22. Primo

Stepping back in time beyond the Eponym List relies primarily on the Assyrian King List. The AKL provides the basis for Mesopotamian history prior to 900 BC. It is preserved in two nearly complete copies, a damaged version, and several fragments.

Over one hundred Assyrian kings are recorded in the AKL. The earliest rulers have only their name and genealogy registered, but beginning c. 2000 BC the AKL specifies the number of years the kings reigned. The AKL timeline spans more than a thousand years, reaching to the ninth and eighth century BC  where AKL overlaps the Eponym List. The two lists match. [See frame 7]