BETA SAÚDE
Lilu (mythology)
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A lilu or lilû (Sumerian: líl-lá(-en-na), lú-líl-lá)[1] is the masculine Akkadian word for a spirit or demon. A female lilû was called a lilītu (munus-líl-lá, ki-sikil-líl-lá(en-na), ᵈdim(-me)-gi₆)[1] (and her adolescent counterpart ardat-lilî). Together, these were a class of demon that the ancient Mesopotamians believed emerged from the unfulfilled spirits of adults/adolescents who died before marriage 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 as well as STDs such as syphilis (pg. 95).[2] An abundance of cuneiform 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 Ištar, although not necessarily positively, as one ardat-lilî was described as "mistreated by the hand of Ištar" (pg. 434, pg.273).
Sumerian and Akkadian literature
Sumerian King List
In the Sumerian King List the father of Gilgamesh is said to be a lilu.[3]
'Spirit in the tree' in the Gilgamesh cycle
Tablet XII, dated c. 600 BCE, is a later Assyrian Akkadian translation of the latter part of the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh.[4] It describes a 'spirit in the tree' referred to a ki-sikil-lil-la-ke. In modern scholarship, ki-sikil-lil-la-ke is understood as the Sumerian equivalent of the Akkadian ardat lilî, and accepted translations include phantom maid[5], demon-maiden[6] and demon-girl.[7] A connection between the Gilgamesh ki-sikil-lil-la-ke and the Jewish Lilith was rejected on textual grounds by Sergio Ribichini (1978).[8]
The ki-sikil-lil-la-ke is associated with a serpent and a zu bird.[a] In Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld, a huluppu tree grows in Inanna's garden in Uruk, 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.[9][10]
Astrology
BRM 4 19
Spells to remove lilu and ardat-lili:
rev. 20′–21′: On Month 2 Day 12, in order to remove lilû and ardat lilî demons; make (spells/rituals), and it will be well. 2! 12 7 6 Scales (micro-Libra) of Stars (Pleiades in Taurus) is the distance). 22′–23′: On Month 4 Day 12, in order to remove lilû and ardat lilî demons; make (spells/rituals), and it will be well. 4 12 9 6 Pabilsag (micro-Sagittarius) [of] Crab (Cancer) is the distance).[11]
BRM 4 20 The tablet from Uruk, adapts older astrological magic to the newly discovered zodiac, presenting a novel approach to magical rituals. It presents specific timings for spells to be performed, amongst them ones that deal with the lilu and ardat-lili.
(Spells/rituals for) the lilû demon; with the Stars (Pleiades in (micro)-Taurus) or with the Scales ((micro)-Libra)
(Spells/rituals for) the ardat lilî demon; with the Stars (Pleiades in (micro)-Taurus), or with the Twins ((micro)-Gemini), or with Pabilsag ((micro)-Sagittarius).
(Spells/rituals for) lilû (and) ardat lilî demons; with Pabilsag ((micro)-Sagittarius).[11]
Tablet STT ii, 300
12–13: If on Month 4 …; on Day 12, in order to remove lilû (and) ardat lilî demons; … make (spells/rituals), and it will be well. 9–11: If on Month [10] …; on Day 12, ( for) 'cutting off the breath' and in order to remove lilû (and) ardat lilî demons; make (spells/rituals), and it will be well …[11]
Tablet SpTU v, 243
3–4: [(Spells/rituals for) lilû and] ardat lilî demons; with … (or) with the Stars (Pleiades in (micro)-Taurus). 4′–5′: (Spells/rituals for) sorcery, 'cutting off the breath,' lilû and ardat lilî demons; with Pabilsag ((micro)-Sagittarius).[11]
Magical Corpus
In Akkadian literature hlilu occurs.[12] In Sumerian literature lili occurs.[13] Dating of specific Akkadian, Sumerian, and Babylonian texts mentioning lilu (masculine), lilitu (female) and ardat-lili (female) are haphazard. In older scholarship, such as R. Campbell Thompson's The Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia (1904), specific text references are rarely given. An exception is K156 which mentions an ardat lili.[14] Heinrich Zimmern (1917) tentatively identified vardat lilitu KAT3, 459 as paramour of lilu.[15][16]
Anti-Witchcraft Corpus
Texts of Group Eight: CEREMONIAL RITUALS FOR UNDOING WITCHCRAFT[17]
Sumerian Incantations Against a Demonic Witch
1 The evil one (variant: Evil storm), evil eye, child of destruction,
[Akk.:] The lilītum-demon, whose e[ye is evil, … ],
2 roaming with witchcraft (and) magic, she is flitting about like a male lil-demon.
[Akk.:] witchcraft (and) magic are roa[ming, … ].[18]
Ghosts, Gods and Witches
108 'hand-of-a-human', the lilû-demon, the lilītu-demon, [the ardat-lilî-demon], 208 or the lilû-demon, or the lilītu-demon, or the ardat lilî-demon[18]
A collection of Anti-Witchcraft Rites Closely Related to Maqlû
35 [The lilû-demon, the lilītu-demon (and) the ardat lilî-demon] you have caused to seize me. 36 [May the lilû-demon, the lilītu-demon (and) the ardat lilî-demon] seize you![19]
A parallel to Maqlû II 52-58
14" or the aḫḫ[āzu-demon], [or the lilû-demon, or the lilītu-demon, or]
15" the ardat-[lilî-demon], [or]
16" the liʾb[u]-disease [of the mountain], [or bennu-epilepsy, the semen of]
17" Šulpa[ea, ...][19]
Maqlû
Tablet I
137 Lamaštu, labāṣu (disease), ahhāzu-jaundice,
138 lilû, lilītu, ardat-lilî,
139 And any evil that seizes mankind,
140 Melt, dissolve, drip ever away![20]
Tablet II
51 Who have given me over to a dead man, who have made me experience hardship
52 Be it an evil utukku-demon, be it an evil alû-demon,
53 Be it an evil ghost, be it an evil (demonic) constable,
54 Be it an evil god, be it an evil lurker-demon,
55 Be it Lamaštu, be it labāṣu (disease), be it ahhāzu-jaundice,
56 Be it lilû, be it lilītu, be it ardat-lilî,
61 Be it Hand-of-a-ghost-disease, be it Hand-[of-a-curse]-disease,
62 Be it Hand-of-mankind-disease, be it young Lamaštu, the daughter of Anu[20]
Tablet V
67 lilû, lilītu, (and) ardat-lilî you have caused to seize me: May lilû, lilītu, (and) ardat-lilî seize you.[20]
Utukkū Lemnūtu (Udug-Hul)
The incantations, known in Sumerian as Udug-Hul and in Akkadian as Utukkū Lemnūtu were used to treat patients from illnesses caused by evil demons. The lilu, lilitu and ardat-lili are mentioned across most tablets, frequently together with Lamashtu and other demons. The text is translated by Markham J. Geller, whose translation of lilitu and ardat-lili varies, as he sometimes prefers to translate them as Lilith. [21]
The lil-demons are mentioned on Tablets: 1 (lines 62, 79-81), 2 (65), 3 (114, 119, 140), 4 (131), 5 (ardat-lili incantation), 6 (50-51, 59-60), 9 (87), 10 (17-19, 32-34, 60-62), 11 (4, 16), 13-15 (138, 179, 223), and 16 (170).[21]
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 word lilith in Isaiah 34:14, which is thought to be a night bird.[22] The Babylonian concept of lilu may be more strongly related to the later Talmudic concept of Lilith (female) and lilin (male); Hebrew: לילין). In Jewish mythology, Lilin is a term for night spirits.[23][24] In the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch, lilin come from the desert[b] and they are similar to shedim.[25]
See also
Notes
References
- 1 2 Wiggermann, Frans A. M. (2011). "The Mesopotamian Pandemonium. A Provisional Census". Studi e materiali di storia delle religioni: 319–320.
- ↑ Diagnoses in Assyrian and Babylonian medicine: ancient sources 2005 "The reason for the attribution of this disorder to the lilu was probably that the majority of patients developed characteristic symptoms in adolescence or early adulthood. This pattern of onset is characteristic of some mental disorders"
- ↑ Raphael Patai, p. 221, The Hebrew Goddess: Third Enlarged Edition, ISBN 978-0-8143-2271-0
- ↑ George, A. The epic of Gilgamesh: the Babylonian epic poem and other texts in Akkadian 2003 p. 100 Tablet XII. Appendix The last Tablet in the 'Series of Gilgamesh'
- ↑ "Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the nether world: translation". etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 2026-06-19.
- ↑ George, Andrew R. (2020). "Gilgamesh and the Netherworld: 'In those days, in those far-off days'". The Epic of Gilgamesh (Second ed.). Penguin Classics.
- ↑ Foster, Benjamin R. (2019). "Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld". The Epic of Gilgamesh (Second ed.). Norton Critical Edition. pp. 109, 111–114.
- ↑ Ribichini, S. Lilith nell-albero Huluppu Pp. 25 in Atti del 1° Convegno Italiano sul Vicino Oriente Antico, Rome, 1976
- ↑ Chicago Assyrian Dictionary. Chicago: University of Chicago. 1956.
- ↑ Hurwitz (1980) p. 49
- 1 2 3 4 Wee, John Z. "Virtual Moons over Babylonia: The Calendar Text System, Its Micro-Zodiac of 13, and the Making of Medical Zodiology". The Circulation of Astronomical Knowledge in the Ancient World. Time, Astronomy, and Calendars (6).
- ↑ Deliver Me from Evil: Mesopotamian Incantations, 2500-1500 BC - Page 149 Graham Cunningham - 1997 "Partly or wholly bilingual incantations in the Old Babylonian period (continued)
Text 313: Geller 1989 text An, Malluhi, Directed against witchcraft PBS 1/2 122 b Enki, Utu Features divine dialogue" (partly bilingual) - ↑ Deliver Me from Evil: Mesopotamian Incantations, 2500-1500 BC - Page 177 Graham Cunningham - 1997 "This is particularly the case in Sumerian incantations, with only two of the daimons specified in Sumerian texts being mentioned in Akkadian incantations, Lamastu and to a lesser degree Ardat Lili. In contrast to the Sumerian attribution "
- ↑ Thompson p.XXXVIII
- ↑ Akkadische Fremdwörter als Beweis für babylonischen Kultureinfluß. Leipzig, 1917
- ↑ Aramaic Incantation Texts from Nippur - Page 76 James Alan Montgomery - 2011 "So in the Talmud they dwell in the beams and crevices, the cesspools, etc.,52 even as in Greek magic demons 45 Acc. to Zimmern, KAT3, 459 = paramour of lilu. Better Thompson. (Devils, etc., i, p. xxxvii, Semitic Magic, 65), who regards the ..."
- ↑ "Ceremonial Rituals for Undoing Witchcraft". Corpus of Mesopotamian Anti-witchcraft Rituals.
- 1 2 Abusch, Tzvi; Schwemer, Daniel (2016-04-18). Corpus of Mesopotamian Anti-Witchcraft Rituals. Vol. 2. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-31855-7.
- 1 2 Abusch, Tzvi; Schwemer, Daniel; Luukko, Mikko; Van Buylaere, Greta (2020-01-01). Corpus of Mesopotamian Anti-Witchcraft Rituals. Vol. 3. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-41627-7.
- 1 2 3 Abusch, Tzvi (2015-03-15). The Witchcraft Series Maqlû. SBL Press. ISBN 978-1-62837-085-0.
- 1 2 Geller, Markham J. (2015-12-11). Healing Magic and Evil Demons. De Gruyter. ISBN 978-1-61451-309-4.
- ↑ Blair J. M. De-demon. ising the Old Testament: An Investigation of Azazel
- ↑ "LILITH - JewishEncyclopedia.com". Jewish Encyclopedia. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
- ↑ "DEMONOLOGY - JewishEncyclopedia.com". Jewish Encyclopedia. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
- ↑ Charles, Robert Henry (1896). The Apocalypse of Baruch. A. and C. Black. p. 16. Retrieved 21 September 2016 – via Internet Archive.
Lilin.