In particular, in a scene reminiscent of Ezekiel's dream, the Megiddo Ivories- ivory carvings found at Megiddo (which became a major Israelite city)-depict an unknown king being carried on his throne by hybrid winged-creatures. The related Lammasu (human-headed winged lions-to which the sphinx is similar in appearance), on the other hand, were the most popular winged-creature in Phoenician art, and so scholars suspect that cherubim were originally a form of Lammasu. However, while the shedu were popular in Mesopotamia, archaeological remains from the Levant suggest that they were quite rare in the immediate vicinity of the Israelites. They were originally a version of the shedu, protective deities sometimes found as pairs of colossal statues either side of objects to be protected, such as doorways. In some regions the Assyro-Babylonian term came to refer in particular to spirits which served the gods, in particular to the shedu (human-headed winged bulls) the Assyrians sometimes referred to these as kirubu, a term grammatically related to karabu. The Hebrew term cherubim is cognate with the Assyrian term karabu, Akkadian term kuribu, and Babylonian term karabu the Assyrian term means 'great, mighty', but the Akkadian and Babylonian cognates mean 'propitious, blessed'. A pair of shedu, protecting a doorway (the body of the creatures extending into the distance)
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