The Evidence: King List
Ptolemy’s Canon
Sidebar to: How to Date a Pharaoh
The Alexandrian astronomer-geographer Claudius Ptolemy (90–168 A.D.) compiled a list of successive kings of Babylon and Alexandria, presumably relying on earlier king lists. Ptolemy’s Canon begins with the reign of Nabonassar, ruler of Babylon. The chart below includes the first 44 kings on the list: the Babylonian, Assyrian and Persian rulers of Babylon; and the Ptolemaic rulers of Alexandria. The 44th king is the Roman emperor Augustus, who annexed Egypt in 30 B.C. and reigned until 14 A.D.
RULER | YEARS REIGNED | DATE BEGINNING WITH NABONASSAR’S REIGN | |
Nabonassar | 14 | 14 | BABYLONIAN & ASSYRIAN |
Nabu-nadin-zeri (Nadinu) | 2 | 16 | |
Mukin-zeri and Pul | 5 | 21 | |
Ululayu | 5 | 26 | |
Merodach-baladan | 12 | 38 | |
Sargon II | 5 | 43 | |
First Kingless Period | 2 | 45 | |
Bel-ibni | 3 | 48 | |
Ashur-nadin-shumi | 6 | 54 | |
Nergal-ushezib | 1 | 55 | |
Mushezib-Marduk | 4 | 59 |
Already a library member? Log in here.
Institution user? Log in with your IP address.