Mesopotamian demons

thumb|upright=1|Lilith (painting)|Lilith (1887) by John Collier Lilith (; ; also spelled Lilit, Lilitu, or Lilis) is a feminine figure in Mesopotamian and Jewish mythology. According to accounts in the Talmud she is a primordial she-demon. Based on Medieval Jewish folklore, Lilith is said to have fled from the Garden of Eden because she did not want to submit to Adam.

Humbaba (Ḫumbaba; , Ḫumbāba, with an optional determinative ), originally known as Ḫuwawa in Sumerian (, Ḫuwāwa), was a figure in Mesopotamian mythology. The origin and meaning of his name are unknown. He was portrayed as an anthropomorphic figure comparable to an ogre or giant. He is best known from Sumerian and Akkadian narratives focused on the hero Gilgamesh, including short compositions belonging to the curriculum of scribal schools, various versions of the Epic of Gilgamesh, and several Hurrian and Hittite adaptations. He is invariably portrayed as the inhabitant or guardian of the cedar

thumb|This Assyrian bronze statuette of Pazuzu is in height, from the early 1st millennium BC, held at the Louvre Museum.

Anzû, also known as dZû and Imdugud (Sumerian: Determinative#Cuneiform|), is a demon in several Mesopotamian religions. He was conceived by the cosmic freshwater ocean Abzu and mother Earth Mami, or as son of Siris. In Babylonian myths Anzû was depicted as a massive bird - also as an eagle with lion head - who can breathe fire and water. This narrative seems to refer to much earlier Sumerian myths, in which he appears as a half-human storm bird who stole the tablet of destiny, challenging Enlil's power over his organisation of different gods that provided Mesopotamia with agriculture (cf. the

Namtar () was a figure in ancient Mesopotamian religion who, depending on the context, could be regarded both as a minor god and as a demon of disease. He is best attested as the sukkal (attendant deity) of Ereshkigal, the goddess of the underworld. Like her, he was not the object of active worship, though references to it are made in literary texts, and additionally some incantations entrust him with keeping various other malevolent forces in the underworld.

thumb|Sumerian name in Akkadian language|Old Babylonian cuneiform, dDim3-me

The udug (), later known in Akkadian as the utukku, were an ambiguous class of demons from ancient Mesopotamian mythology found in the literature of Sumer, Akkad, Assyria and Babylonia. They were born in the underworld (Kur), as a beings different from the dingir (Anu-nna-Ki and Igigi), and they were generally malicious, even if a member of demons (Pazuzu) was willing to clash both with other demons and with the gods, even if he is described as a presence hostile to humans. The word is generally ambiguous and is sometimes used to refer to demons as a whole rather than a specific kind of demon.

In the Sumerian mythological poem Lugal-e, Asag or Azag (Sumerian: ; Akkadian: asakku) is a monstrous demon. In the poem, his power is so hideous that it makes fish to boil alive in the rivers.

Nisroch (; ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, a god of Assyria in whose temple King Sennacherib was worshiping when he was assassinated by his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer (, ).

In Sumerian and Akkadian mythology (and Mesopotamian mythology in general) Hanbi or Hanpa (more commonly known in western text) was the lord of evil, lord of all evil forces (Udug) and the father of Pazuzu.

thumb|upright=1.3|A cylinder seal of the god [[Dumuzid being tortured in the ancient Mesopotamian underworld by gallas]]

The edimmu, read incorrectly sometimes as ekimmu, were a type of utukku in the Mesopotamian religion of Sumer, Akkad, Assyria and Babylonia, similar in nature to the preta of the Hindu religions or the jiangshi of Chinese mythology. They were envisioned as the ghosts of those who were not buried properly. They were considered vengeful toward the living and might possess people if they did not respect certain taboos, such as the prohibition against eating ox meat. They were thought to cause disease and inspire criminal behavior in the living, but could sometimes be appeased by funeral repasts o

Akhkhazu, also known as Ahhazu, is a female demon of jaundice from the Akkadic mythology that was later adopted by Babylonian mythology. Her Sumerian name is Dimme-kur. She is also called "the seizer". She brings fever and plagues and is a member of a trio of female demons (Labasu, Labartu, Akhkhazu). Although the word "Akhkhazu" has a male gender, Akhkazu is often described as having a female nature.

In Akkadian and Sumerian mythology, Alû is a vengeful spirit of the Utukku that goes down to the underworld Kur. The demon has no mouth, lips or ears. It would roam at night and terrifies people while they sleep and the Alû may also torment their victims for fun. It was also said that possession by the Alû would result in unconsciousness or a coma; in this manner it resembles creatures such as the mara, and incubus, which are invoked to explain sleep paralysis. In Akkadian and Sumerian mythology, it is associated with other demons such as the Gallu and the Lilu.

In Mesopotamian myths, the alal was a kind of demon that, to tempt men, came out of the Underworld and took various forms, temptations that the inhabitants of Babylonia were able to reject by means of amulets.

Dimmeku (also read as Dimpimeku), Dimku or Ḫedimku was a Mesopotamian goddess or demon associated with the underworld. From the Old Babylonian period on she was associated with Namtar, and in the god list An = Anum she appears as his daughter. It has been suggested that the similarly named Ḫedimmeku, who is attested in the same source as a daughter of Enki, was identical with her, though this conclusion is not universally accepted.

thumb|A kusarikku on the right holding a lance with an ugallu on the left on a Hittite relief from Carchemish.

Mušmaḫḫū, inscribed in Sumerian as MUŠ.MAḪ, Akkadian as muš-ma-ḫu, meaning "Exalted/distinguished Serpent", was an ancient Mesopotamian mythological hybrid of serpent, lion and bird, sometimes identified with the seven-headed serpent slain by Ninurta in the mythology of the Sumerian period. He is one of the three horned snakes, with his companions, Bašmu and Ušumgallu, with whom he may have shared a common mythological origin.

thumb|The Weather god, armed with lightning, fighting a Bašmu dragon, on a Neo-Assyrian cylinder seal (9th/8th Century BC)