Talk:Lilu (mythology)

Hurwitz removed here from Lilith
Speculative material by Swiss psychologist attempting to reverse engineer Babylonian beliefs from medieval Jewish traditions (no doubt with some Babylonian material in there, but a recipe for conclusion-driven research) In ictu oculi (talk) 06:43, 29 September 2012 (UTC)

==Siegmund Hurwitz== Much of the popular information found in non-academic sources regarding Lilith is taken from reprints of out-of-copyright works which are now outdated, for example Moses Gaster (1880), R. Campbell Thompson (1908), W. O. E. Oesterley (1930), and confuses Jewish and Assyrian sources.

According to Siegmund Hurwitz, the figure of Lilith first appeared in a class of wind and storm demons or spirits as lilitu, in Sumer, circa 4000 BC. The phonetic name Lilith is traditionally thought to have originated (as lilit) in Ancient Israel, and to have pre-dated at least 700 BC.

The Akkadians, who were the earliest known Semitic speakers, and the Sumerians, who were the earliest civilizations inhabiting Mesopotamia, developed a very intimate cultural symbiosis with widespread bilingualism. The bilateral influence of Sumerian and Akkadian is evident in all areas, including syncretism between their gods, where each adopted the other's deities. In Sumerian, Lilith was referred to as Ki-sikil-lil-la-ke, in Akkadian it was Ardat-lili. The Assyrian and Babylonian cultures descended from these early cultures.

===Shedim cults===

According to Siegmund Hurwitz, Lilith retained her Shedim characteristics throughout the entire Jewish tradition. Shedim is plural for "spirit" or "demon". Figures that represent shedim are the shedu of Babylonian mythology. These figures were depicted as anthropomorphic, winged bulls, associated with wind. They were thought to guard palaces, cities, houses, and temples. In magical texts of that era, they could be either malevolent or benevolent. The cult originated from Babylon, then spread to Canaan and eventually to Israel. Human sacrifice was part of the practice and a sacrificial altar existed to the shedim next to that of the Yahweh cultus, although this practice was widely denounced by prophets who retained belief in Yahweh.

In Jewish thought and literature Shedim were portrayed as quite malevolent. Some writings contend that they are storm-demons. Their creation is presented in three contradicting Jewish tales. The first is that during Creation, God created the shedim, but did not create their bodies and forgot them on the Shabbat when he rested. The second is that they are descendants of demons in the form of serpents, and the last states that they are simply descendants of Adam and Lilith. Another story asserts that after the Tower of Babel, some people were scattered and became Shedim, Ruchin, and Lilin.

===Lilû, father of Gilgamesh=== Another proposed connection to Lilith is on the Sumerian king list, where Gilgamesh's father is named as Lilû. Little is known of Lilû, Li in Sumerian means "Lord" and Lu means "shepherd". {{unrelated to this particular lilu |and he was said to interfere with women in their sleep and had functions of an incubus, while Lilû appeared to men in their erotic dreams. Such qualities as lalu, or wandering about, and lulu, from Akkadian (Semitic) language have been associated as sources for the names Lila and Lilitû, but some sumerologists{{Who|date=September 2010}} say Lilû is purely Sumerian.

===Lilitû demons=== The Assyrian lilitû were said to prey upon children and women and were described as associated with lions, storms, desert, and disease.{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}} Early portrayals of such demons are known as having Zu bird talons for feet and wings. They were highly sexually predatory towards men but were unable to copulate normally.{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}} They were thought to dwell in waste, desolate, and desert places.{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}} Like the Sumerian Dimme, a male wind demon named Pazuzu was thought to be effective against them.

Lilith's epithet was "the beautiful maiden".{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}} She was described as having no milk in her breasts and as unable to bear any children.

Other storm and night demons from a similar class are recorded from Akkadian texts{{Which?|date=September 2010}} around this period. The Ardat-lili{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}} is from Ardatû,{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}} which is a young unmarried woman or maiden, also sometimes a title of prostitutes, and lilitû. These "maiden liltû" would come to men in their sleep and beget children from them.{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}} Sick men would also be described as being seized by Ardat-lili Their male counterparts, similar to an incubus, were the Irdû-lili These demons were originally storm and wind demons; however, later etymology made them into night demons.

===Lamashtû=== Lamashtû or Labartu (in Sumerian Dimme) was a Mesopotamian demon very similar to Lilitû, and Lilith seems to have inherited many of Lamashtû's myths. She was considered a demi-goddess and daughter of Anu, the sky god. Many incantations against her mention her status as a daughter of heaven and her exercising her free will over infants. This makes her different from the rest of the demons in Mesopotamia. Unlike her demonic peers, Lamashtû was not instructed by the gods to do her malevolence; she did it on her own accord. She was believed to seduce men, harm pregnant women, mothers, and neonates, kill foliage, and drink blood and was a cause of disease, sickness, and death. Some incantations {{Which?|date=September 2010}} describe her as "seven witches". The space between her legs is as a scorpion, corresponding to the astrological sign of Scorpio. (Scorpio rules the genitals and sex organs.) Her head is that of a lion, she has Anzu bird feet like Lilitû, her breasts are suckled by a pig and a dog, and she rides the back of a donkey. Other texts{{Which?|date=September 2010}} mention Lamashtû as the hand of Inanna/Ishtar in place of Lilitû and Ardat-lili.

===Gallû and Alû=== Two other Mesopotamian demons have a close relation to Lilitû: Gallû and Alû. Alû was originally an asexual demon, who took on female attributes, but later became a male demon.{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}} Alû liked to roam the streets like a stray dog at night and creep into people's bedrooms as they slept to terrify them.{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}} He was described as being half-human and half-devil. He appears in Jewish lore {{Where|date=July 2011}} as Ailo {{Citation needed|date=September 2010}}; here, he is used as one of Lilith's secret names {{Citation needed|date=September 2010}}. In other texts,{{Which?|date=September 2010}} Ailo is a daughter of Lilith's that has had intercourse with a man{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}}. The other demon, Gallû, is of the Utukkû group{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}}. Gallû’s name, like Utukkû, was also used as a general term {{Where|date=July 2011}} for multiple demons. Later{{When|date=September 2010}} Gallû appears as Gello, Gylo, or Gyllou in Greco–Byzantine mythology{{Which?|date=September 2010}} as a child-stealing and child-killing demon{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}}. This figure was, likewise, adapted by the Jews as Gilû and was also considered a secret name of Lilith's.

===Lilitû, Inanna's hand=== Stephen Langdon (1914) claims that Babylonian texts depict Lilitû as the sacred prostitute of the goddess Ishtar, the Assyrian and Babylonian counterpart to the Sumerian Inanna. Hurwitz similarly claims that older Sumerian accounts assert that Lilitû is called the handmaiden of Inanna or "hand of Inanna"{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}}. The Sumerian texts{{Which?|date=September 2010}} state, "Inanna has sent the beautiful, unmarried, and seductive prostitute Lilitû out into the fields and streets in order to lead men astray." That is why Lilitû is called the "hand of Inanna". {{reflist-talk}} {{collapsebottom}}