An ancient drawing of a demon blamed for epileptic seizures has been discovered on a 2,700-year-old Assyrian clay tablet.

University of Copenhagen Assyriologist Troels Pank Arbøll was examining a tablet of ancient writing at the Vorderasiatisches Museum in Berlin when he noticed the drawing of the demon — portrayed with horns, a tail and a snake-like forked tongue.

The drawing was overlooked for decades on the tablet from the library of a family of exorcists who lived in the Assyrian city of Assur. The depiction is shown here in red. (Image: © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin - Vorderasiatisches Museum/Photograph by Olaf M. Tessmer)

The tablet came from the library of a family of exorcists who lived in about 650 B.C. in the city of Assur, now in northern Iraq, Arbøll said. But it's likely it was copied from a much older text.