Ugallu means big weather beast or big storm. In ancient Mesopotamia Ugallu is a masculine entity with deific and demonic connections. He has the head of a lion, body of a man and the feet and talons of a predatory bird.
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In the Babylonian creation myth Enuma Elish (Enūma Eliš) he's born of the Chaos Sea Goddess Tiamat. Ugallu is among the monsters created by Tiamat to destroy her offspring when they murder her partner Abzu (Apsu) and take over the world.
In the Enūma Eliš, after the murder of Abzu, Tiamat becomes a ferocious force of vengeance. She gives birth to monsters and dragons and fills their bodies with poison instead of blood. Lion-headed demon god Ugallu is born of hatred and bile.
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Ugallu first appears in the Old Babylonian Empire c. 1894 - 1595 BCE as a porter in the Underworld Kur. A porter can be a servant, carrier or goods, or a doorway guardian, keeper of the portal.
He's shown in a short robe with bird talons, or a longer robe with human feet. He's described as having
"... a lion's head and lion's ears, it holds a [dagger] in its right hand and carries a mace in its left, it is girded with a dagger, its name is ugallu."
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He may be paired with Sumerian demon Lugal, whose name means 'syrup man' or 'sweet syrup man'. Ugallu and Lugal are ud-demons, or day demons.
The Sumerian name of Ugallu is UD.GAL.LA, ud meaning day and galla, demon(s). Like the galla (gallu) demons, Ugallu can manifest as one entity or multiple.
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Ugallu is known to intervene in moments of crisis and save a person from death. His daytime or solar associations connect him to Shamash the Sun; the star of Sirius or the Dog Star, brightest in the night sky; and Nuska, god of the lamp. His rituals are generally done at night.
Ugallu is among the chaos-born deities to be rehabilitated. In the Enuma Elish, Marduk, the god king hero defeats Ugallu and locks him up, along with other fearsome beasts of Tiamat's making.
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Marduk puts them to work reconstructing the world from the bodies of Marduk's conquered enemies. The work expunges the evil of the monsters and turns them into symbols of protection. In similar versions, Marduk battles Tiamat, kills her (re)creates the world from her slain body.
In the ancient world, lion-headed Ugallu figures are commonly worn as amulets, displayed as statues or figures, or invoked for a specific purpose or event.
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In a divine dyad the benevolent ugallū guard palace gates. The protective and destructive forces of demon gods are legendary in Mesopotamia. When their natural ferocity is channeled into guardianship, benevolence, fortune and loyalty, they are valuable allies.
Although demons are not usually worshipped, they can be called upon or invoked by both gods and mortals. An example is demon Pazuzu, who is invoked to protect women in childbirth from his arch-enemy, the baby-eating demon goddess Lamashtu.
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The fearsome bennu disease (epilepsy) demon Shulpae is consort of great mountain mother Ninhursug, an earth creator goddess. He's also a protector of animals and orchards.
Shulpae does appear on god lists and receives worship with his wife. Worshippers focus on his helpful qualities and might ask him to keep his dreaded disease away from their homes and families.
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In the Assyrian version, the god Ashur is the hero of the Enuma Elish. Elements of the story are based on the tales of Sumerian warrior god Ninurta going back to the Early Bronze Age. Ninurta is one of the Mesopotamian gods imported into the Assyrian Kingdom.
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