Eponym dating system in the context of "Shamshi-Adad I"

Ishme-Dagan I (Akkadian: Išme-Dagān) was a monarch of Ekallatum and Assur during the Old Assyrian period. The much later Assyrian King List (AKL) credits Ishme-Dagan I with a reign of forty years; however, it is now known from a limmu-list of eponyms unearthed at Kanesh in 2003 that his reign in Assur lasted eleven years. According to the AKL, Ishme-Dagan I was the son and successor of Shamshi-Adad I. Also according to the AKL, Ishme-Dagan I was succeeded by his son Mut-Ashkur.

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.

Ilu-shuma or Ilu-šūma, inscribed DINGIR-šum-ma, (died c. 1974 BC) was a king of Assyria in the early 20th century BC. The length of his reign is uncertain, as the Assyrian King List records him as one of the "six kings whose names were written on bricks, but whose eponyms are not known", referring to the lists of officials after which years were named.

His son, Erishum I, is identified as the king who succeeded him and reigned for 40 years (or 30, depending on the copy of the Assyrian King List), followed by Erishum I's son, Ikunum. He titled himself "vice-regent of Assur, beloved of the god Ashur and the goddess Ishtar." The Synchronistic King List records, "eighty-two kings of Assyria from Erishum I, son of Ilu-shuma, to Ashurbanipal, son of Esarhaddon", in the concluding colophon.

In the history of Assyria, Limmu was an Assyrian eponym (a person after whom something is named). At the beginning of the reign of an Assyrian king, the limmu, an appointed royal official, would preside over the New Year festival at the capital. Each year a new limmu would be chosen. Although picked by lot, there was most likely a limited group, such as the men of the most prominent families or perhaps members of the city assembly. The Assyrians used the name of the limmu for that year to designate the year on official documents. Lists of limmus have been found accounting for every year between 892 BC and 648 BC.

During the Old Assyrian period, the king himself was never the limmum, as it was called in their language. In the Middle Assyrian and Neo-Assyrian periods, however, the king could take this office.