Dumah (angel)

Dumah (Heb. שתיקה "silence") is an angel mentioned in Rabbinical literature. Dumah is a popular figure in Yiddish folklore. I. B. Singer's Short Friday (1964), a collection of stories, mentions Dumah as a "thousand-eyed angel of death, armed with a fiery rod or flaming sword". Dumah is the Aramaic word for silence.

The angel

Duma(h) or Douma (Aramaic) is the angel of silence and of the stillness of death.[1]

Dumah is also the tutelary angel of Egypt, prince of Hell, and angel of vindication. The Zohar speaks of him as having "tens of thousands of angels of destruction" under him, and as being "Chief of demons in Gehinnom [i.e., Hell] with 12,000 myriads of attendants, all charged with the punishment of the souls of sinners."[2] In the Babylonian legend of the descent of Istar into Hades, Dumah shows up as the guardian of the 14th gate.[3]

Other references

  • Dumah is one of the twelve sons of Ishmael and the "burden of Dumah" is mentioned in Isaiah 21:11, possibly as a prophecy.
  • Dumah is a city associated with the descendants of Ishmael that was known to the Assyrian empire as Adummatu and is known in modern times as Dumat Al-Jandal.[4][5]
  • Dumah is the name of one of the seven compartments of Gehenna.[6]
  • In the video game Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Dumah is the name of a boss character. He is the vampire brother of Raziel, and along with Turel is the one who cast him into the Abyss on Kain's orders. In reference to the meaning of his name, when finally confronted, he has been killed by vampire hunters, and his corpse is sitting silently on a throne.
  • Doma (a variation of Dumah) the Angel of Silence is a card in the card game Yu-Gi-Oh!.
  • Dumah makes an appearance in Neil Gaiman's The Sandman (DC Comics), specifically in "The Season of Mists". He, along with Ramiel, become the keepers of Hell after Lucifer abandons his throne.
  • Dumat, the Dragon of Silence in the Dragon Age series of video games, is named after this angel. Within the series' backstory, he was the first of the Old Gods to become an archdemon, necessitating the creation of the Grey Wardens (the series' primary protagonists) to stop him, some 1,200 years before the series begins.
  • In the video game Fire Emblem Gaiden and its remake Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, Duma is the final boss of the story. He believes that humanity is weak and that hardship makes them strong. He is the patron deity of Rigel and is worshiped as the War Father, but becomes denounced as a Fell God by some of the characters because of his descent into madness. In his corruption, he takes the form of a large one-eyed green dragon.
  • Dumah appears in season thirteen of the television series Supernatural, portrayed by Erica Cerra, where she warns fellow angel Castiel that their kind is going extinct. She ends up as Lucifer's assistant when he takes over Heaven.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Definition partly taken from Gustav Davidson
  2. ↑ Müller, History of Jewish Mysticism
  3. ↑ Faiths Of Man: A Cyclopedia Of Religions. by James George Roche Forlong, 1904
  4. ↑ Gallagher, 1999, p. 56.
  5. ↑ Hoyland, 2001, p. 68.
  6. ↑ (edit.) Boustan, Ra'anan S. Reed, Annette Yoshiko. Heavenly Realms and Earthly Realities in Late Antique Religions. Cambridge University Press, 2004.
  7. ↑ "Supernatural 13x07: War of the Worlds". SerienJunkies. November 23, 2017.

Bibliography

  • Gallagher, William R. (1999), Sennacherib's campaign to Judah: new studies (Illustrated ed.), BRILL, ISBN 978-90-04-11537-8
  • Hoyland, Robert G. (2001), Arabia and the Arabs: from the Bronze Age to the coming of Islam (Illustrated, reprint ed.), Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-19535-5
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