Lama,Lamma, orLamassu (Cuneiform:𒀭𒆗,an.kal;Sumerian:dlammař; later inAkkadian:lamassu; sometimes called alamassuse)[1][2] is aMesopotamian protective deity.[3]
Initially depicted as a goddess inSumerian times, when it was calledLamma, it was later depicted fromAssyrian 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 nameLamassu.[3][4] In some writings, it is portrayed to represent a goddess.[5] A less frequently used name isshedu (Cuneiform:𒀭𒆘,an.kal×bad; Sumerian:dalad; Akkadian,šēdu), which refers to the male counterpart of alamassu.[6]Lamassu represent thezodiacs, parent-stars orconstellations.[7][8]
The goddess Lama appears initially as a mediating goddess who precedes theorans and presents them to the deities.[3] The protective deity is clearly labelled as Lam(m)a in aKassite stele unearthed atUruk, in the temple ofIshtar, goddess to which she had been dedicated by kingNazi-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]
From Assyrian times,lamassu were depicted ashybrids, with bodies of eitherwingedbulls orlions and heads of human males.[3] The motif of a winged animal with a human head is common to the Near East, first recorded inEbla around 3000 BC. The first distinctlamassu motif appeared in Assyria during the reign ofTiglath-Pileser II as a symbol of power.[11][12]
Assyrian sculpture typically placed prominent pairs oflamassu at entrances in palaces, facing the street and also internal courtyards. They were represented as "double-aspect" figures on corners, in highrelief. From the front, they appear to stand, and from the side, they walk. In earlier versions, they have five legs, as is apparent when viewed obliquely. Lamassu do not generally appear as large figures in the low-relief schemes running round palace rooms, wherewinged genie figures are common, but they sometimes appear within narrative reliefs, apparently protecting the Assyrians.[13]
The colossal entrance figures were often followed by a hero grasping a wriggling lion, also colossal in scale and in high relief. In the palace ofSargon II atDur-Sharrukin, a group of at least sevenlamassu and two such heroes with lions surrounded the entrance to the "throne room", "a concentration of figures which produced an overwhelming impression of power".[13] They also appear oncylinder seals. Notable examples include those at theGate of All Nations atPersepolis in Iran, theBritish Museum in London, theLouvre in Paris, theNational Museum of Iraq in Baghdad, theMetropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and theUniversity of Chicago Oriental Institute. Several examples leftin situ in northernIraq were destroyed in the 2010s by theIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant when they occupied the area, as werethose in the Mosul Museum.
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Lamassu represent the zodiacs, parent-stars, or constellations.[7][8] They are depicted as protective deities because they encompass all life within them. In the SumerianEpic of Gilgamesh, they are depicted as physical deities as well, which is where the lamassu iconography originates, physical representations or embodiments of divine higher principles associated with specific celestial origins. Althoughlamassu had a differenticonography and portrayal inthe 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 theNeo-Assyrian Empire. Eventually, femalelamassu were identified as "apsasû".[4]
The motif of the Assyrian-winged-man-bull calledAladlammu andLamassu interchangeably is not thelamassu or alad of Sumerian origin, which were depicted with different iconography.[clarification needed] These monumental statues were called aladlammû orlamassu which meant "protective spirit".[4][clarification needed] In Hittite, the Sumerian formdlamma is used both as a name for the so-called "tutelary deity", identified in certain later texts with the goddessInara, and a title given to similar protective deities.[14]
Thelamassu is a celestial being fromancient Mesopotamian religion bearing a human head, symbolising intelligence; a bull's body, symbolizing strength; and an eagle's wings, symbolizing freedom. Sometimes it had the horns and the ears of a bull. It appears frequently inMesopotamian art. Thelamassu andshedu were household protective spirits of the common Assyrian people, becoming associated later as royal protectors, and were placed as sentinels at entrances.[15] The Akkadians associated the godPapsukkal with alamassu and the godIšum withshedu.
To protect houses, thelamassu were engraved in clay tablets, which were then buried under the door's threshold. They were often placed as a pair at the entrance ofpalaces. 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 thecardinal points.
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TheBritish 10th Army, which operated inIraq andIran in 1942–1943, adopted thelamassu as its insignia. A bearded man with a winged bull body appears on the logo of theUnited States Forces – Iraq.[citation needed]
A man with a bull's body is found among the creatures that make up Aslan's army inThe Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe byC. S. Lewis. He appears at the Stone Table, challenging the White Witch "with a great bellowing voice". In the filmAlexander (2004),lamassu are seen at theIshtar Gate inBabylon. In the Disney filmAladdin (1992), a goldlamassu can be found in the scene where Aladdin and Abu enter the cave in the desert to find the lamp.[citation needed]
Michael Rakowitz, aNorthwestern University professor of Art Theory & Practice, won aFourth Plinth commission to recreate theLamassu that stood in Nineveh, Iraq, from 700 BC until it was destroyed by ISIS in 2015. Rakowitz's sculpture was displayed in London's Trafalgar Square from 2018 to 2020.[16]
The lamassu is also often used as a representation ofAssyrian culture by the modernAssyrian people, and use it to pay homage to their ancient ancestry.[17]
Lammasu [sic] andshedu are two distinct types of good-aligned creatures in therole-playing gameDungeons & Dragons, with lammasu having the bodies of winged lions and shedu depicted as human-headed winged bulls.[citation needed]
Lammasu appear in theMagic: The Gathering trading card game as thewhite card Hunted Lammasu[18] in theRavnica expansion, as well as thewhite card Venerable Lammasu found in theKhans of Tarkir expansion.[19]
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 Assyrian Human Headed Winged Lion and Bull (Lamassu),Smarthistory[20] |
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The deity which we have here called the Babylonian Goddess has been identified as the goddess Lama thanks to an inscription found at Uruk. Agnes Spycket has discussed the textual references to this interceding deity, and the way she is represented in art.
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