Sargon Winged Bull

The human-headed winged bull, or lamassu, of Khorsabad, a northern city of Iraq, is a colossal sculpture. The sculpture guarded the entrance to king Sargon II throne room.
King Sargon II considered his city and palace to be an expression of his greatness, and rightfully so. Sargon’s royal citadel reveals his ambition and the confidence of his all-conquering might. The human-headed winged bulls were a great representation of his ambition and confidence as they warded off his enemies. Sargon may not have been aware of the lasting impression of his human-headed winged bulls, in recent history the British adopted the lamassu as their symbol in 1942-1943 during the operation of the British army in Iraq and Iran. Additionally, United States forces

in Iraq have utilized the lamassu as their logo. If we play close enough attention one will also recognize the use of lamassu in popular culture; there is a clip in the movie Aladdin where we can see lamassu represented in modern day.
In 717 Sargon II defeated Carchemish and three years later captured the holy city of Musasir.

Because of his accomplishments, Sargon was financially wealthy enough to build his Assyrian Empire. In 713 B.C., Sargon II began construction of Dur-Sarruken, meaning Sargon’s Fortress. It is in this “fortress” that the king’s palace lay and where the human-headed winged bull and its companion were guards. It is believed that king Sargon’s palace overshadowed the buildings of all his predecessors in scale and quality. Within Sargon’s newly built city, Khorsabad, lay three types of buildings, royal palaces, temples, and residences of court officials (Loud, p.

153).
According to Erwin Cook, we owe much of our knowledge of palatial architecture to Sargon’s palace and others like it (p. 54). It was during the excavations of ruins of the palaces that archeologist discovered royal engravings where kings bragged of their accomplishments (Cook, p.54). Assyrian inscriptions specifically emphasized the king's military and hunting exploits and the construction of his palace. This was deemed to be the kings chief legacy (Cook, P. 55).
The decorative style of the palaces of Khorsabad was that of carved stone and were on an enormous scale. At Sargon’s palace alone, the facades, gates, doorways and internal walls were covered by carved stone slabs to the height of three meters, at least. Major facades, entrances and gateways were decorated to a height of nearly six meters. According to published plans, the decorated walls, facades, doorways and gates totaled nearly a mile (Guralnick, p.92).
The Palace was organized through a unique system of quadrants. These quadrants were remarkably similar in its constitutive parts to the earlier Northwest Palace in Kalḫu. The main difference is to be found in the expansion of the number of reception suites, which were placed along the palace’s terraces (Kertai, p. 167). It is in the largest suite that some of the architectural features that came to typify the palatial suites of the seventh century is introduced. This included an increase in the size of the suite as well as a more monumental and permeable interior (Kertai, p. 168).
There are several sculptures of winged human-headed bulls, also known as lamassu, among the remains of Assyria's capitals. It is when these ancient Mesopotamian stone giants re-emerged that they became a symbol of Neo-Assyrian power (Darney, p. 133). These function of the figures were to be guides within the palace. They aided in escorting visitors from gate to gate as they made their way to the king’s throne room (Darney, p. 133). The winged bulls not only functioned as guides, but they encouraged armies to protect their cities. It is also believed that they had an architectural function of holding the weight of the arch above them (Thomas, 898).
Mesopotamians believed that the presence of lamassu protected them form chaos and brought peace to their homes.

In the Akkadian language lamassu means protective spirits (Thomas, p. 899). Lamassu not only protected kings and palaces, but everyone. People believed that as long as the spirit of the lamassu was close that they’d be safer. They were generally carved on clay tablets and most people buried their lamassu under the threshold of their homes (Thomas, p. 898). Homes that possessed a lamassu was believed to be a happy place. Archaeological research has proven that Lamassu were important to the entire culture that inhabited the land of Mesopotamia and surrounding areas (Thomas,

p.898).
In King Sargon’s palace the human-headed winged bull appears as part of a relief. It is shown against a background of sea, as a protective figure looking after the good progress of a maritime convoy of cedars of Lebanon (Darney, p. 136). The guardian pair of Sargon’s palace is now separate, one in Chicago at the Oriental Institute and the other is located in Paris at the Louvre Museum. Excavation began with the Oriental Institute of Chicago overseeing the efforts from 1928-1935. In 1950 the Iraqi Department of Antiquities took over the site. Further excavations were conducted under their authority and findings went to the museum in Baghdad.
The largest of the two winged bulls is in Chicago weighing an estimated 28 tons. It is believed that human labor accomplished the task of bringing stone of required sizes and quantities to the construction site. There is evidence that only a few primitive machines were used in the process; the sledge, cylindrical rollers, and the lever. The journey from the quarry to the palace site extended over many miles of rough terrain, over hills, valleys and streams (Guralnick, p. 91).
The colossal sculpture is made of limestone, and range in height between 10-14 feet. There is great interest in the colossal sculpture because it is one of the last examples of winged human-headed bulls found in Assyria. According to Deborah Thomas, the head of the bull is sculpted in the round and the rest of the body in high relief (Thomas, p.). High relief was highly regarded during the time of Sargon reign (Thomas, p.). The head, which is the only human element has ears that are of bulls and a man’s bearded face (Thomas, p. 900). Deborah Thomas further described the beast as having:
eyes that are expressive, thick eyebrows that meet above a prominent nose. The kindly mouth is surmounted by a thin mustache. A curly beard covers the jaw and chin, while the hair falls down to the shoulders, framing the face. This human head wears a starred tiara, flanked by pairs of horns and topped by a row of feathers. The body, its anatomy very precisely rendered, is that of a bull: the beast has not four but five legs, so that it looks as if standing still when seen from the front, and as if walking when seen from the side. From the shoulders spring the wings of a bird or angel, only one being visible, curving above the back; broad panels of curls cover the breast, belly, back, and rump. The tail is very long and curly at the end (p. 903).
The winged beast wears a cylindrical head-dress with three pairs of horns surmounted by feathers and encircled by a headband of rosettes (Danrey, p. 133). At first glance the figure seems peculiar and at first, it is unnoticeable but surprising that it has five legs. The figure is depicted as standing if seen from the front and walking if seen from the side. According to Darney, from the position of these sculptures and from the dimension of the rooms in which they were installed, it seems unlikely that all five legs could have been seen at the same time (p.133).
These are very exciting figures that invoke admiration and curiosity of the world around them. What exactly do they represent? Is there more to them than just their function as guardians? E. C. Ravenshaw believes that the figures are the originals of the cherubim of Ezekiel, that they were the originals of the apocalyptic beasts of St. John and slightly modified, the symbols of the four evangelist (p. 94
The iconography and symbolism of the cherubim, or unearthly beings who directly attend to God, was highly influential and appreciated. The bible made its first reference to cherubim in the book of Genesis. “After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life” (New International Version, Gen. 3. 24). It should be noted that there is no mention of the form of the cherubim; an indication to form is later made in Exodus. “And make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. Make one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; make the cherubim of one piece with the cover, at the two ends. The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them” (New International Version, Exod. 25. 18-20). The prophet Ezekiel later wrote about a vision of cherubim, describing them as fantastic beings created of aspects of a lion, an eagle, a bull, and a human.
The Bible describes the winged beast as, “The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings” (Rev. 4. 7-8). These winged animals symbolize the four evangelist. The winged lion was assigned to St. Mark as the symbol of strength. The winged ox was assigned to St. Luke as the symbol of sacrifice and the eagle was assigned to St. John as the symbol of contemplation. The winged wan symbolized power and was assigned to St. Matthew (Ravenshaw, p. 102).
The human-headed winged bull has proven to be massive in size and equally massive in its iconography and symbolism. I could never have imaging the vast amount of knowledge that I would gain exploring the figure. They were believed to be very powerful creatures. They not only served as clear reminders of the king’s power but as a symbol of protection for all people. Every major city wanted to have these winged beasts protect the gateway to their citadel.
I believe that Gordon Loud said it best, “When one views this colossal figure as it stands restored at the end of the great Egyptian hall of the Oriental Institute Museum, he cannot help but be impressed with awe at the scale of it; he is instilled with respect for the king whose palace was so magnificent as to contain such adornment, and with admiration for the designer and sculptor responsible for its conception and execution” (Loud, p. 42).