Temple-Building & Sacred Architecture
The king dreams the god's command, lays the sacred bricks, and the god comes home to dwell.
Building or restoring a god's temple was among the highest acts a king could perform. The temple was the god's 'house' (e), and its construction was framed as a sacred drama: the god commissions the work, often in a dream; the king secures the materials, lays the foundations with prescribed rites, and the god takes up joyful residence. Gudea of Lagash devoted two great clay cylinders to the building of Ningirsu's temple — the longest Sumerian literary text — narrating the dream, the bricks, and the god's entry. Temple-building proved a king's piety and secured his city's blessing.
Key passages(20)
Gudea, ruler of Lagaš. Since Bau, the kind woman, the child of An, the lady of Iri-kug, the lady of abundance, the lady who decides Ĝirsu's fate, the lady (who is) the judge of her city, the lady who
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Gudea, ruler of Lagaš. For Ninĝirsu, the powerful warrior of Enlil, his master, Gudea, ruler of Lagaš, (whose) name is everlasting, the boat-tower of Enlil, the shepherd chosen by Ninĝirsu in the hear
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Gudea, ruler of Lagaš, devotee of Ĝatumdug. Gudea, ruler of Lagaš, devotee of Ĝ̃atumdug, your beloved slave, who made an eternal thing appear and built Ninĝirsu's E-ninnnu-anzud-babbar, to whom Ĝ̃atum
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For Ninhursaĝa: Aya-Ane-pada, king of Urim, child of Meš-Ane-pada, king of Urim, built a temple for Ninhursaĝa.
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Lacuna th [ ey (the gods) allowed my mind to learn all of the scribal arts ]. They glorified the men [ tion of m ] y [ name ] (and) made my lordship g [ reater ] t [ han (those of all other) king ] s
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I, Ashurbanipal, great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, king of the four quarters (of the world), offspring of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, governor of Babylon, king of the land
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For Ninĝirsu, Enlil’s warrior. En-metena, ruler of Lagaš, child of En-ana-tum, ruler of Lagaš, descendant of Ur-Nanše, king of Lagaš, built the sanctuary of Dugru for Ninĝirsu. He built the Ahuš, the
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En-metena, ruler of Lagaš, parceled out 25 bur of land, (a field called) En-ana-tum-sur-Nanše-etaed, 11 bur of land, (a field called) Nizuh-šub in the marshland of Niĝin, next to the holy canal, and 6
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For Lugal-emuš, En-metena, ruler of Lagaš, child of En-ana-tum, ruler of Lagaš built and restored the E-muš in Patibira, his beloved temple.
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Esarhaddon, king of the world, king of Assyria, governor of (i 5) Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, pious prince who reveres the gods Nabû and Marduk — Before my time the great lord, the god Marduk, b
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For the god Marduk, his lord: Esarhaddon, king of Assyria (and) king of Babylon, had Etemenanki built anew.
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For the god Marduk, his lord: Esarhaddon, king of Assyria (and) king of Babylon, had baked bricks made anew for Eteme [ nanki ].
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For the god Asari (Marduk), his lord: Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, (5) king of the world, king of the four quarters, governor of Babylon, (and) king of Sumer (and) Akkad, (re) constructed Etemenanki f
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For the goddess Queen-of-Nippur, ruler of Uzu-mu-a, august, eminent, most splendid of the gods, the goddess Innini, supreme lady who always cares like a mother for the king — her favorite — who makes
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[ For the god Enlil, lord of the lands ], whose comma [ nd ] cannot be revoked, [... who ] se utterance [ cannot be reject ] ed, [... ] gods... [... ]... ruler [... ]... [... ] the great lord, his lor
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For the god Enlil, lord of the lands, his lord: Esarhaddon, king of the world, king of Assyria, (5) king of Babylon, (and) king of the land of Sumer and Akkad, son of Sennacherib, king of the world (a
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For the goddess Ištar, supreme lady, sovereign of heaven and netherworld, most valiant of the gods, splendid, the goddess Ištar-of-Uruk, august princess who has taken (unto herself all) divine offices
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For Ĝatumdug, his lady, Gudea, ruler of Lagaš, devotee of Ĝatumdug, built her temple in Iri-kug.
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For Ĝatumdug, the mother of Lagaš,..., his mother who bore him, built her temple in Ĝirsu.
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For Ḫendursaĝ, his master, Gudea, ruler of Lagaš, built his temple.
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