Ashmolean Museum
Oxford's museum, the world's first university museum, which holds the Weld-Blundell Prism, the best copy of the Sumerian King List.
- Location
- Oxford
- Modern country
- United Kingdom
- Opened
- 1683
- Owner
- University of Oxford
- Key object (here)
- Weld-Blundell Prism (Sumerian King List)
What is Ashmolean Museum known for?
The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford opened in 1683 to house the collection given by Elias Ashmole, making it Britain's first public museum and the world's first university museum. It belongs to the University of Oxford and covers art and archaeology from prehistory to the present.
Its Near Eastern collection includes the Weld-Blundell Prism, a four-sided clay prism inscribed in cuneiform around 1800 BCE. Named after Herbert Weld Blundell, who presented it in 1923, it is the most complete copy of the Sumerian King List. The list begins when kingship 'descended from heaven' to Eridu and gives the kings before the Flood reigns of tens of thousands of years.
Scholars see the list as a political document mixing legend with real rulers, and its many copies disagree on names, order and reign lengths.
The Ashmolean holds the Weld-Blundell Prism, the best copy of the Sumerian King List.
Mentioned on these pages
- Rabbit holeSumerian King List
Sources
- Ashmolean Museum, 'Sumerian King List' (Weld-Blundell Prism)Primary text
- Wikipedia, 'Ashmolean Museum'Reference
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