🇺🇸▼
Pazuzu was a powerful demon from ancient Babylon and Assyria. He was most prominent during the first millennium BCE. He was the son of Hanbi, the king of the underworld demons, and the brother of Humbaba. Humbaba was a demon-god who protected the cedar forest in the Epic of Gilgamesh before being killed by the story’s heroes. Pazuzu was known for his destructive powers. Because of this fear, people often prayed to him for protection against the very diseases, threats, and terrors he created. He commanded the west and southwest winds. These winds brought famine during the dry season and violent storms and locusts during the rainy season. Since Pazuzu controlled these dangerous winds, he was also seen as the best defense against them.
This idea is similar to how the Egyptian god Set was viewed. Prayers to Pazuzu were intended to redirect his natural desire for destruction toward benevolent ends. People believed that because he had great power to harm, he was equally potent in offering protection. Today, Pazuzu is the most famous Mesopotamian demon. He is likely the only one most people have ever heard of. Scholar Stephen Bertman noted that Pazuzu reached Hollywood. He is the only Mesopotamian demon to star in a movie. In the 1973 horror film The Exorcist, based on William Peter Blatty’s 1971 novel, Pazuzu is the demon who possesses the character played by Linda Blair. In this film, he is associated with the Christian Satan and the forces of evil.
In the ancient world, demons were not always evil. Even beings that brought death and destruction, like Pazuzu, were capable of good deeds. Pazuzu was never considered the most benevolent supernatural being, but he was not evil incarnate either. It is better to view him as a trickster figure who might do harm or good depending on his mood. He was particularly powerful in protecting pregnant women and children from Lamashtu. Lamashtu was a demon-goddess who preyed on unborn and newborn babies.
The modern word "demon" implies evil, but this was not true in ancient times. The English word comes from the Greek word daimon, which simply meant "spirit." A daimon could be good or evil depending on its intentions. In ancient Mesopotamia, demons were often sent by gods to punish sin or to remind people of their duties. They were part of a complex spiritual system where entities could be helpful or harmful.
The myth of Atrahasis explains the origin of human suffering. In the story, human beings grew too numerous and loud. They lived so long that their population exploded, disturbing the god Enlil with their noise. Enlil decided to destroy them with a great flood. After the flood, Enki, the god of wisdom, proposed a plan to repopulate the Earth. He suggested creating a new kind of human with shorter lifespans and greater daily threats. From that point on, humans would face disease, miscarriages, impotency, sterility, animal attacks, and various forms of death.
Demons were a key part of this divine plan. They were sent to decrease the population, punish the wicked, and test the righteous. They could also torment people if a god felt it was justified, even if other gods disagreed. Demons that interfered with sexuality and fertility were especially troublesome. For example, the demon Samana had dragon teeth, eagle talons, and a scorpion’s tail. He was a constant threat. Sumerian incantations described how he blocked menstruation in young girls and potency in young men. He also affected crops and livestock. Scholar Bertman noted that Samana had a special appetite for infants and prostitutes.
Despite his malice, Samana was regarded as an agent of Gula, the goddess of health and healing. He was sometimes sent by her for reasons humans could not always understand. It was clear that individuals could be targeted by gods or demons for any reason, whether major or minor. Scholar Gwendolyn Leick noted that sexual life was under potential threat from the wrath of vengeful gods or demonic forces. Sexuality was targeted because it related to reproduction. By interfering with sexual life, the gods could keep human populations manageable.
One way to protect oneself from these attacks was to find a protector in an equally powerful demon. This demon would stand between the individual and the wrath of the gods. Pazuzu was the most popular of these protective figures. He was mainly called upon to keep Lamashtu from killing babies. He was also invoked against disease, impotency, and the ill effects of the winds he controlled. These winds blew from the direction of the land of the dead.
Pazuzu was imagined as a frightening figure capable of scaring off lesser demons and ghosts. He was represented in statuettes and engravings with bulging eyes, a canine face, a scaly body, a snake-headed penis, bird talons, and enormous wings. In the opening scenes of The Exorcist, he is depicted accurately in a life-sized statue seen by a priest in the ancient city of Hatra.
In the novel, the priest handles a small statue of Pazuzu rather than gazing at a large figure. This is historically accurate. Although small statuettes of Pazuzu have been found at Hatra, no full-sized statues have ever been discovered. It is unlikely they ever will be. Depictions of demons or underworld deities are rare because people believed that creating such an image would attract the attention of the subject. No one wanted to meet the Queen of the Dead face-to-face.
The same logic applied to Ereshkigal, Queen of the Dead. Few images of her exist. Even the famous Burney Relief, also known as the Queen of the Night, does not explicitly name its subject. Creating an image of such a powerful entity was seen as dangerous. It would invite her attention.
Small statuettes and charms featuring Pazuzu had a specific effect. They drew Pazuzu’s attention to the wearer or the room. However, their small size concentrated their power toward protection. The mortal had nothing to fear because they were honoring him. When he arrived, he used his demonic powers against those threatening his charges, not against the individual who invoked him. These statuettes were primarily placed in children’s rooms, but could be found near doorways or windows in any home.
Images of Pazuzu served a similar function to the Nimrud Dogs. These were small dog statuettes buried under building thresholds or placed in rooms to guard against evil spirits. The Nimrud Dogs were thought to embody the spirit of actual dogs, which were associated with Gula and seen as protective animals. Similarly, statuettes of Pazuzu drew on the essence of the demon himself. They guaranteed safety through his presence.
Scholar Jeremy Black argued that demons in Mesopotamia evolved from representations of threatening animals to personifications of danger and death. Black claimed Pazuzu is the ultimate expression of this evolution. He outlined five phases of this development:
This evolution continued into the Hellenistic and Christian periods. Christians no longer needed protective demons. The new faith discouraged reliance on earlier religious beliefs. Demons were relegated to the Christian hell. Since they were already associated with the underworld, it was easy to turn them into agents of eternal punishment. They were viewed as beings who brought danger and death to those who encountered them.
The New Testament depicts Jesus routinely driving demons from individuals. Books like Acts and Revelation describe demons serving Satan. In the letter of I John, readers are advised to test every spirit to see if it is of God. In this view, demons were certainly not of God. This was a radical departure from the Mesopotamian view.
After Christianity rose, demons were considered only agents of evil. Pazuzu, an ancient figure with a fearsome aspect, was the perfect antagonist for The Exorcist. The audience had been primed by almost 2,000 years of instruction to accept the demon as an instrument of evil. However, to the people of ancient Mesopotamia, Pazuzu was often regarded as the strongest security guard. He was a shield against misfortunes in an uncertain and frightening world.