A long narrow trough of yellowish limestone stood in front of the palace, and was raised on two steps:  it was carved in relief on the outside with figures of women standing with outstretched hands, passing to each other vases from which gushed forth two streams of water.  This trough formed a reservoir, which was filled every morning for the use of the men and beasts, and those whom some business or a command brought to the palace could refresh themselves there while waiting to be received by the master.  The gates which gave access to the interior were placed at somewhat irregular intervals:  two opened from the principal facade, but on each of the other sides there was only one entrance.  They were arched and so low that admittance was not easily gained; they were closed with two-leaved doors of cedar or cypress, provided with bronze hinges, which turned upon two blackish stones firmly set in the masonry on either side, and usually inscribed with the name of the founder or that of the reigning sovereign.  Two of the entrances possessed a sort of covered way, in which the soldiers of the external watch could take shelter from the heat of the sun by day, from the cold at night, and from the dews at dawn.  On crossing the threshold, a corridor, flanked with two small rooms for porters or warders, led into a courtyard surrounded with buildings of sufficient depth to take up nearly half of the area enclosed within the walls.  This court was moreover a semi-public place, to which tradesmen, merchants, suppliants, and functionaries of all ranks had easy access.  A suite of three rooms shut off in the north-east angle did duty for a magazine or arsenal.  The southern portion of the building was occupied by the State apartments, the largest of which measures only 40 feet in length.  In these rooms Gudea and his successors gave audience to their nobles and administered justice.  The administrative officers and the staff who had charge of them were probably located in the remaining part of the building.  The roof was flat, and ran all round the enclosing wall, forming a terrace, access to it being gained by a staircase built between the principal entrance and the arsenal.  At the northern angle rose a ziggurat.  Custom demanded that the sovereign should possess a temple within his dwelling, where he could fulfil his religious duties without going into the town and mixing with the crowd.  At Lagash the sacred tower was of older date than the palace, and possibly formed part of the ancient building of Urbau.  It was originally composed of three stories, but the lower one was altered by Gudea, and disappeared entirely in the thickness of the basal platform.  The second story thus became the bottom one; it was enlarged, slightly raised above the neighbouring roofs, and was probably crowned by a sanctuary dedicated to Ningirsu.  It was, indeed, a monument of modest proportions, and most of the public temples soared far above it; but, small as it was, the whole town