Monday, March 14, 2011

Pazuzu Amulet

"FallenAngelRuby" brings us this excellent Pazuzu Amulet. The sculpt is outstanding, the weathering equally so, and the applied identification number gives it the feel of a real archeological artifact.



Update: Please click through and read the comments. There's a reason this artifact looks so realistic- it's a picture of the real thing from the British Museum. Heh.

For comparison, here's the picture posted at the Museum's page on the artifact.



It appears Ruby simply reposted the picture because she's a fan of the "Supernatural" television show and Pazuzu was mentioned in passing during an episode. Because it was posted in the Sculpture category on DeviantArt I assumed she'd, well, sculpted it. That's obviously not the case and the misunderstanding is all mine.
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8 comments:

  1. AnonymousMarch 14, 2011 at 6:00 AM

    I think this is an _actual_ artifact, and the accession number is that of the British Museum. Don't know why the picture turned up on DeviantArt. See: http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/me/b/bronze_head_of_pazuzu.aspx for details...

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  2. CoastConFanMarch 14, 2011 at 8:12 AM

    It looks good, because it is good. That particular piece is in the British Museum and the number on the bottom is the catalog number ANE 93089. The figure is pretty late, actually being neoAssyrian and dating 800 to 550 B.C.E.

    http://www.archaeowiki.org/Pazuzu

    If I recall correctly that god/demon (depends on your cosmology) Pazuzu appears in the movie The Exorcist and sequels. If you check around there are some better aspects and depictions that would look good in a CoC campaign.

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  3. UnknownMarch 14, 2011 at 8:29 AM

    Uhmm..
    It looks real because it actually
    is an ancient artifact!
    It's from the British Museum..

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  4. Jason McKittrickMarch 14, 2011 at 9:24 AM

    Just thought you should know, this is an actual archaeological piece. It resides in the British Museum.
    The "artist" on deviantart simply posted it in their gallery.

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  5. UnknownMarch 14, 2011 at 10:34 AM

    Sorry, but FallenAngelRuby did not create that prop, or if she did, it was so accurately made that the photo of it even reflects the light the same as this artifact pictured on ArchaeoWiki:
    http://www.archaeowiki.org/Image:Pazuzu_head_amulet.jpg

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  6. Rick de G.March 14, 2011 at 11:19 AM

    Bronze amulet head of Pazuzu

    Neo-Assyrian period, circa 800-550 BCE Probably from Nimrud (ancient Kalhu), northern Iraq

    British Museum ANE 93089

    Room 55, Later Mesopotamia, case 15.

    Looks like the archive picture was just re-uploaded.

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  7. PhilMarch 14, 2011 at 3:34 PM

    Still a nice reference piece. It does help to look at the real thing once in awhile.

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  8. CoastConFanMarch 14, 2011 at 4:10 PM

    I’m sure that no harm is done and to the good, it has made people scramble to look up Pazuzu. Getting your cage rattled is all part of the fun. I am glad that an original piece has been posted to remind people about the look and feel of 2,500 year old bronze objects. Had it been a less famous piece, I might have been complimenting the fine patination.

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