Ardat-lilî

In addition to the standard form ardat-lilî, the variant wardat-lilîm appears in Old Babylonian sources.{{sfn|Farber|1989|p=14}} The name can be translated as "girl of the wind"{{sfn|Verderame|2013|p=125}} or "phantom bride".{{sfn|Wiggermann|2011|p=311}} The second half is derived from the Akkadian word lilû, a loanword from Sumerian LIL₂, which in turn depending on context can refer to winds, ghosts or demons.{{sfn|Verderame|2013|p=125}} It is possible that through folk etymologies it additionally came to be connected with Akkadian lilâtu, "night".{{sfn|Farber|1987|p=23}}

Ardat-lilî was also known under the Sumerian term kisikillilla or kisikillillaenna.{{sfn|Wiggermann|2011|p=320}} However, Markham J. Geller notes that in bilingual incantations kisikillilla corresponds to a different demon, lilītu, while ardat-lilî is translated to Sumerian kisikil-uddakarra, "maiden who the storm demon chose".{{sfn|Geller|1988|pp=7-8}} However, this convention is not followed in an Old Babylonian lexical list, where kisikil uddakarra is given as the Sumerian name of a different demon, pāšittum.{{sfn|Wagensonner|2020|p=54}}{{efn|This name is commonly translated as "exterminator" or "obliterating one" due to being most likely derived from the Akkadian verb pašāṭum, "to erase".{{sfn|Wagensonner|2020|p=55}} In another lexical list its Sumerian equivalent is KA-im-ma.{{sfn|Wagensonner|2020|p=57}}}} Despite phonetic similarities, the theonym Kilili is not related to kisikillila.{{sfn|Wiggermann|2007|p=112}}{{efn|While the being designated by this name could be regarded as a demon, she belonged to the category of demonic animals, possibly representing a demonized owl.{{sfn|Wiggermann|2011|p=315}}}}

While demons were typically less well defined than deities in Mesopotamian beliefs,{{sfn|Wiggermann|2011|p=307}} {{ill|Daniel Schwemer|de}} stresses that in the case of ardat-lilî it is nonetheless possible to speak of a "detailed, standardized set of motifs".{{sfn|Schwemer|2020|p=141}} Lorenzo Verderame notes that ardat-lilî was believed to have an "appealing" appearance, in contrast with other demons, who could be described as faceless, "ever-changing" (uttakkarū) or "strange" (nakru){{sfn|Verderame|2013|p=124}} They belonged to a class of supernatural beings designated by the root lil-.{{sfn|Wiggermann|2011|p=311}} It also included figures such as eṭel-lilî ("phantom bridegroom"), lilītu ("female phantom"), lilû ("male phantom") and possibly naššuqītu ("phantom kisser").{{sfn|Wiggermann|2011|pp=311-312}} Additionally, Pazuzu was referred to as the king of the lil-.{{sfn|Wiggermann|2011|p=312}}{{efn|Frans Wiggermann argues this likely indicates Lamashtu was also regarded as a lil, as Pazuzu was believed to have power over her.{{sfn|Wiggermann|2011|p=312}} However, Eric Schmidtchen notes it can be argued that in standardized lists of demons they are divided in three groups, utukku, lil and KAMAD.{{sfn|Schmidtchen|2021|p=143}} The last of them is distinct from the lil and encompasses Lamashtu and related figures like aḫḫazu and labāṣu.{{sfn|Schmidtchen|2021|pp=148-149}}}}

The lil- demons were believed to be the ghosts of young people who died sexually unfulfilled. {{cite book |last1=Scurlock |first1=JoAnn |last2=Anderson |first2=Burton |date=2005 |title=Diagnoses in Assyrian and Babylonian Medicine: Ancient Sources, Translations, and Modern Medical Analysis |url=https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=c029561 |format=print |language=English |location=Urbana and Chicago |publisher=University of Illinois Press |page=273 & 434 |isbn=0-252-02956-9 |quote=The lilû-demons and their female counterparts, the lilītu or ardat lilî-demons... If a girl or boy had the misfortune of dying before having had the opportunity to marry and have children, it was believed that his or her ghost was forever doomed to prowl the earth." - page 273; "Lilû, lilītu, and ardat lilî were a class of demons who were believed to be recruited from among young persons who died just before or just after marriage. These demons tended to victimize persons of the opposite sex but of the same age as themselves. For example, the adolescent female ardat lilî was responsible for Gilles de la Tourette syndrome, a disorder that primarily affects boys in the first two decades of life (see Chapter 13)."- page 434}}{{sfn|Wiggermann|2011|p=311}} Incantations focused on ardat-lilî accordingly describe them as beings who has never had sex, never got married and as a result had no family.{{sfn|Geller|1988|pp=14-15}} One incantation states that while still alive, an ardat-lilî was unable to partake in a festival (isinnu) alongside other girls, which according to Julia Krul is most likely an allusion to a specific unidentified event which was focused on young women, as opposed to a general reference to religious celebrations.{{sfn|Krul|2018|p=231}} Stories of individual ardat-lilî include varying details such as “young girl who never had a husband”, “young girl who was snatched away from a husband, snatched away from a child”, “young woman who was never impregnated”, and “young girl who was driven from her father-in-law’s house” (Scurlock & Anderson, page 273).

Ardat-lilî were believed to typically target young men, acting as a demonic seductress due to their grief and desolation.{{sfn|Gadotti|2014|p=256}} Their role can be compared to that of a succubus.{{sfn|Schmidtchen|2021|p=266}} In a number of cases, exorcism formulas prescribe a mock marriage as a solution to problems caused by them.{{sfn|Geller|2015|p=165}}

No evidence exists for any association between ardat-lilî and children.{{sfn|Farber|1987|p=24}}

Incantations dealing with ardat-lilî were already known in the Old Babylonian period.{{sfn|Gadotti|2014|p=256}} The standard texts are bilingual, with Sumerian and Akkadian versions of the same formula listed side by side.{{sfn|Geller|1988|p=7}} One of the early examples places one or more ardat-lilî in the entourage of Erra.{{sfn|Farber|1987|p=24}}

Ardat-lilî is also mentioned in incantations from the series Udug Hul.{{sfn|Geller|2015|p=11}} Markham J. Geller notes there is a degree of textual overlap between this corpus and independent ardat-lilî incantations.{{sfn|Geller|2015|p=5}} Ardat-lilî appears for example in a formula meant to prevent various demons from approaching their victims on tablet 6.{{sfn|Geller|2015|p=229}} However, on tablet 5 an ardat-lilî is herself described as a victim of another demon and is placed under the protection of Ishtar{{sfn|Geller|2015|p=214}} (contrast with a different ardat-lilî who is described as having been “mistreated by the ‘hand’ of Ishtar”). The incantation is instead aimed against the utukku and alû.{{sfn|Geller|2015|p=215}}

Ardat-lilî appears alongside lilû and lilītu in an incantation targeting mimma lemnu,{{sfn|Schwemer|2020|p=150}} "any evil", a personification of a formula referring to any possible cause of harm which has befallen a person.{{sfn|Schwemer|2020|p=141}} Specific well known demons and illnesses are singled out as possible sources, but the cause ultimately remains undefined.{{sfn|Schwemer|2020|p=153}} The formula was originally written in the seventh century by Nabû-kabti-aḫḫēšu, an exorcist from the temple of Ashur in Assur.{{sfn|Schwemer|2020|p=141}} Later copies have been discovered during excavations of Uruk and Babylon as well.{{sfn|Schwemer|2020|p=142}}

References to ardat-lilî have also been identified in medical incantations.{{sfn|Schmidtchen|2021|p=144}} An illness called the "hand of ardat-lilî" (qāt ardat lilî) is known from multiple sources.{{sfn|Schmidtchen|2021|p=148}} In the Assur Medical Catalogue, it is described as the cause of la’bu, which has been variously interpreted as a skin disease, a type of fever, psychiatric and neurological disorders, or as a reference to an unidentified bodily fluid.{{sfn|Steinert|2018|pp=267-268}}

An astrological text from Sultantepe indicates that the twelfth day of the month was believed to be particularly suitable for performing rituals meant to ward off ardat-lilî.{{sfn|Wee|2016|p=208}}

Under the Sumerian term kisikillila, ardat-lilî appears in the composition Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the Netherworld.{{sfn|Farber|1987|p=23}}{{sfn|Gadotti|2014|p=256}} It belonged to the curriculum of Old Babylonian scribal schools, and as a result is well documented in the archeological record, with seventy four copies recovered as of 2014.{{sfn|Gadotti|2014|p=1}} Kisikillila is described as one of the three beings Gilgamesh has to drive away from the ḫalub tree planted by Inanna.{{sfn|Gadotti|2014|p=40}} While part of the narrative was later translated into Akkadian and incorporated into the Epic of Gilgamesh, the section dealing with the ḫalub tree was not, possibly due to thematically overlapping with the myth of the cedar forest.{{sfn|Gadotti|2014|p=2}}

File:Ishtar goddess.jpg

In the past identification of the figure depicted on the Burney Relief as an ardat-lilî or lilītu has been proposed,{{sfn|Farber|1987|p=24}} but today it is considered implausible as it is unlikely a figure perceived negatively would be represented as a cultic image.{{sfn|Wiggermann|2007|p=113}} In ancient Mesopotamia demons were not an object of cult, and it was believed they are incapable of heeding prayers of humans the way gods were supposed to.{{sfn|Wiggermann|2011|p=308}} With the exception of first millennium BCE exorcist rituals which required the preparation of figures of demons such as Lamashtu, utukku or rābiṣu, there is no evidence that demons known from exorcistic literature were depicted in Mesopotamian art.{{sfn|Wiggermann|2011|p=309}} Such figures would generally be destroyed as a part of the ceremony.{{sfn|Wiggermann|2011|pp=309-310}}

While it has been suggested that a passage in the Old Babylonian hymn to Ishtar preserved on the tablet AO 6035 might refer to the eponymous deity as the mistress of ardat-lilî or another similarly named demon, Michael P. Streck and Nathan Wasserman conclude that the word līlu, "evening", is meant instead.{{sfn|Streck|Wasserman|2018|p=32}}

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{{reflist}}

{{refbegin|40em}}

• {{citation|last=Farber|first=Walter|entry=Lilû, Lilītu, Ardat-lilî A. Philologisch|encyclopedia=Reallexikon der Assyriologie|volume=7|year=1987|entry-url=http://publikationen.badw.de/en/rla/index#7032|language=de|access-date=2024-02-08}}
• {{cite journal|last=Farber|first=Walter|title=(W)ardat-lilî(m)|journal=Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie|volume=79|issue=2|pages=14–35|year=1989|issn=1613-1150|doi=10.1515/za-1989-790205|language=de}}
• {{cite book|last=Gadotti|first=Alhena|title=Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld and the Sumerian Gilgamesh Cycle|publisher=De Gruyter|date=2014|isbn=978-1-61451-708-5|doi=10.1515/9781614515456}}
• {{cite journal|last=Geller|first=Markham J.|title=New Duplicates to SBTU II|journal=Archiv für Orientforschung|publisher=Archiv für Orientforschung (AfO)/Institut für Orientalistik|volume=35|year=1988|issn=0066-6440|jstor=41661648|pages=1–23|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/41661648|access-date=2024-02-07}}
• {{cite book|last=Geller|first=Markham J.|title=Healing Magic and Evil Demons. Canonical Udug-hul Incantations|series=Die babylonisch-assyrische Medizin in Texten und Untersuchungen|publisher=De Gruyter|date=2015|isbn=978-1-61451-309-4|doi=10.1515/9781614513094}}
• {{cite book|last=Krul|first=Julia|title=The Revival of the Anu Cult and the Nocturnal Fire Ceremony at Late Babylonian Uruk|url=https://www.academia.edu/36775866|publisher=Brill|date=2018|doi=10.1163/9789004364943_004|isbn=9789004364936}}
• {{cite book|last=Schmidtchen|first=Eric|title=Mesopotamische Diagnostik: Untersuchungen zu Rekonstruktion, Terminologie und Systematik des babylonisch-assyrischen Diagnosehandbuches und eine Neubearbeitung der Tafeln 3–14|series=Die babylonisch-assyrische Medizin in Texten und Untersuchungen|volume=13|publisher=De Gruyter|date=2021|isbn=978-3-11-071528-6|doi=10.1515/9783110715286|language=de}}
• {{cite journal|last=Schwemer|first=Daniel|title=Any Evil, a Stalking Ghost, and the Bull-Headed Demon|url=https://www.academia.edu/44801832|journal=Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie|volume=110|issue=2|date=2020|issn=1613-1150|doi=10.1515/za-2020-0015|pages=141–160}}
• {{cite book|last=Steinert|first=Ulrike|title=Assyrian and Babylonian Scholarly Text Catalogues|chapter=The Assur Medical Catalogue (AMC)|publisher=De Gruyter|date=2018|isbn=978-1-5015-0491-4|doi=10.1515/9781501504914-009}}
• {{cite journal|last=Streck|first=Michael P.|last2=Wasserman|first2=Nathan|title=The Man is Like a Woman, the Maiden is a Young Man: A new edition of Ištar-Louvre (Tab. I-II)|journal=Orientalia|publisher=GBPress - Gregorian Biblical Press|volume=87|issue=1|year=2018|issn=0030-5367|jstor=45158730|pages=1–38|url=https://www.academia.edu/36870491|access-date=2024-02-07}}
• {{cite journal|last=Verderame|first=Lorenzo|title="Their Divinity is Different, Their Nature is Distinct!" Nature, Origin, and Features of Demons in Akkadian Literature|journal=Archiv für Religionsgeschichte|volume=14|issue=1|date=2013|issn=1868-8888|doi=10.1515/arege-2012-0008}}
• {{cite journal|last=Wagensonner|first=Klaus|title=From Demons to a Slippery Slope: MLC 1948, a new list of Sumerian terms and their equivalents|url=https://www.academia.edu/42356209|journal=Journal of Near Eastern Studies|publisher=University of Chicago Press|volume=79|issue=1|date=2020|issn=0022-2968|doi=10.1086/707860|pages=51–64}}
• {{cite book|last=Wee|first=John Z.|editor-last=Steele|editor-first=John M.|title=The Circulation of Astronomical Knowledge in the Ancient World|chapter=Virtual Moons over Babylonia: The Calendar Text System, Its Micro-Zodiac of 13, and the Making of Medical Zodiology|chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/31524721|pages=139–229|publisher=Brill|date=2016|isbn=978-90-04-31563-1|doi=10.1163/9789004315631_008}}
• {{cite book|last=Wiggermann|first=Frans|editor1-last=Groneberg|editor-first=Brigitte|editor-last2=Spieckermann|editor-first2=Hermann|title=Die Welt der Götterbilder|series=Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft|chapter=Some Demons of Time and their Functions in Mesopotamian Iconography|chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/508597|volume=376|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|publication-place=Berlin, New York|date=2007|pages=102–116|issn=0934-2575|doi=10.1515/9783110204155.1.102|isbn=978-3-11-019463-0}}
• {{cite journal|last=Wiggermann|first=Frans A. M.|title=The Mesopotamian Pandemonium. A Provisional Census|url=https://www.academia.edu/2393427|journal=Studi e materiali di storia delle religioni|volume=77|issue=2|year=2011|pages=298–322}}

{{refend}}

• [https://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.1.8.1.4 Gilgameš, Enkidu and the nether world] in the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature

Category:Mesopotamian demons