Photograph by Messrs. Mansell
& Co.
Gudea caused many statues of himself to be made out of the hard diorite
which he brought for that purpose from the Sinaitic peninsula, and from
the inscriptions preserved upon them it is possible to ascertain the
buildings in which they were originally placed. Thus one of the statues
previously found was set up in the temple of Ninkharsag, two others in
E-ninnu, the temple of the god Ningirsu, three more in the temple of the
goddess Bau, one in E-anna, the temple of the goddess Ninni, and another
in the temple of Gatumdug. The newly found statue of the king was made
to be set up in the temple erected by Gudea at Girsu in honour of the
god Ningishzida, as is recorded in the inscription engraved on the front
of the king's robe, which reads as follows:
"In the day when the god Ningirsu, the strong warrior of Enlil, granted
unto the god Ningishzida, the son of Ninazu, the beloved of the gods,
(the guardianship of) the foundation of the city and of the hills and
valleys, on that day Gudea, patesi of Shirpurla, the just man who
loveth his god, who for his master Ningirsu hath constructed his temple
E-ninnu, called the shining Imgig, and his temple E-pa, the temple
of-the seven zones of heaven, and for the goddess Nina, the queen, his
lady, hath constructed the temple Sirara-shum, which riseth higher than
(all) the temples in the world, and hath constructed their temples for
the great gods of Lagash, built for his god Ningishzida his temple in
Girsu.
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