Agrat bat Mahlat
Jewish mythology (rabbinic–kabbalistic) · numen · Jewish mythology (rabbinic–kabbalistic) traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Agrat bat Mahlat is one of the great demon-queens of Jewish tradition. The Talmud presents her as a dangerous night-spirit who, accompanied by eighteen myriads of destroying angels, ranges abroad on the eves of Wednesday and the Sabbath, until the sage Abaye's decree confines her to those nights alone and to the desolate places away from human dwelling. The Kabbalah numbers her among the four queens of the demonic realm, together with Lilith, Naamah and Mahalath, and reckons her a consort of Samael. Sources differ over the relationships among these demon-queens and whether Mahalath is her mother or a separate queen bearing a related name.
Domains
- demons
- night
Powers
- rides with a host of destroying angels
Epithets
- מַלְכַּת הַשֵּׁדִים — queen of the demonsGershom Scholem, Kabbalah (1974), p. 358 (secondary)
Relations
- lover: SamaelReckoned one of the four queens of the demons who are mates of Samael.Bahya ben Asher, commentary on Genesis 4:22 (secondary)
Sources
- Agrat bat Mahlat is a queen of the demons who roams the night with a host of destroying angels, counted in the Kabbalah among the four demon-consorts of Samael.: Babylonian Talmud, Pesachim 112b (primary); Bahya ben Asher, commentary on Genesis 4:22 (secondary); Gershom Scholem, Kabbalah (Keter, 1974), pp. 357-358 (secondary); Howard Schwartz, Tree of Souls (Oxford University Press, 2004), p. 227 (secondary)