Demons, as they’re called in English translation, have haunted Christians in the Western World for a very long time. In the Ancient Near East, they could be nice or not so nice, forming a part of a fascinating, and complex pantheon that people invoked and worshiped. A fine distortion of this religious system would be the film The Exorcist in which a child is possessed by Pazuzu, a demon who, in the Ancient Near East, was actually invoked to save young children and fetuses, to defeat Lamashtu, a demon who enjoyed taking babies, fetuses, and pregnant women away from the physical world. Why, in your opinion, is it fun for modern Westerners to demonize such Ancient Near Eastern “demons” in Hollywood films and get it all so totally wrong and historically inaccurate?
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I think it’s partly because of incorrect knowledge and misinterpretation of the knowledge that they have. The demons you mentioned sounded very interesting. Could you suggest any articles etc for further reading?
There is an interesting article from the Met Museum to get started. I read an article a long time ago about amulets people wore (another popular fiction theme) but I can’t remember where I saw it. I hope this is useful! Also, you have made a good point. Thanks for your insight!
That was interesting. The name “pazuzu” sounded familier to me, probably because of the movie.
