Lugal-dalu
𒈗𒁕𒇻
Statue of Lugal-dalu, King or Governor of Adab in the 3rd millennium BCE. He is not listed in the Sumerian King List. An inscription on the shoulder identifies him, and he is wearing the Kaunakes. Museum of the Ancient Orient, Istanbul.
Reign26th century BCE
DynastyDynastir of Adab
ReligionSumerian religion
Adab is located in Near East
Adab
Lugal-dalu was ruler of Adab, c. 2500 BCE.

Lugal-dalu (Sumerian: 𒈗𒁕𒇻) was a Sumerian ruler of the Mesopotamian city of Adab in the mid-3rd millennium BCE, probably c. 2500 BCE.[1]

His name does not appear in the Sumerian King List, but he is known from one of a statue bearing his name. The statue is similar in style to those of other Sumerian kings such as Meannesi or Entemena, sons of En-anna-tum I.[2][3]

The statue, made of grey gypsum or limestone, was discovered by Abbas Balkis of Affej[4] during the excavations overseen by Edgar James Banks, who described it in an article published in 1904 as "The Oldest Statue in the World" (a claim shared by other statues such as the Urfa Man or the 'Ain Ghazal Statues).[5]

The inscription in archaic cuneiform on the statue reads 𒂍𒊬 𒈗𒁕𒇻 𒈗𒌓𒉣𒆠 è-sar lugal-dalu lugal adab-(ki) "In the temple Esar, Lugaldalu king of Adab", referring to the Esarra Temple in Adab.[6][7]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lugal-dalu.
  1. ^ Bertman, Stephen (2005). Handbook to Life in Ancient Mesopotamia. OUP USA. p. 92. ISBN 978-0-19-518364-1.
  2. ^ Spycket, Agnès (1981). Handbuch der Orientalistik (in French). BRILL. p. 85. ISBN 978-90-04-06248-1.
  3. ^ Statue of Meannesi in the Baghdad Museum: "Statue of Meannesi". cdli.ucla.edu.
  4. ^ Banks, Edgar James (1912). Bismya, or the Lost City of Adab. The Knickerbocker Press, New York. p. 188.
  5. ^ "When Edgar James Banks found the statue of the Early Dynastic ruler Lugaldalu of Adab during excavations at the site of Bismaya, he published it in a 1904 article entitled "The Oldest Statue in the World." in Evans, Jean M. (2012). The Lives of Sumerian Sculpture: An Archaeology of the Early Dynastic Temple. Cambridge University Press. p. 70. ISBN 978-1-139-78942-4.
  6. ^ "In the temple Esar, Lugaldalu king of Adab" in Archaeologia, Or Miscellaneous Tracts Relating to Antiquity. The Society. 1920. p. 148.
  7. ^ "For the E-sar. Lugaldalu, king of Adab" in Meador, Betty De Shong (2009). Princess, priestess, poet: the Sumerian temple hymns of Enheduanna. University of Texas Press. p. 182. ISBN 978-0-292-71932-3.
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