Campus Oddities

November 13, 2009

If you know of something that has a great story, would make a great photo or is just plain weird and wonderful, please email us at ocn@usask.ca or call 966-6610.

The devil you know

You may not have heard of the Demon Pazuzu, but his face may look familiar. It was the Demon Pazuzu who evolved into the modern image of Satan.

The Mesopotamian statuette (above) in the Museum of Antiquities shows the Demon Pazuzu as a man with the head of a lion or dog, talons instead of feet, two pairs of wings, and the tail of a scorpion. His right hand is raised and his left extended downward, a position representing life and death, creation and destruction. Although a demon associated with drought, famine, and locusts, Pazuzu offered protection against his wife, the Demoness Lamashtu, by driving her back into hell. 

Lamashtu is depicted at the bottom of the Hell Plaque (below) holding snakes and suckling lion cubs while riding a donkey in a boat. She had a hairy body with the head of a lioness, the teeth and ears of a donkey and talons. She was blamed for the deaths of children and mothers during childbirth, poisoning water, killing plants and causing nightmares.

Overlooking the plaque is her husband Pazuzu, the only one who could drive her away. The plaque was used as an Assyrian healing device against Lamashtu and often hung over the bed of an invalid in hopes of driving the demoness out.

Both pieces are replicas. The originals, from the late seventh to eighth century, reside in the Louvre in Paris.