Babylonian Winged Bull Lamassu Mouse Mat

Introducing “Sacred Symbols” Collection by C.7 Design Studio. Here you will find a unique design, featuring an Ancient Assyrian Winged Bull, also known as Lamassu or less frequently – Shedu . It is a protective deity, often depicted with a bull or lion's body, eagle's wings, and human's head. The lamassu is a celestial being from Mesopotamian mythology. The lamassu and shedu were household protective spirits of the common Babylonian people. Later during the Babylonian period they became the protectors of kings as well, always placed at the palace entrances. Statues of the bull-man were often used as gatekeepers. The Akkadians associated the god Papsukkal with Lamassu and the god Išum with Shedu. To protect houses, the Lamassu were engraved on clay tablets, which were then buried under the door's threshold. They were often placed as a pair at the entrance of palaces. At the entrance of cities, they were sculpted in colossal size, and placed as a pair, one at each side of the door of the city, that generally had doors in the surrounding wall, each one looking towards one of the cardinal points.