The Sumerian word
lama, which is rendered in Akkadian as
lamassu, refers to a beneficient protective female deity. The corresponding male deity was called
alad, in Akkadian,
šêdu (Hebrew
šed שד).. Also known as an urmahlullu.
In art they were depicted as hybrids, as
wingA wing is a surface used to produce lift for flight through the air or another gaseous or fluid medium. The wing shape is usually an airfoil. The word originally referred only to the foremost limbs of birds, but has been extended to include the wings of insects , bats, pterosaurs, and aircraft.A...
ed
bullsBulls may refer to several things:*Male cattle*Sometimes used in place of bullshit *Blue Bulls, a rugby club in South Africa*Belfast Bulls, an american football team in Northern Ireland...
or lions with the head of a human male (Centauroid). There are still surviving figures of šêdu in bas-relief and some statues in museums. Notable examples of šêdu/lamassu held by museums include those at the
British MuseumThe British Museum is a museum of human history and culture situated in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from...
, Musée du Louvre,
National Museum of IraqThe National Museum of Iraq is a museum located in Baghdad, Iraq. It contains priceless relics from Mesopotamian civilization, thousands of which were looted in 2003 during the Iraq War. On February 23, 2009, the museum was reopened for a day by Iraqi prime minister Al-Maliki, with about half of...
,
Metropolitan Museum of ArtThe Metropolitan Museum of Art, known colloquially as The Met, is an art museum located on the eastern edge of Central Park, along what is known as Museum Mile in New York City, USA. It has a permanent collection containing more than two million works of art, divided into nineteen curatorial...
and one extremely large example kept at the
Oriental Institute, ChicagoThe Oriental Institute , established in 1919, is the University of Chicago's archeology museum and research center for ancient Near Eastern studies....
.
The Sumerian word
lama, which is rendered in Akkadian as
lamassu, refers to a beneficient protective female deity. The corresponding male deity was called
alad, in Akkadian,
šêdu (Hebrew
šed שד).. Also known as an urmahlullu.
In art they were depicted as hybrids, as
wingA wing is a surface used to produce lift for flight through the air or another gaseous or fluid medium. The wing shape is usually an airfoil. The word originally referred only to the foremost limbs of birds, but has been extended to include the wings of insects , bats, pterosaurs, and aircraft.A...
ed
bullsBulls may refer to several things:*Male cattle*Sometimes used in place of bullshit *Blue Bulls, a rugby club in South Africa*Belfast Bulls, an american football team in Northern Ireland...
or lions with the head of a human male (Centauroid). There are still surviving figures of šêdu in bas-relief and some statues in museums. Notable examples of šêdu/lamassu held by museums include those at the
British MuseumThe British Museum is a museum of human history and culture situated in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from...
, Musée du Louvre,
National Museum of IraqThe National Museum of Iraq is a museum located in Baghdad, Iraq. It contains priceless relics from Mesopotamian civilization, thousands of which were looted in 2003 during the Iraq War. On February 23, 2009, the museum was reopened for a day by Iraqi prime minister Al-Maliki, with about half of...
,
Metropolitan Museum of ArtThe Metropolitan Museum of Art, known colloquially as The Met, is an art museum located on the eastern edge of Central Park, along what is known as Museum Mile in New York City, USA. It has a permanent collection containing more than two million works of art, divided into nineteen curatorial...
and one extremely large example kept at the
Oriental Institute, ChicagoThe Oriental Institute , established in 1919, is the University of Chicago's archeology museum and research center for ancient Near Eastern studies....
. They are generally attributed to the ancient Assyrians.
To protect houses the shedu were engraved in clay tablets, which were buried under the door's threshold. At the entrance of
palacesA palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word itself is derived from the Latin name Palātium, for Palatine Hill, one of the seven hills in Rome...
often placed as a pair. At the entrance of cities they were sculpted in colossal size, and placed as a pair, one at each side of the door of the city, that generally had doors in the surrounding wall, each one looking towards one of the
cardinal pointThe four cardinal directions or cardinal points are north, south, east, and west, commonly denoted by their initials - N, S, E, W. They are mostly used for geographic orientation on Earth but may be calculated anywhere on a rotating astronomical body...
s.
Shedu (Lamassu)
The Shedu is a celestial being from
Mesopotamian mythologyMesopotamian mythology is the collective name given to Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian mythologies from parts of the fertile crescent, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq....
. He is a human above the waist and a
bullCattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
below the waist. He also has the horns and the ears of a bull.
The bull man helps people fight evil and chaos. He holds the gates of dawn open for the sun god
ShamashShamash or Šamaš was the common Akkadian name of the sun god and god of justice in Babylonia and Assyria, corresponding to Sumerian Utu.-History and meaning:...
and supports the sun disc. He is often shown on Cylinder Seals.
It appears frequently in Mesopotamian art, sometimes with wings. Statues of the bull-man were often used as gatekeepers.
Shedu and Lammasu in fiction
LammasuIn the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, the lammasu are a race of good magical beasts.-Creative origins:They are based on lammasu of Mesopotamian mythology, being winged, leonine champions of good.-Description:...
and Shedu are two distinct types of good-
alignedIn the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, alignment is a categorization of the ethical and moral perspective of people, creatures and societies....
creatures in the
role-playing gameA role-playing game is a game in which the participants assume the roles of fictional characters. Participants determine the actions of their characters based on their characterization, and the actions succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines...
Dungeons & DragonsDungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game is currently published by Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro...
. Lammasu also appear in the
Magic: The GatheringMagic: The Gathering is a collectible card game created by mathematics professor Richard Garfield and introduced in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast. Magic is the first example of the modern collectible card game genre and still thrives today, with an estimated six million players in over seventy...
trading card game as the white card
Hunted Lammasu in the
Ravnica: City of GuildsThis article is about the Magic: The Gathering set known as Ravnica: City of Guilds. For an article about the plane and the guilds mentioned below, see Ravnica ....
expansion.
In
Demon: The FallenDemon: The Fallen is a role-playing game and a fictional setting from the World of Darkness line by White Wolf Game Studio. The player characters in the game are fallen angels, who were cast out of paradise after a thousand year war with God.- History :...
the
Lammasu are a house of
fallen angelIn most Christian denominations, a fallen angel is an angel who has been exiled or banished from Heaven.Often such banishment is a punishment for disobeying or rebelling against God . The best-known fallen angel is Lucifer. Lucifer is a name frequently given to Satan in Christian belief...
s; see
Houses in Demon: The FallenIn the role-playing game Demon: The Fallen, houses are groups of fallen angels. Unlike factions in Demon: The Fallen, houses resemble the demons' "families"...
. Lammasu is also a large bull-like creature in service of the
Chaos DwarfsChaos Dwarfs are a fictional race in the Warhammer Fantasy universe in which they are described as being an off-shoot of the Dwarfs who have been corrupted by the forces of Chaos. They are represented within Warhammer Fantasy Battle, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Blood Bowl and other games produced...
in
Warhammer Fantasy BattleWarhammer: The Game of Fantasy Battles is a tabletop wargame created by Games Workshop. It is the origin of the Warhammer Fantasy setting....
.
A bull with a man's head is found among the creatures that make up Aslan's army in
The Lion, the Witch and the WardrobeThe Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a fantasy novel for children by C. S. Lewis. Written in 1950 and set in approximately 1940, it is the first-published book of The Chronicles of Narnia and is the best known book of the series. Although it was written and published first, it is second in the...
. He appears at the Stone Table, challenging the White Witch "with a great bellowing voice".
In the film
AlexanderAlexander is a 2004 epic film, based on the life of Alexander the Great. It was directed by Oliver Stone, with Colin Farrell in the title role....
, Lamassu are seen at the
Ishtar GateThe Ishtar Gate was the eighth gate to the inner city of Babylon...
in
BabylonBabylon was a city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
.
In the Disney movie
AladdinAladdin is one of the tales of medieval Arabian origin in the The Book of One Thousand and One Nights , and one of the most famous, although it was actually added to the collection by Antoine Galland .-Synopsis:The original story of...
, a
gold Lamassu can be found in the scene where Aladdin and Abu enter the cave in the desert to find the lamp.
Gallery
British Museum Collection
Image:BM; RM6 - ANE, Assyrian Sculpture 14 West Wall (M + N) ~ Assyrian Empire + -Lamassu, Gates at Balawat, Relief Panel's) & Full Projection.3.JPG|The British MuseumThe British Museum is a museum of human history and culture situated in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from...
- Human Headed Winged Lions and Reliefs from NimrudNimrud is an ancient Assyrian city located south of Nineveh on the river Tigris. In ancient times the city was called Kalḫu. The Arabs called the city Nimrud after Nimrod, a legendary hunting hero....
with the Gates of BalawatBalawat is a village in Northern Iraq, 25 km southeast from the city of Mosul. It is the site of the ancient Assyrian city of Imgur-Enlil.-The city of Imgur-Enlil:...
Image:Winged Human-headed Bulls.JPG|The British MuseumThe British Museum is a museum of human history and culture situated in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from...
- Human Headed Winged Bulls from Khorsabad
Image:BM; RM8 - ANE, Nimrud Palace Reliefs 75 South + East Wall (S) ~ Central Palace of Tiglath-pileser III (744-727 B.C) + Full Elevation & Viewing South.1.JPG|The British MuseumThe British Museum is a museum of human history and culture situated in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from...
- Human Headed Winged Lion and Bull from NimrudNimrud is an ancient Assyrian city located south of Nineveh on the river Tigris. In ancient times the city was called Kalḫu. The Arabs called the city Nimrud after Nimrod, a legendary hunting hero....
, companion pieces in Metropolitan Museum of ArtNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
Image:BM; RM6 - ANE, Assyrian Sculpture 32 -East (N), Centre Island + North Wall- ~ Assyrian Empire + -Lamassu, Stela's, Statue's, Obelisk's, Relief Panel's) & Full Projection.1.JPG|The British MuseumThe British Museum is a museum of human history and culture situated in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from...
- Assyrian Sculpture, notice the colossal Lion Lamassu
Musée du Louvre Collection
Image:Louvre lion gate DSC00914.jpg|Musée du Louvre - Human Headed Winged Bulls from Khorsabad, otherwise known as Lamassu's
Image:19676 AO0004.002.jpg|Musée du Louvre - Human Headed Winged Bulls, Sculpture and Reliefs from Khorsabad, note the Lamassu in the foreground is a cast from the Oriental Institute, ChicagoThe Oriental Institute , established in 1919, is the University of Chicago's archeology museum and research center for ancient Near Eastern studies....
Image:27841 AO004.001.jpg|Musée du Louvre - Human Headed Winged Bulls and Reliefs from Khorsabad
Image:27842 AO004.003.jpg|Musée du Louvre - Human Headed Winged Bulls and Reliefs from Khorsabad
Metropolitan Museum of Art Collection
Image:Neoassyrian.jpg|The Metropolitan Museum of ArtThe Metropolitan Museum of Art, known colloquially as The Met, is an art museum located on the eastern edge of Central Park, along what is known as Museum Mile in New York City, USA. It has a permanent collection containing more than two million works of art, divided into nineteen curatorial...
- Human Headed Winged Lion and Bull from NimrudNimrud is an ancient Assyrian city located south of Nineveh on the river Tigris. In ancient times the city was called Kalḫu. The Arabs called the city Nimrud after Nimrod, a legendary hunting hero....
, companion pieces in the British MuseumThe British Museum is a museum of human history and culture situated in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from...
Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago Collection
Image:Lammasu.jpg
Image:Lammasu2.jpg
Winged lion in Venice
In a much later period, a winged lion appeared on the flag of the
Republic of VeniceThe Most Serene Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century AD until the year 1797...
; however, this refers to Saint Mark the Evangelist, the patron saint of Venice.
See also
- Cherub
A cherub is a form of angel mentioned several times in the Bible. In modern English the word is usually used for what are strictly putti, baby or toddler angels in art...
- Minotaur
In Greek mythology, the Minotaur , as the Greeks imagined him, was a creature with the head of a bull on the body of a man or, as described by Ovid, "part man and part bull." He dwelt at the center of the Cretan Labyrinth, which was an elaborate maze-like construction built for King Minos of Crete...
External links