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40 chosen to build a new temple. Next the goddess Nisaba ap- peared; she was wearing the image of a temple structure on her head; the goddess was holding a tablet on which the starry heavens were depicted, and with a stylus she kept pointing to the “favorable celestial constellation.” A third god, Ningishzidda (i.e. Thoth) held a tablet of lapis lazuli on which a structural plan was drawn; he also held a clay brick, a mold for brickmaking, and a builder’s carrying basket. When Gudea awoke, the three gods were gone, but the archi- tectural tablet was on his lap (Fig. 18) and the brick and its mold were at his feet! Gudea needed the help of an oracle goddess and two more vision-dreams to understand the meaning of it all. In the third vision-dream he was shown a holographic-like ani- mated demonstration of the temple’s building, starting with the initial alignment with the indicated celestial point, the laying of foundations, the molding of bricks—the construc- tion all the way up, step by step. Both the start of construc- tion and the final dedication ceremony were to be held on signals from the gods on specific days; both fell on New Year’s Day, which meant the day of the Spring Equinox. THE END OF DAYS FIGURE 18