Lamashtu

It was a prominent part of this culture.

Evil demons like Lamashtu, who was believed to kill babies, were feared by the population, and there existed a professional class of ritual specialists and exorcists known as Ashipu.

These specialists would be called on when it was believed that a person or persons were afflicted by an evil demon or other forces and he would perform various rituals to help solve the problem.

And indeed, aside from demons, it's clear that there also existed a belief in what we can call witches.

Even those that are depicted as having physical attributes were thought to strictly be spirits.

Talking about ones like the aforementioned Lamashtu, the Leeloo and the Leelitoo that shows up as Lilith in the Bible.

Tazuzu is probably one of the more well-known because of the Exorcist movies.

but typifies the kind of spirit that we're talking about here.

wolf creature.

It was definitely a shapeshifter.

um often translated poorly pardon me as a horse leech but in fact it was something far grimmer um then uh then it's not that a horse leech was simple not that it wasn't problematic but um the oluka to those kinds of bloodthirsty demons that we find in ancient Near Eastern mythology, like the Lamashtu and the Libitu.

In fact, the share or the hairy one, the sharing, the hairy ones, there were iterations of those goat demons that existed before throughout the ancient Near East and even into the Persian and Eurasian realms.

in which male figures, presumably exorcists, protect women from attacking demons.

The most feared of these demons was Lamashtu, who was sometimes worshipped as a goddess in her own right, as Mesopotamian mothers thought that this veneration could prevent her from killing one's children.

Although no direct link has been proven, it has long been speculated that this figure could have a relationship to the Greek child-eating spirit, Glamia, or the comparable Israelite, Lilith.

Whether or not these figures all have a common origin, they reflect universal anxieties over child mortality in a world without modern medicine.

Some even had names.

One of the most feared was Lamashtu.

Lamashtu was particularly terrifying because of whom she was believed to target.

Pregnant women, women during childbirth, and newborn children.

Surviving amulets depict her as a grotesque hybrid creature.

Amulets bearing her image could be worn or placed nearby as protection.

And that may initially sound a little strange.

If you believe Lamashtu is dangerous, then why would you put a picture of her around your neck? because in Mesopotamian magic, an image wasn't necessarily decoration.

witch.

Oh, that's Lamashtu.

That's Lamashtu.

That's Lilith, etc.

So here we go, these kind of mythological, literally for people, from my understanding, there was Adam and Eve and Lilith in the garden.

Interestingly, however, S. Langdon further claims that Mushusu was also later adapted into Hebrew mythology as Leviathan, the, quote, coiling serpent of the sea, end quote.

The second demon that influenced Lilith's mythology was the Akkadian demon Lamashtu, also known as Dimi in Sumerian mythology.

Lamashtu was the daughter of the sky god Anu, who was described by archaeologist and curator Dr. Prudence Oliver Harper as, quote, the greatest of Mesopotamian gods, end quote.

Amulets made of obsidian, a volcanic rock, and estimated to date from the 2nd century BCE to the 8th century BCE, were designed to act as talisman and ward off Lamashtu.

Some of the amulets show Lamashtu to be a composite demon, with the torso of a human, the head and paws of a lion, and the clawed feet of a zoo bird, a bird which Dr. Harper describes as, quote, rapacious, end quote.

Lamashtu was treated with great respect on these amulets, being addressed as Exalted Lady, and she was sometimes depicted with the animals most often associated with her, the dog and the pig.

But for what evil deeds was Lamashtu responsible? Lamashtu was basically responsible for all sorts of horrible happenings, from disturbing sleep and causing nightmares to killing foliage and infesting rivers and streams.

But she is most notorious for causing fevers and miscarriages, slaying children and drinking the blood and eating the flesh of men.

Interestingly, however, S. Langdon further claims that Mushusu was also later adapted into Hebrew mythology as Leviathan, the, quote, coiling serpent of the sea, end quote.

The second demon that influenced Lilith's mythology was the Akkadian demon Lamashtu, also known as Dimi in Sumerian mythology.

Lamashtu was the daughter of the sky god Anu, who was described by archaeologist and curator Dr. Prudence Oliver Harper as, quote, the greatest of Mesopotamian gods, end quote.

Amulets made of obsidian, a volcanic rock, and estimated to date from the 2nd century BCE to the 8th century BCE, were designed to act as talisman and ward off Lamashtu.

Some of the amulets show Lamashtu to be a composite demon, with the torso of a human, the head and paws of a lion, and the clawed feet of a zoo bird, a bird which Dr. Harper describes as, quote, rapacious, end quote.

Lamashtu was treated with great respect on these amulets, being addressed as Exalted Lady, and she was sometimes depicted with the animals most often associated with her, the dog and the pig.

But for what evil deeds was Lamashtu responsible? Lamashtu was basically responsible for all sorts of horrible happenings, from disturbing sleep and causing nightmares to killing foliage and infesting rivers and streams.

But she is most notorious for causing fevers and miscarriages, slaying children and drinking the blood and eating the flesh of men.

And well, some notes I have about that.

So one of the Lilith precursors is the demon goddess Lamashtu that spreads disease and is blamed for miscarriages and caught deaths.

And what I found really sad in the descriptions, it will include her feeding, singing to and covering infants with kisses as she kills them.

And as I was reading that, I was like, well, who does that? It's a mother or it's a midwife doing those things.

So for somebody to go, something is wrong with this infant, they got sick, they didn't make it, it must have been, who was there, the mother or the midwife? I can easily, like, why would you create that cultural image? Any cultural image you create will be projected onto real people.

Where would it go? It would go to this group of people.

And then to ward off Lamashtu, they would use these amulets or ritually call on a demon called Pazuzu, who is associated with drought and famine.

But what can he do? Well, how do you fight a demon? You call on another demon.