Lugal
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Lugal 
𒈗, Sumerian for "king", from LÚ.GAL 𒇽𒃲 "great man" was a title for the ruler of a city-state (and later of the sumerian king), usually reigning alongside a priest (ensi).
The cuneiform sign LUGAL ð’ˆ— (Borger nr. 151, Unicode U+12217) serves 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 Å¡Ã r, acrophonically based on the Akkadian for "king", Å¡arrum.
Before the Sumerian kings bore the title Lugal, the title of the ruler of a sumerian city-state was Ensi. The first ruler who gave himself the title Lugal was Mesalim of Kish (around 2500 B.C.). This title became the official title of all Sumerian kings later on.
A lugal was "normally a young man of outstanding qualities from a rich landowning family."[1]
[edit] Notes
- ^ H.W.F. Saggs, Babylonians, University of Oklahoma Press (1995), page 54.
