Lamassu

thumb|Lamassu at the Iraq Museum, [[Baghdad|alt=Pair of stone lamassu sculptures with human heads and winged bull bodies displayed in the Iraq Museum]] Lama, Lamma, or Lamassu (Cuneiform: , ; Sumerian: lammař; later in Akkadian: lamassu; sometimes called a lamassuse) is a Mesopotamian protective deity.

Initially depicted as a goddess in Sumerian times, when it was called Lamma, it was later depicted from Assyrian times as a hybrid of a human, bird, and either a bull or lion—specifically having a human head, the body of a bull or a lion, and bird wings, under the name Lamassu. In some writings, it is portrayed to represent a goddess. A less frequently used name is shedu (Cuneiform: , ; Sumerian: alad; Akkadian, šēdu), which refers to the male counterpart of a lamassu. Lamassu represent the zodiacs, parent-stars or constellations.