Mušḫuššu
The mušḫuššu (; formerly also read as or ) or mushkhushshu ( or ), 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 most famously appears on the reconstructed Ishtar Gate of the city of Babylon, dating to the sixth century BCE. The form is the Akkadian nominative of , 'reddish snake', sometimes also translated as 'fierce snake'. One author, possibly following others, translates it as 'splendor serpent' ( is the  Sumerian term for 'serpent'). The reading is due to a mistransliteration of the cuneiform in early Assyriology. History. Mušḫuššu already appears in Sumerian religion and art, as in the "", dedicated to Ningishzida by the Sumerian ruler Gudea (21st century BCE short chronology). The is the sacred animal of Marduk and his son Nabu during the Neo-Babylonian Empire. The dragon Mušḫuššu, whom Marduk once vanquished, became his symbolic animal and servant. It was taken over by Marduk from Tishpak, the local god of Eshnunna. The constellation Hydra was known in Babylonian astronomical texts as Bašmu, 'the Serpent' (, MUŠ). It was  depicted as having the torso of a fish, the tail of a snake, the forepaws of a lion, the hind legs of an eagle, wings, and a head comparable to the .