Mushussu

Muhussu bas relief. Pergamon Musuem. Was originally rediscovered as part of the Ishtar's Gate relief.

The mushussu (formerly regarded as sirrush) is a dragon from ancient Mesomotopian mythology. It has been both a symbol of various gods and a “magical protective hybrid” not associated with any deity throughout the course of Mesomotopian history.

The creature's most famous depiction is the one found on the reconstructed Ishtar’s Gate of the city of Babylon.

Description

Mushussu is a hybrid creature with varying features, having horns, the head and neck of a serpent, the forelegs of a lion, and the hindlegs of a bird. On the relief on Ishtar's Gate, it has a singular horn and crest. One depiction has wings and headgear (see gallery).

Mushussu has also been depicted as a dragon with a lion's head and without hind talons, this version predating the more serpentine version.

History

Mushussu was originally the servant of the underworld deity Ninazu, who was the city god of Eshnunna as well as the god of snakes. It has been thought that muhussu would have possibly acted as an “angel of death”, killing with its venom.

Later on, the god Tishpak would inherit the dragon as his symbol after he replaced Ninazu as the city god, the myth detailing Tishpak's symbolic victory over the monster seeming to have been preserved in CT13.33. Meanwhile in the city of Lagash, mushussu would become associated with Ninazu’s son Ningiszilda. At some point, possibly after Hammurabi's conquest of Ensunna, muhussu then became associated with the Bablynionian god Marduk, and later to the god Nabu. Notably, in some versions of the Bablynion creation epic, Tiamat creates a mushussu as part of her army of monsters.

Muhussu would then be transferred to Assyrian religion after the Assyrians conquered the Babylonians. They would be typically seen as the beast of the state god Assur, but on the king Sennacherib’s rock-reliefs in Maltai, the dragon was accompanied by three different gods: Assur, Enlil, and another god thought to be Nabu.

Modern History and Cryptozoology

The muhussu depiction on Ishtar's Gate had been discovered in the late 19th century, the expedition being led by German archeologist Robert Koldewey. Koldewey was astounded by the depictions of the dragon, however the assertion that muhussu only being a myth did not satisfy him. Seeing that depictions of the dragon stayed roughly the same for the course of ancient Mesopotamian history, Koldewey theorized the muhussu was based off an extinct animal species, specifically the dinosaur species Iguanodon that had been discovered over half a century prior.

A half century later, cryptozoologist Willy Ley expressed support for the theory and added that whatever had inspired the mushussu could've come from Central Africa, Ley having heard of stories of "swamp-dwelling dinosaurian beasts "which he wrote about in his book Exotic Zoology. More support for Ley's theory emerged when explorer Hans Schomburgk came back from Central Africa with tales of dinosaurian beasts and a glazed brick that was identical to those found at the site of Ishtar's Gate. In general, the overall theory has garnered support by cryptozoologists and other researchers, with some expanding on the theory that the muhussu could've been a sauropod dinosaur, despite the horns.

In Popular Culture

• In the RPG series Shin Megami Tensi, Mushussu is featured as a demon. This depiction of Mushussu bears close resemblance to its original depiction.
• It is speculated by fans that the dragon Mushu from Disney's animated film Mulan is named after the Mushussu.

Gallery

Muhussu holding a gate post on a vase of Gudea. Louvre Musuem.

Notes

• Although Wiggerman writes in the reference listed that mushussu seems to appear in CT13.33, mushussu is not mentioned in a later source in the sections that mentions Wiggerman's view of the text and the text itself.

External Links

• Mušḫuššu on Wikipedia
• Sirrush on All About Dragons