page_title: Mušḫuššu
hierarchical_section_title: Mušḫuššu
caption_attribution_description: 2012-10-10 10-13 Berlin 313 Pergamon Museum, Ischtar Tor, Detail
context_page_description: The mušḫuššu or mushkhushshu, is a creature from ancient Mesopotamian mythology. A mythological hybrid, it is a scaly animal with hind legs resembling the talons of an eagle, lion-like forelimbs, a long neck and tail, a horned head, a snake-like tongue, and a crest. The mušḫuššu most famously appears on the reconstructed Ishtar Gate of the city of Babylon, dating to the sixth century BCE.
  The form mušḫuššu is the Akkadian nominative of Sumerian: 𒈲𒄭𒄊 MUŠ.ḪUS, 'reddish snake', sometimes also translated as 'fierce snake'. One author, possibly following others, translates it as 'splendor serpent'. The reading sir-ruššu is due to a mistransliteration of the cuneiform in early Assyriology.
context_section_description: The mušḫuššu (𒈲𒄭𒄊; formerly also read as sirrušu or sirrush) or mushkhushshu ([muʃxuʃʃu] or [musxussu]), is a creature from ancient Mesopotamian mythology. A mythological hybrid, it is a scaly animal with hind legs resembling the talons of an eagle, lion-like forelimbs, a long neck and tail, a horned head, a snake-like tongue, and a crest. The mušḫuššu most famously appears on the reconstructed Ishtar Gate of the city of Babylon, dating to the sixth century BCE.
  The form mušḫuššu is the Akkadian nominative of Sumerian: 𒈲𒄭𒄊 MUŠ.ḪUS, 'reddish snake', sometimes also translated as 'fierce snake'. One author, possibly following others, translates it as 'splendor serpent' (𒈲 MUŠ is the Sumerian term for 'serpent'). The reading sir-ruššu is due to a mistransliteration of the cuneiform in early Assyriology.
caption: Sirrush bas-relief in the Pergamon Museum
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