lilith is most well-known as the demoness/goddess who was the first woman, created by god at the same time as adam, unlike eve who was created from adam's rib. lilith refused to submit to adam's will and left the garden of eden and was subsequently cursed by god. according to popular opinion, this tale is "evidence" that she was originally a goddess or at the very least an aspect of the great goddess and was demonized for being an independant female.

unfortunately, what many people forget is that the "first eve" story of lilith first appeared in medieval times, in the controversial work known as the alphabet of ben sirah. although lilith herself existed before the middle ages, all earlier descriptions of her were demonic. lilith's true origins are obscure, but both her sumerian and babylonian predecessors were also all demonic. lilith may be many things today, including but not limited to a goddess, a role model, and a demoness, but originally she was purely a demoness.

the following links, both to articles on my shrine and elsewhere, all describe some aspect of the historal view of lilith including both modern articles on lilith and of primary sources. some of the articles do touch on modern interpretations as well, but their primary focus is on discussing historical views of her and how they have changed throughout time.

disclaimer: the views and opinions expressed in the links below are those of the author(s) and are not necessarily my own.

articles on the history of lilith

• a bibliography of books and articles about lilith compiled by me.
• a compilation of posts on lilith from alt.mythology: a fair number of these are in response to tyagi nagasiva's reposting of lilit, malkah ha-shadim by jeffrey smith.
• the story of lilith from ancient israel: myths and legends by angelo s. rappoport.
• lilith by khephera, a wiccan priest: covers various historical views of lilith, including the ancient, the qabalistic, and the folkloric, plus his modern interpretation of her.
• alan humm's extensive lilith home page: the best source on the web of translations of various primary sources on lilith, as well as a good selection of secondary sources, and so forth. i have not bothered to link to all of his primary sources individually but have merely chosen a few i feel are particularly significant, so be sure to check out his site to see the whole collection.
• looking for lilith by eliezer segal: a discussion of the origin of the "first eve" story in the medieval alphabet of ben sirah. i don't particularly agree with his conclusions about the usefulness of lilith for jewish feminists, but i do feel that it was important to include a link to this page, since he does raise some worthwhile questions, and he is a good reminder to be wary of false scholarship.
• the story of lilith according to patai's and grave's hebrew myths.

translations of primary sources

• excerpt from the prologue to epic of gilgamesh: it contains what may be the earliest reference to lilith or to one of her predecessors.
• isaiah 34:14: the only mention of the word "lilith" in the bible.
• the story of lilith according to the alphabet of ben sira: the source of the famous "first eve" story.

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