Sumerian Kings' Reigns

[Awakening 38]

Hi everyone,

I'm not really into the origins debate, but I was reading a background commentary by Walton et al (2000) and he points out that there are Sumerian lists of kings who reportedly reigned before the flood with reigns as long as 43,200 years.

He goes on to explain that "the Sumerians used the sexagesimal number system (a combination of base six and base ten), and when the numbers of the Sumerian king list are converted to decimal, they are very much in the range of the age spans of the pre-flood genealogies of Genesis" (Walton et al, 2000:35).

I just thought that it was an interesting point that's all and there wasn't really anywhere else on the forum to put it.

Kind regards,
A38.

Walton, J., Matthews, V. & Chavalas, M. 2000. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament. InterVarsity Press: Downers Grove, Illinois.

 

[Sphinx777]

Sumer, located in southern Mesopotamia, is one of the earliest known civilizations in the world. It lasted from the first settlement of Eridu in the Ubaid period (late 6th millennium BC) through the Uruk period (4th millennium BC) and the Dynastic periods (3rd millennium BC) until the rise of Babylon in the early 2nd millennium BC. The term "Sumerian" applies to all speakers of the Sumerian language.

Although other cities pre-date Sumer (Jericho, Çatalhöyük and others, either for seasonal protection, or as year-round trading posts) the cities of Sumer were the first to practice intensive, year-round agriculture (from ca. 5300 BC). The surplus of storable foodstuffs created by this economy allowed the population to settle in one place instead of migrating after crops and grazing land. It also allowed for a much greater population density, and in turn required an extensive labor force and division of labor. This organization led to the necessity of record keeping and the development of writing (ca. 3500 BC).

 

[AV1611VET]

Hi, Awakening --- I got a big kick out of your BOMB TECHNICIAN poster!

Hi everyone,

I'm not really into the origins debate, but I was reading a background commentary by Walton et al (2000) and he points out that there are Sumerian lists of kings who reportedly reigned before the flood with reigns as long as 43,200 years.

The Sumerian kings could not have reigned before the Flood, as Sumeria came from Noah's great-grandson, Nimrod.

And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

 

[The Lady Kate]

Hi, Awakening --- I got a big kick out of your BOMB TECHNICIAN poster!

The Sumerian kings could not have reigned before the Flood, as Sumeria came from Noah's great-grandson, Nimrod.

It would appear that the Sumerians themselves disagreed.

 

[yeshuasavedme]

Hi everyone,

I'm not really into the origins debate, but I was reading a background commentary by Walton et al (2000) and he points out that there are Sumerian lists of kings who reportedly reigned before the flood with reigns as long as 43,200 years.

He goes on to explain that "the Sumerians used the sexagesimal number system (a combination of base six and base ten), and when the numbers of the Sumerian king list are converted to decimal, they are very much in the range of the age spans of the pre-flood genealogies of Genesis" (Walton et al, 2000:35).

I just thought that it was an interesting point that's all and there wasn't really anywhere else on the forum to put it.

Kind regards,
A38.

Walton, J., Matthews, V. & Chavalas, M. 2000. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament. InterVarsity Press: Downers Grove, Illinois.

The Sumerian's lied.
We have lots of liars writing books today, too. Doesn't make em true just cause they write them, though.
God's Word is True from the beginning.

 

[yeshuasavedme]

It would appear that the Sumerians themselves disagreed.

Sumer was Babylon.
The beginning of Babylon was Nimrod. His son, Marduk continued the reign and the debauchery of trafficing with fallen angels and their delusions and tricks and enchantments and lies, just as before the flood.
Some of the tablets from Sumer do probably tell the lies of the fallen watchers from before the flood. Read the Book of 1 Enoch about the activities of the watchers who fell, and what happened on earth. Also read the Book of Jasher http://www.ccel.org/a/anonymous/jasher/home.html, to correlate the events of after the flood with Genesis.

 

[Sphinx777]

Yes, no one would ever dispute that the Sumerian Kings had life spans far shorter than the 40,000 years that some are written as. However, don’t you see any parallels between the Sumerian King List and the Biblical Genealogies in that despite being an extremely primitive society, somehow they managed to avoid dying before being polycenturians?

Life extension refers to an increase in maximum or average lifespan, especially in humans, by slowing down or reversing the process of aging. Average lifespan is determined by vulnerability to accidents and age-related afflictions such as cancer or cardiovascular disease. Extension of average lifespan can be achieved by good diet, exercise and avoidance of hazards such as smoking. Maximum lifespan is determined by the rate of aging for a species inherent in its genes and probably by certain environmental factors. Currently, the only widely recognized method of extending maximum lifespan is calorie restriction. Theoretically, extension of maximum lifespan could be achieved by reducing the rate of aging damage, by periodic replacement of damaged tissues, or by molecular repair or rejuvenation of deteriorated cells and tissues.

Researchers of life extension are known as biogerontologists. They seek to understand the nature of aging and they develop treatments to reverse aging processes or to at least slow them down, for the improvement of health and the maintenance of youthful vigor at every stage of life. (Biomedical gerontologists are distinguished from biogerontologists in that the latter may take a purely academic interest in the biological mechanisms of aging, without seeking a "cure".) Those who take advantage of life extension findings and seek to apply them upon themselves are called "life extensionists" or "longevists". The primary life extension strategy currently is to apply available anti-aging methods in the hope of living long enough to benefit from a complete cure to aging once it is developed. Raymond Kurzweil, a futurist and transhumanist, believes that the rapidly advancing state of biogenetic and general medical technology could make this possible by approximately 2020.

Many biomedical gerontologists and life extensionists believe that future breakthroughs in tissue rejuvenation with stem cells, organs replacement (with artificial organs or xenotransplantations) and molecular repair will eliminate all aging and disease as well as allow for complete rejuvenation to a youthful condition. Whether such breakthroughs can occur within the next few decades is impossible to predict. Many life extensionists arrange to be cryonically preserved upon legal death so that they can await the time when future medicine can eliminate disease, rejuvenate them to a lasting youthful condition and repair damage caused by the cryonics process.

Whether the maximum human lifespan should be extended is the subject of much ethical debate amongst politicians and scientists. But the life extension movement, which began in the early 1980s, continues to grow rapidly in popularity and momentum among scientists and the general public.