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191 "Ningirsu, son of Enlil," for additional guidance: "My heart remains unknowing, the meaning is far from me as the middle of the ocean; as the midst of heaven from me it is distant." "Lord Ningirsu," Gudea cried out in the darkness, "the tem- ple I will build for thee, but my omen is not yet clear to me!" He asked for a second omen, and received it. In what scholars call Gudea's second dream, the position of the king and the encountered deity seem to be crucial. The text (col- umn IX, verses 5-6) states that "for the second time, by the prostrate one, by the prostrate one, the god took his stand." The Sumerian term used, NAD.A, conveys more than the "lying flat, lying stretched out" that the English term "pros- trate" conveys. It implies an element of not-seeing by lying facedown. Gudea, in other words, had to lie down in a man- ner assuring that he would not see the deity. The god, on his part, had to position himself at the head of Gudea. If Gudea was asleep, or in a trance, did the god actually speak to him—or was the position near the king's head intended to facilitate some other, metaphysical method of communica- tion? The text does not make this point clear; it does relate that Gudea was given promises of constant divine help, espe- cially by the god Ningishzidda. The help of this deity, whom we have identified as the Egyptian deity Thoth, seemed espe- cially important to Ninurta/Ningirsu, as was the expected homage that Magan (Egypt) and Meluhha (Nubia) would pay to Ninurta once his new temple would proclaim his rank of Fifty, "the fifty names of Lordship that by Anu were or- dained." This, he explained to Gudea, was why the temple was to be called ENNINNU—"House of Fifty." He promised Gudea that the new temple will not only glorify the deity; it will also bring fame and prosperity to all of Sumer and to Lagash in particular. The deity then explained to Gudea various details of the temple's architecture, including the design of the special en- closures for the Divine Black Bird and the Supreme Weapon; the Gigunu for the divine couple; an oracle chamber, and a place for the assembly of the gods. Details of utensils and furnishings were also given. Then the god assured Gudea that "for the building of my temple I will give thee a sign; my commands will teach thee the sign by the heavenly planet." Visions from the Twilight Zone