Agrat Bat Mahlat
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Agrat Bat Mahlat
Agrat Bat Mahlat (אגרת בת מחלת) is a demon in Jewish mythology.
Etymology
Considering Mahlat and Agrat as proper names and bat as "daughter of" (Hebrew), Agrat bat Mahlat means 'Agrat daughter of Mahlat'. Sometimes Agrat is used alone, or with variations (Agrath, Igrat, Iggeret). Iggeret means in Hebrew 'letter or missive' while 'agrah' means 'reward'. Mahathallah, probably the correct spelling of Mahlat means in Hebrew 'deception' or 'illusion'. Therefore, Agrat bat Mahlat could be translated as Agrat 'daughter of illusions', 'bringer of deception' or 'reward for deception.'
In ancient texts
In Zoharistic Kabbalah, she is a queen of the demons and one of four angels of sacred prostitution, who mates with archangel Samael. Her fellow succubi are Lilith, Naamah, and Eisheth Zenunim. In the Rabbinic literature of Yalḳuṭ Ḥadash, on the eves of Wednesday and of the Sabbath, she is "the dancing roof-demon" who haunts the air with her chariot and her train of eighteen myriads of messengers of destruction. She dances while Lilith howls.[1] She is also "the mistress of the sorceresses" who communicated magic secrets to Amemar, a Jewish sage.[2]
According to the Kabbalah and the school of Rashba, Agrat Bat Mahlat mated with King David and bore a cambion son Asmodeus, king of demons.[3] The spiritual intervention of Hanina ben Dosa and Rabbi Abaye curbed her malevolent powers over humans.[4]
Some authors, such as Donald Tyson, refer to them as manifestations of Lilith. Agrat Bat Mahlat rules Salamanca (western quarter), Naamah rules Damascus (eastern quarter), while Lilith rules Rome (northern quarter). The southern quarter is controversial, since it is assigned to a country (Egypt) instead of to a city, and the name of the ruler is unclear, usually identified as Mahalat (the mother of Agrat?) or Rahab instead of Eisheth.
References
- ^ Jewish Encyclopedia shedim
- ^ Jewish Encyclopedia demonology
- ^ Kabbala: Lilith, Queen of the Demons
- ^ Geoffrey W. Dennis, The encyclopedia of Jewish myth, magic and mysticism. p. 126
- Three Books of Occult Philosophy, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (edited and annotated by Daniel Tyson), Llewellyn Sourcebook Series.
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correction: Mahelet means disease in hebrew
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