It is not directly stated in the text as preserved upon the stele that it was within E-ninnû Eannatum sought Ningirsu's counsel and instructions; but we may assume that such was the case, since the god dwelt within his temple, and it was there the patesi would naturally seek him out. The answer of the god to Eannatum's prayer was conveyed to him in a vision; Ningirsu himself appeared to the patesi, as he appeared in a later age to Gudea, when he gave the latter ruler detailed instructions for the rebuilding of E-ninnû, and granted him a sign by which he should know that he was chosen for the work. Like Gudea, Eannatum made his supplication lying flat upon his face; and, while he was stretched out upon the ground, he had a dream. In his dream he beheld the god Ningirsu, who appeared to him in visible form and came near him and stood by his head. And the god encouraged his patesi and promised him victory over his enemies. He was to go forth to battle and Babbar, the Sun-god who makes the city bright, would advance at his right hand to assist him. Thus encouraged by Ningirsu, and with the knowledge that he was carrying out the orders of his city-god, Eannatum marshalled his army and set out from Lagash to attack the men of Umma within their own territory. The account of the battle is very broken upon the Stele of the Vultures,[5] but sufficient details are preserved to enable us to gather that it was a fierce one, and that victory was wholly upon the side of Lagash. We may conjecture that the men of Umma did not await Eannatum's attack behind their city-walls, but went out to meet him with the object of preventing their own fields and pastures from being laid waste. Every man capable of bearing arms, who was not required for the defence of two cities, was probably engaged in the battle, and the two opposing armies were doubtless led in person by Eannatum himself and by Ush, the patesi of Umma, who had provoked the war. The army of Lagash totally defeated the men of Umma and pursued them with great slaughter. Eannatum puts the number of the slain at three thousand six hundred men, or, according to a possible reading, thirty-six thousand men. Even the smaller of these figures is probably exaggerated, but there is no doubt that Umma suffered heavily. According to his own account, Eannatum took an active part in the fight, and he states that he raged in the battle. After defeating the army in the open plain, the troops of Lagash pressed on to Umma itself. The fortifications had probably been denuded of their full garrisons, and were doubtless held by a mere handful of defenders. Flushed with victory the men of Lagash swept on to the attack, and, carrying the walls by assault, had the city itself at their mercy. Here another slaughter took place, and Eannatum states that within the city he swept all before him "like an evil storm."