Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

35

🕯️ 0

Nebuchadnezzar II

𒀭𒀝𒆪𒁺𒌨𒊑𒋀 (Nabû-kudurri-uṣur)

Iraq

c. 642 BCE – c. 562 BCE (~80 years old)

Longest-reigning king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, renowned for the Ishtar Gate, the Hanging Gardens, and the Babylonian Exile.

Hillah (Ancient Babylon), Iraq

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

32

🕯️ 1,110

Jayavarman VII (Mahaking of the Khmer Empire)

ជ័យវរ្ម័នទី ៧ (Jayavarman VII)

Cambodia

c. 1125 CE – c. 1218 CE (~93 years old)

Greatest sovereign of the Khmer Empire. Liberated the kingdom from Cham invaders, constructed the fortified royal city of Angkor Thom with the enigmatic multi-faced stone towers of the Bayon, and established a nationwide network of 102 free public hospitals.

Angkor, Cambodia

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

39

🕯️ 760

Ezana of Axum (King of Saba and Salhen)

ዒዛና (King Ezana)

Ethiopia

c. 320 CE – c. 356 CE (~36 years old)

Fourth-century monarch who elevated the Kingdom of Axum to an international trade superpower between the Roman Empire and India. Converted to Christianity under Frumentius, issuing the first coins in the world bearing the Christian cross.

Axum, Ethiopia

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

36

🕯️ 920

Askia Muhammad I (Askia the Great / Muhammad Ture)

Askia Muḥammad Tūrē

Mali

c. 1443 CE – c. 1538 CE (~95 years old)

Visionary Emperor of the Songhai Empire who expanded the state into the largest empire in West African history. Created an efficient administrative bureaucracy, standardized weights and measures, and established the intellectual golden age of Gao and Timbuktu.

Gao, Mali

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

43

🕯️ 1,090

Sundiata Keita (The Lion King of Mali / Mari Djata)

Sogolon Diata Keïta

Guinea

c. 1217 CE – c. 1255 CE (~38 years old)

Heroic warrior prince who overcame physical paralysis to vanquish the sorcerer king Sumanguru Kante at the Battle of Kirina (1235 CE). Founded the Mali Empire and proclaimed the Kouroukan Fouga—one of the earliest oral charters of human rights.

Sankarani River, Mali

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

41

🕯️ 1,480

Mansa Musa I (Emperor of Mali / Lion of Mali)

Mansa Kankou Moussa

Mali

c. 1280 CE – c. 1337 CE (~57 years old)

Tenth Emperor of the Mali Empire recognized as the wealthiest individual in world history. His historic pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324 put West Africa on European maps and funded the transformation of Timbuktu into a global center of Islamic scholarship.

Timbuktu, Mali

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

39

🕯️ 840

Khosrow I (Anushirvan the Just / Chosroes I)

خسرو انوشیروان (The Immortal Soul)

Iran

c. 501 CE – February 579 CE (~78 years old)

Zenith ruler of the Sasanian Persian Empire celebrated across Middle Eastern literature as "Anushirvan the Just." Modernized taxation, introduced rational bureaucratic governance, and translated Indian fables (Panchatantra) and Greek philosophy into Pahlavi.

Ctesiphon, Iraq

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

55

🕯️ 860

Shapur I (The Great / Shahanshah of Iran)

شاپور یکم / Šābuhr

Iran

c. 215 CE – May 270 CE (~55 years old)

Second Sasanian King of Kings who consolidated the Persian Empire, defeated three Roman emperors in battle (slaying Gordian III, extracting tribute from Philip the Arab, and capturing Emperor Valerian alive), and founded Gundeshapur academy.

Bishapur (Fars), Iran

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

42

🕯️ 1,280

Khufu (Cheops / Khnum-Khufu)

Ḫw.f-wj (Khnum Protects Me)

Egypt

c. 2620 BCE – c. 2566 BCE (~54 years old)

Fourth Dynasty Pharaoh who conceived and oversaw the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza—the tallest human-made structure on Earth for over 3,800 years and the sole surviving Wonder of the Ancient World.

Memphis, Egypt

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

41

🕯️ 910

Thutmose III (Menkheperre / The Napoleon of Egypt)

Mn-ḫpr-Rꜥ (Lasting is the Manifestation of Ra)

Egypt

c. 1481 BCE – c. 1425 BCE (~56 years old)

Greatest military Pharaoh in Egyptian history, reigning for fifty-four years. Conducted seventeen victorious military campaigns from the Euphrates to the Fourth Cataract of Nubia, establishing the New Kingdom as an unrivaled superpower.

Thebes, Egypt

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

41

🕯️ 1,390

Tutankhamun (Nebkheperure)

twt-ꜥnḫ-jmn (Living Image of Amun)

Egypt

c. 1341 BCE – c. 1323 BCE (~18 years old)

Eighteenth Dynasty Pharaoh celebrated globally for the discovery of his intact royal tomb (KV62) in the Valley of the Kings. Restored the traditional polytheistic religion of Amun after the Amarna period.

Memphis, Egypt

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

42

🕯️ 1,420

Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator

Κλεοπάτρα Θεὰ Φιλοπάτωρ

Egypt

c. 69 BCE – 10 or 12 August 30 BCE (~39 years old)

The last active ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt. A brilliant polyglot, astute naval strategist, and charismatic diplomat who defended Egyptian sovereignty through political alliances with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.

Alexandria, Egypt

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

37

🕯️ 510

Ashoka Maurya (Devanampriya Priyadasi)

अशोकः / 𑀅𑀲𑁄𑀓

India

c. 304 BCE – 232 BCE (~72 years old)

Third emperor of the Maurya Empire who ruled almost the entire Indian subcontinent. Moved by the horrific bloodshed of the Kalinga War, he renounced war, embraced Buddhism, and ruled through non-violence and social welfare.

Pataliputra, India

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

53

🕯️ 610

Qin Shi Huang (Ying Zheng)

秦始皇 (嬴政)

China

18 February 259 BCE – 10 September 210 BCE (~49 years old)

The founder of the Qin Dynasty who conquered the Warring States to create a unified Chinese Empire in 221 BCE. Standardized Chinese script, measurements, and currency, connected the Great Wall, and commissioned the Terracotta Army.

Shaqiu, China

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

45

🕯️ 275

Ashurbanipal of Assyria

𒀸𒋩𒆕𒀀 (Aššur-bāni-apli)

Iraq

c. 685 BCE – 627 BCE (~58 years old)

The last great sovereign of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. A formidable intellectual who assembled over 30,000 cuneiform tablets in the Royal Library of Nineveh, preserving the Epic of Gilgamesh for modern humanity.

Nineveh, Iraq

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

42

🕯️ 480

Ramesses II (Ramesses the Great)

Usermaatre Setepenre Ramesu

Egypt

c. 1303 BCE – c. 1213 BCE (~90 years old)

The quintessential Pharaoh of the Egyptian New Kingdom. Reigned for 66 years, led military campaigns across the Levant, concluded the world's first recorded international peace treaty, and erected Abu Simbel and the Ramesseum.

Pi-Ramesses, Egypt

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

49

🕯️ 290

Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV)

ꜣḫ-n-jtn (Effective Spirit of Aten)

Egypt

c. 1380 BCE – c. 1336 BCE (~44 years old)

Revolutionary Pharaoh who instituted one of the world's earliest recorded systems of solar monotheism centered on the Aten, establishing the purpose-built capital of Akhetaten (Amarna) and inspiring a radically naturalistic art style.

Akhetaten, Egypt

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

48

🕯️ 385

Hatshepsut (Maatkare)

ḥꜣt-špswt (Foremost of Noble Ladies)

Egypt

c. 1507 BCE – c. 1458 BCE (~49 years old)

The fifth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty and one of ancient Egypt's most visionary female sovereigns. Inaugurated an unprecedented era of peace, artistic brilliance, monumental temples, and the legendary expedition to Punt.

Thebes, Egypt

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