Is the Flood Survivor in the King List the King of Kish? Or Is It Not Mentioned at All? What Is the Relationship to the Mythological Survivor?

Okay, let's talk about this fascinating topic. It's very common for people to confuse the Sumerian King List with the flood myths, which is understandable since both mention the key event of the "Great Flood."

Simply put, the flood survivor in the Sumerian King List is not the king of Kish. In fact, the King List does not mention this survivor's name at all.

Let me break it down for you so it's crystal clear.

1. What Exactly Does the Sumerian King List Say?

Think of the Sumerian King List as an ancient Mesopotamian "record of legitimate dynastic succession." Its primary purpose isn't to tell stories, but to demonstrate that "kingship" was granted by the gods and passed down in an "unbroken line."

The structure of the King List is very distinctive. It uses the Great Flood as a dividing line, splitting into two parts:

Pre-Flood: Lists ancient kings with incredibly long reigns, often tens of thousands of years. For example, a king named Enmenluanna reigned for 43,200 years. This is clearly not literal history but a mythological account.
The Great Flood: Then, the King List simply states in one line: "The flood swept over."
Post-Flood: This is the key part! The King List continues: "After the flood, kingship again descended from heaven, the kingship was in Kish."

You see, the King List's focus is this: the flood was a "reset button"; the old world ended. After the flood, the gods granted the authority to rule humanity (kingship) to Kish. Therefore, Kish became the first post-flood "capital," and its king was the first divinely sanctioned ruler after the deluge.

The King List cares about "where kingship resided", not "who survived the flood."

2. So Who is the Flood Survivor in the Myths?

This well-known flood survivor's story appears primarily in other literary works, not in the Sumerian King List. He has different names in different mythological versions:

Sumerian Myth (Earliest Version): He is called Ziusudra, king of Shuruppak. Because of his piety and goodness, the water god Enki secretly warned him of the gods' plan to destroy humanity with a flood and instructed him to build a great boat, allowing him to survive.
Akkadian/Babylonian Myth: He is called Atra-Hasis, with a largely similar story.
Epic of Gilgamesh (Most Famous Version): He is called Utnapishtim. Gilgamesh, seeking eternal life, undergoes great hardships to find him. He also lived in Shuruppak.

Therefore, the survivor in the myths is the king of Shuruppak, not Kish.

3. What's the Relationship Between Them? Why is it Like This?

Putting these two threads together makes it clear:

You can understand it like this:

The Sumerian King List is a political document. Its purpose is to assert that the Kish dynasty was the first legitimate government after the flood, established by divine mandate. The flood serves merely as a backdrop to demarcate eras and enhance its legitimacy.
The Epic of Gilgamesh and other myths are literary and religious stories. Their purpose is to tell tales of heroes, explore life and death, and illustrate the will of the gods. The survivor Ziusudra/Utnapishtim is a protagonist in this narrative.

These two types of literature handle the "Great Flood" in ways that serve their entirely different purposes.

It's analogous to how a Chronicle of Chinese Emperors might simply record "In the year XXX, the XX Dynasty was established, capital at XX," while the novel Investiture of the Gods details stories like Nezha causing havoc in the sea or Jiang Ziya deifying heroes. You wouldn't expect to find Nezha's heroic deeds in the chronicle.

To Summarize

Who is the flood survivor in the King List?
- Not mentioned. The King List treats the flood only as an epoch divider.
Is he the king of Kish?
- No. The myths explicitly state the survivor was the king of Shuruppak. Kish was the city where kingship was first re-established after the flood.
What is the relationship to the mythical survivor?
- They are parallel narratives from different types of sources.
- The King List focuses on the transmission of political legitimacy (Kingship -> Kish).
- The Myths focus on individual heroism and divine will (Pious king -> Saved by a god).
- Together, they demonstrate how deeply ingrained the concept of the "Great Flood" was in ancient Mesopotamian culture, permeating both political records and mythological tales.