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In the Dream of Gudea, the Sumerian ruler sees a giant divine figure described from head to feet that needs interpreting. Daniel echoes the form when Nebuchadnezzar dreams of a giant statue described the same way.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
The Dream of Gudea
Gudea Cylinders
Ancient Near East
His lady, holy Gatumdug, received from Gudea his prayer. In her boat she embarked not. At her city Nina, she left the boat fixed. The patesi in the court of the goddess of Sirara lifted his head heavenward. A sacrifice he made, pure water he poured out. To Nina he went, a prayer he brought. “O Nina, lady of priestly rights, lady of precious decrees. O lady, like Enlil, deciding fates, O Nina, your word is faithful; above all it excels. Prophetess of the gods you are; mistress of the lands you are. O mother, let me relate now the dream. The meaning of the dream I know not. There was a man — like heaven was his form, like earth was his form; as to the crown of his head a god was he; at his side was the storm-bird; at his feet was the hurricane; at his right and at his left a panther lay. He commanded me to build his temple. His meaning I do not understand. The sun arose from the world. There was a woman, who was it not, who was it? . . . she made. The sacred stylus she held in her hand. She possessed the tablet of the good stars. “She counseled with herself.
Date: 2125 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Daniel 2:32
Hebrew Bible
31 “You, O king, were watching as a great statue—one of impressive size and extraordinary brightness—was standing before you. Its appearance caused alarm. 32 As for that statue, its head was of fine gold, its chest and arms were of silver, its belly and thighs were of bronze. 33 Its legs were of iron; its feet were partly of iron and partly of clay.
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Notes and References
... There are some striking similarities between the image in Gudea's dream and that of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2:31-33. The central figure of both was a giant (statue of a) man. Both figures are described beginning at the head and then moving to the chest or arm area, and finally the lower regions of the body (belly, legs, and feet). Moreover, in both dreams there is a sequence of actions surrounding the central figure. Of course, the images are not the same, and Gudea's is not described as a 'statue,' but rather as a living figure of the god, Ningirsu, commanding Gudea to build his temple. The actions associated with the figure also dissimilar (compare Cylinder A iv.22-v.10 and v.19-vi.13 with Daniel 2:34-45). Although Ezekiel's theophany (Ezekiel 1) is textually distant from his temple restoration vision (Ezekiel 40-48), one could nevertheless also argue for some level of transformed correspondence between it and Gudea's description of Ningirsu ...
Averbeck, Richard E.
"The Cylinders of Gudea" in Hallo, William W., and K. Lawson Younger Jr. (eds.) The Context of Scripture, Volume II: Monumental Inscriptions from the Biblical World
(p. 420) Brill, 2003
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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