Download MESOPOTAMIA Amulet: Head of Pazuzu, Demon of the South

MESOPOTAMIA
Amulet: Head of Pazuzu, Demon of the South-east Wind
Mesopotamia
7th or early 6th c. B.C.
Terracotta (68.138c)
The Assyro-Babylonian demon Pazuzu is shown here in amulet form
with large lion-like ears, a snarling mouth exposing gums and four canine teeth, and a
full beard that fans out from his chin. A pair of goat's horns sweeps back from his brow.
Images of the demon in full form show him as a composite figure of many different
creatures. He has a horned head of lion or dog, a scaly body with two sets of wings,
human hands or lion’s paws, scorpion’s tail, serpent-headed penis, and legs and talons
of a bird of prey. He is often depicted with his arm raised in a menacing gesture. From
inscriptions sometimes written on the back of his wings or head, he is known to
represent the hot, dry, south-east summer wind of Mesopotamia As an evil demon of
the winds he brings into being cyclones, storms, and tempests, causing mountains to
rage and erupt. He also brings drought, epidemic and disease, and is especially
associated with head ailments. He is King of the Evil Winds, who originate in the
“Mountains of the Underworld.” An inscription on a plaque from Nimrud reads as
follows:
I am Pazuzu, the son of Hampa, king of the evil wind-demons. The
mighty mountains do I cause to rage and they erupt; verily it is I (who do
it). The scorching sirocco and the four winds do I bring into being; the
cyclones which ‘carry away’ the heart, the storms and the tempests—their
destinies I decree.
As a fierce demon, he could, however, provide protection against the terrifying
demoness Lamashtu, who preyed on pregnant women and unborn children. It is
thought that the people of Mesopotamia felt that a malevolent power of equal force was
needed as protection against evil. Women in childbirth wore amulets of his head or
figure. The loop at the top of this terracotta head is for suspension, but perhaps on a
door or wall.
About 40 amulets and images of Pazuzu have survived from antiquity. A few
come from graves, some of which were children’s. Although most surviving images
have no known excavation context, the known contexts date from the 8th to early 6th c.
B.C. The disappearance of his images was perhaps due to the collapse of the Assyrian
Empire in the late 7th c.
The amulet is an expression of religious belief. It also attests the power of
Mesopotamian artists to express imaginary beings in convincing manifestations.
MAA 9/99
MESOPOTAMIA
Cuneiform Tablet and Case
Mesopotamia, Larsa (?)
1749-1712 B.C.
Clay (L-19)
Lent by Missouri School of Religion
Cuneiform Tablet
Mesopotamia, Umma
2047 B.C.
Clay (71.25)
Cuneiform, probably the most ancient system of writing, was already in use as early as
3000 B.C. The name means wedge-shaped and is derived from the Latin cuneus (wedge)
and forma (form, shape). Mesopotamians used damp clay tablets or bricks on which
they impressed their signs. The tablets were then baked by the sun or in a kiln to make
them hard and durable. The tool used for writing was simply a straight piece of wood,
reed, bone, or metal with a broad head. The signs were made from left to right.
Writing developed in response to a need for record keeping. As well as records,
surviving texts from the region include scientific, literary and historical texts, prayers,
letters, hymns, and incantations. The two tablets on exhibit here are examples of
records. The tablet from Larsa records the division of a 25-and-1/2 acre estate between
three individuals. The borders of each share are detailed in the text, and seven
witnesses were present when oaths naming the gods Marduk and Shamash and the
king Samsu-iluna were sworn by the parties concerned. The tablet is dated to the 6th
month and 20th day of a particular year (not translated) of the reign of the king, who
ruled 1749-1712 B.C.
The second tablet records the work of 417 men hired for one day to spread heaps
of grain and to harvest grain in the New Field and in other fields under the supervision
of the overseer Basa. The tablet is certified by the seal of Inim-Inanna, son of Lugalduga, and dated to the second year of the king Amar-Sin, i.e. 2047 B.C.
These tablets serve as examples of one of the ways that connections were made
between people, generations, and cultures, by enabling transmission of ideas through
the written word.
MAA 9/99
Cylinder Seal
Mesopotamia
Akkad Style, ca. 2350-2300 B.C.
Anhydrite (62.23.2)
MESOPOTAMIA
Published: Handbook, no. 13
Cylinder Seal
Mesopotamia
Old Babylonian, ca. 2000-1900 B.C.
Black serpentine (62.23.3)
The material of the Akkad style seal is a mineral, anhydrous calcium sulphate, usually
white or slightly colored. This seal depicts a contest in which a hero, wearing a flat cap,
protects a bull from an attacking lion. A second hero attacks a bison, under whose body
is a design in form of a star and spade. The second seal shows a worshipper standing
before a deity seated on a temple throne. A scorpion is set between them. On the right a
cuneiform inscription records the name Dunol.
Cylinder seals were carved in intaglio and when rolled over soft clay produced a
design in relief. (The modern impressions on exhibit are made of Vinagel, a substance,
like modelling clay, but which retains its shape after being baked in an oven.) Seals
were used to protect goods being shipped, to seal tombs, and to sign documents.
Stoppers in the mouths of jars containing wine, olive oil, etc., were covered with a lump
of clay over which the seal was rolled. Tablets with documents written on them would
have the seal of the officiating dignitary, or the personal seal of the negotiator, rolled on
them to make the document legal.
Carving on seals is often of very high quality. Designs vary from simple
geometric patterns and friezes of animals to complicated pictorial representations of
mythology.
The Akkad style seal presents some typical features of Akkadian seals. The
figures are somewhat separate one from the other, and although a continuous frieze is
intended the design is static. Many Akkadian seals depict a restricted number of animal
types. Stag, panther, goat, and ox, found on Early Dynastic seals, are rarely shown, nor
are composite creatures. Usually Akkadian seals show only two pairs of combatants.
This seal has one pair and a triad.
MAA 9/99
MESOPOTAMIA
The most common type of scene on Old Babylonian seals is the presentation
scene. Such scenes show either a king before a god, or an official before a king. In this
seal, however, a worshipper, presumably the Dunol named in the cuneiform
inscription, stands before his king. The scholar who studied this seal thought that
perhaps it had been recut in ancient times and originally depicted the usual
presentation scene.
MAA 9/99
MESOPOTAMIA
Plaque with Large Boss
Southwest Iran, Ziggurat at Dur-Untashi
(Tchoga-Zanbil)
Elamite, ca. 1234-1227 B.C.
Glazed terracotta (64.93.1)
Anonymous gift
The cuneiform text on the boss reads:
House of Untashgal.
Elam lies east of the southern part of Mesopotamia. Its culture was influenced by
Sumer; it adopted a cuneiform script inspired by Sumerian, and in the Early Dynastic
period (2900-2334 B.C.) alabaster statues and plaques, cylinder seals, vessels, and
ornaments were produced in Elam in Sumerian style. The height of prosperity for Elam
was the 13th century B.C. At Dur-Untashi (Tchoga-Zanbil), near Susa, one of the main
cities of Elam, a ziggurat has been discovered, one of the best preserved and impressive
of surviving ziggurats. (A ziggurat is the Mesopotamian name for a stepped tower with
a shrine on top; the word means "to be high" or "pointed.") The structure differs from
the ziggurats of Mesopotamia on which it is modelled: instead of three staircases
against one side ending in a gatehouse, access to the upper stories was through single
staircases. The fourth story consisted of a platform, 43 meters above ground level, on
which was built the temple to the god. Originally, the building was only one story,
containing two temples. Later construction added three more stories, closing off access
to the rooms in the lowest.
This boss was found in the excavation of the lowest story of the ziggurat in a
room full of similar plaques. They were to have been fixed to the exterior of the
building, but reconstruction of the ziggurat, addition of three more stories, and closing
of these rooms evidently caused the bosses not to be used. The museum owns another
boss from the same building, but of different shape and not so well preserved.
The name Untashgal on the boss is that of the builder of Tchoga-Zanbil, one of
the rulers of Elam in the 13th century B.C. The city seems to have been both his main
residence and the religious center of the period. His reign was active and prosperous, as
attested by the many temples, stelae and statues surviving from it. During his reign,
artistic production rivalled that of Assyria and Babylonia. For most of his
approximately 20-year rule, he was at peace with his powerful neighbors to the west,
but some evidence suggests that toward the end of his reign he invaded Babylonia.
MAA 9/99