The directions issued by the god Nin-girsu to Gudea in a dream regarding the building of his temple, have direct reference to a symbolical action which certainly has a close resemblance to that in which these Kanephorous figures appear to be engaged. Gudea was presented with a sacred brick on a cushion, which, after the performance of various rites and ceremonies, he placed upon his head and carried to the temple—an outward and visible sign of his obedience to the divine will and of his determination to restore the time-honoured fane of his god. But whatever the correct interpretation of these Kanephorous figures be, they certainly recall the task in which Ur-Ninâ is engaged on the famous bas-relief in which he is portrayed surrounded by his family and the court (cf. Fig. 26). Another of the same class of figures and also reproduced in Heuzey and De Sarsec’s monumental work, bears an inscription of Dungi, king of Ur (_circ._ 2400 B.C.), but the lower limbs instead of being modelled out, are in the form of a cone; the other statuette illustrated on the same plate[106] is on the contrary very carefully modelled, and is clad in a short garment reaching to the knees, but unfortunately bears no inscription. [Illustration: FIG. 39.—A, B, C (cf. Cat., pp. 315, 307, 301; Nos. 164, 158, 146). Musée du Louvre.] Some centuries later the Elamite conquerors, Kudur-Mabug and his son Rîm-Sin, who established their supremacy over the whole of Sumer and Akkad and maintained their position till Khammurabi, the then king of Babylon, defeated Rîm-Sin in his thirty-first year, caused their names to be inscribed on similar statuettes (cf. Fig. 39, A). The figure here reproduced is that of a woman; her garment, which is of the nature of a skirt, allows us no view of the feet, and itself tapers downwards and recalls the earlier nail-pointed statuettes. The nudity of the bust, and the absence of hair on the head, are indications that the woman in question is a slave, and her vocation was probably to assist in the building of the temples of the gods. In style this figure is more boldly executed than the earlier statuette of Gudea seen in Fig. 39, B. It bears an inscription in which mention is made of Kudur-Mabug and his son Rîm-Sin. Sometimes male Kanephores occur, a good example of which is preserved in the British Museum; it came from Tellô like so many of these early works of art. Another excellent specimen was presented some few years ago to the Berlin Museum; it is rather more than ten inches in height, and bears a very clearly written Sumerian inscription; the names of Kudur-Mabug and Rîm-Sin occur, and the statuette was dedicated “for the preservation of life,” as was always the case with these votive-figures.