Lugal-irra (𒀭𒈗𒄊𒊏) and Meslamta-ea (𒀭𒈩𒇴𒋫𒌓𒁺𒀀) were a pair of Mesopotamian gods who typically appear together in cuneiform texts and were described as the "divine twins" (Maštabba).
[8] Despite the phonetic similarity, the second half of Lugal-irra's name is most likely unrelated to the theonym Erra (variant: Irra), and its Akkadian translation was gašru according to lexical lists.
[3] In addition to regularly playing this role in Mesopotamian sources, in a single case Lugal-irra is also attested as a protector of doors in a Hittite ritual presumably adapted from a Babylonian original, KBo 15, 2, which prescribes the preparation of a figure representing him for that purpose.
[22] Furthermore, the statuettes of Meslamta-ea were decorated with "black paste" (IM.GI6, an unidentified substance), and these representing Lugal-irra possibly with a bright pigment.
[16] A hymn refers to Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea as a pair of ravens, respectively black and white, though the basis for this association is unknown.
[12] It is presumed that while Meslamta-ea could be treated as a distinct god, was initially an epithet of Nergal used to refer to him in cities located to the south of Kutha up to the Ur III period.
[28] The identification between Nergal and Lugal-irra was a late phenomenon, and the fact that the former could be referred to with the same epithet as the latter, dingir irra ("strong god"), is not an indication of equivalence as it was applied to many deities.
[9] However, the connection between the pair and Ku'annesi and Ninshubur is only documented in a single Old Babylonian god list, and it is not certain if it necessarily implies they were regarded as couples.
[1][b] Their respective divine "viziers" (sukkal) were Zi-mingi (or dZi-MU)[31] and Zi-ĝara,[32] though a single god list postdating the Old Babylonian period instead equates this pair with them.
[9] In texts belonging to this genre Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea could also be identified with other pairs of twin deities, presumably originating in the peripheries of Mesopotamia, including Almu and Alamu, Birdu and Šarrabu,[c] and two other duos whose names are only partially preserved.
[9] According to Paul-Alain Beaulieu Gašru, a god worshiped in Mesopotamia in Opis and Mari, as well as further west in Emar and Ugarit, could be considered a form of Lugal-irra.
[33] The oldest known references to Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea as a pair have been identified in hymns from the reign of Ibbi-Sin, the last king from the Third Dynasty of Ur, which indicate at the time their cult center was Kisiga (Kišaga).
[14] Relying on the fact that Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea were only associated with Old Babylonian Dūrum, and not with Neo-Babylonian Dūru, which was a cult center of Sin and his wife Ningal instead, Paul-Alain Beaulieu suggests that these two toponyms referred to different settlements.
[9] The Canonical Temple List assigns the E-melamsulimgurru ("house clad in fearsome radiance"), possibly located in Ur, to Meslamta-ea.
[46] A house of worship bearing the same name (or a chapel within the temple of another deity), presumably identical with it, occurs in a topographical text which most likely originated in said city, though there it is described as dedicated to both Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea.
[47] The same source lists the ceremonial names of their respective seats, Bara-šadišša ("dais of the perfect one") and E-ḫursag-siga ("house of the silent mountain").
[56] In Nippur in the Old Babylonian period Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea were regarded as the divine doorkeepers of the temple of Nuska, where they received offerings.
[43] The Nippur Compendium, known from copies from the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian periods and later,[57] lists them among the deities venerated in the local temple of Nergal, alongside Erra, Erragal and Damu.