statue The
cuneiform sign LUGAL 𒈗 (Borger nr. 266, Unicode U+12217) serves as a
determinative in cuneiform texts (
Sumerian,
Akkadian and
Hittite), indicating that the following word is the name of a king. In Akkadian orthography, it may also be a syllabogram
šàr, acrophonically based on the Akkadian for "king",
šarrum. Unicode also includes the cuneiform characters , and . ==
Lugal,
ensi and
en== There are different theories regarding the meaning of the title in 3rd-millennium Sumer. Some scholars believe that a ruler of an individual city-state was usually called
ensi, and a ruler who headed a confederacy or larger dominion composed of several cities, perhaps even the whole of Sumer, was a . The functions of such a would include certain ceremonial and cultic activities, arbitration in border disputes, military defence against external enemies, and once the has died, the eldest son must take over. The
ensis of Lagash would sometimes refer to the city's patron deity,
Ningirsu, as their ("master"). All of the above is connected to the possibly priestly or sacral character of the titles
ensi and especially
en (the latter term continuing to designate priests in subsequent times). Other scholars consider
ensi,
en and to have been merely three local designations for the sovereign, accepted respectively in the city-states of
Lagash,
Uruk and
Ur (as well as most of the rest of Sumer), although the various terms may have expressed different aspects of the Mesopotamian concept of kingship.
T. Jacobsen theorized that he was originally an (elected) war leader, as opposed to the (likewise elected)
en, who dealt with internal issues. Among the earliest rulers whose inscriptions describe them as are
Enmebaragesi and
Mesilim at
Kish, and
Meskalamdug,
Mesannepada and several of their successors at
Ur. At least from the
Third Dynasty of Ur onwards, only was used to designate a contemporary sovereign in Sumerian. ==
Lugal in the Amarna letters==