Lilith

Lore & Background

The earliest known mention of Lilith is in the Dead Sea Scrolls (4Q510-11), and afterwards in Mandaean and Jewish sources from late antiquity (300 AD onward), in historiolas – incantations that incorporate a short mythic story – that give partial descriptions of her. She is mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud (at Eruvin 100b, Niddah 24b, Shabbat 151b, Bava Batra 73a), and in the Zohar § Leviticus 19a as 'a hot fiery female who first cohabited with man'. Some rabbinic authorities, including Maimonides and Menachem Meiri, reject the existence of Lilith. In some Jewish folklore, such as the Alphabet of Sirach (c. 700–1000 AD), Lilith appears as Adam's first wife, who was created at the same time and from the same clay as Adam. The legend of Lilith developed extensively during the Middle Ages, in the tradition of Aggadah, the Zohar, and Jewish mysticism. For example, in the 13th-century writings of Isaac ben Jacob ha-Cohen, Lilith left Adam after she refused to become subservient to him and then would not return to the Garden of Eden after she had coupled with the archangel Samael.

In Their Own Story

In Hebrew-language texts, the term lilith or lilit (translated as 'night creatures', 'night monster', 'night hag', or 'screech owl') first occurs in a list of animals in Isaiah 34. The Isaiah 34:14 Lilith reference does not appear in most common Bible translations such as KJV and NIV. Commentators and interpreters often envision the figure of Lilith as a dangerous demon of the night, who is sexually wanton, and who steals babies in the darkness. Historically, certain prominent Jewish rabbis in Talmudic texts feared the likes of liliths, some to such an extent that they recommended men not sleep in a home alone, as any who do would be 'seized by Lilith.' Jewish incantation bowls and amulets from Mesopotamia from the first to the eighth centuries identify Lilith as a female demon and provide the first visual depictions of her. The said amulets were often symbolic divorce papers, warding off a given lilith that was thought to be haunting one's house or family.

Reader's Guide

In the Akkadian language of Assyria and Babylonia, the terms lili and līlītu mean spirits. Archibald Sayce (1882) considered that the Hebrew and the earlier Akkadian names are derived from Proto-Semitic. Charles Fossey (1902) has this literally translating to 'female night being/demon', although cuneiform inscriptions from Mesopotamia exist where Līlīt and Lilītu refers to disease-bearing wind spirits. The Sumerian líl root has no etymological relation to Akkadian līlu, 'evening', and an unlikely connection with the biblical lilith appearing in Isaiah 34:14, which might derive from laylah, 'night', and is thought to be a night bird by modern scholars such as Judit M. Blair. The name Lilith seems related to the masculine Akkadian word lilû and its female variants lilītu and ardat lilî. In Mesopotamian religion according to the cuneiform texts of Sumer, Assyria, and Babylonia, lilû are a class of demonic spirits, consisting of adults (and ardat-lilî of adolescents) who died before they could bear children or get married. Lilith in Aramaic sources is believed to be a conflation of lilītu/ardat-lilî and Lamaštu, as she is both a succubus, and also a threat to children, the traditional role of Lamaštu in Babylonia.

Did You Know?

• The earliest known mention of Lilith is in the Dead Sea Scrolls (4Q510-11).
• Lilith does not appear in the Hebrew Bible or any other biblical source, though the Hebrew word lilit appears in Isaiah 34:14.
• Some rabbinic authorities, including Maimonides and Menachem Meiri, reject the existence of Lilith.
• In the Alphabet of Sirach (c. 700–1000 AD), Lilith appears as Adam's first wife, created at the same time and from the same clay as Adam.
• Jewish incantation bowls and amulets from Mesopotamia from the first to the eighth centuries provide the first visual depictions of Lilith.