24-34 But the king, endowed with power by God, chosen in His wisdom -- Utu-hejal, the mighty man, came out from Unug to face him and set up camp at the house of prayer of the Thunderer. He addressed a speech to the citizens of his city: "God has given Gutium to me and He will be my help! He has declared "It is a matter for me!" and assigned a helper to me!" The citizens of Unug and Kulaba rejoiced and followed him with one accord. He lined up his élite troops.

35-39 After departing from there, on the fourth day he set up camp in Najsu on the Surungal canal, and on the fifth day he set up camp at the shrine at Ili-tappê. He captured Ur-Nin-azu and Nabi-Enlil, generals of Tirigan sent as envoys to Sumer, and put them in handcuffs.

40-50 After departing from the shrine at Ili-tappê, on the sixth day he set up camp at Karkara. He prayed to God: "O God, You have provided me with weapons, may You be my help!" In the middle of that night, ...... he departed and above Adab he faced the rising sun and prayed: "O God, You have given Gutium to me, may You be my help!" He laid a trap there behind the Gutian. Utu-hejal, the mighty man, defeated their generals.

51-62 Then Tirigan the king of Gutium ran away alone on foot. He thought himself safe in Dabrum, where he fled to save his life; but since the people of Dabrum knew that Utu-hejal was a king endowed with power by God, they did not let Tirigan go, and an envoy of Utu-hejal arrested Tirigan together with his wife and children in Dabrum. He put handcuffs and a blindfold on him. Before the sun, Utu-hejal made him lie at his feet and placed his foot on his neck. He made Gutium, the fanged snake of the mountains, drink again from the crevices, he ......, he ...... and he ...... boat. He brought back the kingship of Sumer.

Gudea, Cylinder A

1-4 On the day when in heaven and earth the fates had been decided, Lagac raised its head high in full grandeur, and God looked at the Lord Nin-jirsu with approval. In our city there was perfection.

5-9 The heart overflowed with joy, the heart of the Lord, a river in flood, overflowed with joy. The heart overflowed with joy, and just as the Tigris brings sweet water, so God, whose will is an enormous flood, sparkling and awe-inspiring, came to a sweet decision:

10-16 "The lord called for his house and I intend to make the grandeur of E-ninnu known everywhere. Using his wisdom, the ruler will achieve great things. He will direct faultless cattle and kids for offering. It is for him the fated brick is waiting. It is by him that the building of the house is to be done."

17-23 On that day, in a nocturnal vision Gudea saw an angel of his Lord. The angel spoke to him of the house of worship, of its building. He showed him an E-ninnu with full grandeur. Outstanding though his mind was, the message remained to be understood for him.

24-32 "Well, I have to tell her about this! Well, I have to tell her about this. I will ask her to stand by me in this matter. Profound things came suddenly to me, the shepherd, but the meaning of what the nocturnal vision brought to me I do not understand. So I will take my dream to my mother and I will ask my dream-interpreter, an expert on her own, the wise woman from Sirara, to reveal its meaning to me."

33-38 He stepped aboard his boat, directed it on the canal Id-Nijin-dua towards her city Nijin, and merrily cut through the waves of the river. After he had reached Bagara, the house extending as far as the river, he offered bread, poured cold water and went to the master of Bagara to pray.

39-51 "Warrior, rampant lion, who has no opponent! Lord, important in Abzu, respected in Nibru! Warrior, I want to carry out faithfully what You have commanded me; I want to build up Your house for You, I want to make it perfect for You, so I will ask the wise woman, the child born of Eridu, an authority on her own, the dream-interpreter, the wise woman from Sirara, Nance, to show me the way." His call was heard; his Lord accepted from Gudea his prayer and supplication.

52-63 Gudea celebrated the ecec festival in the house of Bagara. The ruler set up his bed nearby. He offered bread and poured cold water and went to pray to God: "My Lord, Creator of all, the Wise, living in the Land, ...... of her city. Lord, You who founded Lagac, if You but look upon Your people, it brings abundance; the worthy young man on whom You look will enjoy a long life.

64-67 "For me, who has no mother, You are the one I turn to; for me, who has no father, You are the one I turn to. You implanted my seed in the womb, gave birth to me in the sanctuary, sweet is Your holy name!

68-79 "Tonight I shall lie down here. You are my great protection, being attached to my side; You are planted in great waters, providing me with life; You are a broad sunshade; let me cool off in Your shade. May the favourable, right-hand palm of Your lofty hands lend me protection! I am going to the city, may my sign be favourable! May Your friendly guardian go before me, and may Your friendly protection walk with me on the way towards Nijin, the mountain rising from the water.

80-89 "Well, I have to tell her about this! Well, I have to tell her about this. I will ask her to stand by me in this matter. I will take my dream to my mother and I will ask my dream-interpreter, an expert on her own, the wise woman from Sirara, Nance, to reveal its meaning to me." His call was heard; his Lord accepted from Gudea his prayer and supplication.

90-100 He stepped aboard his boat, directed it towards her city Nijin, mooring it at the quay of Nijin. The ruler raised his head high in the courtyard of the wise woman from Sirara. He offered bread, poured cold water and went to Nance to speak to her: "Nance, mighty lady, lady of most precious powers, lady who determines matters wisely, my Nance, what you say is trustworthy and takes precedence. You are the interpreter of dreams, you are the lady of all the lands. Mother, my matter today is a dream:

101-109 "In the dream there was someone who was as enormous as the heaven, who was as enormous as the earth. His head was like that of a king, his wings were like those of the Anzud bird, his lower body was like a flood storm. Lions were lying at his right and his left. He spoke to me about building his house, but I could not understand what he exactly meant, then daylight rose for me on the horizon.

110-114 "Then there was a woman - whoever she was. She ...... sheaves. She held a stylus of refined silver in her hand, and placed it on a tablet with propitious stars, and was consulting it.

115-123 "There was, furthermore, a warrior. His arm was bent, holding a lapis lazuli tablet in his hand, and he was setting down the plan of the house. The holy basket stood in front of me, the holy brick mould was ready and the fated brick was placed in the mould for me. In a fine ildag tree standing before me tigidlu birds were spending the day twittering. My master's good donkey was pawing the ground for me."

124-131 His mother Nance answered the ruler: "My shepherd, I will explain your dream for you in every detail. The person who, as you said, was as enormous as the skies, who was as enormous as the earth, whose head was like that of a king, whose wings, as you said, were like those of the Anzud bird, and whose lower body was, as you said, like a flood storm, at whose right and left lions were lying, was an angel sent by your Lord. He spoke to you about the building of His house of worship, the E-ninnu.

132-133 "The daylight that had risen for you on the horizon is your good fortune, which will rise for you as the daylight on the horizon.

134-140 "The young woman ...... sheaves, who held a stylus of refined silver in her hand, who had placed it on a tablet with propitious stars and was consulting it, was in fact a sign of the art of writing. She announced to you the holy stars auguring the building of the house.

141-143 "The second one, who was a warrior and whose arm was bent, holding a lapis lazuli tablet in his hand, was putting the plan of the house on the tablet.

144-146 "As regards the holy basket standing in front of you, the holy brick mould which was ready and the fated brick placed in the mould, this part of the dream concerns the good brick of the E-ninnu.

147-149 "As regards the fine ildag tree standing before you, in which, as you said, tigidlu birds were spending the day twittering, this means that the building of the house will not let sweet sleep come into your eyes.

150-151 "As regards that part when the right donkey stallion of your master, as you said, pawed the ground for you; this refers to you, who will paw the ground for the E-ninnu like a steed.

152-172 "Let me advise you and may my advice be taken. Direct your steps to Jirsu, the foremost house of the land of Lagac, open your storehouse up and take out wood from it; build a chariot for your master and harness a donkey stallion to it; decorate this chariot with refined silver and lapis lazuli and equip it with arrows that will fly out from the quiver like sunbeams, and with the an-kara weapon, the strength of heroism; fashion for him his beloved standard and write your name on it, and then enter before the warrior who loves gifts, before your master in E-ninnu-the-white-Anzud-bird, together with his beloved balaj drum Ucumgal-kalama, his famous instrument to which he keeps listening. Your requests will then be taken as if they were commands; and the drum will make the inclination of the lord - which is as inconceivable as the heavens - favourable for you so that he will reveal the design of his house to you in every detail. With his powers, which are the greatest, the warrior will make the house thrive for you."

173-195 The true shepherd Gudea is wise, and able too to realize things. Accepting what Nance had told him, he opened his storehouse up and took out wood from it. Gudea checked the wood piece by piece, taking great care of the wood. He smoothed mes wood, split halub wood with an axe and built a blue chariot from them for him. He harnessed to it the stallion Pirij-kase-pada. He fashioned for him his beloved standard, wrote his name on it and then entered before the warrior who loves gifts, before his master in E-ninnu-the-white-Anzud-bird together with his beloved drum, Ucumgal-kalama, his famous instrument to which he keeps listening. He joyfully brought the drum to him in the temple. Gudea came out of the shrine E-ninnu with a radiant face.

196-206 Thereafter the house was the concern of all the days and all the nights that he made pass by. He levelled what was high, rejected chance utterances, he removed the sorcerers' spittle from the roads. Facing Cu-galam, the fearful place, the place of making judgments, from where the Lord keeps an eye on all lands, the ruler had a fattened sheep, a fat-tail sheep, and a grain-fed kid brought as an offering in God's name. He put juniper, the mountains' pure plant, onto the fire, and raised smoke with cedar resin, a pleasing scent.

207-216 He rose in public and prayed to his Lord; he went to Him in the Ubcukkina and humbled himself: "My Master, Lord who has turned back the fierce waters, true Lord, noble Hero who has no opponent; I am going to build up Your house for You, but I lack a sign. Warrior, You asked for perfection, but, O Lord, You did not let me know Your will as to how to achieve it.

217-225 "Your will, ever-rising as the sea, crashing down as a destructive flood, roaring like gushing waters, destroying cities like a flood-wave, battering against the rebel lands like a storm; my Master, Your will, gushing water that no one can stem; Warrior, Your will inconceivable as the heaven - can I learn anything about it from You, O Lord?"

226-231 Afterwards, an angel of the Lord stepped up to the head of the sleeper, briefly touching him: "You who are going to build it, you who are going to build it, ruler, you who are going to build the house of the Lord, Gudea, let me tell you the sign for building the house, let me tell you the pure stars of heaven indicating the regulations.

232-240 "As if at the roaring of the Anzud bird, the heavens tremble at the house, the E-ninnu founded by the command of God, the powers of which are the greatest, surpassing all other powers, at the house whose Owner looks out over a great distance. Its fierce halo reaches up to heaven, the great fearsomeness of the house settles upon all the lands. In response to its fame all lands will gather from as far as heaven's borders, even Magan and Meluha will come down from their mountains.

241-247 "The Lord is He who has turned back the fierce waters, the great warrior, a Lord without opponent. His house the E-ninnu, a crown, is bigger than the mountains; His weapon the Car-ur subdues all the lands. No country can bear His fierce stare, nobody escapes His outstretched arms.

248-253 "Because of His great love, He called His servant "King, flood of the Lord, whose fierce stare is never lifted from the mountains, warrior of the Lord", and endowed him with fifty powers.

254-261 "I lay the table and perform correctly the hand-washing rites. My outstretched hands are raised in prayer to the Lord Most High. The best food from my hands is given to the needy for the sake of God.

262-265 "I founded the Tirac shrine with as much majesty as the Abzu. Each month at the new moon the great rites, my festival of thanksgiving, are performed in it perfectly.

266-270 "Like a fierce snake, I built E-huc, my fierce place, in a dread location. When the anger of the Lord is roused against a land that rebels against Him, it will produce venom like a snake that dribbles poison.

271-276 "In the E-babbar, where judgment is issued, where justice shines like the sun, there the lawsuits of my city are justly decided. In the E-bagara, the dining place, the righteous of Lagac gather.

277-285 "When you, true shepherd Gudea, really set to work on the house, the foremost house of all lands, the right arm of Lagac, the Anzud bird roaring on the horizon, the E-ninnu, the royal house, I will call up to heaven for humid winds so that plenty comes down to you from heaven and the land will thrive under your reign in abundance.

286-293 "Laying the foundations of the temple will bring immediate abundance: the great fields will grow rich for you, the levees and ditches will be full to brim for you, the water will rise for you to heights never reached by the water before. Under you more oil than ever will be poured and more wool than ever will be weighed in Sumer.

294-305 "When you drive in the foundation pegs, when you really set to work on the house, I shall make the north wind bring you wind from the mountains, the pure place, so that this will give vigour to the land, and thus one man will be able to do as much work as two. At night the moonlight, at noon the sun will send plentiful light for you so the day will build the house for you and the night will make it rise for you.

306-314 "I will bring halub and nehan trees up from the south, and cedar, cypress and juniper together will be brought for you from the uplands. From the ebony mountains I will have ebony trees brought for you, in the mountains of stones I will have the great stones of the mountain ranges cut in slabs for you. On that day I will touch your arm with fire and you will know the sign."

315-322 Gudea rose - it was sleep; he shuddered - it was a dream. Accepting the words, he offered a white kid in God's name and sought guidance, and his heart was assured. The intention of the Lord became as clear as daylight to Gudea.

323-329 He is wise, and able too to realize things. The ruler gave instructions to his city as to one man. The land of Lagac became of one accord for him, like children of one mother. He opened manacles, removed fetters; established ......, rejected legal complaints, and locked up those guilty of capital offences (instead of executing them).

330-344 He undid the tongue of the goad and the whip, replacing them with wool from lamb-bearing sheep. No mother shouted at her child. No child answered its mother back. No slave who ...... was hit on the head by his master, no misbehaving slave girl was slapped on the face by her mistress. Nobody could make the ruler building the E-ninnu, Gudea, let fall a chance utterance. The ruler cleansed the city. He expelled the persons ritually unclean, unpleasant to look at, and ...... from the city.

345-352 In respect of the ...... of the brick-mould he had a kid offered, in humble prayer for a good sign about the brick. He looked at the excavated earth approvingly, and the shepherd, called by his name by Nance, ...... it with majesty. After making a drawing on the ...... of the brick mould and ...... the excavated earth with majesty, he made the Anzud bird, the standard of his master, glisten there as a banner.

353-364 The citizens were purifying an area of 24 iku for him, they were cleansing that area for him. He put juniper, the mountains' pure plant, onto the fire and raised smoke with cedar resin, a pleasing scent. For him the day was for praying, and the night passed for him in supplications. In order to build the house of worship, the elders of the land of Lagac stood by Gudea in prayer and supplication, and all this made the true shepherd Gudea extremely happy.

365-371 Now the ruler imposed a levy on his land. He imposed a levy on his realm of abundant ......, on the Gu-edina. He imposed levy on his built-up cities and settlements, on the Gu-jicbara.

372-376 There was a levy for him on the clans "Rampant fierce bull which has no opponent" and "White cedars surrounding their master", and he placed Lugalkurdub, their magnificent standard, in front of them.

377-381 There was a levy for him on the clan "Both river banks and shores rising out of the waters, the huger river, full of water, which spreads its abundance everywhere", and he placed the holy pelican, their standard, in front of them.

382-385 There was a levy for him on the clans "The net suspended for catching the beasts of the steppe" and "Choice steeds, famous team, the team beloved by the sun's rising", and he placed the rosette, their standard, in front of them.

386 In order to build the house of worship,

392-396 The Elamites came to him from Elam, the Susians came to him from Susa. Magan and Meluha loaded wood from their mountains upon their shoulders for him, and to build the house of worship, they gathered for Gudea at his city Jirsu.

397-404 Nin-zaga was commanded and he made his copper, as much as if it were a huge grain transport, reach Gudea, the man in charge of building the house. Nin-sikil was also instructed and she made large halub logs, ebony, and aba wood reach the ruler building the E-ninnu.

405-411 The Lord directed Gudea into the impenetrable mountain of cedars and he cut down its cedars with great axes and carved the Car-ur, the right arm of Lagac, his master's flood-storm weapon, out of it.

412-423 It was like a giant serpent floating on the water as, for his Lord, Gudea had the long rafts floating downstream moor at the main quay of Kasura: logs of cedar wood from the cedar hills, logs of cypress wood from the cypress hills, logs of zabalum wood from the zabalum hills, tall spruce trees, plane trees, and eranum trees.

424-433 The Lord directed Gudea into the impenetrable mountains of stones, and he brought back great stones in the form of slabs. For his Lord, Gudea had ships with hauna dock there, and ships with gravel, with dried bitumen, ......-bitumen, and gypsum from the hills of Madga, cargoes like boats bringing grain from the fields.

434-445 Great things came to the succour of the ruler building the E-ninnu: a copper mountain in Kimac revealed itself to him. He mined its copper into baskets. To the man in charge of building his master's house, the ruler, gold was brought in dust form from its mountains. For Gudea refined silver was brought down from its mountains. Translucent cornelian from Meluha was spread before him. From the alabaster mountains alabaster was brought down to him.

446-451 The shepherd was going to build the house with silver, so he sat together with silversmiths. He was going to build the E-ninnu with precious stone, so he sat with jewellers. He was going to build it with copper and tin, so the chief of the smiths was directed before him.

452-455 The heavy hammer-stones roared for him like a storm. The dolerite, the light hammer-stone, ...... two ...... three. ...... like a huge mass of water gushing forth,

458-462 He ...... the days. Gudea prolonged the nights for his Lord. Because of building the house for his master, he neither slept at night, nor did he rest his head during the siesta.

463-470 For the one looked on with favour, for the favourite of the Lord, for the ruler, for Gudea, born in the august sanctuary, wisdom opened the house of understanding and God put right the design of the house.

471-481 Towards the house whose halo reaches to heaven, whose powers embrace heaven and earth, whose Owner is a Lord with a fierce stare, towards E-ninnu-the-white-Anzud-bird, Gudea went from the south and admired it northwards. From the north he went towards it and admired it southwards. He measured out with rope exactly one iku. He drove in pegs at its sides and personally verified them. This made him extremely happy.

482-491 When the night fell, he went to the old house of prayer to pray, so that the favour of the Lord would be with Gudea. When day broke, he took a bath and arranged his outfit correctly. The sun let abundance come forth for him. Gudea left Iri-kug a second time; he sacrificed a perfect bull and a perfect kid in God's name. He went to the house and saluted it.