induce her to reveal the interpretation of the dream.  So the patesi set out to the temple of Ningirsu, and, having offered a sacrifice and poured out fresh water, he prayed to the god that his sister, Nina, the child of Eridu, might be prevailed upon to give him help.  And the god hearkened to his prayer.  Then Gudea made offerings, and before the sleeping-chamber of the goddess Gatumdug he offered a sacrifice and poured out fresh water.  And he prayed to the goddess, calling her his queen and the child of the pure heaven, who gave life to the countries and befriended and preserved the people or the man on whom she looked with favour.

“I have no mother,” cried Gudea, “but thou art my mother!  I have no father, but thou art a father to me!” And the goddess Gatumdug gave ear to the patesi’s prayer.  Thus encouraged by her favour and that of Ningirsu, Gudea set out for the temple of the goddess Nina.

On his arrival at the temple, the patesi offered a sacrifice and poured out fresh water, as he had already done when approaching the presence of Ningirsu and Gatumdug.  And he prayed to Nina, as the goddess who divines the secrets of the gods, beseeching her to interpret the vision that had been sent to him; and he then recounted to her the details of his dream.  When the patesi had finished his story, the goddess addressed him and told him that she would explain the meaning of his dream to him.  And this was the interpretation of the dream.  The man whose stature was so great that it equalled the heavens and the earth, whose head was that of a god, at whose side was the divine eagle, whose feet rested on the whirlwind, while a lion couched on his right hand and on his left, was her brother, the god Ningirsu.  And the words which he uttered were an order to the patesi that he should build the temple E-ninnu.  And the sun which rose from the earth before the patesi was the god Ningishzida, for like the sun he goes forth from the earth.  And the maiden who held a pure reed in her hand, and carried the tablet with the star, was her sister, the goddess Nidaba:  the star was the pure star of the temple’s construction, which she proclaimed.  And the second man, who was like a warrior and carried the slab of lapis lazuli, was the god Nindub, and the plan of the temple which he drew was the plan of E-ninnu.  And the brick which rested in its mould upon the cushion was the sacred brick of E-ninnu.  And as for the ass which lay upon the ground, that, the goddess said, was the patesi himself.

Having interpreted the meaning of the dream, the goddess Nina proceeded to give Gudea instruction as to how he should go to work to build the temple.  She told him first of all to go to his treasure-house and bring forth his treasures from their sealed cases, and out of these to make certain offerings which he was to place near the god Ningirsu, in the temple in which he was dwelling at that time.  The offerings were to consist of a chariot, adorned with pure metal