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In
Assyrian and
Babylonian mythology,
Pazuzu (Sometimes
Fazuzu or
Pazuza) was the king of the
demons of the wind, and son of the god
Hanbi. He also represented the southwestern wind, the bearer of storms and drought.
Iconography
Pazuzu is often depicted as a combination of diverse animal and human parts. He has the body of a man, the head of a
lion or
dog,
eagle-like taloned feet, two pairs of wings, a
scorpion's tail, and a
serpentine penis. He is often depicted with his right hand pointing upward.
Mythology
Pazuzu is the demon of the southwest wind known for bringing famine during dry seasons, and locusts during rainy seasons. Pazuzu was said to be invoked in amulets which combat the powers of his wife, the malicious goddess
Lamashtu, who was believed to cause harm to mother and child during childbirth. Although Pazuzu is, himself, an evil spirit, he drives away other evil spirits, thus protecting humans against plagues and misfortunes.
Wilfred Lambert (1968) identified a fibula with a Pazuzu head at Megiddo and also a Sumerian-Akkadian invocation.
In modern culture
In the 1971 novel
The Exorcist and the movie based on the novel, Pazuzu is supposedly one of the evil spirits that possesses the young girl
Regan MacNeil. He reappears in the 1977 sequel
. In this movie, Pazuzu is both named as the demon antagonist of Regan MacNeil and the unwitting helper of Father Philip Lamont (played by Richard Burton), as he seeks to finally free Regan from his hold. In the end, Father Lamont finally defeats the demon and accompanies Regan as she apparently heads toward a life in holy orders.
Roberto Cuoghi's 2008 statue Pazuzu, described by New Yorker critic Peter Schjeldahl as "robustly ugly" and standing nearly 20 feet tall, was featured in the 2010 exhibition Skin Fruit at the New Museum in New York City.
Pazuzu appears on the album cover of the Gorillaz compilation album D-Sides and as a statue in front of the band's former recording studio.
Pazuzu is the demon that haunts Adèle Blance-Sec in Tardi's graphic novel "The Demon of the Eiffel Tower" ("Le Démon de la tour Eiffel," 1976). Pazuzu also appears in "Mummies on Parade" ("Mommies en folie," 1978).
References
External links
The Demon of the South-West Wind
Oriental Institute of Chicago figure of Pazuzu
Category:Mesopotamian demons
Category:Mesopotamian mythology
