Whosoever shall proclaim the god Ningirsu as his god, even as
I proclaim him, may he do no harm unto the temple of my god! May he
proclaim the name of this temple! May that man be my friend, and may he
proclaim my name! Gudea hath made the statue, and 'Unto - Gudea - the
- builder - of - the - temple - hath life-been-given hath he called its
name, and he hath brought it into the temple."
The long name which Gudea gave to the statue, "Unto - Gudea - the -
builder - of - the - temple - hath - life-been-given," is characteristic
of the practice of the Sumerian patesis, who always gave long and
symbolical names to statues, stelae, and sacred objects dedicated and
set up in their temples. The occasion on which the temple was built, and
this statue erected within it, seems to have been the investiture of
the god Ningishzida with special and peculiar powers, and it possibly
inaugurated his introduction into the pantheon of Shirpurla. Ningishzida
is called in the inscription the son of Ninazu, who was the husband of
the Queen of the Underworld.
In one of his aspects he was therefore probably a god of the underworld
himself, and it is in this character that he was appointed by Ningirsu
as guardian of the city's foundations. But "the hills and valleys"
(i.e. the open country) were also put under his jurisdiction, so that
in another aspect he was a god of vegetation.
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