.｡*♡ﾟ a/n: long post btw, but I do like digging and investigating around so that's to be expected.
Persian origins - Zoroastrianism
When we think of Asmodeus, we conjure an image of a bizarre, chimerical demon, as described in books; however, his true origin lies far from the Abrahamic tradition.
Zoroastrianism, his religion of origin, is an ancient tradition belonging to Persia, during the Avestan period (possibly as early as the second millennium BCE), but it was first recorded around the mid-sixth century BCE. Its founder, despite his existence being highly debated in academic circles, was named Zarathustra, coming from a family of Indo-Iranians. He preached a new religion that emphasized a single supreme creator god, Ahura Mazda, and a cosmic struggle between the forces of truth, order (Asha), and falsehood, chaos (Druj).
This represented a significant shift from the polytheistic and ritualistic Indo-Iranian traditions that preceded it. For centuries, these teachings remained relatively localized. Their first major rise to prominence occurred with the Achaemenid Empire, founded by Cyrus the Great around 550 BCE.
The Achaemenid kings had a custom of respecting the culture and religion of the peoples they dominated, thus being very tolerant of other beliefs while they themselves held their own beliefs. In this regard, the Persians stood out considerably, as other nations forced conquered peoples to convert.
Darius the Great was notable for explicitly invoking Ahura Mazda in his inscriptions, aligning the Zoroastrian concept of divinely sanctioned order (Asha) with the legitimacy and stability of his government. This made the faith the unofficial ideology of the first great world superpower, although it was not imposed upon the empire's diverse subjects.
The most definitive consolidation of Zoroastrianism occurred under the Sassanian Empire, which ruled from 224 to 651 CE. The Sassanids transformed Zoroastrianism into a fully organized state religion, central to their project of restoring a strong Persian identity. They systematically codified their oral traditions into scripture (the Avesta), established a powerful and orthodox priesthood, and built a network of fire temples, the main symbol of the religion, as it represented purification.
However, the religion met its abrupt end with the Muslim conquest of Persia in the mid-7th century CE, which led to its rapid decline due to forced conversion and migrations to other countries. Many Zoroastrians migrated to India and came to be called Parsis, and they were allowed to stay as long as they followed the laws of the country and learned the local language, respecting India's sovereignty and not imposing their customs on anyone, also resulting in a sharing of pantheon and stories. Currently, it is estimated that there are between 100,000 and 200,000 followers of Zoroastrianism in the world.
Zarathustra claimed to have visions that commanded him to preach a religious message, above all, with a focus on monotheism, whose central dogmas were: acts of kindness, with an emphasis on human ethics and morality.
As can be seen in the Yasna, verse 4:
I praise good thoughts, good words and good deeds, and everything that should be thought, said and done. I accept all good thoughts, good words and good deeds. I renounce all evil thoughts, evil words and evil deeds.
His cosmology is dualistic and the conflict between the forces of good and evil unfolds on a hierarchical scale of spiritual and material spheres. His main God was Ahura Mazda (also called Ohrmazd), meaning Wise Lord and the personification of goodness. According to Zarathustra, Ahura Mazda created the universe and the cosmic order that he maintains. He created the twin spirits: Spenta Mainyu, the benevolent spirit of light and life, and Angra Mainyu (also called Ahriman); the destructive one, deceit, darkness and death.
The struggle between these spirits constitutes the history of the world and is reflected in the choice between good and evil that humanity constantly faces. There are those who say that Spenta Mainyu is counted among the Amesha Spenta, angels created by Ahura Mazda to help him govern. Others say that Spenta Mainyu would be the "Holy Spirit" or the "Creative Emanation" of Ahura Mazda, representing the progressive, constructive and benevolent force that generates life and truth (Asha). It is the active energy through which the Creator interacts with the world, opposed to the destructive spirit, Angra Mainyu.
Amesha Spenta refers to any of the six "angelic" beings created by Ahura Mazda, the Wise Lord, who help govern creation. Three are male and three are female. Ministers of his power against the evil spirit Ahriman, they are represented gathered around Ahura Mazda on golden thrones, assisted by angels. They are the eternal givers of good. They are worshipped separately and are said to descend to serve on the paths of light. Each has a specific month, festival and flower, and presides over an element in the world order. In later Zoroastrianism, each one is opposed by a specific "archdemon."
Their sacred book is called the Avesta, divided between ancient texts, the main collection containing the Yasna (liturgical texts), Visparat (ritual texts), Yashts (hymns to divinities) and Vendidad (laws). There are also later books that aim to clarify the cosmology and symbology behind the religion, such as: Bundahishn, a Pahlavi-era text that narrates creation and cosmology, dealing with the battle between good and evil, and Denkard: A 9th-century encyclopedia compiling Zoroastrian beliefs and customs.
Persian Origins
Before "Asmodeus" there was Aeshma Daeva, described in the Gathas as an abstract concept of "wrath" or "violence," almost as an extension of the human psyche.
In Yasna 29.1-2 and 30.6, the Gathas condemn violence and mention the "daevas running to Aeshma" (that is, to the act of fury), but Aeshma is not yet named as a distinct evil being. However, in later texts, he ends up becoming a real entity that, over time, becomes affiliated with Angra Mainyu and all the other Daevas, acting as Angra Mainyu's commander.
Aeshma as an entity has his name derived from the verb ish: to desire. Although in the Gathas, there is a more specific meaning: to launch or put (something) into motion.
The word "Daeva" in his name is a title used to denote or refer to something malicious; in fact, Aeshma has the epithet meaning: "of the bloody mace." Others mentioned in the Yasht would be: "unfortunate," "malignant" and "possessor of falsehood."
[Note: it's worthwhile to point out that Daeva, to the Hindus, were good spirits instead of evil.]
In Yasht 19.97, Aeshma also has the epithet "he who had his body confiscated," the meaning of which is uncertain. If we make reference to Abrahamic religions here, it would be possible to draw a parallel with the story of Solomon, when Asmodeus tricks him and steals his place, switching "bodies" to resemble Solomon while the latter was sent away.
In later Zoroastrian texts, Aeshma is portrayed as a fierce, bloodthirsty warrior who wields a mace (Yasht 10:97). He often fights against benevolent divinities, especially Mithra (Yasht 10:97), the god of light and justice.
He is described in the Avesta in the following ways:
Yasna 10.8 - "...Aeshma, who distorts the intention and meaning of the sacrifice through brutality against cattle, violence in war and drunkenness."
This passage describes Aeshma as a metaphysical threat that distorts the purpose of sacrifice through violence.
Yasna 57.31-32 - "Three times a day, three times a night, he traverses the radiant Karshvare Hvaniratha, holding in his two hands his cutting and pointed weapon, which moves on its own towards the heads of the Daêvas; to strike the demon Angra Mainyu, to strike Aêshma, of deadly weapon, to strike the Daêvas of Mâzana, to strike all the Daêvas."
This is a vivid description of the cosmic combat between Sraosha (Obedience) and the demons, including Aeshma.
He also tries to corrupt and destroy the followers of Zoroaster. He is involved in many legendary battles and conflicts, such as the murder of Yima (Pahlavi Rivayat 56:13-15), the first king of humanity, and the attack on Vishtaspa (Dēnkard Book 8), Zoroaster's patron. He is also known for intoxicating men (Yasna 10:8).
They say he is the fiercest among his pantheon, being responsible for all acts of aggression and misfortunes, known primarily for his violence and brute force, yet distracting people from proper worship and interfering with the souls of the dead so they do not cross the Chinvat Bridge.
In the more recent Rivayat epistles, it is said that a Yasna ceremony that was not performed correctly is Aeshma's work, as he is the one who receives the offerings in that case.
In the hierarchy of Zoroastrian Daevas, Aeshma is opposed to Asha Vahishta, the Amesha Spenta who personifies Truth. Furthermore, he is very close to the Daeva Āz, the sin of Avarice, although it is said that he will eventually devour Aeshma at a certain moment, due to his unbridled greed.
With all this in mind, Aeshma was not a demon in the Judeo-Christian sense that we understand contemporarily, whose objective was to make people commit sins and lead them to a burning hell. Instead, there was a function to be performed: an agent of chaos allied with Angra Mainyu, thus personifying a destructive cosmic force, being the very principle of destruction and chaos.
Aeshma was the incarnation of an impersonal evil, a force of cosmic nature that needed to be contained by benevolent divinities like Sraosha, representative of obedience and spiritual discipline. In essence, he brought order and balance with his chaos.
Judeo-Christian Origins
The Jews had intense contact with Persian culture during the Exile in Babylon (6th century BCE). It was during this period that the figure of Asmodeus migrated into Jewish folklore, appearing first in texts like the Book of Tobit; his name was adapted to Ashmedai and his origin came from a human woman (Naamah) and a fallen angel, according to the Testament of Solomon, described as:
"I was born of the seed of an angel, the fruit of union with a daughter of man." Such a statement makes him, from this perspective, a nephilim.
There are other version regarding his birth, citing him as the son of King David and Agrat bat Mahalath, according to Kabbalah, curiously in this version he's Solomon half brother.
In the Book of Tobit (a deuterocanonical book of the Catholic Bible) this is how his introduction occurs:
Verse 13: And he continued: "You have the right to marry her. Listen, my brother: tonight I will speak to her father, asking him to give you his daughter in marriage. When we return from Rages, we will have the wedding. I assure you that Raguel will not be able to refuse his daughter to you, making her marry another. In that case, he would be guilty of death, according to the sentence of the Book of Moses, for he knows that you have more right to marry his daughter than any other man. Therefore, listen, my brother: let us speak tonight about the girl, and ask for her hand. When we return from Rages, we will receive her and take her to your house."
Verse 14: Tobias, however, replied: "Azarias, my brother, I have heard that she has been given in marriage to seven men, and that they all died in the bedroom, on their wedding night, when they were about to unite with her. I have heard that it was a demon (Ashmedai) that killed them all.
Verse 15: I am afraid. The demon does nothing to the girl, but kills anyone who approaches her. I am an only son. I am afraid of dying and bringing my father and mother to the grave, due to the grief of losing me. They have no other son to bury them."
In Jewish tradition, especially in the Talmud, Asmodeus already appears as a being endowed with almost ritualistic habits and routines – he possesses a "softer" character than his Persian counterpart.
His dwelling is described as a sealed well inside a mountain, from which he ascends daily to the firmament to study in the heavenly academy, later returning to Earth to continue his studies in an earthly academy. This continuous cycle of learning gives him extraordinary knowledge, including the ability to accurately predict human destiny, a characteristic that often explains his seemingly enigmatic actions.
It is also in this tradition that his relationship with King Solomon is consolidated, especially in the Testament of Solomon. In this narrative, Benaiah, a demon subordinate to Solomon, was responsible for going after Ashmedai to obtain the Shamir / Shemir insect that would enable the construction of Solomon's Temple more quietly, as constructions took place at night and were very noisy. People were complaining about this to Solomon.
Ashmedai, contrary to his counterpart in the Book of Tobit, is described in a much more human and empathetic way:
Ashmedai, for it was he, contemplated the seal of the well for a long time and, finding it intact, broke it, lifted the slab and was about to refresh himself with the contents of the well. When he perceived that it contained wine instead of the refreshing liquid he had stored, he withdrew in disgust, exclaiming:
"Wine is a deceiver, and every intoxicating drink confuses the senses. No! Its flattering sweetness shall not deceive me; I would rather suffer the tortures of unquenchable thirst than taste its exquisite flavor on my palate."
But, after a while, Ashmedai could no longer contain his desire for some liquid, even if only to moisten his lips, and said to himself: "If I only drink a sip of this cursed thing, it will have no power over me. I will not touch it more than enough to moisten my burning tongue." He drank at first very little, but it was very, very sweet, and seemed to give him a glow and freshness he had never experienced before.
'Just a little bit, just a little more,' he said, (not enough to defeat me). But that little bit was followed by a few more little bits, until he became completely intoxicated and fell asleep. This was perfectly satisfactory for the hidden young hero, who, descending from his hiding place, advanced cautiously until he reached the sleeping demon, upon whose neck he cast the chain with the name of God engraved on every link.
Captured by Benaiah, he was brought before Solomon. Described as follows:
One of Benaiah's men was ordered to take care of him, and like a tame lion, he was led out. Ashmedai's hidden courage manifested itself from time to time on the journey towards Jerusalem. One day, when passing by a giant palm tree, he asked to rest in its shade and, when granted, rubbed himself against it so violently that he uprooted it.
Next, he passed by a hut, the property of a poor widow, and was about to demolish it, when the woman, seeing the giant about to lean against the fragile walls of her house, convinced him to spare it.
One day, they came across a blind man who had become entangled in some bushes and couldn't find his way out. Ashmedai took the man by the hand and led him out of his complicated situation, onto the road. Likewise, they came across a drunk man, who was approaching a precipice from which he was about to fall, when his demonic majesty rushed to remove him from the path of danger and placed him on a safe road.
One day, they passed through a city where Benaiah heard a man calling a shoemaker: "Hey there, friend, can you make a pair of boots that will last seven years?". Ashmedai burst out laughing. They also came across a wedding party, accompanied by music. Ashmedai wept.
They saw a sorcerer sitting on a large stone, revealing the future destiny of a paternalistic clientele, and Ashmedai laughed again. Benaiah was curious to know the reasons for the demon's conduct, but he could not convince him to explain himself and said that he was reserving the explanation for King Solomon himself.
When they arrived in Jerusalem, Benaiah brought his captive triumphantly into the presence of Solomon, who was seated on his throne, surrounded by his counselors and elders. At Ashmedai's entrance, they rose from their magnificent divans.
Ashmedai, however, seized with great excitement and wrath, took a long staff and, tracing a circle of four yards around him, pointed at King Solomon and exclaimed: "Look at this man, a king of dust and ashes!".
When he dies, nothing will belong to him except a patch of earth the size I have just described; yet he is not content to have subjugated all his neighbors and all the kingdoms as his tributaries, but must try to wrest the scepter from the king of spirits. Otherwise, why have you brought me such contempt and consternation, O great king?
'Do not be angry with me,' replied Solomon, 'king of the (Shedim) spirits, and be assured that conquest is not the object of your captivity. It is a matter concerning the glory of my God, who is also your God. Tell me, then, where can I obtain the wonderful "Shamir", with which I need to hew the marble and stones for the House of God.'
'If that is the object,' replied Ashmedai, appeased and reassured by Solomon's conciliatory words, 'then I willingly submit to my harsh fate and will also tell you where and how to obtain the much sought-after "Shamir".' The "Shamir" belongs to the lord of all seas and waters, but he has entrusted it to the care of a mountain bird in the desert. That bird can be found in the desert, on a steep, barren hill, where it has dug a hole in a cliff and guards the "Shamir", which was created at twilight on the sixth day of creation, before the proclamation of the Sabbath.
Asmodeus is captured and forced to assist in the construction of the Temple of Jerusalem, revealing the secret of the Shamir, a creature capable of cutting stone without noise. However, after the temple's construction, his cunning stands out: by exploiting Solomon's pride, he induces him to remove the magical ring that guaranteed his power:
'I will reveal the hidden secrets to you, but you will need to free me from the chain that bound me when I was taken prisoner, and in return, you will have to give me the chain that adorns your majesty's neck and the ring with the name of God engraved on it, which is on the table before you.'
Solomon did as suggested, took off his chain and placed it around Ashmedai's neck, and placed the ring in his hand. No sooner had the lord of demons closed his hand on the ring that Solomon would give him than a thunderous roar shot through the hall, making the whole place vibrate.
In the same instant, Ashmedai seemed to have transformed into a terrible giant; his eyes looked like two great flaming torches, his arms extended to enormous proportions, as if they could reach the ends of the earth. Solomon trembled at the sight, his heart seemed to stop with terror, and he was about to cry for help; but his whole body became paralyzed, his tongue refused to perform its function, and amidst this, Ashmedai seized him by the arm and neck, flung him into the air, and he lost consciousness.
The men who had left the throne room at King Solomon's command waited impatiently for the call to return to their king and master, but remained in the antechamber longer than necessary, until finally they received the good news and the monarch summoned them to his presence. Upon entering the throne room, they found King Solomon seated as usual on his throne.
They expressed their surprise at the absence of Ashmedai, whom they had left in the room when they withdrew, but received no answer. The king, however, resumed the conversation on the subject he had been discussing when they left the room. Nevertheless, they noticed a marked change in the tone of the king's words, which lacked the gentleness and kindness for which the wise Solomon was so well known.
The episode reinforces one of Asmodeus's central traits: his manipulative intelligence and his ability to corrupt through vanity and illusion.
Solomon, in his exile, became a pariah and a commoner, without supporters. He struggled to find basic sustenance, but eventually managed to return to Jerusalem. His persistent claims of being the true King Solomon triggered an investigation, which led to the discovery that Asmodeus [disguised as King Solomon] demanded that Solomon's wives have sexual relations during their menstrual period, because he liked blood.
Furthermore, he demanded sexual relations from Bathsheba, Solomon's mother. Finally, he was deemed an impostor. After this discovery, Asmodeus abandoned Solomon's throne and the ring, while the true Solomon, son of David, returned as King for the second time.
With his absorption into Christian tradition, Asmodeus rises to a defined hierarchical position in Hell. Wierus described him as a very powerful king of hell, almost on an equal footing with Lucifer and Satan. He was associated with Lucifer mainly for his rebellious character. For other writers, Asmodeus is the same serpent that seduced Eve.
Other similar traditions also associate him with Lilith, the legendary rebellious wife of Adam before Eve, who, condemned to exile from Eden, united with this demon.
(Note: The only mention of Lilith as Adam's wife occurs in the satirical text: The Alphabet of Ben Sira. Before that, she was never part of Jewish tradition, having her origins in Mesopotamia. However, she was very quickly absorbed into demonology and became what we know today.)
The Medieval Qabahla says that from Asmodeus and his consort Lilith was born a great prince, ruler of eighty thousand destructive demons and called "the sword of King Asmodeus." His name was Alefpene'ash, and his face burns like a raging fire ('esh). He is also called Gurigur because he antagonizes and fights with the "Prince of Judah," tempting him during his 40-day fast in the desert.
Asmodeus is often listed among the Seven Princes of Demons, associated with the capital sin of lust, and this is because, in Kabbalah, his figure gains an even more symbolic dimension by being associated with the Qliphah of Golachab, corresponding to the Sephirah Geburah. In this context, he personifies negative aspects such as unbridled violence, fury, destruction and conflict, reflecting the most chaotic and uncontrolled manifestations of Martian energy, combined with lust and sensuality.
Johann Weyer also classifies him as: banker of the baccarat table in hell and supervisor of earthly gaming houses, and it is also said that while works like the Malleus Maleficarum reinforce his connection to lust, attributing to him particular influence over the month of November (or August depending on the writer) and, in some traditions, the sign of Aquarius.
Some mistranslations of him name cites him as Amducias / Amducious, another aspect of him, or as his "brother", mainly cited from V.K. Jehannum and S. Conolly UPGs, but I thought it was valid to tell.
In parallel, his image as a wise and learned spirit develops. Asmodeus is described as a master of the liberal arts, instructor of humanity in disciplines such as geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, music and mechanical arts, and all kinds of craftsmanship.
In certain traditions, he is associated with a kind of academy founded by the fallen angels Asa and Asael, being considered its most prominent teacher. Not surprisingly, he is sometimes called "The Great Philosopher", a caricature that synthesizes the knowledge of all ages in a distorted form.
His iconographic representation also becomes more elaborate over time. In Collin de Plancy's Dictionnaire Infernal, Asmodeus is depicted as a chimerical creature: three heads (of a man, bull and ram), a serpent's tail, rooster's feet and riding a winged lion with a dragon's neck; in more traditional grimoires, while he can adopt this image if he wishes, he is often described as a very handsome and seductive man. Rarely, he is described [by his followers] as a woman.
In the Ars Goetia, where he appears as King Asmoday, he commands seventy-two legions of spirits and presents himself as a powerful being, spewing fire and wielding a spear, often mounted on an infernal dragon. It is said that he only obeys Amaimon, who, sometimes, specifically in the context of the Goetia, may appear in his place during evocations and pass himself off as Asmodey to deceive the conjurer.
Asmodeus is also associated with alchemy, transmutation and the transformation of living beings. His connection to occult knowledge reinforces his image as an entity that moves between knowledge and corruption; chaos and order.
On a behavioral level, he is described as a spirit of discord, especially in the marital context. His main objective would be to sow conflict between husband and wife, using jealousy, desire, anger and revenge as instruments. Often deceptive, he adopts pseudonyms like "Sidonay" and manipulates individuals through intermediaries, often women, to lead them to moral ruin.
His association with gambling, fads and excesses reinforces his role as an agent of temptation and decadence, which is very curious, because in my Gnosis, he teaches how to deal with these things, how to learn to live with one's impulses and desires, without falling into temptation because of them.
These facts stem from his Jewish side, described again in the Testament of Solomon.
"Among mortals, I am called Asmodeus, and my business is to conspire against newlyweds, so that they do not get to know each other. And I separate them completely through many calamities; and I destroy the beauty of virgins and estrange their hearts. [...] I lead men into fits of madness and desire when they have their own wives, so that they abandon them and go night and day to others belonging to other men; with the result that they commit sins and fall into murderous acts."
In some traditions, his origin is linked to the Nephilim, which connects him to figures like Azazel and the Watcher angels. This association inserts him into a broader cosmology, where demons are seen not only as evil entities, but as products of a primordial transgression between the divine and the human.
The final evolution of his image occurs in modern European literature, especially with Le Diable Boiteux (The Lame Devil) by Alain-René Le Sage. In this work, Asmodeus assumes a more humanized and even satirical form: a witty demon who reveals the secrets and hypocrisies of society by lifting the roofs of houses. Here, he consolidates himself as a "demonic dandy," refined, ironic and a keen observer of human nature.
His most striking physical characteristic in this phase is the limp, symbolized by the use of crutches. This detail carries strong symbolic value: it represents the imperfection inherent in his fallen nature, echoing myths of defective divine figures like Hephaestus. The limp thus becomes an emblem of his condition, simultaneously powerful and flawed, seductive and corrupted.
In summary, Asmodeus transcends the simplistic definition of "demon of lust." He incorporates multiple archetypes and faces. His trajectory, which extends from Persian and Jewish traditions to European literature, reveals not only the evolution of a demonic figure, but also how different cultures reinterpret chaos, fury, anger, transforming them into something profoundly human, intellectually fascinating and symbolically rich.
I read once that, each of his three heads, represent a different mask he's wearing.
Islamic Origins
In Islamic culture, Asmodeus is known as a Jinn named Sakhr, the rebel, master of the seas, probably a reference to his destiny of being imprisoned inside a stone box, chained with iron and cast into the sea; in this facet of his, it is said that he hates the sea, oceans and rivers, because of his destiny.
In this context, he is an antagonist figure of the Prophet Sulaiman. Sometimes, he is identified with the Ifrit who offered to carry Solomon's Throne.
Together with his Jewish counterpart, the story of the construction of Solomon's Temple remains the same in essence, undergoing little change in its details. While Solomon would have given him his ring in the Jewish version, in the Islamic version, Sakhr would have obtained the ring of the Prophet Sulaiman from a woman named Jarada (also known as Kūna or al-Aminah), daughter of King Sidun (ʿUkūz bin Maruh/Mazuh or Nubara), whom Sulaiman would have married.
Also different from the other version, Sakhr impersonated the King for forty days, ensuring that his ring was far away by flying and casting it into the sea, where it was swallowed by a fish (a dolphin in some stories), which was later captured and brought to the Prophet Sulaiman, who thus recovered his kingdom.
Abd al-Razzaq Kāshānī comments on the same verse: "The satan who sat there [on the throne of sovereignty] and took his ring, represents the elemental earthly nature, ruler of the lower sea of matter, called 'Sakhr' ('rock') because of its inclination towards the lowest things and attachment to them, like a stone because of its density."
The fact is that in this version, Solomon is being punished for his explicit disobedience; in the Quran (38:34) it is said: "And certainly We tried Solomon with the loss of his kingdom for 40 days, the number of days in which idols were worshipped in his house, (and placed on his throne a (mere) body) a shaytan. (Then he repented) then he returned to his kingdom and obedience to his Lord and repented of his sin."
Solomon's ring signifies imperial command over the forces of nature, while Solomon's slip into lust and idolatry led to his defeat.
The supplementary materials usually included in the Stories of the Prophets (Qiṣaṣ al-Anbiyā) present various reasons for Solomon's punishment and the consequent temporary victory of Asmodeus; sometimes for acting unjustly in the face of a family dispute or for handing the ring over to a demon in exchange for knowledge, while most sources (such as Tabari, Umāra ibn Wathīma, Abu Ishaq al-Tha'labi, ibn Asakir, ibn al-Athir) invoke the idea that one of his wives committed idolatry and he would have asked for temples/statues to be built for her idols.
When Asmodeus put the ring on his finger, he transformed into Solomon's form and sat on his throne, ruling wickedly, while the true Solomon emerged from his bath and was not recognized by anyone in the palace, thus being cast out onto the streets to wander as a beggar. Finally, Solomon found work at a port, cleaning fish.
After 40 days, the evil ways of the false Solomon aroused suspicion and the royal minister Asaf recited some sacred verses in the presence of the demon king, who screamed in rage, unable to bear the recitation, and tore off the ring. The ring then fell into a river and was swallowed by a fish. The fish finally reached the table of the true Solomon, who put the ring back on and was immediately surrounded by loyal jinn who carried him to his throne, where he and his army of men, jinn, birds and beasts fought against Asmodeus and imprisoned him in a stone after his defeat.
Attar of Nishapur elucidates a similar allegory: one must behave like a triumphant 'Solomon' and chain the demons of the nafs or lower self, locking the demon prince in a 'rock', before the rūḥ (soul) can take the first steps towards the Divine.
Now, we move from a chaotic entity to a demon to a jinn. This is because when he arrives in this new culture, the idea of the "genie in the bottle" from the Islamic legend of the demon Asmodeus became popular. In a tale from One Thousand and One Nights, the "Tale of the City of Brass" refers to the fate of Asmodeus after his defeat against the Prophet. According to this story, travelers find the demon imprisoned in a stone in the middle of the desert. The story is as follows, according to Sir Richard Burton:
Then they came upon a column of black stone, like the chimney of a furnace, into which someone was sunk up to the armpits. He had two large wings and four arms; two of them were like the arms of the sons of Adam, and the other two like lion's paws, with iron claws. He was black, tall and of terrible aspect, with hair like horse's tails and eyes like glowing coals, vertically slit.
In the essay on the Arabic "Tale of the City of Brass", Andras Hamori based himself only on incomplete versions of the story, without mentioning the demon's name.
In the story of Sakhr and Buluqiya, a young Jewish prince in search of the last Prophet, it is said that Sakhr achieved immortality by drinking from the Fountain of Immortality. When Buluqiya arrives at an island during his search for Muhammad, he is greeted by two serpents as large as camels and palm trees, glorifying the name of God and Muhammad. They explain that they have the task of punishing the inhabitants of hell. Later, on a different island, he finds Asmodeus, the king of demons, who explains the seven layers (ṭabaqāt) and the punishing angels (Zabaniyah) who generate the serpents and scorpions of hell through self-copulation.
Described as follows according to the work: Qisas al-'Anbiya (Stories of the Prophets) by Abu Ishaq ath-Tha'labi:
"Buluqiya said to the king of the jinn, whose name was Sakhr: 'Sakhr, tell me about the creation of the jinn. How did they arise?' He replied: 'When Allah created Hell, He made seven gates and seven tongues. From these, He created two creatures: a creature in His heaven, which He called Jabalit (حيليت), and a creature on Earth, which He called Tamalit (تمليت). Jabalit was created in the form of a lion, while Tamalit had the form of a wolf. He made the lion male and the she-wolf female. He made the height of each of them equal to the distance of a journey of five hundred years. He made the wolf's tail similar to that of a scorpion, and the lion's tail similar to that of a serpent. He ordered both of them to shake themselves in the Fire, and from the wolf's tail fell a scorpion, and from the lion's tail, a serpent.
From them came all the serpents and scorpions of Hell. Then, He ordered them to marry, and The she-wolf was impregnated by the lion and gave birth to seven sons and seven daughters. God inspired them to give the sons in marriage to the daughters, as He had commanded Adam, and six of the sons obeyed, while one did not obey and did not marry. Then his father cursed him, and he is Iblis.
His name was al-Harith (الحارث) and his nickname was Abu Murrah (أبو مرة), and this is the beginning of the creation of the jinn, Buluqiya!'"
[Note: Shedim (a Jewish spirit) and Djin (Islamic spirit) share some similarities so this could also be the reason why Asmodeus is pretty much associated with the Djins.
In Deuteronomy 32:17, Shedim are presented as false gods or idols, not demons in the modern sense. In Psalm 106:37, they are associated with child sacrifice, a strong condemnation of Canaanite idolatry. Only in the Second Temple period (post-Babylonian exile) did Shedim evolve into evil demons, probably under Persian (daevas) and Greek influence. In the Talmud, Shedim are dangerous entities that live in dark places, cause harm, and can be summoned.
Jinn exist in pre-Quranic Islam as nature spirits, often associated with deserts, wells, and ruins. The Quran establishes them as a third rational creation: angels (light), humans (clay), jinn (fire). They have their own societies, religions, leaders, and jurisprudence, something the shedim do not possess.]
So, since @mr-crocodile (sorry for the tag) has prompted me to tell a shortened version over on Discord, I thought maybe I can try rewriting and translating the classic tale of Shelomo HaMelech (aka king Solomon) and Ashmedai (aka Asmodeus, but I'd ask you to forget most of what you think you know about him before reading). I'm going to use mostly what's written in the Babylonian Talmud, tractate of Gittin 68A-B, possibly along with details I remembered from other versions. Anyway, there goes (edit: under the read more, because it's kind of long):
Shelomo HaMelech needed to build the Temple from whole stones, without using iron to cut it. Which is kind of hard to do. So he asked the Sages of his time and they told him that Moshe Rabbenu used a special creature called the Shamir to carve the names of the Tribes of Israel into the gems used in the clothes of the High Priest, Kohen Gadol. Well then, asked Shelomo, how might I find this Shamir? Well, the sages didn't know, so they suggested he get a Shed and a Shidtin (like a Shed, but female. Something like a demon and a she demon) and force them to tell him. He did so, and they told Shelomo that they have no idea, they swear! But the king of the Shedim, Ashmedai, might have some idea! He lives on that one mountain, where he has a well of water covered by a huge stone that he moves, has a drink, then returns. And every day he flies to the heavens to study at Metivta Dirki‘a (the learning place of the heavens, roughly translated), then flies back to earth to study in Metivta De’Ar‘a, and goes back to his mountain to have a drink of fresh water.
So, Shelomo leaves the Shedim be and calls his special ops guy, his right hand man, the chief of his army: Bnayahu ben Yehoyada, one of the elite fighters of David HaMelech. He hands Bnayahu chains and a lock with G-d's name written on it, a bunch of wool and some wine. And armed with that, Bnayahu heads off to that one mountain.
In the mountain, Bnayahu does something kind of clever that was likely Shelomo's intention: he digs a pit downhill from Ashmedai's well and empties the water there, closing the whole with the wool; he then digs another pit uphill of Ashmedai's well and fills it with wine. Then he hides all traces of what he just did and goes hide in a tree. Ashmedai, upon returning, isn't actually that easily tricked. He knows it's wine, he can smell it, and so he quotes a few verses about how drinking wine is bad and refuses to drink. But then he becomes way too thirsty, gives in, drinks and falls asleep. Which is just the opportunity Bnayahu needs, as he heads down and immediately binds Ashmedai in the aforementioned chains. When Ashmedai wakes he immediately tries to break the chains. However, Bnayahu tells him: the name of your Lord is on you! Which Shedim can't erase. So he stops.
On the way back to Jerusalem, though, Ashmedai acts a bit weird. He scratches against a palm tree and makes it fall, then did the same to a house and was just about to do it to the hut of some widow. Bnayahu begged him not to, though, so he bent down and broke a bone. For some reason.
Next, they see a blind man straying from the route and Ashmedai guides him back to it. Then they see a drunk guy, to whom Ashmedai also helps. They saw a wedding celebration - and Ashmedai cried. They saw a guy asking the shoemaker for shoes that'll last seven years - and Ashmedai laughed. Then they saw a man conducting magic and Ashmedai laughed. What the hell is up with all that? Just wait, Bnayahu will ask Ashmedai about it later.
Next, Ashmedai is being ghosted by Shelomo for three days - you know, Shelomo, the guy who sent for him? Yeah. So Ashmedai asks, hey, why doesn't the king see me already? And he's told that oh, he drunk too much. So he puts two bricks on each other, and when Shelomo is told of that he tells his guards to supply the prisoner with more drink. But then Shelomo still doesn't see him, so Ashmedai asks what's up with it this time and is told he ate too much. So Ashmedai takes a brick off a brick, and Shelomo commands they bring him less food.
Anyway, three days have passed and Shelomo finally deigns to attend. Ashmedai throws a four cubits long (around six feet) reed, telling him: you'll have nothing more than these four cubits in the end, well now you conquered the whole world, that wasn't enough for you so you had to conquer me? So Shelomo tells him, oh, no, I only want the Shamir, I need it to build the Temple. Well, says Ashmedai, I don't have it. The Minister of the Sea does, and he only gives it to the Wild Cock (possibly hoopoe. Also, I know tumblr so I know where your mind will go, but "wild chicken" just doesn't work for me) because he trusts him to keep his word. Shelomo, incredulous, asks what the Wild Cock needs the Shamir for. Well, Ashmedai replies, he goes to mountains where no trees grow and uses the Shamir to split them and create fertile land where he can live. Al right then! So this is another quest for the special ops guy, the right hand man-
"Fine, I get it, I'll go." Says Bnayahu, and off he heads to the nest of the Wild Cock, along with a board of glass. You see, the Wild Cock has some chicks in his nest fpr whom he cares. So Bnayahu covers the nest with white glass. The Wild Cock, not knowing how to shatter it, heads off to the Minister of the Sea, borrows the Shamir to use it to split the glass- at which point Bnayahu makes an alarming sound, causing the Wild Cock to drop the Shamir and snatches it. Well, the Wild Cock cannot break his oath, so he- well. He commits suicide. This guy takes his oaths rather seriously. You'd think the Minister of the Sea will come back at some point, but no. Shelomo does get comeuppance for his pride in a bit, but not from the Minister of the Sea. Figures.
Anyway, Bnayahu is at the end of his spec ops missions for this story, so he stops by Ashmedai to ask what the deal of all the weird stuff he did earlier. By order, Ashmedai answers:
Why did he help the blind guy? Because they declared in the heavens he's perfectly righteous and whoever helps him will get a part in the world to come. What about the drunkard? Oh, well, it was declared in the heavens he's nearly completely evil and I helped him so he'll get all the reward he deserves in this world. So apparently Ashmedai isn't just a nice guy, maybe we should've figured that from the "demon" part.
Well, then why did he cry about the wedding? Ashmedai replies that the husband is to die in thirty days, and his wife will stay unable to marry for thirteen years because he has a little brother, abd such a case means she would require Yibum (marrying her late husband's brother) or Chalitzah, which still requires her brother in law to be an adult. Well, what about the guy with the shoes that'll last seven years? Yeah, he doesn't even have a week in this world. Fine, and the wizard? Well, that guy was using magic to find treasure in the other side of the world. And... Well... He literally had a kingly treasure right beneath his feet. Congrats on the epic fail and all that.
And then nobody talks to Ashmedai until the Temple is built. He's just... left there, bound with chains with G-d's name on them, doing nothing. And remember, this guy is the king of the Shedim/demons. I suppose Shelomo usurped him at this point. Fun stuff, because... You'll see.
So, after all of it is done, Shelomo comes to visit Ashmedai. And he's like, hey, it's said Shedim are one of the things G-d prides about alongside angels, in what way are you better than us? (Because he wasn't there for the palm tree incident.) So Ashmedai, kind of sick of all this, tells him: "free me from the chains and give me your ring and I'll show you." And, just to make it clear, they're alone.
So, well, Shelomo sees no issue with that (for some reason) and frees the King of Demons from his chains, giving him his ring. The the ring goes immediately into Ashmedai's throat and Shelomo is tossed 3200000 cubits away. Which is somewhere in the range of 1600 kilometers. Unrealistic yes, but we are talking about Shedim here so let's not nitpick things. Anyway, Ashmedai wears the form of Shelomo and becomes king in his place.
Now, it's important to note that this whole story is dotted with verses from two of Shelomo's famous books: Mishley (Proverbs) and Kohelet (Ecclesiastes). Remember the make and female Shedim from the start? They come from Kohelet 2, 8. Ashmedai not wanting to drink wine? He quotes Mishley 20, 1 (and also Hoshea 4, 11, but that's a bit too weird because it very much wasn't written yet). The broken bone incident? Ashmedai immediately quotes Mishley 25, 15 to explain he broke his bone because he was willing to listen to what he was asked. Other two quotes include the Aramaic translation of Vayikra (Leviticus) 11, 19 in relation to the Wild Cock, where he's referred to as "Negar Tura", possibly meaning "breaker of mountains" or something, and right before Ashmedai tosses Shelomo out from Bemidbar (Numbers) 24, 8: "E-l Motzi’am MiMitzrayim KeTo‘afot Re’em lo", which is a praise of G-d from Bil‘am IIRC that say G-d has something like the horns of a Re’em. The To‘afot part, which sounds similar to the Hebrew word for flight, is interpreted by Shelomo to refer to angels instead of horns, abd the Re’em part refers to Shedim. But I'm saying all that because now the verse quoted is from Kohelet 1, 12. Well, in addition to two others referring to Shelomo's reward for all his work being his deposal from the throne. But 1 12 is specifically relevant, because he says there "I, Kohelet, was King over Israel in Jerusalem". Which is part of the reason the Talmud even has this story: because "was" indicates he's not king anymore while writing this. Also, the whole foreign worship thing at the end of Shelomo's reign kind of sounded wrong to them.
Anyway, after some time of having this madman go through the streets claiming to be Shelomo, the Sages say, hey. You know, madmen don't hold to one specific delusion all the time, consistently (no, they weren't psychiatrists don't trust that it's accurate). So they go tell Bnayahu, hey, did the king call you lately as his special ops guy, right hand-
"You know what, no. It has been blissfully quiet lately!" Replies Bnayahu. Well, they all agree this is worrying, so they send messengers to the king's wives to ask them what's up, and if the king is, ahem, meeting them. Apparently the answer is yes! So the Sages ask them to check his feet. And so it is found out that not only the king sleeps with his wives with shoes on for some reason, he also sleeps with them when they have their periods - which, beyond being not very nice, is prohibited according to the Torah - and asked to sleep with his own mother. So something is up. Thus, Shelomo - the real one - is brought to the palace with the chains. The chains, you know? The ones with the name of G-d on them? But Ashmedai isn't going to get captured a second time, so he flies away. The end.
Well. Except for one thing: Shelomo remains thoroughly traumatized from the whole deal. He keeps sixty guards around his bed at night for fear of Ashmedai coming back, as is said in Shelomo's third book, Shir HaShirim (the Songs of Solomon) 3, 7-8: "there, see Shelomo's bed, there are sixty mighty men around it, of the mightiest of Israel. They all know the sword and are proficient warriors, and each keeps his sword my his side for nightly fears."
