Regnal list

A section of the fragmentary king list of Ramesses II from ancient Egypt

A regnal list or king list is, at its simplest, a list of successive monarchs. Some regnal lists may give the relationship between successive monarchs (e.g., son, brother), the length of reign of each monarch or annotations on important reigns. The list may be divided into dynasties marked off by headings. As a distinct genre, the regnal list originates in the ancient Near East. Its purpose was not originally chronological. It originally served to demonstrate the antiquity and legitimacy of the monarchy, but it became an important device for structuring historical narratives (as in Herodotus) and thus a chronological aid.^[1]

In antiquity, regnal lists were kept in

Edomite king list.^[2]

Regnal lists were kept in

early medieval Wales, the regnal list was unknown and one copyist, confronted with a mere list of Roman emperors, converted it into a pedigree.^[4]

Historical examples

Abydos King List
Regnal lists of Ethiopia
- 1922 regnal list of Ethiopia
Karnak King List
Medinet Habu king list
Ramesseum king list
Saqqara King List
Sumerian King List
Turin King List

References

^ Jeremy Graeme Taylor, Framing the Past: The Roots of Greek Chronography (PhD thesis, University of Michigan, 2000), pp. 11, 69–89.
^ See the respective chapters in Andrew Feldherr and Grant Hardy (eds.), The Oxford History of Historical Writing: Volume 1 — Beginnings to AD 600 (Oxford University Press, 2011).
^ David Thornton, Kings, Chronologies, and Genealogies: Studies in the Political History of Early Medieval Ireland and Wales (Prosopographica et Genealogica, 2003), pp. 21, 23, 65.
^ David N. Dumville, "Kingship, Genealogies and Regnal Lists", in Peter H. Sawyer and Ian N. Wood (eds.), Early Medieval Kingship (Leeds: School of History, University of Leeds, 1977), pp. 72–104.

External links

Regnal Chronologies, website devoted to listing rulers

[1] Jeremy Graeme Taylor, Framing the Past: The Roots of Greek Chronography (PhD thesis, University of Michigan, 2000), pp. 11, 69–89.

[2] See the respective chapters in Andrew Feldherr and Grant Hardy (eds.), The Oxford History of Historical Writing: Volume 1 — Beginnings to AD 600 (Oxford University Press, 2011).

[3] David Thornton, Kings, Chronologies, and Genealogies: Studies in the Political History of Early Medieval Ireland and Wales (Prosopographica et Genealogica, 2003), pp. 21, 23, 65.

[4] David N. Dumville, "Kingship, Genealogies and Regnal Lists", in Peter H. Sawyer and Ian N. Wood (eds.), Early Medieval Kingship (Leeds: School of History, University of Leeds, 1977), pp. 72–104.

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