Meskiagnun, also Mesh-ki-ang-Nanna (, ''Meskiag̃nun'' es-ki-aŋ₂-nun also , ''Meskiag̃nunna'' Dmes-ki-aŋ₂-nun-na">dingir.html" ;"title="sup>dingir">Dmes-ki-aŋ₂-nun-na ), was the fourth lugal or king of the First Dynasty of Ur, according to the ''

Sumerian King List The ''Sumerian King List'' (abbreviated ''SKL'') or ''Chronicle of the One Monarchy'' is an ancient Composition (language), literary composition written in Sumerian language, Sumerian that was likely created and redacted to legitimize the claims ...

'', which states he ruled for 36 years.

Bowl dedication

Meskiagnun is mentioned in two bowl dedications by his wife Gan-Saman, with the same inscription:

Records of temple dedication to the gods in the Tummal inscription

He is also mentioned in the

Tummal Inscription Tummal (Tum-ma-alki or Tum-alki) was an ancient Near East cult site of the goddess Ninlil, as Egi-Tummal (Lady of Tummal), currently unlocated but known to be in the vicinity of Nippur and Drehem. E-Tummal (House of Tummal) (also E-kiur) was the te ...

with his father

Mesannepada Mesannepada (, ES-AN-NE2-PAD3-DA, Mesh-Ane-pada or Mes-Anne-pada ("Youngling chosen by An"; died ) was the first king listed for the First Dynasty of Ur on the Sumerian king list. He is listed to have ruled for 80 years, having overthrown Lu ...

, as restoring the Tummal shrine to

Enlil Enlil, later known as Elil and Ellil, is an List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian god associated with wind, air, earth, and storms. He is first attested as the chief deity of the Sumerian pantheon, but he was later worshipped by t ...

and

Ninlil Ninlil ( D NIN.LÍL; meaning uncertain) was a Mesopotamian goddess regarded as the wife of Enlil. She shared many of his functions, especially the responsibility for declaring destinies, and like him was regarded as a senior deity and head of th ...

Nippur Nippur (Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''Nibru'', often logogram, logographically recorded as , EN.LÍLKI, "Enlil City;"I. E. S. Edwards, C. J. Gadd, N. G. L. Hammond, ''The Cambridge Ancient History: Prolegomena & Prehistory'': Vol. 1, Part 1, Ca ...

after it had "fallen into ruin":

Chronological discrepancies

The Tummal inscription attests to a relative date for Meskiagnun and his father between

Enmebaragesi Enmebaragesi ( Sumerian: ''Enmebárgisi'' N-ME-BARA2-GI4-SE ) originally Mebarasi () was the penultimate king of the first dynasty of Kish and is recorded as having reigned 900 years in the ''Sumerian King List''. Like his son and successor Ag ...

and

Gilgamesh Gilgamesh (, ; ; originally ) was a hero in ancient Mesopotamian mythology and the protagonist of the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'', an epic poem written in Akkadian during the late 2nd millennium BC. He was possibly a historical king of the Sumer ...

, whereas the ''

'' dates the father and son pair generations after Enmebaragesi and Gilgamesh.

Samuel Noah Kramer Samuel Noah Kramer (September 28, 1897 – November 26, 1990) was one of the world's leading Assyriologists, an expert in Sumerian history and Sumerian language. After high school, he attended Temple University, before Dropsie University and t ...

notes that this raises "a chronological problem which cannot be resolved for the present."Kramer, ''The Sumerians'' (Chicago: University Press, 1963), p. 50 Meskiagnun is mentioned as follows in the Sumerian King List:

References

, - 25th-century BC Sumerian kings First Dynasty of Ur {{AncientNearEast-bio-stub 3rd-millennium BC births 3rd-millennium BC deaths