Protective Creatures

View of an orthostat from the Hearld's Wall in the Lower Palace complex at Carchemish. It is of basalt and dates to 900–700 B.C.

Two bull-men (Kusarikku; lower body of a bull, upper body and head of a man), carrying spears facing the viewer are in the center of the orthostat,. They are flanked on the right and left by two lion-headed men carrying maces (Ugallu; body of a man, head of a lion). Evidently, these protected the palace and its inhabitants.

The orthostat is about 4 feet tall and made of basalt. In the Hearld's Wall there was a mixture of basalt and limestone orthostats.