The Dream of Gudea
Gudea Cylinders“As for the ass which crouched at the side of my lord, it is you; in Eninnu, like . . . you crouch. May mason provide my purification. In Girsu, in the sanctuary of the land of Lagash, you shall set your foot. In your treasure-house change the tablets of accounts, remove wood from it. For your king prepare a chariot. Yoke the ass to it. Adorn the sacred chariot with lapis lazuli. The quiver like daylight shall shine. The divine sword of heroism adorn. “His sacred emblem make, your name write thereon. His beloved lyre, the usumgal of the land, instrument which has a sweet sound, which gives counsel, unto the hero who loves gifts, “Your King, the lord Ningirsu, in Eninnu, of the glorious storm-bird, cause to be brought in. Your little words as great words he has received. Inasmuch as he whose heart is as profound as heaven, Ningirsu, the son of Enlil, appeases you with his word, and reveals to you the plan of his temple; the hero whose decrees are great has blessed you.”
Ezekiel 1:4
14 The living beings moved backward and forward as quickly as flashes of lightning. 15 Then I looked, and I saw one wheel on the ground beside each of the four beings. 16 The appearance of the wheels and their construction was like gleaming jasper, and all four wheels looked alike. Their structure was like a wheel within a wheel. 17 When they moved they would go in any of the four directions they faced without turning as they moved. 18 Their rims were high and awesome, and the rims of all four wheels were full of eyes all around. 19 When the living beings moved, the wheels beside them moved; when the living beings rose up from the ground, the wheels rose up too.
Notes and References
"... Ezekiel’s theophany upon the completion of the visionary temple is a repetition of his revelation in chapter one, and includes images evocative of Gudea’s god Ningirsu. The four-winged creatures in Ezekiel’s vision have the figure of a man, and one of the four faces of each creature is that of a lion. Ezekiel’s theophany also consists of many thunderstorm elements (Ezekiel 1:4–28). He comments that the noise of the creatures’ wings is like rushing waters; he describes a huge cloud, a stormy whirlwind, flashing lightning; finally, “as the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about,” (Ezekiel 1:28). Ezekiel’s theophany is surrounded by a rainbow! Ezekiel’s divinity appears the first time, and probably also the second, in a chariot covered with eyes, and “the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone,” (Ezekiel 1:26). Blue lapidary work seems important in both visions: one of the first offerings Gudea is advised to present to the god Ningirsu is a beautifully adorned war chariot, of lapis lazuli ..."
Sharon, Diane M. A Biblical Parallel to a Sumerian Temple Hymn? Ezekiel 40–48 and Gudea (pp. 99-109) Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society, Vol. 24, No. 1, 1996