Lugalbanda

According to the Sumerian king list, Lugalbanda was the third king of Uruk and father of Gilgamesh, the legendary king of that ancient city. Legend has it that his wife was Ninsun, a goddess.

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, 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 politic career — that, as we can gather from other texts, brought him, several years later, to be chosen as Enmerkar'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.

Some associate Lugalbanda with Cush, from the Old Testament, and also associate Nimrod, Cush's son, with Gilgamesh.

See also

• Gilgamesh
• Chaldean mythology
• Nimod
• Cush
• Gilgamesh

External links

• Just One More Book!! Podcast review of children's book "Lugalbanda: The Boy Who Got Caught Up in a War"

• [1]

• The Biblical Nimrod and the Kindom of Eanna