Pazuzu, Demon of the Wind
Ancient Mesopotamians feared a demon with wings, claws and a snarling face who brought famine on the south-west wind. They also hung his image over the beds of pregnant women.
What was reported
Pazuzu was a demon of Assyrian and Babylonian belief, king of the evil wind spirits. He's shown with a scowling, dog-like face, eagle's feet, four wings and a scorpion's tail, and he brought the hot south-west wind that carried storms, famine and locusts.
Yet people wore amulets of him for protection, especially women in childbirth. He was the one demon who could drive off Lamashtu, a female demon believed to harm mothers and babies.
Explanations offered
Using one dangerous force to fight another was common in Mesopotamian magic. Many small Pazuzu heads and amulets survive in museums. He became famous worldwide in 1973 as the demon in the film The Exorcist, which opens at an excavation in Iraq.
- When
- Worshipped in the 1st millennium BCE
- Where
- Nimrud, Nineveh, Iraq
- Witnesses
- Assyrian and Babylonian amulets
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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