Pazuzu Statuette

900 BC - 609 BC
Bronze
Original Site Unknown
14 cm x 9.3 cm x 6.0 cm
A25413

Oriental Institute Museum

Artifact Description

Pazuzu Statuette

This is a bronze statuette of Pazuzu, king of the evil wind demons. Pazuzu was a demon with the body of a scorpion and the legs and talons of a bird. He had four feathered wings, two lion-like faces (front and back), a double beard below his chin, and a set of horns on the top of his head. Despite his appearance, Pazuzu was not entirely unfriendly to humankind, for he was often called upon to fight against the demon, Lamashtu, a misbegotten daughter of the sky-god Anu, who threatened pregnant women, young mothers, and babies. The loop on the top of this statuette suggests that it might have been an amulet used as protection during childbirth.

Multimedia

The Demon Pazuzu
Who was Pazuzu and why was he called "King of the Evil Wind Demons?" Find answers to these questions and more in this interactive.

Web Links

Highlights from the collection of the Oriental Institute Museum; Pazuzu

Suggested Readings

Black, Jeremy and Anthony Green. Gods, Demons, and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1992.

Frankfort, H. and H.A., John A. Wilson, and Thorkild Jacobsen. Before Philosophy: The Intellectual Adventure of Ancient Man. Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1946.

Reade, Julian. Assyrian Sculpture. London: The British Museum, 1983.

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