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Amulet depicting Lamashtu
Near Eastern, Mesopotamian, Assyrian
Neo-Assyrian Period
883–612 B.C.
Object Place: Northwestern Iran
Medium/Technique
Stone
Dimensions
Height x width: 3.9 x 3 cm (1 9/16 x 1 3/16 in.)
Credit Line
Florence E. and Horace L. Mayer Fund
Accession Number1985.103
CollectionsJewelry, Ancient Egypt, Nubia and the Near East
ClassificationsJewelry / Adornment – Amulets
DescriptionPolished black stone medicinal amulet incised with an image of the lion-headed, bird-clawed demon Lamashtu, filled with reddish-white paste. Such amulets as this were worn by pregnant women to protect them from the demon Lamashtu, who was believed to kill newborn infants and take them for herself. Expectant mothers bribed her away with small offerings of combs and fibulae (safety pins). These gifts and a clay image of Lamashtu were ritually set adrift in a model boat that, it was hoped, would take her back to the Netherworld. This amulet shows Lamashtu, pregnant herself and suckling a dog and a pig, sailing away on her boat and holding her new comb and fibula.
Provenance1985, sold by Eshagh (Isaac) Sakhai, Brighton, MA, to the MFA. (Accession Date: April 24, 1985)