Shedu
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In Akkadian mythology the shedu were a type of demon, but they were demons of a benevolent nature, protective spirits of the houses, palaces and cities.
In art they were depicted as winged bulls and, less commonly, as winged lions; both forms had the heads of human males. The lion form is sometimes called lammasu. There are still surviving figures of shedu in bas-relief and some statues in museums. Notable examples of shedu/lamassu held by museums include those at the British Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art's Ancient Near Eastern galleries, those at the Louvre and one extremely large example kept at the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago
To protect houses the shedu were engraved in clay tablets, which were buried under the door's threshold. At the entrance of palaces they were sculpted in natural size, and often placed as a pair, one at each side of the stairs that led to the door. At the entrance of cities they were sculpted in colossal size, and placed as a pair, one at each side of the door of the city, that generally had four doors in the surrounding wall, each one looking towards one of the cardinal points.
To build these statues some rituals should be followed, and some conjurations should be engraved in cuneiform characters.
Lammasu: winged lions
In Mesopotamian mythology, the lammasu were legendary creatures which had the faces of men, the bodies of lions, and the wings of an eagle. They were said to guard temples and would attack all but the purest good or the purest evil. Compare with the Sphinx.
Lammasu in fiction
Lammasu are a type of good-aligned creature in the Dungeons & Dragons game; see Lammasu (Dungeons & Dragons). In the lammasu are a house of fallen angels; see .
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