or the canals became full of water and fish swarmed in the pools, the
granaries were filled with grain and the flocks and herds brought forth
their increase. The city of Shirpurla was satiated with abundance.

Such is a summary of the account which Gudea has left us of his
rebuilding of the temple E-ninnu, of the reasons which led him to
undertake the work, and of the results which followed its completion. It
has often been said that the inscriptions of the ancient Sumerians are
without much intrinsic value, that they mainly consist of dull votive
formulae, and that for general interest the best of them cannot be
compared with the later inscriptions of the Semitic inhabitants
of Mesopotamia. This reproach, for which until recently there was
considerable justification, has been finally removed by the working
out of the texts upon Gudea's cylinders. For picturesque narrative, for
wealth of detail, and for striking similes, it would be hard to find
their superior in Babylonian and Assyrian literature. They are, in fact,
very remarkable compositions, and in themselves justify the claim that
the Sumerians were possessed of a literature in the proper sense of the
term.

But that is not their only value, for they give a vivid picture of
ancient Sumerian life and of the ideals and aims which actuated the
people and their rulers. The Sumerians were essentially an unmilitary
race. That they could maintain a stubborn fight for their territory is
proved by the prolonged struggle maintained by Shirpurla against her
rival Gishkhu, but neither ruler nor people was inflamed by love of
conquest for its own sake. They were settled in a rich and fertile
country, which supplied their own wants in abundance, and they were
content to lead a peaceful life therein, engaged in agricultural and
industrial pursuits, and devoted wholly to the worship of their gods.
Gudea's inscriptions enable us to realize with what fervour they carried
out the rebuilding of a temple, and how the whole resources of the
nation were devoted to the successful completion of the work. It is true
that the rebuilding of E-ninnu was undertaken in a critical period when
the land was threatened with famine, and the peculiar magnificence with
which the work was carried out may be partly explained as due to the
belief that such devotion would ensure a return of material prosperity.
But the existence of such a belief is in itself an index to the people's
character, and we may