Editing Lilith (section)

== Mesopotamian mythology ==
{{main|Lilu (mythology)}}
{{further|Ancient Mesopotamian religion}}

=== The spirit in the tree in the Gilgamesh cycle ===
[[Samuel Noah Kramer]] (1932, published 1938)<ref>Kramer, S. N. (1938) ''Gilgamesh and the Huluppu-Tree: A Reconstructed Sumerian Text''. Assyriological Studies 10. Chicago.</ref> translated {{Transliteration|akk|ki-sikil-lil-la-ke}} as "Lilith" in Tablet XII of the ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]'' dated {{circa|600 BC}}. Tablet XII is not part of the ''Epic of Gilgamesh,'' but is a later Assyrian Akkadian translation of the latter part of the [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]] ''Epic of Gilgamesh''.<ref>George, A. (2003) ''The epic of Gilgamesh: the Babylonian epic poem and other texts in Akkadian''. p. 100 ''Tablet XII. Appendix The last Tablet in the 'Series of Gilgamesh' ''. {{ISBN|9780713991963}}</ref> The {{Transliteration|akk|ki-sikil-lil-la-ke}} is associated with a serpent and a [[Zu (mythology)|zu bird]].{{efn|Kramer translates the zu as "[[owl]]", but most often it is translated as "[[eagle]]", "[[vulture]]", or "[[bird of prey]]".}} In ''Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld'', a [[willow|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 {{Transliteration|akk|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 {{Transliteration|akk|ki-sikil-lil-la-ke}} fearfully destroys its house and runs for the forest.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=[[Chicago Assyrian Dictionary]] |year=1956 |location=Chicago |publisher=[[University of Chicago]] }}</ref>{{sfnp|Hurwitz|1980|p=49}}

Identification of the {{Transliteration|akk|ki-sikil-lil-la-ke}} as Lilith is stated in the ''[[Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible]]'' (1999).<ref>Manfred Hutter article in [[Karel van der Toorn]], Bob Becking, [[Pieter Willem van der Horst]] – 1999 pp. 520–521, article cites Hutter's own 1988 work ''Behexung, Entsühnung und Heilung'' [[Eisenbrauns]] 1988. pp. 224–228.</ref> Suggested translations for the Tablet XII spirit in the tree include {{Transliteration|akk|ki-sikil}} as "sacred place", {{Transliteration|akk|lil}} as "spirit", and {{Transliteration|akk|lil-la-ke}} as "water spirit",<ref>Sterman Sabbath, Roberta (2009) ''Sacred tropes: Tanakh, New Testament, and Qur'an as literature and culture''.</ref> but also simply "owl", given that the {{Transliteration|akk|lil}} is building a home in the trunk of the tree.<ref>''Sex and gender in the ancient Near East: proceedings of the 47th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale'', Helsinki, 2–6 July 2001, Part 2 p. 481.</ref> A connection between the Gilgamesh {{Transliteration|akk|ki-sikil-lil-la-ke}} and the Jewish Lilith was rejected on textual grounds by Sergio Ribichini (1978).<ref>Ribichini, S. (1976) "Lilith nell-albero Huluppu", pp. 25 in ''Atti del 1° Convegno Italiano sul Vicino Oriente Antico'', Rome.</ref>

=== The bird-footed woman in the Burney Relief ===
{{main|Burney Relief}}
[[File:Burney Relief Babylon -1800-1750.JPG|thumb|[[Burney Relief]], Babylon (1800–1750 BC)]]
Kramer's translation of the [[Gilgamesh]] fragment was used by [[Henri Frankfort]] (1937)<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=41680314|author=Frankfort, H. |title=The Burney Relief|journal=Archiv für Orientforschung|volume=12|pages= 128–135|year= 1937}}</ref> and [[Emil Kraeling]] (1937) to support identification of a woman with wings and bird-feet in the disputed [[Burney Relief]] as related to Lilith. Frankfort and Kraeling identified the figure in the relief with Lilith.<ref>{{Cite journal|jstor = 3218905|title = A Unique Babylonian Relief|last = Kraeling|first = Emil|date = 1937|journal = Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research|volume = 67|issue = 67|pages = 16–18|doi = 10.2307/3218905|s2cid = 164141131}}</ref> Today, the identification of the Burney Relief with Lilith is questioned.<ref>Lowell K. Handy article Lilith Anchor Bible Dictionary</ref> Modern research has [[w:Burney Relief#Identification|identified]] the figure as one of the main goddesses of the Mesopotamian pantheons, most probably [[Ereshkigal]].<ref>{{Cite journal|jstor = 20064325|title = The "Queen of the Night" Plaque: A Revisit|last = Albenda|first = Pauline|date = 2005|journal = Journal of the American Oriental Society|volume = 125|issue = 2|pages = 171–190}}</ref> But the figure is more generally identified as the goddess of love and war:<ref>Bible Review Vol 17 Biblical Archaeology Society – 2001</ref> [[Thorkild Jacobsen]] identified the figure as [[Inanna]] in an analysis based on the existence of symbols and attributes commonly recognized to the goddess and on textual evidence.<ref>Jacobsen, Thorkild (1987). "Pictures and pictorial language (the Burney Relief)". In Mindlin, M.; Geller, M.J.; Wansbrough, J.E. (eds.). Figurative Language in the Ancient Near East. London: School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. pp. 1–11. ISBN 0-7286-0141-9.</ref>

=== The Arslan Tash amulets ===
{{Main|Arslan Tash amulets}}
The Arslan Tash amulets are limestone plaques discovered in 1933 at [[Arslan Tash]], the authenticity of which is disputed. [[William F. Albright]], [[Theodor H. Gaster]],<ref>Gaster, T. H. (1942). ''A Canaanite Magical Text''. Or 11:</ref> and others, accepted the amulets as a pre-Jewish source which shows that the name Lilith already existed in the 7th century BC but [[Naftali Herz Tur-Sinai|Torczyner]] (1947) identified the amulets as a later Jewish source.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Torczyner | first=H. | title=A Hebrew Incantation against Night-Demons from Biblical Times | journal=Journal of Near Eastern Studies | publisher=University of Chicago Press | volume=6 | issue=1 | year=1947 | doi=10.1086/370809 | pages=18–29| s2cid=161927885 }}</ref>

===Lamashtu===

Many have alternatively drawn connections between Lilith and the Mesopotamian demon [[Lamashtu]], due to their similar position and traits in both mythologies.<ref name="Haaretz"/><ref name="Marlene E Mondriaan UP"/><ref name="Emrys"/><ref>{{Cite book |title=Goddesses in World Mythology |last1=Ann |first1=Martha |last2=Myers Imel |first2=Dorothy |date=1995 |isbn=019509199X |page=336 |publisher=Oxford Uni Press}}</ref>