as his
personal attendant and cupbearer, who offered him fair water and looked
after the ablutions. Two more were his generals, who secured his country
against the attacks of foes. Another was his counsellor, who received
and presented petitions from his subjects and superintended his
journeys. Another was the head of his harim, a position of great
trust and responsibility, while a keeper of the harim looked after the
practical details. Another god was the driver of his chariot, and it
is interesting to note that the chariot was drawn by an ass, for horses
were not introduced into Western Asia until a much later period. Other
gods performed the functions of head shepherd, chief musician, chief
singer, head cultivator and inspector of irrigation, inspector of the
fishing, land steward, and architect. His household also included his
wife and his seven virgin daughters. In addition to the account of the
various functions performed by these lesser deities, the texts also
furnish valuable facts with regard to the characters and attributes
of the greater gods and goddesses, such as the attributes of Ningirsu
himself, and the character of Nina as the goddess who divined and
interpreted the secrets of the gods.

But perhaps the most interesting conclusions to be drawn from the texts
relate to the influence exerted by the ancient Sumerians upon Semitic
beliefs and practices. It has, of course, long been recognized that the
later Semitic inhabitants of Babylonia and Assyria drew most of their
culture from the Sumerians, whom they displaced and absorbed. Their
system of writing, the general structure of their temples, the ritual of
their worship, the majority of their religious compositions, and many of
their gods themselves are to be traced to a Sumerian origin, and much of
the information obtained from the cylinders of Gudea merely confirms
or illustrates the conclusions already deduced from other sources. As
instances we may mention the belief in spirits, which is illustrated by
the importance attached to the placating of the Anunnaki, or Spirits of
the Earth, to whom a special place and special offerings were assigned
in E-ninnu. The Sumerian origin of ceremonies of purification is
confirmed by Gudea's purification of the city before beginning the
building of the temple, and again before the transference of the god
from his old temple to the new one. The consultation of omens, which was
so marked a feature of Babylonian and As