šu, meaning “(the god) Aššur loves his people,” was ruler of Assyria, or išši’ak Aššur, “vice-regent of Aššur,” written in Sumerian: PA.TE.SI (=ÉNSI), c. 1408–1401 BC or c. 1398–1391 BC (short chronology), the 70th to be listed on the Assyrian King List. He is best known for his reconstruction of the inner city wall of Aššur.

Kikkia (sometimes given as Kikkiya), inscribed Ki-ik-ki-a (fl. c. 2030 BC) was according to the Assyrian King List (AKL) the 28th Assyrian monarch, ruling in Assyria's early period during the 21st century BC. He is listed within a section of the AKL as the second out of the six, "kings whose eponyms are not known." As all the other early rulers listed in the king list and unattested elsewhere, there is dispute among scholars as to whether Kikkia was a real historical figure.

Apart from his appearance in two copies of the Assyrian King List (the Khorsabad and SDAS copies, but not the Nassouhi one which is damaged at the top where he might have appeared), he is only known from two building inscriptions of his successors, moreover; the earliest of these is that of Ashur-rim-nisheshu (c. 1398 BC — c. 1391 BC), who commemorated his reconstruction of the wall of the inner-city of Assur by listing the previous restorers on a commemorative cone, (beginning with Kikkia.) The later king, Shalmaneser II, restored this wall and gave credit to his predecessor in his inscription. The erection of a defensive wall suggests that Kikkia may have won his independence from the waning influence of Ur. An earlier Assyrian šakkanakkum (KIŠ.NITA₂) chief magistrate and ruler of Assur, Zariqum, who had been omitted from the extant copies of the Assyrian King Lists, had been a contemporary and vassal of Shulgi and Amar-Sin, so one would suppose that Kikkia must have reigned after this time. Arthur Ungnad interpreted Kikkia's name, and that of Ushpia, as being that of the Hurrian language (BA VI, 5, S. 13), but more recent research no longer holds this thesis as tenable, and Arno Poebel was not convinced by the interpretation.