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Lama, Lamma, or Lamassu (Cuneiform: 𒀭𒆗) is a mythological hybrid, an Assyrian protective deity known to “turn back an evil person,” that is composed of the head of a human, the body of a bull or lion, and the wings of a bird. The horned cap attests to its divinity, and the belt signifies its power. These figures are depicted in the Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the textual sources for the iconography of these figures.
The lamassu and shedu were household protective spirits of the common Assyrian people, becoming associated later as royal protectors, and were placed as sentinels at entrances. The Akkadians associated the god Papsukkal with a lamassu and the god Išum with shedu.
Initially depicted as a goddess in Sumerian times, when it was called Lamma, it was later depicted from Assyrian times as a hybrid of a human, bird, and either a bull or lion—specifically having a human head, the body of a bull or a lion, and bird wings, under the name Lamassu. In some writings, it is portrayed to represent a goddess. A less frequently used name is shedu (Cuneiform: 𒀭𒆘) which refers to the male counterpart of a lamassu.
The goddess Lama appears initially as a mediating goddess who precedes the orans and presents them to the deities. The protective deity is clearly labelled as Lamma in a Kassite stele unearthed at Uruk, in the temple of Ishtar, goddess to which she had been dedicated by king Nazi-Maruttash (1307–1282 BC). It is a goddess wearing a ruffled dress and wearing a horned tiara symbolizing the deity, with two hands raised, in sign of prayer. From Assyrian times onwards, Lamma becomes a hybrid deity, half-animal and half-human.
The motif of a winged animal with a human head is common to the Near East, first recorded in Ebla around 3000 BC. The first distinct lamassu motif appeared in Assyria during the reign of Tiglath-Pileser II as a symbol of power.
Lamassu represent the zodiacs, parent-stars, or constellations. They are depicted as protective deities because they encompass all life within them. In the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, they are depicted as physical deities as well. Although lamassu had a different iconography and portrayal in the culture of Sumer, the terms “lamassu”, “alad”, and “shedu” evolved throughout the Assyro-Akkadian culture from the Sumerian culture to denote the Assyrian-winged-man-bull symbol and statues during the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Eventually, female lamassu were identified as “apsasû”.
A 2,700 year old alabaster sculpture of a lamassu from northern Iraq. The head of the sculpture had been looted and smuggled abroad in the 1990s but had been later found and put in the collection of the Iraq Museum in Baghdad. During the Islamic State Jihadist Group’s occupation of the area in 2014, residents of the village of Khorsabad hid the rest of the relief before fleeing to government held territory, sparing it from destruction.
Monumental lamassu sculptures from the 9th to 7th century of Mesopotamia have been found all over the Middle East as the kings of Assyria ruled over a vast empire centered in northern Iraq. Similar to the Chinese foo/ fu dog or imperial lions as well as the shisa dogs of japan, lamassu are guardian sculptures, typically appearing in pairs that were often placed outside of prominent sites. To protect houses, the lamassu were engraved in clay tablets, which were then buried under the door’s threshold. They were often placed as a pair at the entrance of palaces. 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 toward one of the cardinal points. Since they were part of city gates or citadel gates (where the temple and palace would be located), they often had a structural purpose as well.
During the Assyrian period, Mesopotamian kings established palaces in cities such as Nimrūd and Dur Sharrukin. The great Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II (r. 883–859 B.C.), undertook a vast building program at Nimrūd, ancient Kalhu. Until it became the capital city under Ashurnasirpal, Nimrūd had been no more than a provincial town.
The palaces were a display of the kings’ power, and lamassu served to guard them. Inscriptions in cuneiform declared a king’s might and punishment for those who opposed him were added to some of these sculptures. Many of these stones weighed as much as 40 tons or more.
Lamassu may be shown with four or five legs. For those that have five, two legs can be seen from the front; in profile, four legs are visible. This “double-aspect” causes the figure to appear to be standing still or walking when viewed either from the front or the side, respectively.
Winged bull with a human head, guardian figure (lamassu) from the gate of the palace at Dur Sharrukin, near Nineveh; currently housed in the Louvre.
Lamassu also have horned crowns and elaborate beards, and they have earrings in their ears, some of which are human and others are of a bull. According to some scholars, individual parts of a lamassu have specific meanings: the body of the bull represents strength, the wings represent freedom, and the human head represents intelligence.
Lamassu can still be found today in pop culture. They are featured in many movies and even video games. The British 10th Army, which operated in Iraq and Iran in 1942–1943, adopted the lamassu as its insignia.
A man with a bull’s body is found among the creatures that make up Aslan’s army in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis. He appears at the Stone Table, challenging the White Witch “with a great bellowing voice”.
In the film Alexander (2004), lamassu are seen at the Ishtar Gate in Babylon. In the Disney film Aladdin (1992), a gold lamassu can be found in the scene where Aladdin and Abu enter the cave in the desert to find the lamp.
I had never known what these were called before. I love history and I’ve seen them loads of times in books and different references to Babylon and Uruk. I was actually pretty excited to know what they were finally so of course I had to do deeper research on them and finally do a post! Have you ever heard of Lammasu or seen them before? Let me know in the comments!
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