without danger the near presence of a god, was necessarily limited;
communications were, therefore, more often established by means of
various objects, whose grosser substance lessened for human intelligence
and flesh and blood the dangers of direct contact with an immortal. The
statues hidden in the recesses of the temples or erected on the summits
of the "ziggurats" became imbued, by virtue of their consecration, with
the actual body of the god whom they represented, and whose name was
written either on the base or garment of the statue.** The sovereign
who dedicated them, summoned them to speak in the days to come, and from
thenceforth they spoke: when they were interrogated according to the
rite instituted specially for each one, that part of the celestial soul,
which by means of the prayers had been attracted to and held captive
by the statue, could not refuse to reply.** Were there for this purpose
special images, as in Egypt, which were cleverly contrived so as to
emit sounds by the pulling of a string by the hidden prophet? Voices
resounded at night in the darkness of the sanctuaries, and particularly
when a king came there to prostrate himself for the purpose of learning
the future: his rank alone, which raised him halfway to heaven, prepared
him to receive the word from on high by the mouth of the image.

* A prophetic dream is mentioned upon, one of the statues of
Telloh. In the records of Assurbanipal we find mention of
several "seers"--_shabru_--one of whom predicts the
general triumph of the king over his enemies, and of whom
another announces in the name of Ishtar the victory over the
Elamites and encourages the Assyrian army to cross a torrent
swollen by rains, while a third sees in a dream the defeat
and death of the King of Elam. These "seers" are mentioned in
the texts of Gudea with the prophetesses "who tell the
message" of the gods.

** In a formula drawn up against evil spirits, for the
purpose of making talismanic figures for the protection of
houses, it is said of Merodach that he "inhabits the image"
--_ashibu salam_--which has been made of him by the magician.

** This is what Gudea says, when, describing his own statue
which he had placed in the temple of Telloh, he adds that
"he gave the order to the statue: 'To the statue of my king,
speak!'" The statue of the king, inspired by that of the
god