![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e3/Lamma_Goddess%252C_Iraq%252C_Isin-Larsa_period%252C_2000-1800_BC%252C_bronze%252C_baked_clay_-_Oriental_Institute_Museum%252C_University_of_Chicago_-_DSC07287.jpg/640px-Lamma_Goddess%252C_Iraq%252C_Isin-Larsa_period%252C_2000-1800_BC%252C_bronze%252C_baked_clay_-_Oriental_Institute_Museum%252C_University_of_Chicago_-_DSC07287.jpg&w=640&q=50)
Lamassu
Tutelary spirit in Assyrian mythology / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lama, Lamma, or Lamassu (Cuneiform: ð’€ð’†—, an.kal; Sumerian: dlammaÅ™; later in Akkadian: lamassu; sometimes called a lamassus)[1][2] is an Assyrian protective deity.[3]
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![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Lammasu.jpg/640px-Lammasu.jpg)
Initially depicted as a goddess in Sumerian times, when it was called Lamma, it was later depicted from Assyrian times as a hybrid of a human, bird, and either a bull or lion—specifically having a human head, the body of a bull or a lion, and bird wings, under the name Lamassu.[3][4] In some writings, it is portrayed to represent a goddess.[5] A less frequently used name is shedu (Cuneiform: ð’€ð’†˜, an.kal×bad; Sumerian: dalad; Akkadian, Å¡Ä“du), which refers to the male counterpart of a lamassu.[6] Lamassu represent the zodiacs, parent-stars or constellations.[7][8]