We’re exploring themes from the current Getty Villa exhibition “Mesopotamia: Civilization Begins” and today’s theme is protective spirits! ⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ Ancient Mesopotamians believed that semi-divine spirits, often in the form of human-animal hybrids, provided protection. ⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ A statuette of a human-headed bull was probably given as a votive offering in a temple in Lagash (an important city-state in Sumer). His crown, with four tiers of horns, shows the preeminent place this beneficent figure held in the divine hierarchy. ⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ In later periods, human-headed bulls became popular as colossal statues that guarded the entrances to Assyrian palaces. Swipe to see the original head of one of these sculptures, set into a recreation of its original appearance. ⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ You can also see images of protective Mesopotamian spirits in the Villa exhibition “Assyria: Palace Art of Ancient Iraq.” The fourth and fifth images show hybrid spirits carved on relief panels that once decorated the doorways of king As...