The Lamassu is a celestial being from Mesopotamian mythology. Human above the waist and a bull below the waist, it also has the horns and the ears of a bull. It appears frequently in Mesopotamian art, sometimes with wings. The lamassu and shedu were household protective spirits of the common Babylonian people, becoming associated later as royal protectors, were placed as sentinels at the entrances. The lamassu in real life is very tall. In this case the lamassu is being used as a symbol of power. The motif of a winged animal with a human head is common to the Near East, first recorded in Ebla, around 3000 BCE.