[1] Under Gudea, Lagash had a golden age, and seemed to enjoy a high level of independence from the Gutians, a language isolate speaking people who had arrived from regions to the northeast of Mesopotamia.

Gudea did not style himself "god of Lagash" as he was not deified during his own lifetime, this title must have been given to him posthumously[4] as in accordance with Mesopotamian traditions for all rulers except Naram-Sin of Akkad and some of the Ur III kings.

[6] Although Gudea claimed to have conquered Elam and Anshan, most of his inscriptions emphasize the building of irrigation channels and temples, and the creation of precious gifts to the gods.

[7] Materials for his buildings and statues were brought from all parts of western Asia: cedar wood from the Amanus mountains, quarried stones from Lebanon, copper from northern Arabia, gold and precious stones from the desert between Canaan and Egypt, diorite from Magan (Oman), and timber from Dilmun (Bahrain).

The gods will not merely reduce the offender's progeny to ash and destroy his foundations, no, they will, "let him sit down in the dust instead of on the seat they set up for him".