Mesopotamian cultural has a large influence on Hebrew Bible. By comparing Mesopotamian art and literature with Hebrew Bible, It is easy to see that there are many Mesopotamian cultural elements embedded in the Old Testimony, and one of them are the human-head animal-body guardian figure.
It is a common phenomenon that each ancient civilization has its own mythical protector(s): the dragon and Tao tie in ancient China, the sphinx in Egypt, the cherubim in Israel, and the Lamasu in Mesopotamia. This phenomenon of having a guardian itself is not that surprising. What is interesting however is that some of those supernatural protectors share astonishing similarities in their appearances and positions, and all those similarities render people to …show more content…
While walking in the ancient near east session in Metropolitan Museum, people could easily be captivated by the grandiose of Mesopotamian guardian figures. Two of them are the apkallu and the Lamassu. Apkallu, a bird-headed supernatural figure, has the eagle head, human torso, and two pairs of wings, and according to the ancient Assyrian palace wall painting relief it is responsible for protecting the divine tree. Lamassu, on the contrast, has the human head, lion body, bull feet, and a pair of bird wings, and based on the delineation of the Lamassu sculptures in gallery 401, it is obligated to guarding king’s palace. Similar protective figure could also be found in Mesopotamia literature. In Gilgamesh Epic, there is a mythical creature: the Bull of heaven who is the guardian of the Sky god Aun and is sent to destroy Gilgamesh after his rejection towards the goddess Ishtar’s proposal. Although in the Epic, there is no apparent delineation towards the bull’s appearance, it is still clear for people to see the strong power of this divine guardian figure. According to the tablet VI, the bull is so powerful that “as the bull of heaven snorted a pit open up, one hundred men of Uruk fell down it”. Also, according to the Cylinder Seal Impression: Enkidu and Gilgamesh slaying the Bull of Heaven, the Bull of the Heaven is also a human-face figure with bull’s body and bird’s wing. Powerful and divine
It is a common phenomenon that each ancient civilization has its own mythical protector(s): the dragon and Tao tie in ancient China, the sphinx in Egypt, the cherubim in Israel, and the Lamasu in Mesopotamia. This phenomenon of having a guardian itself is not that surprising. What is interesting however is that some of those supernatural protectors share astonishing similarities in their appearances and positions, and all those similarities render people to …show more content…
While walking in the ancient near east session in Metropolitan Museum, people could easily be captivated by the grandiose of Mesopotamian guardian figures. Two of them are the apkallu and the Lamassu. Apkallu, a bird-headed supernatural figure, has the eagle head, human torso, and two pairs of wings, and according to the ancient Assyrian palace wall painting relief it is responsible for protecting the divine tree. Lamassu, on the contrast, has the human head, lion body, bull feet, and a pair of bird wings, and based on the delineation of the Lamassu sculptures in gallery 401, it is obligated to guarding king’s palace. Similar protective figure could also be found in Mesopotamia literature. In Gilgamesh Epic, there is a mythical creature: the Bull of heaven who is the guardian of the Sky god Aun and is sent to destroy Gilgamesh after his rejection towards the goddess Ishtar’s proposal. Although in the Epic, there is no apparent delineation towards the bull’s appearance, it is still clear for people to see the strong power of this divine guardian figure. According to the tablet VI, the bull is so powerful that “as the bull of heaven snorted a pit open up, one hundred men of Uruk fell down it”. Also, according to the Cylinder Seal Impression: Enkidu and Gilgamesh slaying the Bull of Heaven, the Bull of the Heaven is also a human-face figure with bull’s body and bird’s wing. Powerful and divine