List of kings of Ebla explained

The list of kings of Ebla includes the known monarchs of Ebla who ruled three consecutive kingdoms. For the first kingdom's monarchs, tablets listing offerings to kings mention ten names, and another list mentions 33 kings. No kings are known from the second kingdom and all dates are estimates according to the Middle chronology.

The list

Ruler	Reigned	Comments
The first kingdom
	c. 3100 BC.	The first king ruled approximately 660 years before the destruction of the first kingdom; the year 2400 was used by Robert R Stieglitz as the date of the destruction resulting in the year c. 3100 BC for the beginning of Sakume's reign.
Su (.) (...)		Name damaged.
	c. 2740 BC
	c. 2720 BC.
Da (.) (.)	c. 2700 BC.	Name damaged.
	c. 2680 BC.
	c. 2660 BC.
	c. 2640 BC.
	c. 2620 BC.
	c. 2600 BC.
	c. 2580 BC.
	c. 2560 BC.
	c. 2540 BC.
	c. 2520 BC.
	c. 2500 BC.
Ib-Damu I	c. 2480 BC.	A seal bearing his name was found in Kültepe.
	c. 2460 BC.
	c. 2440 BC.	Amongst the most referenced deified kings in the offering lists.
	c. 2420 BC.
	c. 2400 BC.
	c. 2380 BC.	Short reign.
	c. 2360 BC.	Ruled 12 years.
	c. 2340 BC.	Ruled 11 or 12 years. Died same year as Enna-Dagan of Mari^[1]
	c. 2320 BC.	Ruled about 35 years. Son of Irkab-Damu. His Queen was Tabur-Damu.^[2]
		A prince, might have ascended the throne for a short period. Pottery seals of the Egyptian pharaoh Pepi I have been found in the destruction layer of the city.
The second dynasty - Ebla arose again for a time during the Ur III period (c. 2100 BC) though no ruler names are yet known. It may have been a vassal of Ur for a time.
The third kingdom
	c. 2000 BC.
	c. 2000 BC.
Ib-Damu II	c. 2000 BC.
	c. 1750 BC.	His grave is identified with the so-called "Tomb of the Lord of the Goats".
		A successor of Immeya, not necessarily the direct one, the name was damaged but probably Hammurabi.
	c. 1600 BC.
	c. 1600 BC.
Memal...arri? (Maratewari)	c. 1600 BC.

References

Sources

• Archi. Alfonso. 2015. A Royal Seal from Ebla (17th cent. B.C.) with Hittite Hieroglyphic Symbols. Orientalia. Gregorian Biblical Press. 84. 1. 18-28. 26153279.
• Alfonso Archi and Maria Giovanna Biga, "A Victory over Mari and the Fall of Ebla", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 55, pp. 1–44, 2003
• Book: Bryce, Trevor. Ancient Syria: A Three Thousand Year History. Oxford University Press. 2014. 978-0-19-100292-2.
• Book: Hamblin, William J.. Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC. 2006. Routledge. 978-1-134-52062-6.
• Book: Pettinato, Giovanni. The archives of Ebla: an empire inscribed in clay. Doubleday. 1981. 978-0-385-13152-0. registration.
• Book: Cultures in Contact: From Mesopotamia to the Mediterranean in the Second Millennium B.C. Joan . Aruz . Graff . Sarah B.. Yelena . Rakic. 978-1-58839-475-0. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2013.
• Book: Matthiae, Paolo . Confronting the Past: Archaeological and Historical Essays on Ancient Israel in Honor of William G. Dever. The Archaic Palace at Ebla: A Royal Building between Early Bronze Age IVB and Middle Bronze Age I. Seymour . Gitin . J. Edward . Wright. J. P. . Dessel . Eisenbrauns. 2006. 978-1-57506-117-7.
• Book: Matthiae, Paolo . Ebla: la città del trono : archeologia e storia. it. Piccola biblioteca Einaudi: Arte, architettura, teatro, cinema, música. 492. Einaudi. 2010. 978-88-06-20258-3.
• Book: Matthiae, Paolo . Beyond Babylon: Art, Trade, and Diplomacy in the Second Millennium B.C. . Ebla . Joan . Aruz . Kim . Benzel . Jean M. . Evans . Metropolitan Museum of Art . 2008 . 978-1-58839-295-4 . registration .
• Archi. Alfonso. 2011. In Search of Armi. Journal of Cuneiform Studies. The American Schools of Oriental Research. 63. 5–34. 10.5615/jcunestud.63.0005. 163552750. 2325-6737.
• Book: Frayne, Douglas. The Royal inscriptions of Mesopotamia Early Periods. 1. University of Toronto Press. Pre-Sargonic Period: Early Periods (2700–2350 BC). 2008. 978-1-4426-9047-9.
• Book: Stieglitz, Robert R.. Cyrus Herzl. Gordon. Gary. Rendsburg. Eblaitica: Essays on the Ebla Archives and Eblaite Language. 4. The Deified Kings of Ebla . 2002. Eisenbrauns. 978-1-57506-060-6.
• Book: Archi, Alfonso. Recent Developments in Hittite Archaeology and History. Formation of the West Hurrian Pantheon: The Case Of Ishara. K. Aslihan . Yener . Harry A. . Hoffner . Simrit . Dhesi. 2002. Eisenbrauns. 978-1-57506-053-8.
• Book: Dolce, Rita. Hartmut. Kühne. Rainer Maria. Czichon. Florian Janoscha. Kreppner. Proceedings of the 4th International Congress of the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, 29 March - 3 April 2004, Freie Universität Berlin. Ebla before the Achievement of Palace G Culture: An Evaluation of the Early Syrian Archaic Period. 2. 2008. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. 978-3-447-05757-8.

Notes and References

1. Archi, Alfonso., "The Wars of Ebla at the Time of Minister Ibrium" Altorientalische Forschungen, vol. 48, no. 2, pp. 189-220, 2021
2. Biga, Maria Giovanna., "The Reconstruction of a Relative Chronology for the Ebla Texts.", Orientalia, vol. 72, no. 4, pp. 345–67, 2003