# Pazuzu
**Pazuzu** is a wind demon of ancient Mesopotamian religion, described in Akkadian texts as "the son of Hanbu and king of the wind demons."[1](https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2014/assyria-to-iberia/blog/posts/pazuzu) Ancient texts credit him with summoning destructive winds and bringing drought, famine, and disease, yet the same fearsome power made him a protective figure: his image was placed in homes and worn on the body to drive away other demons, above all the child-threatening demoness Lamashtu.[2](https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/pazuzu-figurine-an-ancient-statue-of-the-mesopotamian-demon-god-who-inspired-the-exorcist) • [3](https://isac.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/shared/docs/misc-highlights.pdf) He is also the demon named in [William Peter Blatty](https://www.edgepedia.org/william-peter-blatty)'s 1971 novel and the 1973 film *The Exorcist*, which reintroduced him to the public after roughly three millennia of obscurity.[4](https://archeologie.culture.gouv.fr/orient-cuneiforme/fr/une-popularite-qui-traverse-les-ages)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Identity | Wind demon, "son of Hanbu and king of the wind demons" in ancient texts[1](https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2014/assyria-to-iberia/blog/posts/pazuzu) |
| First attestation | Named and depicted for the first time in the Assyrian period; earliest archaeologically dated image is a gold fibula from a royal woman's grave at Nimrud[5](https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_1983-0101-66) • [1](https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2014/assyria-to-iberia/blog/posts/pazuzu) |
| Peak popularity | Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian periods, from the late eighth century B.C. through the sixth century B.C.[1](https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2014/assyria-to-iberia/blog/posts/pazuzu) |
| Iconography | Horned, bearded head with bulging eyes and snarling canine mouth; two pairs of wings; scorpion's tail; snake-headed erect penis; human arms ending in claws[1](https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2014/assyria-to-iberia/blog/posts/pazuzu) |
| Protective use | Figurines and plaques placed in homes; Pazuzu-head amulets worn by pregnant women against Lamashtu[3](https://isac.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/shared/docs/misc-highlights.pdf) |
| Best-known object | Bronze statuette in the Louvre, 15 centimeters high, 8th–7th century B.C.[1](https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2014/assyria-to-iberia/blog/posts/pazuzu) |
| Modern fame | The possessing demon in Blatty's 1971 novel and the 1973 film *The Exorcist*[4](https://archeologie.culture.gouv.fr/orient-cuneiforme/fr/une-popularite-qui-traverse-les-ages) |
## Name and textual record
The inscriptions on Pazuzu amulets and figures identify him directly. The bronze statuette in the Louvre carries on its back the declaration: "I am Pazuzu, son of Hampa, the king of evil spirits of the air who violently emerges from the mountains raging; it is I."[2](https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/pazuzu-figurine-an-ancient-statue-of-the-mesopotamian-demon-god-who-inspired-the-exorcist) A version published by Thureau-Dangin reads, "I am Pazuzu, the son of Hanpu, king of the evil spirits of the air; I go forth from the mountains raging like a whirlwind."[6](https://ignca.gov.in/Asi_data/43060.pdf) The Oriental Institute's figurine is inscribed as the "king of the evil lilû-demons," the lilû being a class of wind spirits.[3](https://isac.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/shared/docs/misc-highlights.pdf)
The demon's name and image appear together for the first time in the Assyrian period, a relatively late arrival in Mesopotamian demonic imagery.[5](https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_1983-0101-66) • [7](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/327485) The standard scholarly treatment is Franz Heeßel's *Pazuzu: Archäologische und Philologische Studien zu einem altorientalischen Dämon* (Brill, Ancient Magic and [Divination](https://www.edgepedia.org/divination) 4), which transcribes, translates, and comments on the Pazuzu incantations and other textual references.[8](https://brill.com/display/title/7546)
## Iconography
Pazuzu's body is a composite of dangerous animals. He stands on two legs with human arms ending in claws, bears two pairs of wings, and has a scorpion's tail, a snake-headed erect penis, and a horned, bearded head with bulging eyes and a snarling canine mouth.[1](https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2014/assyria-to-iberia/blog/posts/pazuzu) Complete figures usually show him winged, often with the right hand raised in a gesture of menace.[5](https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_1983-0101-66) Depictions vary in detail: some heads read as lion rather than dog, and one British Museum amulet gives him a leonine face with goat's horns rising from the eyebrows.[5](https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_1983-0101-66) • [9](https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_1926-0410-6)
The surviving objects are small. The best-known depiction is the Louvre's 15-centimeter bronze statuette, and the Met's bronze pendant of his head is likewise a hand-held object.[1](https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2014/assyria-to-iberia/blog/posts/pazuzu) • [7](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/327485) A huge number of figurines and amulets in a variety of materials, including bronze, terracotta, glazed composition, and stone, have been found on archaeological sites.[2](https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/pazuzu-figurine-an-ancient-statue-of-the-mesopotamian-demon-god-who-inspired-the-exorcist) • [9](https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_1926-0410-6)
## Protective function and Lamashtu
**Evil against evil.** In Mesopotamian religion, supernatural beings were not sorted into a simple good and evil opposition; their harmful or beneficial effects could be manipulated through offerings, incantations, and the direction of one being against another by a skilled practitioner.[1](https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2014/assyria-to-iberia/blog/posts/pazuzu) Pazuzu, a powerful and terrifying demon, was frequently set up as a shield against Lamashtu, a female demon with broad destructive powers whose favored victims were pregnant women and newborns.[1](https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2014/assyria-to-iberia/blog/posts/pazuzu) On amulets, the spell accompanying Pazuzu's image is not directed against him but is an invocation for his protection against a disease caused by Lamashtu.[10](https://www.iae-egyptology.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/book-of-abstracts-english.pdf)
The practical use followed this logic. Assyrians and Babylonians placed figurines and plaques of Pazuzu in their homes as protection against harmful forces, while pregnant women wore Pazuzu-head amulets, fibulae, and pendants to ward off the lion-headed demoness.[3](https://isac.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/shared/docs/misc-highlights.pdf) The demon's earliest image that can be dated archaeologically is a gold fibula bearing his grimacing face, which was interred in the grave of a royal woman at Nimrud; further fibulae and minor amulets indicate that this head remained in close use despite its alarming look.[1](https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2014/assyria-to-iberia/blog/posts/pazuzu)
## Chronology and spread
Pazuzu was most popular in the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian periods, from about the late eighth century B.C. through the sixth century B.C.[1](https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2014/assyria-to-iberia/blog/posts/pazuzu) His imagery traveled: a macehead with four back-to-back Pazuzu faces was dedicated at a Greek sanctuary on the island of Samos, and Pazuzu body ornamentation has been found across a geographic expanse encompassing Assyria and southern Babylonian cities.[1](https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2014/assyria-to-iberia/blog/posts/pazuzu) • [11](https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7dv6n713) An Aramaic-inscribed Pazuzu statuette, now in the Ashmolean Museum (AN1892.43), shows the demon entering early Aramaic magical practice alongside a Lamashtu amulet from Zincirli.[12](https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/716830)
The cult image then faded. By the Parthian period, Pazuzu's image was almost out of use, with only two representations datable to that era.[1](https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2014/assyria-to-iberia/blog/posts/pazuzu)
## Modern reception
After roughly 3,000 years of obscurity, [Pazuzu](https://www.edgepedia.org/pazuzu-the-exorcist) reappeared as the possessing demon in *The Exorcist*, the 1973 American horror film adapted from William Peter Blatty's 1971 novel, in which the spirit takes over a young girl.[4](https://archeologie.culture.gouv.fr/orient-cuneiforme/fr/une-popularite-qui-traverse-les-ages) • [2](https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/pazuzu-figurine-an-ancient-statue-of-the-mesopotamian-demon-god-who-inspired-the-exorcist) The film's opening excavation is set at Hatra in northern Iraq, and a human-size Pazuzu statue appears there, although the film casts the demon as a purely malevolent force, a reading the ancient evidence does not support.[1](https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2014/assyria-to-iberia/blog/posts/pazuzu) The figure has since kept a foothold in popular culture, including a 2017 episode of *The Simpsons* in which a character named Pazuzu possesses the family's statue.[2](https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/pazuzu-figurine-an-ancient-statue-of-the-mesopotamian-demon-god-who-inspired-the-exorcist)
## References
1. [Sarah Graff, "Pazuzu: Beyond Good and Evil," The Metropolitan Museum of Art (2014)](https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2014/assyria-to-iberia/blog/posts/pazuzu)
2. ["Pazuzu figurine: An ancient statue of the Mesopotamian 'demon' god who inspired 'The Exorcist'," Live Science (2025)](https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/pazuzu-figurine-an-ancient-statue-of-the-mesopotamian-demon-god-who-inspired-the-exorcist)
3. ["Mesopotamian Collection," Highlights of the Collections of the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago](https://isac.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/shared/docs/misc-highlights.pdf)
4. ["Une popularité qui traverse les âges," Orient cunéiforme, Ministère de la Culture (France)](https://archeologie.culture.gouv.fr/orient-cuneiforme/fr/une-popularite-qui-traverse-les-ages)
5. ["Figure 91876 (yellow limestone head of Pazuzu)," British Museum Collection Online](https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_1983-0101-66)
6. ["Babylonian and Assyrian Amulets," reprinted source text](https://ignca.gov.in/Asi_data/43060.pdf)
7. ["Pendant with the head of Pazuzu," The Metropolitan Museum of Art](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/327485)
8. [Franz Heeßel, *Pazuzu: Archäologische und Philologische Studien zu einem altorientalischen Dämon*, Brill](https://brill.com/display/title/7546)
9. ["Amulet 117941 (light blue glazed Pazuzu amulet)," British Museum Collection Online](https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_1926-0410-6)
10. ["Sehaqeq and Pazuzu, Malevolent and Benevolent Demons," conference book of abstracts, IAE Egyptology](https://www.iae-egyptology.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/book-of-abstracts-english.pdf)
11. ["Materializing Apotropaia: The Entangled Body and Neo-Assyrian Magical Arts," eScholarship (UC)](https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7dv6n713)
12. [Jessie DeGrado and Madadh Richey, "Discovering Early Syrian Magic," *Near Eastern Archaeology* 84/4](https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/716830)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Philosophy, religion, and mythology › Mythology and folklore › Legendary creatures and beings › Demons and grimoires*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license