Three new kings uncovered, and a new understanding of the Assyrian King List

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For approximately a century, researchers studying the Assyrian Empire's history have relied on the Assyrian King List (AKL) as the definitive record of Assyrian monarchs and their chronology, especially for later periods of Assyrian history. But a recent article published in the Journal of Cuneiform Studies, titled "Three New Kings of Assyria," posits that the AKL may not be as authoritative or objective as previously considered and presents, for the first time, the identities of three kings whose reigns were omitted from the list but can now be reconstructed from other evidence. Ultimately, write Alexander Johannes Edmonds and Eckart Frahm, "early Neo-Assyrian political history was much messier, but also more interesting, than has so far been recognized."