[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":136},["ShallowReactive",2],{"article-cuneiform-script-the-earliest-form-of-human-writing-en":3},{"id":4,"name":5,"keywords":4,"slug":6,"author":7,"status":4,"defaultLang":4,"ogImage":8,"ogType":9,"updateDate":10,"createDate":11,"isDeleted":4,"availableLangs":4,"i18nMeta":12,"relatedBlogs":23},null,"人类最早的文字","cuneiform-script-the-earliest-form-of-human-writing","卜可","https://image.big-history.online/tree_24.40/1770277157626_720_1761894888347_Proto-writing2.jpg","article","2026-03-12T12:59:40","2025-10-31T15:00:29",{"name":13,"h1Title":14,"title":15,"subtitle":4,"keywords":16,"content":17,"overview":4,"description":18,"ogTitle":19,"ogDescription":20,"preface":4,"note":4,"langCode":21,"updateDate":10,"createDate":11,"priority":22,"author":7},"Humanity’s earliest writing","The birth of the earliest human writing and civilization","The earliest human writing: the origin of cuneiform writing, jemdite nasin, uruk and sumer civilization","Theearliestwriting,cuneiform,theSumerians","## Words and Civilization\n\nThe site of \u003Cspan class=\"marker\" enus=\"Jemdet Nasr\" lon=\"44.779\" lat=\"32.717\" map=\"HB\" zoom=\"10\">Jemdet Nasr\u003C/span>, located in \u003Cspan class=\"marker\" enus=\"Mesopotamia\" lon=\"43.4837\" lat=\"34.5338\" year=\"-4000\" map=\"HB\" zoom=\"4\">Mesopotamia\u003C/span>, is an archaeological site close to \u003Cspan class=\"marker\" enus=\"Uruk City\" lon=\"45.635\" lat=\"31.32\" year=\"-2900\" map=\"HB\" zoom=\"6\">Uruk\u003C/span>. In 1926, British Assyrians discovered the original cuneiform clay plate for the first time. Here is also the standard site of the culture of the same name, which dates back to 3100-2900 BC and is currently (2023) considered the first civilization of mankind, the direct predecessor of the Sumerian civilization. During this period, the characters developed rapidly, and the symbols tended to be simplified and abstract, forming a more mature Sumerian cuneiform system, also known as the \"primitive writing period.\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"img-container-article\">\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://image.big-history.online/000159/000159_1710142548070.jpg\" alt=\"Jemdet Nasr 文字\" />\n\u003Cspan>\nPhoto by \u003Ca href=\"https://www.ancientpages.com/2016/12/18/mesopotamian-city-jemdet-nasr-dated-to-3100-2900-bc-sophisticated-irrigation-techniques-and-earliest-cylinder-seals/\" target=\"_blank\">Ancient Pages\u003C/a>\n\u003C/span>\nThe picture on the left of the \u003Cp class=\"description\">shows the famous \"Lion Woman\" statue of Jemdite Nasser. The site is located in southern \u003Cspan class=\"marker\" enus=\"Mesopotamia\" lon=\"43.4837\" lat=\"34.5338\" year=\"-4000\" map=\"HB\" zoom=\"4\">Mesopotamia\u003C/span>. Although it is small, it is a key prehistoric settlement and represents the final stage before the beginning of the early Sumerian dynasty. The emergence of words is regarded as the real starting point of civilization.\n\u003C/p>\n\u003C/div>\n\nCuneiform didn't appear suddenly. It originated from a pictorial symbol system that had been in use for centuries. The appearance of these pictographs can be traced back to at least 3500 BC. By about 3200 BC, the early hieroglyphs were replaced by the phonograms (symbols representing sounds) of \u003Cspan class=\"marker\" enus=\"Uruk City\" lon=\"45.635\" lat=\"31.32\" year=\"-2900\" map=\"HB\" zoom=\"6\">Uruk City\u003C/span>, which opened the precedent of human literary creation. This is one of the most important cultural contributions of the Sumerians.\n\nCuneiform has developed quite complex in the \"early dynastic period\" (about 2900-2334 BC), and there is reason to believe that once the art of writing is mastered, people's desire for the expression of ideas and the preservation of information for the future will suddenly become extremely strong.\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"img-container-article\">\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://image.big-history.online/tree_24.25.28/1761894888347_Proto-writing2.jpg\" alt=\"Proto-writing\" />\n\u003Cspan>\nImage source: \u003Ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-writing\" target=\"_blank\">wikipedia\u003C/a>\n\u003C/span>\n\u003Cp class=\"description\">Kish tablet, made of limestone, is one of the earliest known (2025) written evidence, dating back to \u003Cspan class=\"marker\" enus=\"Kish City\" lon=\"44.65\" lat=\"32.55\" map=\"HB\" zoom=\"6\">Kish City\u003C/span> in 3500 BC. The symbols on the slate are entirely hieroglyphs and may be related to the original cuneiform, but the meaning is unknown.\u003C/p>\n\u003C/div>\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"img-container-article\">\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://image.big-history.online/tree_24.25.28/1761894970558_Cuneiform2.jpg\" alt=\"Cuneiform\" width=\"70%\"/>\n\u003Cspan>\nImage source: \u003Ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuneiform\" target=\"_blank\">Cuneiform\u003C/a>\n\u003C/span>\n\u003Cp class=\"description\">hieroglyphs carved on limestone, which are generally regarded as the embryonic form of the primitive cuneiform, dated probably at the end of the 4th millennium BC. Unlike the later mature cuneiform, which is vast and has been deciphered, these early hieroglyphs are relatively rare and have not yet been successfully deciphered. But supposedly, the content of the document involves a list of slaves, and the hand in the upper left corner may represent the slave owner.\u003C/p>\n\u003C/div>\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"img-container-article\">\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://image.big-history.online/tree_24.25.28/1761895074576_Cylinder-seal2.jpg\" alt=\"Cylinder-seal\" />\n\u003Cspan>\nPhoto by \u003Ca href=\"https://www.metmuseum.org/zh/art/collection/search/327067\" target=\"_blank\">The MET\u003C/a>\n\u003C/span>\nRoller seals and imprints unearthed \u003Cp class=\"description\">in southern \u003Cspan class=\"marker\" enus=\"Mesopotamia\" lon=\"43.4837\" lat=\"34.5338\" year=\"-4000\" map=\"HB\" zoom=\"4\">Mesopotamia\u003C/span> depict three women with braids and two binaural containers, dating from 3300-2900 BC, made of white crystal. The roller seal, as a marker of the civilization of the two rivers, appeared around 4000 BC. However, the technology of imprinting patterns on clay with engraved stones appeared very early, about 7000 BC, but it is not yet a real character.\u003C/p>\n\u003C/div>\n\nBy the end of the 19th century, the ancient cuneiform written on clay tablets was successfully deciphered. This major event also changed mankind's understanding and cognition of its own history. Because before that, most people had no idea of human history and civilization. For example, many people regarded the Bible as the oldest and most authoritative book in the world, but they knew nothing about the older Sumerian civilization.\n\nThrough ancient texts, later scholars confirmed that the prototype of the Garden of Eden in the Bible should be in \u003Cspan class=\"marker\" enus=\"Mesopotamia\" lon=\"43.4837\" lat=\"34.5338\" year=\"-4000\" map=\"HB\" zoom=\"4\">Mesopotamia\u003C/span>, while stories such as Noah's Ark and the Great Flood must come from the Sumerian Epic of * * Gilgamesh. This epic is the earliest written literary work of mankind. The ideas and thinking about the world contained in the poem are extremely valuable even today.\n\nNeed to explain: * * The origin and age of the text are still being updated by archaeology * *.\n\nStudies since 2004 have shown that as early as the middle of the 4th millennium BC, primitive characters have appeared in Syria and \u003Cspan class=\"marker\" enus=\"Turkey\" lon=\"35.2407\" lat=\"38.9573\" map=\"HB\" zoom=\"4\">Turkey\u003C/span>, engraved on pottery and wood. If further confirmed by future archaeology, the Uruk script is only an important part of the development of early writing, rather than the only starting point.\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"img-container-article\">\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://image.big-history.online/tree_24.25.28/1761895180280_Cylinder-seal32.jpg\" alt=\"Cylinder-seal\" />\n\u003Cspan>\nImage source:<a href =\"\nhttps://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/327385\" target=\"_blank\">The MET \u003C/a>\n\u003C/span>\nA cuneiform clay tablet from the period of \u003Cspan class=\"marker\" enus=\"Jemdet Nasr\" lon=\"44.779\" lat=\"32.717\" map=\"HB\" zoom=\"10\">Jemdite Nasser\u003C/span>,\u003Cp class=\"description\">, for the management records of malt and flour.\u003C/p>\n\u003C/div>\n\nAlthough the contents of the early words and records seem simple and boring, they are the starting point of \"all\" civilization, because sooner or later the words will help people construct a spiritual world as abstract, strong and full of infinite passion as Wuthering Heights, and also enable people to express and communicate across time and space. It seems a bit strange to mention \"Wuthering Heights\" here, but this work is the pinnacle of human romantic literature. It describes a world completely constructed by abstract imagination. It is also a romantic lyric based on novels. Poem; although the work is covered with an invisibility cloak sewn with materials such as \"Love and Revenge\", it has been ununderstood for more than two hundred years. The deepest meaning of civilization is also hidden in the abstract conformity system marked by words. The builder of the Great History online platform, the author of this article, Bu Ko, is also the interpreter of \u003Ca href=\"https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/372525485\" target=\"_blank\">\"Interpreting Wuthering Heights\"\u003C/a> in this work.\n\nTo get down to business. Readers who love literature must be easier to understand. Words have infinite \"magic\", although they are only the carrier of language. Due to the limited (synchronous) processing power of the brain, it is unlikely that human beings will create a brilliant civilization without words as (memory) carriers: we will not be able to communicate with the past or the future, nor will we be able to touch anything slightly complex or abstract. Then, all the accumulation and inspiration of the individual will be smeared clean by a brief autumn like falling leaves. This is why \"Great History Online\" puts aside the controversy of some professional scholars and insists on the emergence of words as the \"standard for the birth of civilization. This is the website and platform I built.\u003Cdiv class=\"img-container-article\">\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://image.big-history.online/tree_24.25.28/1761895274440_Cylinder-seal42.jpg\" alt=\"Cylinder-seal\" width=\"80%\"/>\n\u003Cspan>\nPhoto by \u003Ca href=\"https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/329081\" target=\"_blank\">The MET\u003C/a>\n\u003C/span>\n\u003Cp class=\"description\">The clay plate seal of the original cuneiform used to sign the barley distribution, not only with text, but also with a pattern (below is a photocopy of the pattern part after the seal is signed). The seal date is about 3100-2900 BC and was unearthed in \u003Cspan class=\"marker\" enus=\"Uruk City\" lon=\"45.635\" lat=\"31.32\" year=\"-2900\" map=\"HB\" zoom=\"6\">Uruk City\u003C/span>.\u003C/p>\n\u003C/div>\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"img-container-article\">\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://image.big-history.online/000153/000153_1710133726312.jpg\" alt=\"Escritura_cuneiforme\" width=\"80%\"/>\n\u003Cspan>\nImage source: \u003Ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuneiform\" target=\"_blank\">Cuneiform\u003C/a>\n\u003C/span>\n\u003Cp class=\"description\">Sumerian cuneiform recorded on a clay tablet, this document is a contract for the sale of fields and horses, about 2600 BC. The land in the document will not disappear, even if it is buried under the sea; but where are the \"owners\" of the land now? Does anyone remember the story that happened on the land?\u003C/p>\n\u003C/div>\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"img-container-article\">\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://image.big-history.online/tree_24.25.28/1761895399024_SAG.png\" alt=\"SAG\" />\n\u003Cspan>\n\u003C/span>\nThe evolution of the \u003Cp class=\"description\">cuneiform symbol SAG (head) is as follows: 1. hieroglyphic characters around 3 thousand BC; 2. hieroglyphic characters of revolution from 2800-2600 BC; 3. abstract symbols engraved on monuments around 2600 BC; 4. cuneiform variants on clay tablets, also around 2600 BC; 5. late 3000 BC; 6. ancient Assyria in the early 2000 BC; 7. Around 1000 BC, the simplified typeface written by Assyrian scribes continued to be used until the cuneiform script died out.\u003C/p>\n\u003C/div>\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"img-container-article\">\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://image.big-history.online/tree_24.25.28/1761895468552_back-to-mum.png\" alt=\"back-to-mum\" />\n\u003Cspan>\nImage source: \u003Ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuneiform\" target=\"_blank\">Cuneiform\u003C/a>\n\u003C/span>\n\u003Cp class=\"description\">cuneiform, which literally means: \"Back to Mom\".\u003C/p>\n\u003C/div>\n\n## References\n\n\n\n\u003Ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuneiform\" target=\"_blank\">Wiki: Cuneiform\u003C/a>\n\n\u003Ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-writing\" target=\"_blank\">Proto writing\u003C/a>\n\n\u003Ca href=\"https://www.worldhistory.org/cuneiform\" target=\"_blank\">Cuneiform\u003C/a>\n\n\u003Ca href=\"https://www.metmuseum.org/zh/essays/the-origins-of-writing\" target=\"_blank\">The Origins of Writing\u003C/a>\n\n\u003Cbr>\n\n---\n\n","Where did the earliest human writing systems originate? How did cuneiform evolve from pictographic symbols into a fully developed script? This article focuses on the origins of writing and the threshold of civilization.","The earliest human writing: more than 5000 years ago, cuneiform lit the first ray of light in civilization","From bookkeeping symbols to epics and laws, words allow mankind to bid farewell to oblivion and truly enter the age of civilization.","en",0.7,[24,31,38,45,52,59,66,73,80,87,94,101,108,115,122,129],{"id":25,"name":26,"keywords":4,"slug":27,"author":7,"ogImage":28,"isBlog":4,"createDate":29,"updateDate":29,"description":30},"4cd7766ae5ee468ea48aa3adba7941a9","The establishment of the Roman Republic","the-establishment-of-the-roman-republic","https://image.big-history.online/tree_24.40/1770291076578_720_1769589582052_Roman_SPQR_banner.svg.jpg","2026-03-07T23:45:15","In 509 BC, Rome bid farewell to the royal government and opened a republic. An in-depth analysis of Polybius's theory of \"mixed polity\" and Monson's \"peer-to-peer, annual\" logic of checks and balances. Learn how Roman citizens, through power design, prevented the re-birth of the despotic monarchy.",{"id":32,"name":33,"keywords":4,"slug":34,"author":7,"ogImage":35,"isBlog":4,"createDate":36,"updateDate":36,"description":37},"118dd65be46847a6a11b5fe6745beec8","The Battle of Thermopylae","battle-of-thermopylae","https://image.big-history.online/tree_24.40/1773992089939_leonidas-i720.jpg","2026-03-20T19:07:09","In 480 BC, the Battle of Thermopylae erupted. Led by King Leonidas, a force of several thousand Greek allies held the narrow pass against overwhelming odds, delaying the Persian army and buying crucial time for the Greek coalition to regroup and ultimately turn the tide. This epic stand has since become a legendary chapter in military history.",{"id":39,"name":40,"keywords":4,"slug":41,"author":7,"ogImage":42,"isBlog":4,"createDate":43,"updateDate":43,"description":44},"1ff11f790154484882c2330ce9ee4dc8","Themistocles built the Athenian navy.","themistocles","https://image.big-history.online/tree_24.40/1773996650171_493BC.jpg","2026-03-20T16:49:25","Themistocles used the revenues from the Laurion silver mines to build the Athenian fleet, construct ports and fortifications, and lay the foundations of Athens’ maritime supremacy. Yet in his later years, he was subjected to ostracism and died in exile in Persia.",{"id":46,"name":47,"keywords":4,"slug":48,"author":7,"ogImage":49,"isBlog":4,"createDate":50,"updateDate":50,"description":51},"8491c1ef3dc54813ba4607d84e439959","The First Punic War ended.","the-end-of-the-first-punic-war","https://image.big-history.online/tree_24.40/1773821870368_The_Oath_of_Hannibal2.jpg","2026-03-18T19:25:41","After the defeat of Carthage in the Battle of Egardi in 241 BC, Rome ended the first Punic War in 23 years through the Peace of Catullus, taking control of Sicily and becoming the overlord of the Western Mediterranean.",{"id":53,"name":54,"keywords":4,"slug":55,"author":7,"ogImage":56,"isBlog":4,"createDate":57,"updateDate":57,"description":58},"433c14dafc584a86b8e5819dbf62deec","Battle of Himera","battle-of-himera","https://image.big-history.online/tree_24.40/1773889155192_Ancient-Carthage.jpg","2026-03-19T14:08:23","In 480 BC, the Battle of Himera erupted. Gelon, the tyrant of Syracuse, led a coalition of Greek forces to defeat the massive Carthaginian army, thereby thwarting Carthage’s westward expansion into Sicily and marking a pivotal victory for Greek civilization in the western Mediterranean.",{"id":60,"name":61,"keywords":4,"slug":62,"author":7,"ogImage":63,"isBlog":4,"createDate":64,"updateDate":64,"description":65},"ff04bebabfe340d2816979640f79735a","The Sicilian War of Attrition","first-punic-war-sicilian-confrontation","https://image.big-history.online/tree_24.40/1773836795285_1773641026266_Altar-of-Domitius-Ahenobarbus2.jpg","2026-03-18T19:05:47","The First Punic War entered the Sicilian War of Attrition. Rome captured Palermo, but was defeated in the Battle of Drepana. Hamilka Baca held the western fortress of Carthage with guerrilla tactics, and the war fell into a long stalemate.",{"id":67,"name":68,"keywords":4,"slug":69,"author":7,"ogImage":70,"isBlog":4,"createDate":71,"updateDate":71,"description":72},"34dd3ef76ca940138120fc08db55098c","The Battle of Aralia","battle-of-alalia","https://image.big-history.online/tree_24.40/1773889166419_battle-of-alalia3.png","2026-03-19T13:41:54","Between 540 and 535 BCE, the Battle of Alalia took place, pitting the Greek colonists of Phocaea against a joint Carthaginian–Etruscan fleet. This naval engagement fundamentally reshaped the balance of power in the western Mediterranean, bringing an end to the Greek westward colonial expansion.",{"id":74,"name":75,"keywords":4,"slug":76,"author":7,"ogImage":77,"isBlog":4,"createDate":78,"updateDate":78,"description":79},"c9c2069607dc4ddb81df7f159c2477cc","Carthage Empire","the-rise-of-the-carthaginian-empire","https://image.big-history.online/tree_24.40/1773889543432_Carthage32.jpg","2026-03-19T13:18:27","Carthage was a colonial empire founded by the Phoenicians in North Africa. Relying on its naval power and trade, it came to dominate the western Mediterranean. Through the expansions led by Hamilcar Barca and Mago I, Carthage emerged as a major Mediterranean power prior to Rome’s rise.",{"id":81,"name":82,"keywords":4,"slug":83,"author":7,"ogImage":84,"isBlog":4,"createDate":85,"updateDate":85,"description":86},"aba73b3472c5466a9947cc249556571b","Phoenician city-states under power","phoenician-city-states-vassalized-to-great-powers","https://image.big-history.online/tree_24.40/1770283572590_720_1765465371446_Assyrian_Fragments_of_Bands_from_a_Gate_Walters.jpg","2026-03-07T13:29:57","The Phoenician city-state dominated the Eastern Mediterranean by virtue of commerce and navigation, but it was successively reduced to Assyria, Neo-Babylon, and Persian vassals, and finally ended the era of ocean hegemony after Alexander captured Tyrus.",{"id":88,"name":89,"keywords":4,"slug":90,"author":7,"ogImage":91,"isBlog":4,"createDate":92,"updateDate":92,"description":93},"4c8d31293f804624bffefd2d1ea19c6f","The New Elam Period and the Demise of Civilization","neo-elamite-period","https://image.big-history.online/tree_24.40/1770290418284_720_1765426853042_Assyria.jpg","2026-03-08T17:09:12","From 1100 to 600 BC, the New Elam period witnessed the end of the Elam civilization in two thousand years. This article details the brutal conquest of the Assyrian Empire, the destruction of the city of Susa, and how the Persians inherited the heritage of Elam and established the Achaemenid dynasty, restoring the true epic of the change of hegemony in the Near East.",{"id":95,"name":96,"keywords":4,"slug":97,"author":7,"ogImage":98,"isBlog":4,"createDate":99,"updateDate":99,"description":100},"00549781383e4e04aaa9fcb7e5247c6e","The First Punic War","first-punic-war","https://image.big-history.online/tree_24.40/1773821854423_Battle_of_Mylae1.jpg","2026-03-18T15:54:39","The First Punic War (264–241 BCE) was the first major conflict between Rome and Carthage over dominance in the Mediterranean. Rome began as a land power with no navy. By employing the corvus boarding bridge, it decisively defeated the Carthaginian fleet at the Battle of Mylae, ultimately seizing Sicily and establishing its dominance in the Western Mediterranean.",{"id":102,"name":103,"keywords":4,"slug":104,"author":7,"ogImage":105,"isBlog":4,"createDate":106,"updateDate":106,"description":107},"4c6669ee00cb4318a52b69c064c91e7c","Syracuse in the Age of Gelon","syracuse-in-the-age-of-gelon","https://image.big-history.online/tree_24.40/1773835732572_1773816624938_Gelon2.jpg","2026-03-18T20:00:21","Gaylon became the tyrant of Syrakus in 485 BC, creating the Golden Age of Syrakus through the centralization of immigration and the victory over Carthage in the Battle of Himera, making it the core power of Greek civilization in the Western Mediterranean.",{"id":109,"name":110,"keywords":4,"slug":111,"author":7,"ogImage":112,"isBlog":4,"createDate":113,"updateDate":113,"description":114},"87b1ad24e8f848fd8e29a71242111069","Ancient Syrakan City","foundation-of-syracuse","https://image.big-history.online/tree_24.40/1773822661514_Leto2.png","2026-03-18T19:48:50","Syrakus was built on the Sicilian island of Ortija by the Corinsians in 733 BC. With its natural harbor and fertile land, it rose rapidly and became one of the most powerful city-states in ancient Greece.",{"id":116,"name":117,"keywords":4,"slug":118,"author":7,"ogImage":119,"isBlog":4,"createDate":120,"updateDate":120,"description":121},"6fb53305c4d24ded98ef1aad7875566a","The Roman expedition to Carthage","first-punic-war-expedition-to-carthage","https://image.big-history.online/tree_24.40/1773825394026_Battle-of-Cape-Ecnomus2.jpg","2026-03-18T17:06:36","During the First Punic War, Rome assembled a massive fleet and launched an expedition against Carthage’s homeland. It achieved a decisive victory at the Battle of Cape Ecnomus but suffered a disastrous defeat at the Bagradas River, where Regulus was captured, going on to become a legendary hero in Roman history.",{"id":123,"name":124,"keywords":4,"slug":125,"author":7,"ogImage":126,"isBlog":4,"createDate":127,"updateDate":127,"description":128},"66e8b363e4fd4aef931fedd2c067d28b","Villanova culture","villanovan-culture","https://image.big-history.online/tree_24.40/1770283470288_720_1769063169667_Harness_Trapping_in_the_Shape_of_a_Horse_LACMA.jpg","2026-03-06T22:33:18","The Villanovan culture, emblematic of the Iron Age on the Italian Peninsula, is characterized by its distinctive cremation practices and advanced metallurgical skills. It served as the direct precursor to Etruscan civilization and exerted a profound influence on the origins of Roman civilization.",{"id":130,"name":131,"keywords":4,"slug":132,"author":7,"ogImage":133,"isBlog":4,"createDate":134,"updateDate":134,"description":135},"9d6ffc016ad5496ea6cb688dbe06edf2","The kingship『descend from heaven 』","sumerian-king-list","https://image.big-history.online/tree_24.40/1770277186433_720_000171_1710127538406.jpg","2026-02-28T17:08:45","Why did the Sumerian king table say that \"kingship descends from heaven\"? This paper interprets the origin of the earliest human mythology of kingship, Eridu, Alulim, the Great Flood and the concept of divine kingship.\n",1774515946822]