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Ubartutu is the last king in the Sumerian King List before the flood, and his son Ziusudra is the Sumerian flood hero. Genesis 5 follows the same pattern with Lamech as the last patriarch before the flood, and his son Noah survives it.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Sumerian King List 1:9
Ancient Near East
When kingship had come down from heaven, kingship was at Eridu. At Eridu, Alulim was king; he reigned 28,800 years. Alalgar reigned 36,000 years. At Bad-tibira, Enmenluanna reigned 43,200 years. Enmengalanna reigned 28,800 years. The divine Dumuzi, the shepherd, reigned 36,000 years. At Larak, Ensipaziana reigned 28,800 years. At Sippar, Enmenduranna was king; he reigned 21,000 years. At Suruppak, Ubartutu was king; he reigned 18,600 years. Five cities; eight kings ruled 241,200 years. The flood swept over.
Date: c. 2100 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Genesis 5:28
Hebrew Bible
27 The entire lifetime of Methuselah was 969 years, and then he died. 28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son. 29 He named him Noah, saying, “This one will bring us comfort from our labor and from the painful toil of our hands because of the ground that the Lord has cursed.” 30 Lamech lived 595 years after he became the father of Noah, and he had other sons and daughters. 31 The entire lifetime of Lamech was 777 years, and then he died. 32 After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
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Notes and References
“… Another important feature is that the two versions of the List account for ten kings, the last of whom is designated as the hero of the flood. This fact recalls the role of Noah who occupies the tenth place in the list of Genesis 5. James VanderKam notes that “in the literature on Genesis 5 there is a well-established tradition which holds that P modeled his pre-flood genealogy on a Mesopotamian list of antediluvian kings, the so-called Sumerian King List.” …”
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