Lugaldukuga (Sumerian: "lord of the holy mound") was a Mesopotamian god primarily understood as a theogonic figure. He is best attested as the father of Enlil, the head of the Mesopotamian pantheon, though other traditions about the parentage of the latter also existed, and no references to him in this role are known from before the Kassite period. Sometimes he could also be described as his grandfather instead. He was envisioned as a no longer active and as an inhabitant of the underworld. He could be equated with other deities of similar character, such as Enmesharra. It is not known which part of Mesopotamia he originated in, though references to him are known from texts from both Babylonia and Assyria.
The name Lugaldukuga could also function as an epithet of the god Ea, who was not regarded as Enlil's father.
Character
Lugaldukuga was understood as a primeval deity. Such figures were generally regarded as ancient and no longer active (unlike the regular gods) by the Mesopotamians. Wilfred G. Lambert proposed that Lugaldukuga was originally understood as a "prime mover" in the local theology of a presently unknown small settlement, and only came to be incorporated into major scholarly works at a later date. His name means "lord of the holy mound (the Duku)" in Sumerian. The Duku was regarded as the place where Enlil determined destinies for other deities. It was also believed to be the dwelling of his ancestors. The word has two possible meanings, as the sign du could refer to both a hill and to a brick platform. According to Wilfred G. Lambert, it is possible that they could be interpreted as the cosmic location and its physical representation in Enlil's Ekur temple complex in Nippur.
Lugaldukuga was regarded as the father of Enlil, but the tradition placing him in this role is relatively late. It is first attested in the god list An = Anum, most likely composed in the Kassite period. He is absent from the Old Babylonian forerunner to this composition. Sources referring to him as Enlil's grandfather are also known. Wilfred G. Lambert proposed that this view might originate in a tradition where Enmesharra was identified as Enlil's father, though direct statements confirming the presence of such an idea in Mesopotamian theology are not presently known from any texts.
While Lugaldukuga was most likely assumed to be an inhabitant of the underworld, a single source, a mystical explanatory text for an Akitu festival of Ninurta taking place on the twenty fourth day of Iyar states that he resided in heaven. Wayne Horowitz notes that while it would be an unusual residence for Enlil's father, this passage might parallel the reference to Dumuzi and Ningishzida residing in heaven rather than as usually assumed in the underworld during their annual temporary death, known from the myth of Adapa.
Enlil's parentage in other traditions
While Enlil is commonly referred to as the father of other deities in known literature, his own parentage is only rarely discussed in primary sources. The view that his ancestors were the so-called Enki-Ninki deities is now considered to be conventional, though materials pertaining to it are difficult to interpret. In another tradition, his father was the sky god Anu. A recently published myth describing the birth of Enlil, only known from a single copy (MS 3312) and compared to Old Babylonian incantations, keeps his parents nameless, though according to Jeremiah Peterson it is possible that it belongs to the Enki-Ninki tradition. Enki and Ninki are the first generation of Enlil's ancestors in god lists, incantations, and other texts, and they are usually followed by a varying number of pairs of deities whose names start with "En" and "Nin". They are mentioned in the Sumerian composition "Death of Gilgamesh," where the eponymous hero encounters these divine ancestors in the underworld. The oldest document preserving this tradition is the Fara god list (Early Dynastic period). Sometimes all the ancestors were collectively called "the Enkis and the Ninkis." Enki, the ancestor of Enlil, is not to be confused with the god Enki (Ea). The ancestral Enki's name means "lord earth" while the meaning of the name of the god of Eridu is uncertain but not the same, as indicated by some writings including an amissable g.