Human-Headed Winged Bull
Gypsum, pigment
Neo-Assyrian Period, reign of King Sargon II, ca. 721-705 B.C
Khorsabad Palace, Court VIII.
Excavated by the Oriental Institute, 1929
OIM A7369

This colossal sculpture stands about sixteen feet high and weighs forty tons. It was one of many sculptures that guarded the entrance to the throne room of King Sargon II. A protective spirit known as a lamassu, it was shown as a composite being with the head of a human, the body and ears of a bull, and the wings of a bird.

Between 900-630 B.C. the kings of ancient Mesopotamia built great palaces filled with colossal stone reliefs such as this. These massive palaces reflected the power that these rulers wielded over an empire that stretched from Egypt to Iran. King Sargon II ruled Mesopotamia and much of the then-known world from his palace at Khorsabad in northern Iraq.

The Mesopotamians became empire-builders for a variety of reasons. They fought for security, believing that they could protect themselves by expanding into areas where threats might arise. They went to war for economic gain, taxing the peoples they conquered, collecting tribute in land and resources, and taking prisoners to serve as slave labor. Warfare was also justified on the grounds of religious beliefs. Conquest was considered the divine mission of the king, whose role was to bring more land, people, and goods under the jurisdiction of the national god, Ashur.