I uphold the Newark Academy Honor Code.

The Lamassu
Ever since Neolithic times in early history up until today humans have always been
changing the world, making history. Sometimes, this history is good and peaceful, such as the
development of the World Wide Web by Time Berners-Lee in the 1990s, connecting the world
like never before. But unfortunately, the most defining parts of human history are characterized
by war. When people think of history, they often think of some conflict. It is an unhappy truth
that oftentimes we desire what is not ours and we will use force to take what we want, even if it
is morally incorrect. 3000 years ago, The Assyrians of ancient Mesopotamia were the epitome of
this. Through conquest, strict control, and brutal punishments, the Assyrians did what they
wished to their subjects and dominated Mesopotamia. The Assyrians demonstrate that the strong
do what they can, and the weak suffer what they must in the ancient world through their lamassu,
setting, and supporting texts.
The human-headed winged bull and lion, also known as a lamassu, was made during the
Assyrian Empire in Nimrud, a northern Mesopotamian city in present-day Iraq. The Assyrian
king Ashurnasirpal II who ruled between 883 and 859 BCE built the lamassu. Standing at 10 feet
3.5 inches tall and built from gypsum alabaster, lamassi were important figures in ancient
Mesopotamia. Its accession number is 32.143.1.2 and it is on display in Gallery 401 in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. 1
In ancient Mesopotamia, lamassi were often placed at the entrances of important
buildings and structures, includingbut not limited totemple entrances, city gates, and palace
entrances. This lamassu on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art was excavated from
1 Human-headed winged bull and winged lion (lamassu), Metropolitan Museum of Art,
http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/329230?
rpp=30&pg=1&ft=winged+bull&pos=2

Nimrud from the palace of Ashurnasirpal II in the 1840s by Sir Austen Henry Layard and was
given to the museum in 1930 by John D. Rockefeller. 2 Hybrid mythological creatures like
lamassi were thought to be protectors and guardians to the structures they stood in front of. The
British Museum explains that they were designed to protect the palace from demonic forces,
and may even have guarded the entrance to the private apartments of the king. 3 Here, the
lamassi were symbols of power and protection who protected the king. They were raised to a
divine-like level, and in a sense, they were even more powerful than the king.
The physical components of the lamassu are symbolic in their own way as well. This
hybrid animal combined body parts from humans, bulls, lions, and birds. The head of a human
symbolizes wisdom and intelligence, the body of a bull and lion symbolize strength and power,
and the wings of a bird symbolize swiftness. 4 Additionally, the lamassu has five legs: 2 in the
front, 1 in the back, and 2 in the middle positioned at different angles. When viewed from the
front, as one standing in front of the palace would about to pass through the entrance, the
lamassu looks like it is standing still, like a soldier standing guard in front of a palace. When
viewed from the side, as one would when walking past the lamassu down a hallway, it looks like
the lamassu is striding forward, in motion. Perhaps it is going to battle the demonic forces it is
warding away. 5
The rule of Ashurnasirpal II was a step in the climb towards the height of the Neo-Assyrian
Empire. Historians claim the Neo-Assyrian Empire to be the first true empire in history because
2 Ibid.
3 "Colossal Statue of a Winged Human-headed Bull from the North-West Palace of
Ashurnasirpal II," British Museum,
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/me/c/colossal_statue_winge
d_bull.aspx.
4 Ibid.
5 Human-headed winged bull and winged lion (lamassu), Metropolitan Museum of Art,
http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/329230?
rpp=30&pg=1&ft=winged+bull&pos=2

they were one of the first to expand beyond a certain ethnic group. Whereas the Egyptians and
the Mohenjo-Daro of the Indus Valley and stayed closer within their own ethnic groups, the NeoAssyrians expanded to include people all around Western Asia. Ashurnasirpal IIs father, TukultiNinurta II, and the kings before him had left with the resources needed to build an empire. At
their height, the Neo-Assyrians conquered Mesopotamia, Anatolia, the Levant, and Egypt,
effectively conquering much of Western Asia. But what the Assyrians and especially
Ashurnasirpal II were most famous for were their brutal treatment of his captives who had
rebelled against him. At the same palace from where this Lamassu was taken were various
inscriptions, in which Ashurnasirpal II wrote:
I built a pillar over against the city gate and I flayed all the chiefs who had revolted and
I covered the pillar with their skins. Some I impaled upon the pillar on stakes and others I
bound to stakes round the pillar. I cut the limbs off the officers who had rebelled. Many
captives I burned with fire and many I took as living captives. From some I cut off their
noses, their ears, and their fingers, of many I put out their eyes. I made one pillar of the
living and another of heads and I bound their heads to tree trunks round about the city.
Their young men and maidens I consumed with fire. The rest of their warriors I
consumed with thirst in the desert of the Euphrates. 6
The Assyrians were brutal, ruthless conquerors who asserted their dominance over the region.
They built their empire along the Fertile Crescent, the heart of civilization. By suppressing the
freedoms of their subjects through strict rule, the Assyrians were able to maintain a lasting
empire. Ashurnasirpal II spent the remainder of his life building the new Neo-Assyrian capital,
Kalhu, to celebrate his conquests. Evidently, the Assyrians believed that being the strong ones,
they could do whatever they wanted, and the weak, being their neighbors, needed to suffer, as
they had to suffer. 7
Additionally, Ashurnasirpal II was not shy or humble about his power either. After he
completed his new capital, Kalhu, in 879 BCE, the Assyrian king invited the local population as
6 "Ashurnasirpal II," Ancient History Encyclopedia, http://www.ancient.eu/Ashurnasirpal_II/
7 Ibid.

well as foreign leaders to celebrate his accomplishment. Ashurnasirpal IIs Banquet Stele about
the festival records that:
The festival lasted ten days, and 69,574 people attended. The menu from this celebration
included, but was not limited to, 1,000 oxen, 1,000 domestic cattle and sheep, 14,000
imported and fattened sheep, 1,000 lambs, 500 game birds, 500 gazelles, 10,000 fish,
10,000 eggs, 10,000 loaves of bread, 10,000 measures of beer, and 10,000 containers of
wine. 8
This description, written on Ashurnasirpal IIs Standard Inscription, a stele documenting his
achievements, was placed with the lamassu and provides an example as to how extravagant
Ashurnasirpal II was as well as how powerful he was. Furthermore, the Standard Inscription
includes a list of the kings titles. He claimed titles such as:
great king, king of the world, the valiant hero who goes forth with the help of Assur; he
who has no rival in all four quarters of the world, the exalted shepherd, the powerful
torrent that none can withstand, he who has overcome all mankind, whose hand has
conquered all lands and taken all the mountain ranges. 9
This long list of titles lets his own people as well as foreigners know whom they are dealing
with. It also is a prime example of the Assyrians value of power since they are showing it off to
the world. On one hand it seems like propaganda, but on the other hand when put together with
the magnificent lamassu and palace around the Standard Inscription, the Assyrians reputation,
and the fact that their empire was so vast and powerful, the Standard Inscription may seem more
like fact that opinion to some. 10
Furthermore, the idea that the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they
must is present in the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgameshs
close friend, Enkidu, kills a bull sent from the gods to kill Gilgamesh and him. As a consequence

8 Ibid.
9 Ibid.
10 Ibid.

for protecting his friend and himself, the gods kill Enkidu. 11 This is a prime example of how in
Mesopotamia the powerful could do what they wanted while the weak were destined to suffer.
Enkidu, who has no power against the gods, is forced to suffer while the gods who have all the
power can do whatever they want to him. Even though Enkidu acted out of kindness and loyalty
to his friend Gilgamesh, even though he had good intentions, he is still killed because he has no
power against the gods. It is sad fact that even in this legendary text those with the cards play
them, and those without can do nothing.
Through the lamassu, Assyrian Empire, and texts written at the time, the Assyrians prove
that the strong did what they could and the weak suffered what they had to in the ancient world.
Our ancestors desired more than what they had and so the strong insensitively took what they
wanted and forced the weak to suffer, simply because they had something the strong wanted. But
we shouldnt just take this event and understand what happened in the past: we should learn from
what happened in the past. The past serves as a benchmark from where we can learn and
improve. By learning that treating others unequally is wrong, we can change our society into one
with liberty and justice for all.
Oftentimes we like to think that we are better than our ancestorswe often believe that
our ancestors thousands of years ago were less complex, less civilized, less advanced than us.
Physically, this is true: we have phones that can text across the world in seconds, planes that can
take to the other side of the planet in a few hours, and medicine ridding the world of plagues and
diseases that had devastated the world for thousands of years. But inside, we havent really
changed at all. The thoughts that go on in our head, how we perceive things, how we act hasnt

11 Epic of Gilgamesh, Encyclopedia Britannica,

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/189673/Epic-of-Gilgamesh

changed. In the present day, we still show that the strong do what they can and the weak suffer
what they must.
The first example of this is the Syrian governments use of chemical weapons against its
own citizens. In mid-2013 during the Syrian Civil War, the Syrian government led by Bashar alAssad used chemical weapons against its own citizens. On August 21, al-Assads government
forces fired rockets carrying the chemical sarin. According to the United Nations, the attack
killed 588 people, including 135 women and 108 children. Chemical weapons, which are
prohibited to be used in war, are incredibly dangerous since its purpose is to singe-handedly wipe
out populations. The fact that al-Assad used the weapons demonstrates an act of pure evil: his
intention was to kill civilians. The chemical weapons attack clearly shows that even in 2013, the
strong abused their power while the weak suffered. Al-Assad, the strong, did what he could to
strike fear into the hearts of his enemies and the weak, the civilians, caught in the conflict, were
forced to suffer. 12
The other picture is from The Dark Knight, a Batman movie filmed in 2008 by director
Christopher Nolan. The movie was a huge success and is still extremely popular. The plot
revolves around Batmans conflict with the Joker, a maniac who wants to see the world
destroyed. There is a famous line in the movie in which Alfred Pennyworth, Batmans butler,
says to him about the Joker, Some men just want to watch the world burn. 13 Alfred is telling
Batman that sometimes, people commit evil because they see nothing good about the world and
just want to see it ended. Throughout the movie the Joker uses his power to corrupt government
officials and wreak havoc to Gotham City. He terrorizes the weak, the citizens of Gotham city in
various ways, including blowing up hospitals and threatening to blow up ferries. Even in The
12 Syria Chemical Attack: What We Know, BBC, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middleeast-23927399.
13 Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight, Warner Bros. Pictures.

Dark Knight, one of the most famous superhero movies of all time, the strong, the joker, do what
they can and the weak, the people of Gotham City, suffer what they must.
It is evident that unfortunately, we have not learned from our mistakes in the past and still
people sometimes abuse their power. But its really never too late to learn. By educating
ourselves on equality, we can avoid making these kinds of mistakes. If everyone were to know
that treating others unequally is wrong, then we would not have this problem anymore. We can
take small steps and teach people about equality and kindness, and together, we can make the
world a better place.

Bibliography
"Ashurnasirpal II." Ancient History Encyclopedia. Accessed May 10, 2015.
"Colossal Statue of a Winged Human-headed Bull from the North-West Palace of
Ashurnasirpal II." British Museum. Accessed May 10, 2015.
"Epic of Gilgamesh | Mesopotamian Literature." Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
Accessed May 11, 2015.

"Human-headed Winged Bull and Winged Lion (lamassu) | Assyrian | Neo-Assyrian."

Human-headed Winged Bull and Winged Lion (lamassu). Accessed May 10, 2015.
"Syria Chemical Attack: What We Know - BBC News." BBC News. Accessed May 11,
2015.
The Dark Knight. 2008. DVD.