shedu
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?).[An illustrated dictionary, Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia. (2003; Jeremy Black and Anthony Green, The British Museum Press; ISBN 0-7141-1705-6)]
In art they were depicted as hybrids, as winged bulls 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 Museum, Musée du Louvre, National Museum of Iraq, Metropolitan Museum of Art and kept at the Oriental Institute, Chicago. They are generally attributed to the ancient Assyrians.[BBC - History - Mesopotamia] [Lamassu - Ancient Near East.net]
To protect houses the shedu were engraved in clay tablets, which were buried under the door's threshold. At the entrance of palaces 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 points.
Shedu (Lamassu)
The Shedu is a celestial being from Mesopotamian mythology. He is a human above the waist and a bull 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 Shamash 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
Lammasu and Shedu are two distinct types of good-aligned creatures in the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. Lammasu also appear in the trading card game as the Hunted Lammasu in the expansion.
In the Lammasu are a house of fallen angels; see . Lammasu is also a large bull-like creature in service of the Chaos Dwarfs in Warhammer Fantasy Battle.
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 Wardrobe. He appears at the Stone Table, challenging the White Witch "with a great bellowing voice".
In the film Alexander, Lamassu are seen at the Ishtar Gate in Babylon.
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 Museum - Human Headed Winged Lions and Reliefs from Nimrud with the Gates of Balawat
Image:Winged Human-headed Bulls.JPG|The British Museum - 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 Museum - Human Headed Winged Lion and Bull from Nimrud, companion pieces in Metropolitan Museum of Art
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 Museum - 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, Chicago
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 Art - Human Headed Winged Lion and Bull from Nimrud, companion pieces in the British Museum
Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago Collection
Image:Lammasu.jpg
Image:Lammasu2.jpg
See also
 Cherub
Minotaur
External links
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