Gudea's inscriptions enable us to realize with what fervour they carried
out the rebuilding of a temple, and how the whole resources of the
nation were devoted to the successful completion of the work. It is true
that the rebuilding of E-ninnu was undertaken in a critical period when
the land was threatened with famine, and the peculiar magnificence with
which the work was carried out may be partly explained as due to the
belief that such devotion would ensure a return of material prosperity.
But the existence of such a belief is in itself an index to the people's
character, and we may take it that the record faithfully represents the
relations of the Sumerians to their gods, and the important place which
worship and ritual occupied in the national life.
Moreover, the inscriptions of Gudea furnish much valuable information
with regard to the details of Sumerian worship and the elaborate
organization of the temples. From them we can reconstruct a picture of
one of these immense buildings, with its numerous shrines and courts,
surrounded by sacred gardens and raising its ziggurat, or temple tower,
high above the surrounding city. Within its dark chambers were the
mysterious figures of the gods, and what little light could enter would
have been reflected in the tanks of sacred water sunk to the level of
the pavement.
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