Ensi (spelled pa.te.si, 100x100x100x in cuneiform script, hence occasionally transliterated "patesi"; possibly derived from en si-k, "lord of the plowland"; borrowed into Akkadian as iššakkum) is a Sumerian language title designating the ruler or prince of a city-state. Originally it may have designated an independent ruler, but in later periods the title presupposed subordinance to a lugal. In the city-state of Assur, the hereditary ruler bore the Akkadian language version of the title ensí, while the patron deity was regarded as šarrum "king".