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italic=no (Sumerian: ) is the Sumerian term for "king, ruler". Literally, the term means "big man." In Sumerian, lú "𒇽" is "man" and gal "𒃲" is "great", or "big."
It was one of several 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 or chief (of a unit, such as a family).Aage Westenholz (2025). 9788778763167, Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab / C.A. Reitzels Forlag. ISBN 9788778763167
As a cuneiform logograph (Sumerogram) LUGAL (Unicode: 𒈗, rendered in Neo Assyrian).
Unicode also includes the cuneiform characters , and .
Other scholars consider ensi, en and lugal 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. A lugal at that time is assumed to have been "normally a young man of outstanding qualities from a rich landowning family". T. Jacobsen theorized that he was originally an (elected) war leader, as opposed to the (likewise elected) en, who dealt with internal issues.Jacobsen, T., 1970: "Early political development in Mesopotamia", ZA 52: 91-140; repr. in TIT 132-156, 366-396.
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 lugal was used to designate a contemporary sovereign in Sumerian.
Lugal in the Amarna letters
The term Lugal is used extensively in the Amarna letters, for addressing kings or pharaohs, and elsewhere in speaking about various kings. One common address, in the introduction of many letters, from the writing to the pharaoh was to use: Šàr-ri, ( šarri "my king": šar the construct state of šarrum + the first person suffix -i); they used Lugal + ri = Šàr-ri, with LUGAL written Sumerogram while ri being the Akkadian phonetic supplement.
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