Lilith is a legendary figure of the Jewish folklore, of Mesopotamic origin. She is considered to be the first wife of Adam, previous to Eve. According to the legend, she left Adam to go away of the Eden. Then she established herself near the Red sea, with her children, and there she joined with Lucifer or Satan, which managed to be his lover. Later, she turned into a demon that joins the men as a succubus, breeding children, the lilim, with the semen that the males spill involuntarily when they are sleeping.

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Lilith’s origin seems to be found in Lilitu and Ardat Lili, two Mesopotamian female demons, related in turn to the evil spirit Lilu. In the names of this family of demons appears the word lil, meaning ‘wind’, ‘air’ or ‘spirit’. The exiled Jews in Babylon brought to their homeland the belief in this evil creature, whose name, adapted to the phonetics of the Hebrew as Lilith, was related to the Hebrew word "Laila", night.

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The origin of the legend that presents Lilith as the first woman is found in a rabbinical interpretation of Genesis 1, 27.1 Before explaining that God gave Adam a wife named Eve, formed from her rib, the text says: "So God created man in his image; in the image of God he created man and woman." Although today this is often interpreted as a fact explained twice, another possible interpretation is that God first created a woman in his image, formed at the same time as Adam, and only later created from Adam’s rib to Eve. The first woman to whom Genesis 1, 27 alludes, would be Lilith, who abandoned her husband and the garden of Eden.

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Adam and Lilith never found harmony together, for when he desired to have sex with her, Lilith was offended by the lying posture he demanded of her. "Why should I lie under you? — she asked—: I was made of dust too, and therefore I am your equal." As Adam tried to force her to obey, Lilith, angry, pronounced the magical name of God, rose up in the air and abandoned him.

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Juan Palomares does not represent Lilith as the demoniac and venal version exposed by the Bible or by the Mesopotamian tablets, but as the creator of the human civilization, powerful and enterprising, recently descended from heaven, where she could have had a perfect but subdued life. The artist exhibited at the Menfis gallery in Granada, where the myth of Lilith became art.

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