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192 The construction, he told Gudea, should begin on the "day of the new moon." The particular new moon day will become known to the king by a divine omen—a signal from the skies. The day will start with winds and great rains; by nightfall, the god's hand shall appear in the skies; it will hold a flame "that shall make the night as light as day:" At night a light shall shine; it will cause the fields to be brightly lit, as by the sun. Hearing all that "Gudea understood the favorable plan, a plan that was the clear message of his vision-dream." "Now he was greatly wise and understood great things." After pre- senting offerings and prayers "to the Anunnaki of Lagash, the faithful shepherd, Gudea, engaged in the work with joy." Losing no time, he proceeded to "purify the city," then "lev- ied taxes upon the land." The taxes were payable in kind— oxen, wild asses, wood and timbers, copper. He amassed building materials from near and far and organized a labor force. As Nanshe had foreseen, he toiled like a Freight-Ass and "good sleep did not come to him." With everything ready, it was time to start making the bricks. They had to be made from clay according to the mold and sample that appeared to Gudea in his first vision-dream. We read in column XIX, verse 19, that Gudea "brought the brick, placed it in the temple." It follows from this statement that Gudea had the brick (and by inference the required mold) in his physical possession; the brick and mold were thus two more objects (in addition to the lapis lazuli tablet) that crossed the boundary in a Twilight Zone. Now Gudea contemplated "the sketched ground plan of the temple." But "unlike the goddess Nisaba who always understands the meaning of dimensions," Gudea was sty- mied. Again he needed additional divine guidance; and again he resorted to the method that had worked before—but only after obtaining, through divination, a "go-ahead." The method he used for divination involved the "passing of quiet waters over seeds" and determining the course of action by DIVINE ENCOUNTERS