Sirrush
Sirrush bas-relief in the Pergamon Museum.
Creature
Name:	Sirrush
Classification
Grouping:	Legendary creature
Sub grouping:	Dragon
Data
Mythology:	Babylonian mythology
Region:	Mesopotamia
Habitat:	Land

The sirrush is the creature depicted on the reconstructed Ishtar Gate of the city of Babylon. It resembles a scaly dragon with hind legs like an eagle's talons and feline forelegs. It also has a long neck and tail, a horned head, a snakelike tongue and a crest. While not matching any known creature, some argue the sirrush could have been a genuine animal. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2592x1944, 1494 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Sirrush Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create... Bas relief is a method of sculpting which entails carving or etching away the surface of a flat piece of stone or metal. ... The Pergamon Museum The Pergamon Museum (in German, Pergamonmuseum) is one of the museums on the Museum Island in Berlin. ... A legendary creature is a mythological or folkloric creature (often known as fabulous creatures in historical literature). ... It has been suggested that European dragon be merged into this article or section. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Mesopotamian mythology. ... Mesopotamia refers to the region now occupied by modern Iraq, and parts of eastern Syria, southeastern Turkey, and southwest Iran. ... The reconstructed Ishtar Gate in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin A detail from the reconstructed gate. ... Babylon (in Arabic: بابل; in Syriac: ܒܒܙܠ in Hebrew:בבל) was an ancient city in Mesopotamia (modern Al Hillah, Iraq), the ruins of which can be found in present-day Babil Province, about 80km south of Baghdad. ... It has been suggested that European dragon be merged into this article or section. ... Genera Several, see below. ... “Feline” redirects here. ...

The name

The name "sirrush" is derived from an Akkadian word loosely translated "splendor serpent." Although it is properly transliterated mûš-ruššû, early researchers mistakenly read it as sîr-ruššû, and this is the rendering most common today. Akkadian (lišānum akkadÄ«tum) was a Semitic language (part of the greater Afro-Asiatic language family) spoken in ancient Mesopotamia, particularly by the Assyrians and Babylonians. ... Transliteration is the practice of transcribing a word or text written in one writing system into another writing system. ...

Theories about the sirrush

The Ishtar Gate.

German archeologist Robert Koldewey, who discovered the Ishtar Gate 1902, seriously considered the notion that the sirrush was real. He argued that its depiction in Babylonian art was consistent over many centuries, while those of mythological creatures changed, sometimes drastically, over the years. He also noted that the sirrush is shown on the Ishtar Gate alongside real animals, the lion and the rimi (aurochs), leading him to speculate the sirrush was a creature the Babylonians were familiar with. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1944 × 2592 pixel, file size: 2. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1944 × 2592 pixel, file size: 2. ... The reconstructed Ishtar Gate in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin A detail from the reconstructed gate. ... Robert Koldewey Robert Johann Koldewey (* 10 September 1855 in Blankenburg (Harz); † 4 February 1925 in Berlin) was a German architect and archaeologist, famous for his discovery of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon in modern day Iraq. ... Babylonia was an ancient state in Iraq), combining the territories of Sumer and Akkad. ... Binomial name (Linnaeus, 1758) Distribution of Lions in Africa Synonyms Felis leo (Linnaeus, 1758) The lion (Panthera leo) is a member of the family Felidae and one of four big cats in the genus Panthera. ... Binomial name Subspecies Bos primigenius primigenius   (Bojanus, 1827) Bos primigenius namadicus   (Falconer, 1859) Bos primigenius mauretanicus   (Thomas, 1881) See Ur (rune) for the rune. ... Binomial name Subspecies Bos primigenius primigenius   (Bojanus, 1827) Bos primigenius namadicus   (Falconer, 1859) Bos primigenius mauretanicus   (Thomas, 1881) See Ur (rune) for the rune. ...

Bel and the Dragon, a deuterocanonical Biblical text, relates a story that Koldewey thought involved a sirrush. In a temple dedicated to Bel (Nebuchadnezzar's god), priests had a "great dragon or serpent, which they of Babylon worshiped." Daniel, the Biblical prophet, was confronted with this creature by the priests, who challenged him to match his invisible God against their living god. Eventually, Daniel poisoned the creature. The creature's distinctly feline front paws seemed incongruous, and gave Koldeway some doubt. However, In 1918 he proposed that the iguanodon, (a dinosaur with birdlike hindfeet) was the closest match to the sirrush (Sjögren, 1980). Wikisource has original text related to this article: Bible, English, King James, Bel The tale of Bel and the Dragon is from chapter 14 of the Book of Daniel. ... The deuterocanonical books are the books that Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Oriental Orthodoxy include in the Old Testament that were not part of the Jewish Tanakh. ... This Gutenberg Bible is displayed by the United States Library. ... Temple of Hephaestus, an Doric Greek temple in Athens with the original entrance facing east, 449 BC (western face depicted) For other uses, see Temple (disambiguation). ... Bel, signifying lord or master, is a title rather than a genuine name, applied to various gods in Babylonian relgion. ... Nebuchadnezzar (or Nebudchadrezzar) II (ca. ... It has been suggested that European dragon be merged into this article or section. ... Serpent is a word of Latin origin (serpens, serpentis) that is commonly used in a specifically mythic or religious context, signifying a snake that is to be regarded not as a mundane natural phenomenon nor as an object of scientific zoology, but as the bearer of some symbolic value. ... Babylon (in Arabic: بابل; in Syriac: ܒܒܙܠ in Hebrew:בבל) was an ancient city in Mesopotamia (modern Al Hillah, Iraq), the ruins of which can be found in present-day Babil Province, about 80km south of Baghdad. ... Taken during a Hindu prayer ceremony on the eve of Diwali. ... This article is about the Biblical figure called Daniel. ... Species (Boulenger, 1881) (neotype) (Holl, 1829) nom. ...

Adrienne Mayor argues that ancient civilizations often took great care in excavating, transporting and reassembling fossils, raising the possibility that it represents a Babylonian reconstruction of sauropod remains. The griffin and other mythical creatures may have been based on similar reconstructions by this reasoning. However, Willy Ley wrote that, as of the late 1950's, no fossil beds are known around Mesopotamia. Others have noted a resemblance to monitor lizards, speculating that Babylonians may have seen or captured monitors and based the sirrush upon them. Adrienne Mayor is a classical folklorist whose main interests have been pre-Darwinian interpretations of paleontological remains (in The First Fossil Hunters) and the use of biochemical weapons in the ancient world (in Greek Fire, Poison Arrows & Scorpion Bombs). ... FOSSIL is a standard for allowing serial communication for telecommunications programs under DOS. FOSSIL is an acronym for Fido Opus Seadog Standard Interface Layer. ... Statue of a griffin at St. ... This article is about a system of myths. ... Willy Ley (October 2, 1906 - June 24, 1969) was a science writer and space advocate who helped popularise rocketry and spaceflight in Germany and the United States in the early-mid twentieth century. ... Mesopotamia refers to the region now occupied by modern Iraq, and parts of eastern Syria, southeastern Turkey, and southwest Iran. ... Species Many, see text. ...

Willy Ley suggested that the sirrush could be based on an animal that the Babylonians have heard of but that did not live in Mesopotamia. Ley proposed that since bricks of a similar type that those of the Ishtar Gate have been found around Africa, this means the Babylonians could have heard of or seen the animal somewhere else in Africa. The cryptozoologist Bernard Heuvelmans notes that the sirrush was similar to a type of dinosaur, the sauropods. Heuvelmans then suggested that the sirrush of the Ishtar gate and the persisting rumours of sauropod-like surviving dinosaurs in Central Africa, for example Mokele Mbembe is related, and that the sirrush is based on actual unknown reptiles living in Central Africa at that time and that may still be alive. Cryptozoology is the study of rumored or mythological animals that are presumed to exist, but for which conclusive proof does not yet exist; or are generally considered extinct, but occasionally reported. ... Bernard Heuvelmans (October 10, 1916 – August 22, 2001) was a scientist, explorer, researcher, and a writer probably best known as a founder of cryptozoology. ... Orders & Suborders Saurischia Sauropodomorpha Theropoda Ornithischia Thyreophora Ornithopoda Marginocephalia Dinosaurs were vertebrate animals that dominated the terrestrial ecosystem for over 160 million years, first appearing approximately 230 million years ago. ... Families Brachiosauridae Camarasauridae Cetiosauridae Diplodocidae Euhelopodidae Nemegtosauridae Titanosauridae Vulcanodontidae Sauropoda, the sauropods, are a suborder or infraorder of the saurischian (lizard-hipped) dinosaurs. ... Living dinosaurs is a term sometimes used to denote birds, which are the only group of dinosaurs known to have survived the K-T extinction. ... Mokèlé-mbèmbé is the name given to a large creature reported to live in the lakes and swamps of the Congo River basin. ...

Another possibility is the Elasmotherium, or "Giant Unicorn," another beast fitting the approximate description. Binomial name Elasmotherium sibiricum J. Fischer, 1809 The Giant Unicorn (Elasmotherium sibiricum) (Siberian Thin-Plate Beast) was a giant rhinoceros which stood two meters high and six meters (20 feet) long, with a single two-meter-long (7 feet) horn in the forehead. ...

The Sirrush in popular culture

In the video game Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, there is a creature with a feline face, blue skin, a long curly white mane and a scorpion's tail named "Mushussu". It is described as "A furious beast from ancient Babylonia [sic]".

See also

• Mokele Mbembe
• Living dinosaurs

Mokèlé-mbèmbé is the name given to a large creature reported to live in the lakes and swamps of the Congo River basin. ... Living dinosaurs is a term sometimes used to denote birds, which are the only group of dinosaurs known to have survived the K-T extinction. ...

References

• Jerome Clark (1993). Unexplained! 347 Strange Sightings, Incredible Occurrences, and Puzzling Physical Phenomena. Detroit: Visible Ink Press.
• Bernard Heuvelmans (1958). On The Track Of Unknown Animals. New York: Hill and Wang.
• Willy Ley (1959). Exotic Zoology. New York: Viking Press.
• Karl Shuker (1995). In Search of Prehistoric Survivors. London: Blandford. ISBN 0-7137-2469-2
• Bengt Sjögren (1980). Berömda vidunder, Settern ISBN 91-7586-023-6 (Swedish)

External links

• Mushrushu (or Sirrush) artwork from Ishtar Gate & lore
• The Ishtar Gate
• The Cryptid Zoo: Sirrush in Cryptozoology