Lilith in Myth and History

Lilith is a name known everywhere in the world. When discussing the so-called �biblical� Lilith, most people can tell you that she was Adam�s first wife. Rarely, however, do they know where this tale comes from. Nearly everybody knows that piece of the story and those same people know that it�s also not actually biblical. The story of Lilith is a fascinating one and it spans much longer than one would think. From ancient Sumer to modern day America, the Lilith story has evolved to the point where it�s no longer recognizable. Today, I will be discussing the origins and evolution of the Lilith tale. From its simple beginnings to its esoteric present, this is Lilith in myth and history.

Sources:

Books:
James D.G. Dunn, John Rogerson � Eerdman�s Commentary on the Bible
Edward Cook, Martin Abegg, Michael Wise � The Dead Sea Scrolls
William Dever � Did God Have a Wife?
Michael Heiser � The Unseen Realm
Mark S. Smith � The Origins of Biblical Monotheism
Alan F. Segal � Life After Death
Arthur George, Elena George � The Mythology of Eden
Loren Stuckenbruck � The Myth of Rebellious Angels
Stephanie Dalley � Myths from Mesopotamia
Graham Cunningham � Deliver Me from Evil
Ziony Zevit � The Religions of Ancient Israel
Raphael Patai � The Hebrew Goddess
Gershom Scholem � Origins of the Kabbalah
Gershom Scholem � Zohar: The Book of Splendor
David Stern, Mark J. Mirsky � Rabbinic Fantasies
Howard Schwartz � Lilith's Cave
James A. Montgomery � Aramaic Incantation Texts from Nippur
Reginald C. Thompson � The Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia
Andrew George - The Epic of Gilgamesh
Samuel Kramer � Gilgamesh and the Huluppu Tree
Adolphe Franck � The Kabbalah
Ronald H. Isaacs � Ascending Jacob�s Ladder
Jacob Elbaum - �Yalkut Shimoni,� Encyclopaedia Judaica
Joshua Trachtenberg � Jewish Magic and Superstition
The Zohar
Talmud � Nidah
Talmud � Eiruvin
Talmud � Shabbath

Papers:
Jo Milgrom � Giving Eve�s Daughters Their Due
Harry M. Geduld � The Lineage of Lilith
Frank Moore Cross, Richard J. Saley - Phoenician Incantations on a Plaque of the Seventh Century B.C. from Arslan Tash in Upper Syria
David Stern � The Alphabet of Ben Sira and the Early History of Parody in Jewish Literature
Rebecca Lesses - Exe(o)rcising Power: Women as Sorceresses, Exorcists, and Demonesses in Babylonian Jewish Society of Late Antiquity
S. Langdon - Babylonian and Hebrew Demonology with Reference to the Supposed Borrowing of Persian Dualism in Judaism and Christianity
Jacobus van Dijk - The Authenticity of the Arslan Tash Amulets
Douglas L. Penney, Michael O. Wise - By the Power of Beelzebub: An Aramaic Incantation Formula from Qumran (4Q560)
Jeffrey Hoffeld � Adam's Two Wives
Joseph Dan � Samael, Lilith, and the Concept of Evil in Early Kabbalah
Leonard A. Rotham - Jewish Midwives in Late Renaissance Venice and the Transition to Modernity