Mesopotamian myths in the context of The Thousand and One Nights

Gilgamesh (/ˈɡɪlɡəmɛʃ/, /ɡɪlˈɡɑːmɛʃ/; Akkadian: 𒀭𒄑𒂆𒈦, romanized: Gilgāmeš; originally Sumerian: 𒀭𒄑𒉋𒂵𒎌, romanized: Bilgames) was a hero in ancient Mesopotamian mythology and the protagonist of the Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic poem written in Akkadian during the late 2nd millennium BC. He was possibly a historical king of the Sumerian city-state of Uruk, who was posthumously deified. His rule probably would have taken place sometime in the beginning of the Early Dynastic Period, c. 2900–2350 BC, though he became a major figure in Sumerian legend during the Third Dynasty of Ur (c. 2112 – c. 2004 BC).

Tales of Gilgamesh's legendary exploits are narrated in five surviving Sumerian poems. The earliest of these is likely "Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld", in which Gilgamesh comes to the aid of the goddess Inanna and drives away the creatures infesting her huluppu tree. She gives him two unknown objects, a mikku and a pikku, which he loses. After Enkidu's death, his shade tells Gilgamesh about the bleak conditions in the Underworld. The poem Gilgamesh and Aga describes Gilgamesh's revolt against his overlord Aga of Kish. Other Sumerian poems relate Gilgamesh's defeat of the giant Huwawa and the Bull of Heaven, while a fifth, poorly preserved poem relates the account of his death and funeral.

One Thousand and One Nights (Arabic: أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, Alf Laylah wa-Laylah) is a collection of Middle Eastern folktales compiled in the Arabic language during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as The Arabian Nights, from the first English-language edition (c. 1706–1721), which rendered the title as The Arabian Nights' Entertainments.

The work was collected over many centuries by various authors, translators, and scholars across West Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, and North Africa. Some tales trace their roots back to ancient and medieval Arabic, Persian, and Mesopotamian literature. Most tales, however, were originally folk stories from the Abbasid and Mamluk eras, while others, especially the frame story, are probably drawn from the Pahlavi Persian work Hezār Afsān (Persian: هزار افسان, lit. 'A Thousand Tales'), which in turn relied partly on Indian elements.

Lilith (/ˈlɪlɪθ/; Hebrew: לִילִית, romanized: Līlīṯ), 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. Lilith is cited as having been "banished" from the Garden of Eden for disobeying Adam.

The stem Hebrew word from which the name Lilith is taken is in the Biblical Hebrew, in the Book of Isaiah, though Lilith herself is not mentioned in any biblical text. In late antiquity in Mandaean and Jewish sources from 500 AD onward, Lilith appears in historiolas (incantations incorporating a short mythic story) in various concepts and localities that give partial descriptions of her. She is mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud (Eruvin 100b, Niddah 24b, Shabbat 151b, Bava Batra 73a), and in the Zohar § Leviticus 19a as "a hot fiery female who first cohabited with man". Many rabbinic authorities, including Maimonides and Menachem Meiri, reject the existence of Lilith.

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.

Aside from his relationship with Pazuzu, very little is known of this figure.

Alalu or Alala was a primordial figure in Mesopotamian and Hurrian mythology. He is also known from documents from Emar, where he was known as Alal. While his role was not identical in these three contexts, it is agreed that all three versions share the same origin. Hurrian Alalu, who plays the role of the oldest king of gods in the Kumarbi Cycle, is the best known, and is commonly discussed in scholarship focused on comparative mythology but it is agreed Mesopotamian Alala represents the oldest tradition regarding this being. However, the precise etymology of his name is unknown, and likely neither Sumerian nor Semitic. Both Hurrian and Mesopotamian sources attest an association between him and Anu, but its nature varies between cultures.