George MacDonald

Lilith Illustrated George MacDonald

Lilith (/?l?l??/; Hebrew: ★★★★★★? Lîlî?) is a demonic figure. She is first mentioned in Biblical Hebrew in Isaiah 34:14, and later in Late Antiquity in Mandaean Gnosticism mythology and Jewish mythology sources from 500 CE onwards. Lilith appears in historiolas (incantations incorporating a short mythic story) in various concepts and localities[1] that give partial descriptions of her. She is mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud (Eruvin 100b, Niddah 24b, Shabbat 151b, Baba Bathra 73a), in The Book of Adam and Eve as Adam's first wife, and in the Zohar Leviticus 19a as "a hot fiery female who first cohabited with man".[2]Lilith perhaps originated from an earlier class of female demons (lilû, lilîtu, and (w)ardat lilî) in the ancient Mesopotamian religion, found in cuneiform texts of Sumer, Assyria, and Babylonia.[3][4]Lilith continues to serve as source material in modern Western culture, literature, occultism, fantasy, and horror.