Demonology
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Agrat Bat Mahlat (אגרת בת מחלת) also known as Igrat, is a demon and succubus in Jewish mythology and although female in appearance, is ranked as the king of the demons. This nocturnal demon travels with Lilith, Mahalath, and Naamah and commands Adad, the king of Edom, and Ashmodai. A story of her tells that she visited King David in a dream, conceived a son by him and named the cambion offspring Adad. Once, when asked his name, Adad replied, "Sh'miAd, Ad Sh'mi” (“My name is Adad, Adad is my name”). He came to be called Ashm'dai, and later Ashmodai.

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'. Mahlat may be from the word "mahalah" meaning sickness.

In ancient texts

In Zoharistic Kabbalah, she is a queen of the demons and one of four jinn of sacred prostitution, who mates with Samael. Her fellow succubi are Lilith, Naamah, and Mahalat. 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. She is also "the mistress of the sorceresses" who communicated magic secrets to Amemar, a Jewish sage.

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. The spiritual intervention of Hanina ben Dosa and Rabbi Abaye curbed her malevolent powers over humans.

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.

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