Lugal

Detail of the Sumerian statue of Lugal-dalu, King of Adab – as stated in the inscription of circa mid-3rd millennium BC, inscription including the Sumerian cuneiform sign of lugal

Lugal (Sumerian: 𒈗) is the Sumerian term for "king, ruler". Literally, the term means "big man."[1] In Sumerian, lú "𒇽" is "man" and gal "𒃲" is "great", or "big."[2]

It was one of several Sumerian titles that a ruler of a city-state could bear (alongside en and ensi, the exact difference being a subject of debate). The sign eventually became the predominant logograph for "King" in general. In the Sumerian language, lugal is used to mean an owner (e.g. of a boat or a field) or a head (of a unit such as a family).[3]

As a cuneiform logograph (Sumerogram) LUGAL (Unicode: 𒈗, rendered in Neo Assyrian).

  1. ^ Crawford, Harriet (29 August 2013). The Sumerian World. Routledge. p. 283. ISBN 978-1-136-21912-2.
  2. ^ Mills, Watson E.; Roger Aubrey Bullard (1990). Mercer Dictionary of the Bible. Mercer University Press. p. 975. ISBN 978-0-86554-373-7.
  3. ^ Westenholz, Aage (2002), Hansen, Morgens Herman (ed.), "The Sumerian city-state: A comparative study of six city-state cultures: an investigation conducted by the Copenhagen Polis Center", Historisk-filosofiske Skrifter (27), Copenhagen: C.A. Reitzels Forlag, 23-42.: 34–35