Lugal-dalu explained

Lugal-dalu
Religion:	Sumerian religion
Dynasty:	Dynasty of Adab
Reign:	26th century BCE

Lugal-dalu (Sumerian: {{cuneiform|[[:wikt:|]]) was a Sumerian ruler of the Mesopotamian city of Adab in the mid-3rd millennium BCE, probably .^[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 è-sar lugal-dalu lugal adab-(ki) "In the temple Esar, Lugaldalu king of Adab", referring to the Esarra Temple in Adab.^{[6] [7]}

Notes and References

1. Book: Bertman . Stephen . Handbook to Life in Ancient Mesopotamia . 2005 . OUP USA . 978-0-19-518364-1 . 92 . en.
2. Book: Spycket . Agnès . Handbuch der Orientalistik . 1981 . BRILL . 978-90-04-06248-1 . 85 . fr.
3. Statue of Meannesi in the Baghdad Museum: Web site: Statue of Meannesi . cdli.ucla.edu.
4. Book: Banks, Edgar James . Bismya, or the Lost City of Adab . 1912 . The Knickerbocker Press, New York . 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 Book: Evans . Jean M. . The Lives of Sumerian Sculpture: An Archaeology of the Early Dynastic Temple . 2012 . Cambridge University Press . 978-1-139-78942-4 . 70 . en.
6. "In the temple Esar, Lugaldalu king of Adab" in Book: Archaeologia, Or Miscellaneous Tracts Relating to Antiquity . 1920 . The Society . 148 . en.
7. "For the E-sar. Lugaldalu, king of Adab" in Book: Meador . Betty De Shong . Princess, priestess, poet: the Sumerian temple hymns of Enheduanna . 2009 . University of Texas Press . 978-0-292-71932-3 . 182 . en.