RECENT DISCOVERIES IN THE REALM OF ASSYRIOLOGY, ETC. 131 



This is followed by the invocation of the god E-girsu, 

 "the powerful warrior of Ellilla," or Bel, by " Gudea, the 

 renowned (?) one, viceroy of Lagas, proclaimed as the faith- 

 ful-hearted shepherd of E-girsu, the favourably-regarded 

 one of the goddess Nina, the power-endowed one of the god 

 Nin-dara, the word-outpouring (= eloquent) man of the god- 

 dess Bau, the begotten son of the goddess Ga-turau-dugu, 

 endowed with the sovereignty and a supreme sceptre by the 

 god Gal-alima, the living-hearted wide-renowned one of the 

 god Dun-saga, the bright-sceptred chief of E-gis-zida, his 

 god." 



In the difficult passage which follows I adopt, in part, 

 Amiaud's rendering. The text seems to be to the effect that, 

 "after the god E-girsu had looked upon his city favourably, 

 and had chosen Gudea to be shepherd over the people, and 

 among the divisions of men had established his power, he 

 gave to the city a glorious name." A reference to building 

 then occurs, and is followed by some lines which are trans- 

 lated by Amiaud to the effect that he (Gudea) had banished 

 from the city the " adorers of demons (?),* evokers of 

 spirits (?), necromancers (?), and prophetesses of divine 

 decrees." If this rendering be in any way correct, it may 

 be concluded therefrom that Gudea was firmly set against 

 the childish rites and ceremonies and the foolish superstitious 

 of the Babylonians, so renowned for things of that kind. It 

 is doubtful, however, whether any Babylonian king was ever 

 enlightened enough to throw off the trammels of that super- 

 stition which was for ages so rife in the land. The two 

 following lines are translated by Amiaud, " Whoever has 

 not departed obediently has been expelled perforce by the 

 warriors." f 



" The temple of the god E-girsu," the inscription con- 



paras E-girsu irakkissu (?). Sattukki-su ina bet E-girsu Ukiku, dmat pl-su 

 liklu. The above is probably a very barbarous rendering, the Assyrian 

 equivalents being probably not the usual ones, but as they are given by 

 the syllabaries, they may be regarded as at least approximately correct. 



* The original list points rather to "preparers of simples 3 ' (hi tuqa 

 imgala, " who edible herb prepares "), the second character of the group 

 being the character for mouth with the sign for vegetable within, in late 

 Assyrian >-£:T TTro T. 



t In Akkadian : Ra-bi sale nu-ila, saga ur-saga emuvadu, a phrase 

 that I am inclined to translate : " That ascent (ila-bi) had never yet been 

 made (nu-ila), (and) the soldiery (ur-saga) were at the head' (of the 

 procession). More information, however, is required from the syllabaries. 



