Conversations With A 3000-Year-Old Friend

It is a name you won’t easily forget: Lamassu.

Let the syllables roll on your tongue, leaving an earthy, floral aftertaste, like drops of fine wine: La-mas-su.

Massive and majestic, this unusual friend of mine is as ancient as time itself. He sits by himself in the Assyrian Collection of the British Museum. This loneliness of his is rather unusual for …