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Concept
Lamassu
Summary
Lama, Lamma, or Lamassu (Cuneiform: , ; Sumerian: lammař; later in Akkadian: lamassu; sometimes called a lamassus) is an Assyrian protective deity.
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. In some writings, it is portrayed to represent a goddess. A less frequently used name is shedu (Cuneiform: , ; Sumerian: alad; Akkadian, šēdu), which refers to the male counterpart of a lamassu. Lamassu represent the zodiacs, parent-stars or constellations.
The goddess Lama appears initially as a mediating goddess who precedes the orans and presents them to the deities. 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). It is a goddess wearing a ruffled dress and wearing a horned tiara symbolizing the deity, with two hands raised, in sign of prayer. A. 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. This opinion is commonly followed and in artistic terminology these female figures are generally referred to as Lam(m)a. From Assyrian times, Lamma becomes a hybrid deity, half-animal, half-human.
File:Statuette en cuivre déesse Lama - Isin-Larsa.jpg|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]]
File:Cylinder seal MET DP-12499-010.jpg|Cylinder seal showing the representation of a devotee (center) by goddess Lamma (left), to [[Ishtar]] (right). Babylonian, {{Circa|18th}}–17th century BC, [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]
File:Stele of the protective goddess Lama MET DP-1556-001.
Official source
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