Assyrian Ugallu
by Weston Westmoreland
Title
Assyrian Ugallu
Artist
Weston Westmoreland
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Ugallu, Nineveh, Assyrian Empire, c. 645 BC.
A pair of Ugallu (Great Lion), a protective spirit against evils. From door d, Room S, North Palace at Nineveh, Iraq. 645-635 BCE.
Ugallu, the "Big Weather-Beast", was a lion-headed storm-demon from the early second millennium. The iconography changed over time, with the human feet morphing into an eagle's talons and dressing him in a short skirt. He was one of the class of ud-demons (day-demons), personifying moments of divine intervention in human life.
Ugallu's function was to intervene in moments of disaster in a person's life, such as saving them from death. His affiliation with the day compared him with other light related deities, Shamash the sun, the star of Sirius, and Nuska, god of the lamp. Many of his rituals as described are to be performed at night.
The Neo-Assyrian versions have eagle talons, and a short skirt. His weapons are the dagger and the mace, with the dagger raised above his head in a threatening manner.
Ugallu was one of the eleven mythical monsters created by Tiāmat in her conflict with the younger gods, on the reverse of the first tablet of the Epic of Creation, Enûma Eliš. The tale describes how Marduk captured and bound the creatures, rehabilitating them with work reconstructing the world from the corpses of his vanquished adversaries. This transformed them into protective charms which would be used to adorn the doors of palaces, for example that of Ashurbanipal's southwest palace at Nineveh, temples, such as the Esagila of the Marduk temple as described in the Agum-Kakrime Inscription, and private dwellings (the bedrooms of the vulnerable) to ward off evil and disease.
Sometimes, like in this image fom the palace of Ashurbanipal, pairs of ugallū, found special purpose in adorning the outer gates of buildings.
Ashurbanipal was the last great Assyrian king, and his reign ended the Neo-Assyrian Empire. As little as 25 years after these bass-reliefs were made, the empire fell apart and Nineveh was sacked and burnt.
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Weston Westmoreland
Uploaded
May 31st, 2023
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