Some Reflections on the Use and the Meaning of the Sign lugal in Urartian Inscriptions

Abstract

Abstract The present article is focused on an analysis of the distribution of the Sumerograms man and lugal in Urartian inscriptions: since they are found in very specific situations, with only one of the two directly referring to the Urartian king, it is likely that they should be intended not as synonyms, but rather as concealing two slightly different meanings. After a brief introduction focused on the use of the two Sumerograms in Assyrian royal titularies, especially in the ones used as models by the Urartians, the paper will focus on the use of the Sumerograms in Urartian inscriptions, concluding with an analysis of an Urartian text on clay tablet, whose translation is still debated.