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.[3][4] In some writings, it is portrayed to represent a goddess.[5] A less frequently used name is shedu (Cuneiform: ð’€ð’†˜, an.kal×bad; Sumerian: dalad; Akkadian, Å¡Ä“du), which refers to the male counterpart of a lamassu.[6] Lamassu represent the zodiacs, parent-stars or constellations.[7][8]
Statuette of the goddess Lama, probably made in a workshop on the outskirts of Mesopotamia. Isin-Larsa period (2000-1800 BC). Royal Museums of Art and History - Brussels
Cylinder seal showing the representation of a devotee (center) by goddess Lamma (left), to Ishtar (right). Babylonian, c. 18th–17th century BC, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Stele with inscription showing the protectrice deity Lam(m)a, dedicated by king Nazi-Maruttash to goddess Ishtar, from Uruk (1307-1282 BC). Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The goddess Lama appears initially as a mediating goddess who precedes the orans and presents them to the deities.[3] The protective deity is clearly labelled as Lam(m)a 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).[9] It is a goddess wearing a ruffled dress and wearing a horned tiara symbolizing the deity, with two hands raised, in sign of prayer. Agnès Spycket proposed that similar female figures appearing in particular in glyptics and statuary from the Akkadian period, and in particular in the presentation scenes (common especially in the Paleo-Babylonian era) were to be considered as Lam(m)a.[10] This opinion is commonly followed and in artistic terminology these female figures are generally referred to as Lam(m)a.[3] From Assyrian times, Lamma becomes a hybrid deity, half-animal, half-human.[3]
The British Museum – human-headed winged lion and bull from Nimrud, companion pieces in Metropolitan Museum of Art
Louvre – human-headed winged bulls, sculpture and Reliefs from Dur-Sharrukin.
Louvre – human-headed winged bulls and reliefs from Dur-Sharrukin, in their wider setting of reliefs
Louvre – human-headed winged bulls and reliefs from Dur-Sharrukin
The Metropolitan Museum of Art – human-headed winged lion and bull from Nimrud, companion pieces to those in the British Museum
Detail, University of Chicago Oriental Institute. Possibly gypsum, Dur-Sharrukin, entrance to the throne room, c. 721–705 BC
Modern impression of Achaemenid cylinder seal, fifth century BC. A winged solar disc legitimises the Achaemenid emperor, who subdues two rampant Mesopotamian lamassu figures
Head of lamassu. Marble, eighth century BC, from Assur, Iraq. Museum of the Ancient Orient, Istanbul.
Head of a lamassu from the palace of Esarhaddon, from Nimrud, Iraq, seventh century BC, the British Museum
Lamassu from the Throne Room (Room B) of the North-West Palace at Nimrud, Iraq, ninth century BC, the British Museum, London
