Abstract
Abstract
The present dissertation treats the long, Sumerian temple hymn known as the Gudea Cylinders or Gudea’s Dream. The text is inscribed on two large clay cylinders that date back to around 2125 BC, from the ancient city of Lagash (modern Telloh in southern Iraq). The text recounts the rebuilding by the ruler Gudea of the great Eninnu temple of Ningirsu, the main patron deity of the region, and paints a colourful picture of a largely cultic process which aims to establish the temple perfectly according to a heavenly model – befitting the divine presence that will dwell there and cause continued peace and abundance in the land.
Symbol theory and Philology make up the essential methodological approach in this dissertation, which central aim is to analyse major symbols and metaphors in the text that relate to the relationship between the temple and the divine, and the place of the temple in cosmos. More specifically, it considers the temple as a divine “house”, as cosmic link and axis mundi, and as a microcosm of the divine realm. Our study concludes that the temple is very much constructed (physically and metaphorically) to act as a point of cosmic ‘interconnection’, attracting, concentrating and making immanent principles that partake in a transcendent, metaphysical horizon. As the model and embodiment of the eternal, divine design, the temple represents total perfection and stability – and thereby becomes a centre and focal point in both a practical and ‘cosmic’ sense; connecting all activities within to the divine ideal model.