Strange creatures hide at the Louvre museum, the lamassu of Khorsabad. These tall winged bulls with human heads are part of a vast architectural complex : Sargon II’s palace.
This Assyrian emperor founded the city of Dur-Sharrukin, now Khorsabad, and endowed it with an immense palace. The inauguration took place in 706 BCE.
The seven gates of the building were protected by lamassu which at the same time supported the vaults. In spite of their imposing and very muscular bodies, they have a benevolent smile. It is quite funny to look at their legs. They each have five, so that we can always see four of them, whether we look at them from the front or from the side.
The palace was only used for a year. Sargon II died in battle the next year and his body was never found. Fearing a divine curse, his son and successor abandoned the city to found a new capital, Ninive.
