Lamashtu

The Devourer of Children

Domain: Disease, Death & Nightmare
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Element: Darkness
Relics of Power: Dark Comb and Spindle

Speak with Lamashtu

The full Codex

5 sections of this entry are open to everyone: the summary, the people, the symbols, the lineage and the sources. The other 9 (Name and epithets, In the ancient sources, The myths, Worship and archaeology, How the god was depicted, What scholars debate, After antiquity, Did you know?, Codex relic) are part of the full Codex: PRO opens the whole study of all 500 deities, and without a subscription you can read one full entry a day, just like in the app.

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The People

People

Sumerians, Akkadians & Babylonians

Region

Mesopotamia (modern Iraq)

Period

c. 3500 – 500 BC

The Mesopotamian gods were worshipped by the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians in the land between the Tigris and Euphrates, the cradle of writing and cities. Each city raised a ziggurat to its patron god, served by a powerful priestly caste. Their myths, such as the Enuma Elish and the Epic of Gilgamesh, are among the oldest in the world.

The Akitu festival opened the new year with processions along Babylon's Sacred Way, and the sacred marriage rite symbolically united Inanna and Dumuzi to ensure fertility. Lamentations, hymns, and divination by animal livers marked daily religious life.

At a glance

Lamashtu is a demoness of Mesopotamian religion, written with the divine sign and called a daughter of the sky god Anu. She attacked pregnant women, women in labour and newborns, and was fought with incantations, rituals and amulets, among them plaques showing her image and the head of her rival Pazuzu.

3 min read · Reviewed on October 15, 2026 · How we research

Sacred symbols

The lioness, the comb, the spindle and the serpent

Family

Parents

Anu

Lamashtu

Genealogy according to Wiggermann 2000; Black & Green 1992; ficha do deus (src/data)

Sources and further reading

Studies

Jeremy Black; Anthony Green, Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary (British Museum Press). 1992.
F. A. M. Wiggermann, Lamaštu, Daughter of Anu: A Profile, em M. Stol, Birth in Babylonia and the Bible: Its Mediterranean Setting (Cuneiform Monographs 14, Styx, pp. 217–252). 2000.

Name and epithets

The name is read Lamaštu (also Lamashtu or Lamaštum) and appears in the texts with the divine determinative, which formally places her among the gods even though she acts as a demoness.

In the ancient sources

Series of incantations and rituals against Lamaštu, first millennium BCE. Gathers the incantations that describe the demoness, her victims and the acts to drive her away; it is the basis of the profile drawn by Wiggerma…

The myths

The Daughter of Anu Who Acted on Her Own. The texts call Lamashtu a daughter of Anu, the sky god. Unlike most Mesopotamian demons, who carried out tasks given by the gods, she acted of her own will.

Worship and archaeology

Lamashtu had no cult of praise: what existed was defence against her. Families of pregnant women and newborns turned to incantations, rituals of expulsion and amulets, such as the plaques bearing her image, which were k…

How the god was depicted

According to Black & Green (1992) and Wiggermann (2000), Lamashtu has the head of a lioness or lion, donkey's teeth, a hairy body, bloodied hands and long fingernails.

What scholars debate

Goddess or Demoness?. Lamashtu is written with the divine sign and called a daughter of Anu, yet she behaves as a demoness and serves no divine orders.

After antiquity

Lamashtu became known in the study of Mesopotamia as the chief demoness tied to infant mortality and pregnancy. Her amulet plaques are among the objects most often cited in catalogues of the region's demons and symbols,…

Did you know?

Lamashtu nursed a dog and a pig, an image showing how she inverted motherhood instead of protecting children. Rituals of expulsion gave the demoness objects such as the comb and the spindle, so that she would leave the…

Codex relic

Dark Comb and Spindle. The objects she carries as she stalks the homes, symbols of her assault on mothers and newborns.

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