Ardat-Lile

Other Names / Variants:

Artdat-lilī

Lilū - male

Lilītu - female

 


 

Ardat-Lile (Semetic Spirit) - She is a female spirit or demon who weds human beings and works great harm in the dwellings of men. (b)

 


 

Lilītu:  The male Lilū and the two females Lilītu and the Artdat-lilī are a sort of family group of demons.  They are not gods.  The Lilū haunts the desert and open country and is especially dangerous to pregnant women and infants.  The Lilītu seems to be a female equivalent, while the Artdat-lilī  (whose name means 'maiden Lilū') seems to have the character of a frustrated bride, incapable of normal sexual activity.  As such, she compensates by aggressive behavior especially towards young men.  The  Artdat-lilī, who is often mentioned in magical texts, seems to have some affinities with the Jewish Lilith (e.g. Isaiah 34:14). 'She is not a wife, a mother; she has not known happiness, has not undressed in front of her husband, has no milk in her breasts.'  She was believed to cause impotence in men and sterility in women.

 

A plaque though possibly to depict her shows a scorpion-tailed she-wolf about to devour a young girl.  (r)

 


Resource List - all entries are taken verbatim from the original source:

(b) "Encyclopaedia of Occultism" by Lewis Spence. ©1959

(r) "Gods, Demons, and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia.  An Illustrated Dictionary."  Jeremy Black and Anthony Green.  University of Texas Press, Austin.  ©1992


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