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Kings & queens

Nine crowned ancestors in the direct line, by tradition and legend — King David among them.

No photographs, naturally — what follows are artists' imaginings, most of them centuries old themselves, all public domain.
Saul Wahl Katzenellenbogen 15×great-grandfather
Poland-Lithuania · 1541–1617. Born in Padua, made his fortune in Brest — and, by tradition, king of Poland for a single night during the deadlocked royal election of August 1587, spending his hours of royal power enacting protections for the Commonwealth's Jews. His surname remembers it: Wahl is German for 'election'. The one elected monarch on this list, and the only one historians can shake hands with — the night is legend, the man is documented.
King David — artist's depiction
King David 116×great-grandfather
Israel · reigned c. 1010–970 BCE, Jerusalem. The shepherd-king of Bethlehem, second king of Israel, psalmist — and the royal house through which this tree's traditional line descends. Carried by rabbinic tradition rather than records, as the note on evidence explains.
Gerard van Honthorst, 'King David Playing the Harp', 1622 — an artist's imagining. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
King Terah — artist's depiction
King Terah 137×great-grandfather
Ur of the Chaldees → Harran · legendary. Father of the patriarch Abraham; later tradition styles his line as kings of their city. From here on the crowns belong to the Bible's own genealogy.
Imagined portrait, woodcut from Guillaume Rouillé's 'Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum', 1553. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
King Serug — artist's depiction
King Serug 139×great-grandfather
Ur of the Chaldees · legendary. Great-great-grandfather of Abraham in the line of Genesis chapter 11.
Imagined portrait, 'Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum', 1553. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
King Peleg of Babylon — artist's depiction
King Peleg of Babylon 141×great-grandfather
Salem and Babylon · legendary. The Bible notes that 'in his days the earth was divided' — a king for an unquiet age.
Imagined portrait, 'Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum', 1553. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Queen Lomna of Babylon 141×great-grandmother
Salem and Babylon · legendary. Peleg's queen, named in the Book of Jubilees rather than Genesis itself.
King Arpachshad — artist's depiction
King Arpachshad 144×great-grandfather
Arrapachtis, Mesopotamia · legendary. Son of Shem; the ancient kingdom his title remembers sat in what is now northern Iraq.
Imagined portrait, 'Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum', 1553. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Queen Resueja 144×great-grandmother
Arrapachtis, Mesopotamia · legendary. Arpachshad's queen, another name preserved by the Book of Jubilees.
King Shem, Melchizedek — artist's depiction
King Shem, Melchizedek 145×great-grandfather
Salem (Jerusalem) · legendary. By tradition Noah's son Shem and Melchizedek, king of Salem, are one and the same — the king and high priest who blesses Abraham in Genesis. King, priest, and the oldest crown in the tree.
Dieric Bouts, 'The Meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek', c. 1465 — the king-priest blesses Abraham. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.