For nearly a century, the Assyrian King List has stood as the definitive record of who ruled the empire and when. Now, two scholars have discovered that the list left out three monarchs entirely.
A new study in the Journal of Cuneiform Studies, titled "Three New Kings of Assyria," argues that the official list is neither complete nor as objective as historians once believed. The researchers, Alexander Johannes Edmonds and Eckart Frahm, reconstructed the identities of three previously unknown Assyrian kings from other ancient evidence. Their work suggests that early Neo-Assyrian political history was far more turbulent and complex than the King List suggests.
Missing rulers, messy politics
The Assyrian King List was compiled centuries after the events it records. It presents a neat, linear succession of rulers. But Edmonds and Frahm found that the list skipped over three kings who actually reigned during the early Neo-Assyrian period. These rulers were not minor figures. They appear in other cuneiform texts, including economic records and royal inscriptions, that the King List compilers either ignored or did not have access to.
The researchers do not name the three kings in the public summary, but they state that the omissions were not accidental. The King List, they argue, was shaped by political agendas. Later rulers may have removed these kings to legitimize their own dynasties or to present a cleaner version of the past.
What this means for the history of Iraq
The Assyrian Empire was centered in what is now northern Iraq. Its capital cities, including Nineveh and Ashur, have been excavated for more than a century. Local historians and archaeologists in Iraq have long relied on the King List as a backbone for understanding the region's ancient past. The discovery that the list is incomplete changes how scholars understand the power struggles and succession crises that shaped the empire.
For local communities, this is not just an academic matter. The Assyrian heritage is a source of national pride and identity in Iraq. Finding that the historical record was deliberately edited adds a new layer to how Iraqis and the wider world view the empire's legacy.
A more interesting, messier past
Edmonds and Frahm conclude that "early Neo-Assyrian political history was much messier, but also more interesting, than has so far been recognized." The three new kings fill gaps in the timeline and reveal that the empire experienced periods of instability and contested rule that the official list glosses over.
The study does not claim to have found a complete alternative history. It simply shows that the King List, long treated as a reliable source, is a political document with its own biases. For historians, the discovery opens the door to reexamining other ancient king lists with fresh skepticism.
The three kings may have been erased from the official record, but they are no longer forgotten.
