Demon with forked tongue found on clay tablet

[Eldorado]

"A demonic figure with curved horns, a forked tongue, a tail and a reptilian eye has long lurked unobserved on the back of a 2,700-year-old clay tablet housed at Berlin’s Vorderasiatisches Museum, a new study published in Le Journal des Médecines Cunéiformes suggests.

"University of Copenhagen Assyriologist Troels Pank Arbøll discovered the rare illustration while studying the cuneiform text five years ago.

"Researchers have known of the artifact’s existence for decades, but as Arbøll tells Live Science’s Tom Metcalfe, he was the first to notice the creature’s damaged outline.

"The writing on the tablet suggests its creator viewed the demon as the cause of convulsions and other involuntary movements then called bennu but now understood as epilepsy."

Full article at the Smithsonian mag: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/demon-sketched-2700-year-old-tablet-was-thought-cause-epilepsy-180973901/

"Demon with Forked Tongue Found on Clay Tablet in Library of Assyrian Exorcists"

At Live Science: https://www.livescience.com/assyrian-demon-tablet-found.html

[Kittens Are Jerks]

Pareidolia! (jk) Glad they sketched it out for I would not have figured it out otherwise.

How horrific it must have been to suffer from epilepsy and be subjected to those hideous rituals.

[Piney]

10 minutes ago, Kittens Are Jerks said:

Pareidolia! 

It looks like it might be. Demons weren't portrayed that way by them.

@Kenemet  can give us a good insight. 

 

[Grim Reaper 6]

2 hours ago, Piney said:

It looks like it might be. Demons weren't portrayed that way by them.

@Kenemet  can give us a good insight. 

 

It makes sense that it certainly could  pareidolia  I mean what else could it. I also like the wat the link states that it was most likely copied from the image of an older demon. All I am certain about is it is one hell of a discovery, that was hidden for so many years in plain sight.

peace

[Piney]

1 minute ago, Manwon Lender said:

It makes sense that it certainly could  pareidolia  I mean what else could it. I also like the wat the link states that it was most likely copied from the image of an older demon. All I am certain about is it is one hell of a discovery, that was hidden for so many years in plain sight.

peace

Back then horns were reserved for warriors and good guys. They didn't become "demonic" until the Middle Ages. 

[XenoFish]

A lot of illnesses and mental conditions were once considered to have been caused by evil spirits. Unfortunately there are those who still think this. 

[Grim Reaper 6]

3 minutes ago, Piney said:

Back then horns were reserved for warriors and good guys. They didn't become "demonic" until the Middle Ages. 

That's interesting and disturbing at the same time. Maybe the current records on the use of horns is wrong, this tablet may be a game changer for current theories on the subject. I mean things in the field of Archeology are always kinda in flux, just waiting for the next find that could change excepted ideas.

peace Bro

[Piney]

1 minute ago, Manwon Lender said:

That's interesting and disturbing at the same time. Maybe the current records on the use of horns is wrong, this tablet may be a game changer for current theories on the subject. I mean things in the field of Archeology are always kinda in flux, just waiting for the next find that could change excepted ideas.

peace Bro

I don't think it's a actual drawing. Just some scratches giving the illusion of one....pareidolia. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia

[Grim Reaper 6]

12 minutes ago, Piney said:

Back then horns were reserved for warriors and good guys. They didn't become "demonic" until the Middle Ages. 

They also had another demon with horns, his name was Pazuzu. He was a pretty evil dude, below us a link.

https://www.ancient.eu/Pazuzu/

peace

[Grim Reaper 6]

4 minutes ago, Piney said:

I don't think it's a actual drawing. Just some scratches giving the illusion of one....pareidolia. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia

Here is a closeup photo of the tablet, tell me what you think.

 

[XenoFish]

Looks like a goat to me.

[Unusual Tournament]

6 minutes ago, Manwon Lender said:

Here is a closeup photo of the tablet, tell me what you think.

 

Its a demon drawing. Its not a series of imaginary lines that the mind can reinterpret. 

[Grim Reaper 6]

5 minutes ago, XenoFish said:

Looks like a goat to me.

That's possible, maybe they had it in standing sexual position!

peace

[XenoFish]

2 minutes ago, Manwon Lender said:

That's possible, maybe they had it in standing sexual position!

peace

Reminds me of Pan or a Satyr.

[Grim Reaper 6]

7 minutes ago, Captain Risky said:

Its a demon drawing. Its not a series of imaginary lines that the mind can reinterpret. 

I have to agree with you, at first I thought it could be just a series of lines. However, when I found this blown up version and posted it, it left no doubt. Now the question maybe how old is it or has the tablet been tampered with.

peace

[Unusual Tournament]

1 minute ago, Manwon Lender said:

I have to agree with you, at first I thought it could be just a series of lines. However, when I found this blown up version and posted it, it left no doubt. Now the question maybe how old is it or has the tablet been tampered with.

peace

yes its quite possible that its been tampered with. The lines above the head look to me like they have been added on, after the fact. Still its a demon, regardless. 

[Grim Reaper 6]

2 minutes ago, XenoFish said:

Reminds me of Pan or a Satyr.

If you look at the bottom of the figure, it almost looks like he has a hand in his butt.

peace

[Piney]

12 minutes ago, Captain Risky said:

Its a demon drawing. Its not a series of imaginary lines that the mind can reinterpret. 

 

12 minutes ago, XenoFish said:

Looks like a goat to me.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ram_in_a_Thicket

https://www.intechopen.com/online-first/goats-in-the-ancient-near-east-and-their-relationship-with-the-mythology-fairytale-and-folklore-of-t

[Unusual Tournament]

1 minute ago, Piney said:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ram_in_a_Thicket

https://www.intechopen.com/online-first/goats-in-the-ancient-near-east-and-their-relationship-with-the-mythology-fairytale-and-folklore-of-t

Good find, Piney.

[Grim Reaper 6]

2 minutes ago, Piney said:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ram_in_a_Thicket

https://www.intechopen.com/online-first/goats-in-the-ancient-near-east-and-their-relationship-with-the-mythology-fairytale-and-folklore-of-t

The article about UR is pretty interesting for me. I actually went there during Desert Storm after the cease fire was called. I had read about it years before and I was looking at a map of where our TOC was located I saw it listed. So I grabbed a driver, a Humvee and took off. It was only about 20 miles from our TOC. The city had been abandoned, there was no one there so we walked all around the site. It was pretty amazing because there was pottery and small clay, bone, along with shell beads just laying on the ground.

So we picked up some the beads and some of the pieces of pottery. I later made a neckless out of the beads for my wife she still wears it sometimes. That was the best day I spent in Iraq during that War.

Peace

[Ell]

On 1/4/2020 at 5:59 AM, Manwon Lender said:

Here is a closeup photo of the tablet, tell me what you think.

 

Do I imagine the image of a bovine looking towards the right in the lower half?

[Grim Reaper 6]

50 minutes ago, Ell said:

Do I imagine the image of a bovine looking towards the right in the lower half?

Yes it could be but, it's hard to see it clearly.

peace

[Unusual Tournament]

On 1/4/2020 at 3:17 PM, XenoFish said:

Reminds me of Pan or a Satyr.

Only apart from the upright position it has no physical attributes of a human, 

[Unusual Tournament]

On 1/4/2020 at 3:17 PM, Manwon Lender said:

I have to agree with you, at first I thought it could be just a series of lines. 

Maybe the lines denote some form of divinity, like a god or something.

[Grim Reaper 6]

7 minutes ago, Captain Risky said:

Maybe the lines denote some form of divinity, like a god or something.

Man that could be possible, it's really hard to tell either way. But you may be on to something, I am not even certain they know for certain either. 

Peace Bro.