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According to the Sumerian king list
Sumerian king list

The Sumerian King List is an ancient text in the Sumerian language that lists monarch of Sumer from Sumerian and foreign dynasties. It records the location of "official" kingship, along with the rulers and the lengths of their rule....
, Lugalbanda was the third king of Uruk
Uruk

Uruk , from the Akkadian rendering of the Sumerian toponym 'unug', is modern Warka , Iraq. Uruk was an ancient city of Sumer and later Babylonia, situated east of the present bed of the Euphrates river, on the ancient Nil canal, some 30 km east of As-Samawah, Al Muthanna Governorate, Iraq....
 and father of Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh also known as Bilgames in the earliest text , was the son of Lugalbanda and the fifth king of Uruk , ruling circa 2700 BC, according to the Sumerian king list....
, the legendary king of that ancient city. Legend has it that his wife was Ninsun
Ninsun

In Sumerian mythology, Ninsun or Ninsuna is a goddess, best known as the mother of the legendary hero Gilgamesh, and as the tutelary goddess of Gudea of Lagash....
, a goddess.

In the Epic of Gilgamesh
Epic of Gilgamesh

The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poetry from Ancient Mesopotamia and is among the ancient literature. Scholars believe that it originated as a series of Sumerian legends and poems about the mythological hero-king Gilgamesh, which were gathered into a longer Akkadian language poem much later; the most complete version existing today is pr...
, not only did Lugalbanda procreate with the goddess Ninsun to give birth to Gilgamesh, but in the sixth tablet, it states that "he (Gilgamesh) gave as ointment to his god Lugalbanda", deifying him.

Thanks to archaeology, we have two epic texts featuring Lugalbanda as the main character, called by scholars Lugalbanda I (or Lugalbanda in Mountain Cave) and Lugalbanda II.

Neither of these epic texts speaks of Lugalbanda as a king, but we can read about him in the midst of his military and political career — that, as we can gather from other texts, brought him, several years later, to be chosen as Enmerkar
Enmerkar

Enmerkar, according to the Sumerian king list, was the builder of Uruk in Sumer, and was said to have reigned for "420 years" .The king list adds that he brought the official kingship with him from the city of E-ana, after his father Mesh-ki-ang-gasher, son of Utu, had "entered the sea and disappeared."...
's successor to Uruk's throne.

Also in neither poem is there mentioned any battle where Lugalbanda is directly involved, although he is apparently one of the generals of Enmerkar's army.








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According to the Sumerian king list
Sumerian king list

The Sumerian King List is an ancient text in the Sumerian language that lists monarch of Sumer from Sumerian and foreign dynasties. It records the location of "official" kingship, along with the rulers and the lengths of their rule....
, Lugalbanda was the third king of Uruk
Uruk

Uruk , from the Akkadian rendering of the Sumerian toponym 'unug', is modern Warka , Iraq. Uruk was an ancient city of Sumer and later Babylonia, situated east of the present bed of the Euphrates river, on the ancient Nil canal, some 30 km east of As-Samawah, Al Muthanna Governorate, Iraq....
 and father of Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh also known as Bilgames in the earliest text , was the son of Lugalbanda and the fifth king of Uruk , ruling circa 2700 BC, according to the Sumerian king list....
, the legendary king of that ancient city. Legend has it that his wife was Ninsun
Ninsun

In Sumerian mythology, Ninsun or Ninsuna is a goddess, best known as the mother of the legendary hero Gilgamesh, and as the tutelary goddess of Gudea of Lagash....
, a goddess.

In the Epic of Gilgamesh
Epic of Gilgamesh

The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poetry from Ancient Mesopotamia and is among the ancient literature. Scholars believe that it originated as a series of Sumerian legends and poems about the mythological hero-king Gilgamesh, which were gathered into a longer Akkadian language poem much later; the most complete version existing today is pr...
, not only did Lugalbanda procreate with the goddess Ninsun to give birth to Gilgamesh, but in the sixth tablet, it states that "he (Gilgamesh) gave as ointment to his god Lugalbanda", deifying him.

Thanks to archaeology, we have two epic texts featuring Lugalbanda as the main character, called by scholars Lugalbanda I (or Lugalbanda in Mountain Cave) and Lugalbanda II.

Neither of these epic texts speaks of Lugalbanda as a king, but we can read about him in the midst of his military and political career — that, as we can gather from other texts, brought him, several years later, to be chosen as Enmerkar
Enmerkar

Enmerkar, according to the Sumerian king list, was the builder of Uruk in Sumer, and was said to have reigned for "420 years" .The king list adds that he brought the official kingship with him from the city of E-ana, after his father Mesh-ki-ang-gasher, son of Utu, had "entered the sea and disappeared."...
's successor to Uruk's throne.

Also in neither poem is there mentioned any battle where Lugalbanda is directly involved, although he is apparently one of the generals of Enmerkar's army.

See also


  • History of Sumer
    History of Sumer

    The history of Sumer, taken to include the prehistoric Ubaid period and Uruk period periods, spans the 5th to 3rd millennia BC, ending with the downfall of the Third Dynasty of Ur around 2004 BC, followed by a transition period of Amorite states before the rise of Babylonia in the 18th century BC....
  • Mesopotamian mythology
    Mesopotamian mythology

    Mesopotamian mythology is the collective name given to Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian mythologies from the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq....


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