En (Borger 2003 nr. 164 ; U+12097 𒂗, see also Ensí) is the Sumerian

cuneiform Cuneiform is a Logogram, logo-Syllabary, syllabic writing system that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Near East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. Cuneiform script ...

for '

lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the Peerage o ...

/lady' or '

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

ss. Originally, it seems to have been used to designate a high priest or priestess of a Sumerian

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world throughout history, including cities such as Rome, ...

's patron-deity – a position that entailed political power as well. It may also have been the original title of the ruler of

Uruk Uruk, the archeological site known today as Warka, was an ancient city in the Near East, located east of the current bed of the Euphrates River, on an ancient, now-dried channel of the river in Muthanna Governorate, Iraq. The site lies 93 kilo ...

. See ''Lugal, ensi and en'' for more details. Deities including En as part of their name include ^D

Enlil Enlil, later known as Elil and Ellil, is an List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian god associated with wind, air, earth, and storms. He is first attested as the chief deity of the Sumerian pantheon, but he was later worshipped by t ...

, ^D

Enki Enki ( ) is the Sumerian god of water, knowledge ('' gestú''), crafts (''gašam''), and creation (''nudimmud''), and one of the Anunnaki. He was later known as Ea () or Ae p. 324, note 27. in Akkadian (Assyrian-Babylonian) religion, and ...

, ^DEngurun, and ^D Enzu.

Enheduanna Enheduanna ( , also transliteration, transliterated as , , or variants; ) was the (high) priestess of the moon god Sin (mythology), Nanna (Sīn) in the Sumerian city-state of Ur in the reign of her father, Sargon of Akkad ( BCE). She was likely ...

, Akkadian 2285 BC – 2250 BC was the first known holder of the title En, here meaning 'Priestess'.

Archaic forms

The corresponding Emesal dialect word was UMUN, which may preserve an archaic form of the word. Earlier Emeg̃ir (the standard dialect of Sumerian) forms can be postulated as *''ewen'' or *''emen'', eventually dropping the middle consonant and becoming the familiar EN.

Amarna letters: ''bêlu''

The 1350 BC Amarna letters use EN for '' bêlu'', though not exclusively. The more common spelling is mostly ''be'' + ''li'', to make ''bêlí'', or its equivalent. Some example letters using cuneiform EN are letters EA (for ''El Amarna'') 252, EA 254, and EA 282, titled: "A demand for recognition", by Abimilku; "Neither rebel or delinquent" (2), by Labayu; and "Alone", by Shuwardata. Most of the uses are in the letter introduction, formulaic addresses to the

pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...

, stating typically to effect: Bodies of the letters also repeat the phraseology of "king" or "my lord", sometimes doubly as in letter EA 34, (using ''be-li'', as ''bêlu''), "The pharaoh's reproach answered", by the king of Alashiya.

References

{{reflist Sumerian titles Men's social titles

Archaic forms

Amarna letters: ''bêlu''

See also

References