the lamassu were protective gods with the heads of royal humans, the bodies of bulls or lions, and

the
wings of birds. Much like the guardian lions, lion dogs, and dragons of China, the lamassu guarded
temples and palaces to ensure no harm would come to the king and priests and to make sure prayers
were protected.

The faces of the lamassu (and there are a number of them still in existence) are what most people
associate with the appearance of Mesopotamian rulers or priests. They wear a large miter-type hat with
a flat top (something like the headgear of Eastern Orthodox officials) and a long square-ended beard
spun into curls. In much the same way as we think of King Tut or the Sphinx as being typical of ancient
Egypt, people often associate the face of the lamassu with the rulers of Mesopotamia.

Most of the surviving lamassu figures are large and imposing – they were supposed to be, as they were
the guardians of the temples and the gateways to the gods. The most famous pair of lamassu, at Sargon
II’s temple at Khorsabad in northern Iraq, stand much higher and wider than the people. Another
interesting fact about these bull- or lion-bodied guardians is that they often have five legs.

Hammurabi is one of the most famous of the ancient kings. He ruled Babylon from 1810 BC to 1750 BC
and is responsible for one of the only (and first) surviving written codes of law. Supposedly given to him
by the god Shamash, the Hammurabi Code details laws surrounding many aspects of life in ancient
Babylon, and the laws were carved into a stone stele so that they could be seen by everyone. By carving
his laws on this stele, Hammurabi was also making a statement that would be remembered well into the
future. Hammurabi was declaring that the law should not be arbitrary and made on a whim. Although a
work of government, the stele has since taken on an aspect of art, largely due to its use of cuneiform.

Cuneiform, meaning “wedge shaped” in Latin, was one of the earliest writing systems in history. It began
around 6000 years ago as a series of pictograms and developed into a wedge-shaped or triangular
alphabet for exactitude and understanding. Over time, artifacts from Babylonia and Mesopotamia
engraved with cuneiform have been considered works of art. From the late 19th century through today,
neo-primitive artists will include cuneiform writing in their work to add atmosphere or meaning.

Ashurbanipal was king of the Assyrian Empire from 668 BC to 627 BC, a relatively recent king compared
to those we have already mentioned. Actually, if you think just in terms of time, the reign of
Ashurbanipal is closer on a timeline to us in today than to the people of Ur 3,200 years ago.

In this frieze of the king and his wife, we see life in the royal court in a different setting. Here the king
and queen are relaxing and enjoying themselves. This shows that the queen must have either been quite
important or the king must have loved her a great deal – or both. Queens did not appear in Assyrian art
with much frequency, unlike the Egyptian art we are more familiar with.

Speaking of Egypt, we can see weapons in the background of the frieze which indicate perhaps a recent
campaign against the Egyptians. We see wine goblets, fruit, slaves, and a severed head in the
background. We can also see incense burners and slaves fanning away the desert flies. Some historians
have noted that in this work, the faces of the king and queen (who are rendered in an almost three-
dimensional way) have been defaced, while the faces of the slaves and servants have not. This leads
historians to believe that Ashurbanipal and his queen must have been hated figures.