Pendant with the Head of Pazuzu in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, February 2008

Pendant with the Head of Pazuzu
Bronze
Mesopotamia
Neo-Assyrian
8th-7th century BC

Accession # 1993.181

The Mesopotamian god Pazuzu, king of the evil wind demons, was a composite creature with a lion or dog-like face, the horns of a goat, a human torso, the fore-paws of a lion, a scaly lower body, a snake-headed phallus, a scorpion's tail, and the talons and wings of a bird. Pazuzu emerged from the mountains of the underworld, which are represented at the bottom of the plaque. Images of Pazuzu were thought to ward off the demon, Lamashtu, and the protect against disease-bearing winds, especially the west wind. Plaques depicting Pazuzu were placed in houses and bronze head-pendants were hung around the necks of pregnant women, who were the particular focus of Lamashtu's attacks.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.