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319 tourage of that region's citizens, "establishing a town for Enlil and Ninlil on the boundary of Nippur." It was the first time "since the days when fates were decreed, that a king had established a town for Enlil and Ninlil," Shu-Sin stated in obvious expectation of praise. With the probable assistance of the repatriated Nippurites, Shu-Sin also reinstated the high temple services at Nippur- bestowing upon himself the role and title of High Priest. Yet all this was to no avail. Instead of greater security, there were greater dangers, and concern about the loyalty of distant provinces gave way to worry about Sumer's own territory. "The mighty king, the King of Ur," Shu-Sin's inscriptions said, found that the "shepherding of the land"—of Sumer itself—had become the principal royal burden. There was one final effort to entice Enlil back to Sumer, to find shelter under his aegis. On the apparent advice of Ninlil, Shu-Sin built for the divine couple "a great touring boat, fit for the largest rivers. ... He decorated it perfectly with precious stones," outfitted it with oars made of the finest wood, punting poles and an artful rudder, and furnished it with all manner of comfort including a bridal bed. He then "placed the touring boat in the wide basin facing Ninlil's House of Pleasure." The nostalgic aspects struck a chord in Enlil's heart, for he had fallen in love with Ninlil, when she was still a young nurse, when he saw her bathing naked in the river; and he did come back to rivers. He Nippur: When Enlil heard [all this) From horizon to horizon he hurried. From south to north he travelled; Through the skies, over earth he hurried. To greatly rejoice with his beloved queen, Ninlil. The sentimental journey, however, was only a brief interlude. Some crucial lines before the end of the tablet are missing, so we are deprived of the details of what happened then. But the very last lines refer to “Ninurta, the great warrior of Enlil, who befuddled the Intruder," apparently after "an inscription, an evil inscrip- tion" was discovered on an effigy in the boat, intended perhaps to place a curse on Enlil and Ninlil. There is no record available of Enlil's reaction to the foul play: but all other evidence suggests that he again left Nippur, this time apparently taking Ninlil with him. The Nuclear Holocaust