Lilith She was a goddess associated with the wind and who caused illness and death among human beings, especially children. Her legend arose in ancient Mesopotamia, among the Akkadians. Sumerians, Assyrians and Babylonians also had her as one of their goddesses.
In the early Middle Ages, Lilith was appropriated by some Jewish and Christian villages, who left some records about her. In the Judeo-Christian version, she appears as Adam's first wife, before Eve. Because she displeased God, she was expelled from paradise and, in her place, God created Eve.
Lilith is currently considered an icon of feminism and is constantly present in films, games, series and other artistic productions.
Read too: Medusa — the story of this gorgon from Greek mythology
Summary about Lilith
- Lilith was a goddess originating in Mesopotamian mythology associated with illness and death.
- Several Mesopotamian peoples believed in it.
- Her legend influenced Judeo-Christian culture, especially in the early Middle Ages.
- In Jewish and Christian versions of the High Middle Ages, she was the first woman created by God.
- From 2010 onwards, Lilith began to be present in several artistic productions, mainly in streaming series.
Lilith's Story
Lilith began to be worshiped among the ancient Akkadians, who lived in Mesopotamia in the second millennium BC. In Akkadian mythology, she was a demon-goddess associated with the winds and who caused harm to human beings, such as illness and death. It was generally said to attack women in childbirth or young children, and sometimes suckle them with its poisonous milk.
For the Sumerians, who formed an empire in Lower Mesopotamia, Lilith she lived on the World Tree and was expelled by Inanna, goddess of love, starting to wander the world. It generally occupied abandoned or ruined places. At that time she was represented as a woman with two wings who also caused illness and death.
Lilith was one of the Lil demons, a class of demons associated with the wind and which could bring illnesses, cause accidents or conflicts.
From the 5th century AD. C., most of the sources found on Lilith were produced. Mainly the so-called magic bowls, which came to be used by people from the Levant and Mesopotamia. During this period, people believed that bowls, generally ceramic ones, with enchantments and magic recorded on them would ward off demons and other beings that harmed humans.
On several magical bowls from the period, Lilith's name was present. These bowls were generally buried under the front door of the residence with their mouths facing downwards. Their function was to prevent demons from entering the house. In some places, four magic bowls were buried, one in each corner of the house. Between the 5th and 8th centuries, Lilith was a common figure in this type of artifact.
Lilith myth in Judaism
In Genesis, in which the myth of the creation of human beings and the Earth is present, two passages generated different interpretations in the early Middle Ages about the creation of one or two women by God.
In Genesis 1:27, it is written:
And God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them, and said: be fruitful and multiply.
Already in Genesis, from 2.20 to 2.22, it is written:
So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the wild animals. However, no one was found for the man to help him and respond to him. Then the Lord God made the man fall into a deep sleep and, while he was sleeping, he took one of his ribs, closing the place with flesh. With the rib he had taken from the man, the Lord God made a woman and took her to him. Then the man said: “This is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh! She will be called woman, because she was taken from man.”
Those two excerpts created a version, present in some Jewish and Christian groups of the early Middle Ages, that Lilith would be the primordial woman, created by God at the same time that Adam was created, before Eve. Lilith would have been expelled from paradise for not accepting the orders given by Adam, which caused God to send her away.
O Lilith's name appeared in a corner of the Dead Sea Scrolls, considered the oldest Jewish records. It also appeared in the Septuagint, a third-century version of the Jewish Bible.
In the so-called Babylonian Talmud, written around the 6th century, Lilith is also mentioned, as well as in the Zohar, a document produced around 1300 AD. W. Her name still appears in a version of the Christian Bible, from the early Middle Ages, in Isaiah 34:14.
Read too: Isis — Egyptian religion considered the mother of all pharaohs
Meaning of Lilith in Contemporary Times
Lilith was created with Adam, she was not made, like Eve, from his rib. She was equal to Adam, not a part of him. In one of the versions from the High Middle Ages, Lilith would have refused to serve Adam, displeasing God and being expelled from paradise, starting to live autonomously, without depending on Adam or even God.
Lilith is seen, therefore, as a first feminist for having fought against primordial machismo. Some feminists use her as a symbol of struggle for being strong, independent and empowered.
Currently Lilith is also very present in popular culture, in films, series, games, among others. She appeared in famous series such as Supernatural, Lucifer It is Sabrina. He is also a character in the role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade, as well as being the subject of songs, plays and several other contemporary cultural manifestations.
Differences between Lilith and Eve
Lilith represents the independent woman, who does not accept Adam's superiority over her. This equality begins with the creation of Lilith, at the same time that Adam was created. In some versions, God created an androgynous being that would have been separated by him and resulted in Adam and Lilith.
Eve symbolizes a vision of the submissive woman, created from a part of Adam and made to serve him. After committing the sin of eating the forbidden fruit, Adam, the serpent and Eve were punished.
Curiosities about Lilith
- Lilith, the hypothetical Moon. At the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th, some astronomers began to defend the existence of a terrestrial Moon which, because of its dark color, could not be observed. Walter Gornold named her Lilith at the beginning of the last century.
- According to IBGE, between 1990 and 2010, 183 people in Brazil with the name Lilith. In the United States, in 2021, Lilith was among the top 100 names with which girls were registered that year in the country.
- On the internet, it is sold on several websites perfume of the goddess Lilith. According to the advertisements, the perfume makes the desired person fall in love with the person who uses it, in addition to keeping bad things away from the user. Some sellers claim that the perfume was produced during the full moon, which enhances its power. There is no proof of the effectiveness of these substances, and many of them are not registered with Anvisa.
- Marvel Comics created its first character named Lilith in 1974. She was a vampire, daughter of Dracula. He appeared in several Marvel productions, the last one, in 2007, in a comic called Legion of Monsters,Morbius theLiving Vampire. Marvel's second Lilith appeared in 1992, being an evil sorceress and considered the mother of all demons.
Image credits
[1]Wikimedia Commons
Sources
GUARINELLO, Norberto Luiz. Ancient history. Editora Contexto, São Paulo, 2013.
LÉVÊQUE, Pierre. The first civilizations: from the Stone Age to the Semitic peoples. Editions 70, São Paulo, 2013.
PIRES, Valéria Fabrizi. Lilith and Eve: archetypal images of women today. Summus Editorial, São Paulo, 2008.