12- Sumerian King List
Photo credit: www.juliaworld.net
In the early 20th century, German-American academic Hermann Hilprecht discovered a stone tablet listing the kings of the Sumer, an ancient kingdom in the south of what is now Iraq. It records their supposed reign lengths, and the locations of kingship. What puzzled Hilprecht about the Sumerian King List, and continues to baffle scholars to this very day, is the mix of the real and the fantastical. Alongside real rulers, mythical leaders are also listed, including some who seemingly reigned for thousands of years.