A lilu or lilû is the masculine Akkadian word for a spirit or demon. A female lilû was called a lilītu or

ardat-lilî ''Ardat-lilî'' (Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''kisikillilla'') is a type of female Ancient Mesopotamian religion, Ancient Mesopotamian demon. Cuneiform sources describe an ''ardat-lilî'' as the ghost of a young woman who died without experiencing ...

. Together, these were a class of demon that the ancient Mesopotamians believed emerged from the unfulfilled spirits of adolescents who died before

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

or conceiving children. "Lilû" and its root word lil- also show wider meanings linked to spirits, desolation, and wild creatures.

History

Scurlock and Andersen (2005) attribute the origin of "the lilû class of demons" (pg. 434) to treatment of neurological and

mental disorders A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

as well as STDs such as

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent syphilis, latent or tertiary. The prim ...

(pg. 95). An abundance of

cuneiform Cuneiform is a Logogram, logo-Syllabary, syllabic writing system that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Near East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. Cuneiform script ...

text characterizes the lilû as "teenage demons". (pg. 273). As these demons were thought to afflict members of the opposite sex, lilû were often held responsible for illnesses afflicting girls (pg. 434). Scurlock and Andersen suggest an association with Istar, although not necessarily positively, as one ardat-lilî was described as "mistreated by the hand of Istar" (pg. 434, pg.273).

In Sumerian and Akkadian literature

Akkadian literature Akkadian literature is the ancient literature written in the East Semitic languages, East Semitic Akkadian language (Assyrian people, Assyrian and Babylonian language, Babylonian dialects) in Mesopotamia (Akkadian Empire, Akkadian, Assyria and Bab ...

hlilu occurs. In

Sumerian literature Sumerian literature constitutes the earliest known corpus of recorded literature, including the religious writings and other traditional stories maintained by the Sumerian civilization and largely preserved by the later Akkadian and Babylonian em ...

lili occurs. Dating of specific Akkadian, Sumerian, and

Babylonia Babylonia (; , ) was an Ancient history, ancient Akkadian language, Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Kuwait, Syria and Iran). It emerged as a ...

n texts mentioning ''lilu'' (masculine), ''lilitu'' (female) and ''lili'' (female) are haphazard. In older scholarship, such as

R. Campbell Thompson Reginald Campbell Thompson (21 August 1876 – 23 May 1941) was a British archaeologist, Assyriologist and cuneiformist. He excavated at Nineveh, Ur, Nebo (biblical town), Nebo, Carchemish and other sites. Biography Thompson was born at Cranley ...

's ''The Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia'' (1904), specific text references are rarely given. An exception is K156 which mentions an ''ardat lili''.

Heinrich Zimmern :''To be distinguished from Heinrich Zimmer (1890–1943) German Indologist, and Heinrich Zimmer (Celticist) (1851–1910)'' Heinrich Zimmern (14 July 1862, in Graben – 17 February 1931, in Leipzig) was a German Assyriologist. He was the first ...

(1917) tentatively identified ''vardat lilitu'' KAT3, 459 as paramour of ''lilu''. A

inscription lists ''lilû'' alongside other wicked beings from

Mesopotamian mythology Mesopotamian mythology refers to the myths, religious texts, and other literature that comes from the region of ancient Mesopotamia which is a historical region of Western Asia, situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system that occupie ...

and folklore:

Sumerian King List

In the ''

Sumerian King List The ''Sumerian King List'' (abbreviated ''SKL'') or ''Chronicle of the One Monarchy'' is an ancient Composition (language), literary composition written in Sumerian language, Sumerian that was likely created and redacted to legitimize the claims ...

'' the father of

Gilgamesh Gilgamesh (, ; ; originally ) was a hero in ancient Mesopotamian mythology and the protagonist of the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'', an epic poem written in Akkadian during the late 2nd millennium BC. He was possibly a historical king of the Sumer ...

is said to be a ''lilu''.

'Spirit in the tree' in the Gilgamesh cycle

''Tablet XII'', dated , is a later

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...

n Akkadian translation of the latter part of the Sumerian ''

Epic of Gilgamesh The ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' () is an epic poetry, epic from ancient Mesopotamia. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with five Sumerian language, Sumerian poems about Gilgamesh (formerly read as Sumerian "Bilgames"), king of Uruk, some of ...

''. It describes a 'spirit in the tree' referred to a ''ki-sikil-lil-la-ke''. Suggested translations for the ''Tablet XII'' 'spirit in the tree' include ''ki-sikil'' as "sacred place", ''lil'' as "spirit", and ''lil-la-ke'' as "water spirit". but also simply "owl", given that the ''lil'' builds a home in the trunk of the tree. The ''ki-sikil-lil-la-ke'' is associated with a serpent and a zu bird. In ''

Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld ''Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld'' (abbreviated as GEN) is one of five extant compositions of the Sumerian language about the deeds of the hero Gilgamesh. It was known to the ancients by its incipit, ''ud ri-a ud sud-rá ri-a'' or "In those ...

'', a huluppu tree grows in

Inanna Inanna is the List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian goddess of war, love, and fertility. She is also associated with political power, divine law, sensuality, and procreation. Originally worshipped in Sumer, she was known by the Akk ...

's garden in

Uruk Uruk, the archeological site known today as Warka, was an ancient city in the Near East, located east of the current bed of the Euphrates River, on an ancient, now-dried channel of the river in Muthanna Governorate, Iraq. The site lies 93 kilo ...

, whose wood she plans to use to build a new throne. After ten years of growth, she comes to harvest it and finds a serpent living at its base, a Zu bird raising young in its crown, and that a ''ki-sikil-lil-la-ke'' made a house in its trunk. Gilgamesh is said to have killed the snake, and then the zu bird flew away to the mountains with its young, while the ''ki-sikil-lil-la-ke'' fearfully destroys its house and runs for the forest.

Relationship to Hebrew ''Lilith'' and ''lilin''

Judit M. Blair wrote a thesis on the relation of the Akkadian word ''lilu,'' or its cognates, to the

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

word ''

lilith Lilith (; ), also spelled Lilit, Lilitu, or Lilis, is a feminine figure in Mesopotamian and Jewish mythology, theorized to be the first wife of Adam and a primordial she-demon. Lilith is cited as having been "banished" from the Garden of Eden ...

'' in

Isaiah 34 Isaiah 34 is the thirty-fourth chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012. This book contains the prophecie ...

:14, which is thought to be a night bird. The Babylonian concept of lilu may be more strongly related to the later

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

ic concept of

Lilith Lilith (; ), also spelled Lilit, Lilitu, or Lilis, is a feminine figure in Mesopotamian and Jewish mythology, theorized to be the first wife of Adam and a primordial she-demon. Lilith is cited as having been "banished" from the Garden of Eden ...

(female) and lilin (female); ). In

Jewish mythology Jewish mythology is the body of myths associated with Judaism. Elements of Jewish mythology have had a profound influence on Christian mythology and on Islamic mythology, as well as on Abrahamic culture in general. Christian mythology directly ...

, ''Lilin'' is a term for night spirits. In the

Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch 2 Baruch is a Jewish apocryphal text thought to have been written in the late 1st century CE or early 2nd century CE, after the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. It is attributed to the biblical figure Baruch ben Neriah (c. 6th century BC) ...

, ''lilin'' come from the desert and they are similar to

shedim ''Shedim'' (; singular: ''šēḏ'') are spirits or demons in Judaism, demons in the Tanakh and Jewish mythology. Shedim do not, however, correspond exactly to the modern conception of demons as evil entities as originated in Christian demon ...

Samuel Noah Kramer Samuel Noah Kramer (September 28, 1897 – November 26, 1990) was one of the world's leading Assyriologists, an expert in Sumerian history and Sumerian language. After high school, he attended Temple University, before Dropsie University and t ...

(1932, published 1938) translated ''ki-sikil-lil-la-ke'' as ''Lilith'' in "Tablet XII" of the ''

''. Identification of ''ki-sikil-lil-la-ke'' as ''Lilith'' is stated in ''

Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible The ''Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible'' (DDD) is an academic reference work edited by Karel van der Toorn, Bob Becking and Pieter W. van der Horst which contains academic articles on the named gods, angels, and demons in the books ...

'' (1999). According to a new source from

Late Antiquity Late antiquity marks the period that comes after the end of classical antiquity and stretches into the onset of the Early Middle Ages. Late antiquity as a period was popularized by Peter Brown (historian), Peter Brown in 1971, and this periodiza ...

, Lilith appears in a

Mandaic Mandaic may refer to: * Mandaic language * Mandaic alphabet The Mandaic alphabet is a writing system primarily used to write the Mandaic language. It is thought to have evolved between the second and seventh century CE from either a cursive fo ...

magic story where she is considered to represent the branches of a tree with other demonic figures that form other parts of the tree, though this may also include multiple "Liliths". A connection between the Gilgamesh ''ki-sikil-lil-la-ke'' and the Jewish Lilith was rejected on textual grounds by Sergio Ribichini (1978).Ribichini, S. ''Lilith nell-albero Huluppu'' Pp. 25 in ''Atti del 1° Convegno Italiano sul Vicino Oriente Antico'', Rome, 1976

Notes

References

{{Authority control Mesopotamian demons Mesopotamian_legendary_creatures Lilith