| Alulim | |
| King | |
| Titletext: | (Sumerian: [[Wikt:|]]|lugal; transliterated:) |
| Successor: | Alalgar |
| Native Lang1: | Sumerian |
Alulim (Sumerian: [[Wikt:|]][[Wikt:|]][[Wikt:|]]|Álulim; transliterated:) was a mythological Mesopotamian ruler, regarded as the first king ever to rule. He is known from the Sumerian King List, Ballad of Early Rulers, and other similar sources which invariably place him in Eridu and assign a reign lasting thousands of years to him. The tablet of Old Babylonian period (c. 1900-1600 BC) from Ur describing the divine appointment of Alulim by the gods notes that he was chosen among "vast and many people," and appointed by gods for the "shepherdship of the entirety of the many people".[1] Another myth describing his appointment by the gods and incantations treating him as the creator of insects are also known. He is absent from Early Dynastic sources, and he is considered fictional by Assyriologists. His name was preserved in later Greek, Arabic and Persian works.
Alulim's name was written in cuneiform as A2-lu-lim or A-lu-lim and can be translated from Sumerian as either "horn of the red deer" or "seed of the red deer" depending on the variable first sign. Jeremiah Peterson suggests that it might reflect the Mesopotamian belief that at the dawn of history, when Alulim was believed to live, humans behaved in animal-like manner, as attested in texts such as Sheep and Grain or How Grain Came to Sumer. A further attested spelling, Alulu, written A-lu-lu, might represent an Akkadianized form. The name Ayalu, known from the Uruk List of Kings and Sages (Paired with Apkallu Adapa) where it is written A-a-lu, appears to be another variant, resulting from reinterpretation reliant on the partially homophonous word ayyalu, 'deer' or 'stag'.
The name Alulim is not attested in any Early Dynastic sources and was never used as an ordinary given name. The only indirect parallels are the occurrences of individuals named Alulu (with variable spelling) in early texts from Fara and other pre-Sargonic sites.
Alulim is regarded as a fictional figure by Assyriologists. References to him are largely limited to lists of legendary ancient rulers. He was traditionally considered the first Mesopotamian king, and his reign was placed before the mythical great flood. All known sources listing primordial kings consistently state that he lived in Eridu, unless no mention of any cities is made. This tradition reflected the perception of Eridu as a city of particular symbolic importance. His reign was described as supernaturally long. Its duration was regarded as proverbial, as indicated by a letter of the astrologer Ašarēdu to an unspecified Babylonian king, in which he wished him to be blessed by the gods of Babylon with "years of Alulu". According to the Sumerian King List, Alulim retained his position for 28,800 years before he was succeeded by Alalgar, who in turn reigned for 36,000 years. However, the contents of the Sumerian King List are assumed to not reflect historical reality, and cannot be used to reconstruct early Mesopotamian chronology. There is no evidence that the figure of Alulim was incorporated into it from a preexisting older source. A different tradition about the length of his reign is preserved in the Ballad of Early Rulers, which states that he ruled for 36,000 years. According to Irving Finkel, other similar texts give further variant figures, such as 36,200 years (tablet BM 40565) or 67,200 years (tablet WB 62).
A tablet of the Eridu Genesis from Ur first published in 2018 describes the appointment of Alulim.[2]