Setting aside authenticity, interpreting the Sumerian King List as a history of Anunnaki rule, what insights does this narrative itself offer regarding power, succession, memory, and oblivion?

Hello! This question is quite intriguing. It's not asking "is this true," but rather "if we treat it as a story, what insights can we glean?" It's like reading Romance of the Three Kingdoms – we don't obsess over whether Guan Yu's Green Dragon Crescent Blade was real, but instead savor the themes of loyalty, strategy, and human nature within.

So, let's put on a pair of "Anunnaki sci-fi lenses" and re-read this ancient Sumerian King List. Let's see what this story of "aliens ruling Earth's early history" can reveal about power, succession, memory, and forgetting.

The Sumerian King List x The Anunnaki: A Revelation of "Divine" Power

First, let's briefly set the stage:

The Sumerian King List: An unearthed ancient clay tablet recording the successive kings of Sumer (and earlier). Its defining feature is the unnaturally long lifespans of the earliest kings – tens of thousands of years – followed by a great flood, after which kingly lifespans drastically shorten, becoming increasingly normal. The list repeatedly emphasizes one phrase: "Kingship descended from heaven."
The Anunnaki Interpretation: We assume these long-lived "kings" were the Anunnaki from the planet Nibiru. They were Earth's early rulers. "Kingship descended from heaven" isn't metaphorical; it's literal – power literally came from the sky. The Great Flood is the dividing line: the pre-flood era of "divine" rule, and the post-flood era of "demi-god" or "human proxy" rule.

Alright, lenses on. Let's begin the interpretation.

1. On Power: What is Ultimate Power? – The Disparity of Dimensions

In the King List's story, power isn't gained through elections, achievements, or even solely through conquest. Its origin is starkly simple – "descended from heaven."

If we view the rulers as Anunnaki, this phrase reveals a brutal truth about power: Ultimate power stems from fundamental differences in life form and civilizational level.

Insight: It's like humans managing an anthill. Our ability to decide the ants' fate isn't because we are "more moral" or "more popular," but purely because we are higher-dimensional beings. The Anunnaki's rule over early humans was similar. Their longevity (reigns of tens of thousands of years) and their technology (capable of causing or predicting the flood) constituted a "dimensional disparity" over humans. Rebellion was nearly unthinkable within this power structure. This reminds us that when discussing power, beyond visible wealth, status, and armies, we must see the invisible, more fundamental "inequalities" – like information asymmetry, technological gaps, or even cognitive disparities. Whoever masters these possesses the capacity for "dimensional dominance."

2. On Succession: The "Game of Thrones" of the Immortals

The King List's record of royal succession is fascinating. Kingship doesn't pass down linearly in one place; it "transfers" between different cities. For example: "In Eridug, Alulim became king; he ruled for 28,800 years... Then Eridug was defeated and kingship was taken to Bad-tibira."

If this is an Anunnaki story, this isn't human dynastic change; it's power struggles between different Anunnaki factions.

Insight: Even for near-immortal "gods," the transfer of power is fraught with turbulence and uncertainty. This offers a counterintuitive revelation: Longevity does not guarantee stable power. Imagine beings who've lived for tens of millennia – their ambition, schemes, and hatreds are amplified over the same vast timescale. Each "transfer" of kingship likely represents an unimaginable conflict – "infighting among the gods." This shows us that any power structure, however solid it seems, inherently contains tension. Succession is always power's weakest link. It's not like passing down a family heirloom; it's more like a perilous game of "hot potato," liable to explode at the moment of handover.

3. On Memory: History as a Tool to Shape Reality

The Sumerian King List itself is a carefully "edited" history. Why record those implausibly long reigns? Why make the Great Flood a pivotal point?

In this story, the King List is the Anunnaki's "official textbook" for humanity, designed to construct a "collective memory" favorable to their rule.

Insight:
1. Legitimizing the Present with a "Divinized" Past: By emphasizing the supernaturally long lifespans of the pre-flood "god-kings," it constantly reminded humans: "Your rulers have been gods since ancient times, fundamentally different from you mortals." This implanted memory aimed to eliminate human challenges at their root. This tells us that historical narrative is one of power's most potent weapons. Whoever controls the interpretation of the past controls the present and future.
2. Using the "Great Flood" to Format History: The Great Flood is like a computer's "hard reset." It obscured earlier memories potentially unfavorable to the Anunnaki (e.g., What happened when they first arrived? How were humans truly created?). Post-reset, a new history began, centered entirely on "kingship descending from heaven." This makes us wonder: could every historical turning point we know also be a carefully orchestrated act of "memory formatting"?

4. On Forgetting: Where There is Silence, There is Hidden Truth

What the King List doesn't say might be more important than what it does.

If this is an Anunnaki story, what did they most want us to "forget"?

Forgetting Their Internal Scandals and Failures: The list only records the "transfer" of kingship, glossing over it with phrases like "was defeated." But clashes between factions of gods must have been brutal, filled with conspiracy, betrayal, and destruction. These are "forgotten." Official history only tells you "who won," not "how dishonorably they won."
Forgetting Human "Agency": In this story, humans have almost no role before the flood and are merely subjects afterward. Is it possible humans had their own civilization before the Anunnaki arrived? Did humans ever rebel? Such memories would be precisely what the rulers wanted erased. They needed humans to "forget" any possibility of thriving without them.
Forgetting the "Unworthy" Kings: The King List is a roster of victors. Those "god-kings" with short reigns, lacking "achievements," or who were overthrown likely vanished from the list entirely.
Insight: Forgetting is an active exercise of power. The creation of a unified memory inherently involves the suppression and erasure of other memories. This reminds us that when examining any "official history," we must not only read the literal text but also learn to read the "blanks" and "silences." The parts deliberately omitted, glossed over, or left unspoken often conceal the core secrets of power.

To Summarize

Viewing the Sumerian King List as a history of Anunnaki rule, this story acts like a parable, telling us:

Power: Its essence can be an insurmountable dimensional gap.
Succession: Always the root of instability, even for "gods."
Memory: Can be meticulously constructed; it is the cornerstone of rule.
Forgetting: Is a more advanced instrument of power, consolidating reality by erasing certain possibilities.

This interpretation, though science fiction, provides an excellent perspective. It allows us to step outside traditional frameworks and contemplate these grand themes intrinsic to human civilization. It makes us vigilant: the history we know, the memories we hold, the power structures we understand – perhaps they are all just a "story" being told. And the truly wise will seek to discover who is telling this story, and for what purpose.