Sariel
Encyclopedia
Sariel is one of the archangel
s mainly from Judaic
tradition. Other possible versions of his name are Suriel, Suriyel (in some Dead Sea Scrolls
translations), Esdreel, Sahariel, Juriel, Seriel, Sauriel, Surya
, Saraqael, Sarakiel, Jariel, Suruel, Surufel
and Sourial.
Suriel is sometimes identified with Ariel
, Metatron
, and Uriel
. In 1 Enoch, he is one of the four holy archangels who is "of eternity and trembling". In Kabbalistic
lore, he is one of seven angels of the earth. Origen
identified Suriel as one of seven angels who are primordial powers. In Gnosticism
, Suriel is invoked for his protective powers. He is commemorated in the calendar of the Coptic Orthodox Church on 27 Tubah.
Like Metatron, Suriel is a prince of presence and like Raphael, an angel of healing. He is also a benevolent angel of death (one of a few). Suriel was sent to retrieve the soul of Moses. It is said that Moses received all his knowledge from Suriel, (although Zazagel is credited also with giving Moses his knowledge).
, in the days of Jared
, to acquire wives and lead men astray. Sariel specifically taught men about the course of the moon. Knibbs translation of the names of the Book of Enoch says it is possibly “light of God” or “moon of God” however he is listed as Araziel. His name is also listed as Arazyal and Asaradel in some 1 Enoch translations. The name being a combination of sa'ar and 'God'. In the book of 2 Enoch he is usually listed as the fourth angel with the name of Samuil or Sariel.
The book of War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness
lists the name of Sariel (שריאל, officer of God, an alternate spelling of Sariel) along with Michael
, Raphael
, and Gabriel
as names to write upon the shields of soldiers in a tower during maneuvers (1QM 9,15). It is used on the shields of the third Tower (1QM 9,16).
The angel Suriyel is briefly mentioned in the Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan
as bearing Adam and Eve
from the top of a high mountain to the Cave of Treasures.
In the Ladder of Jacob
Sariel is dispatched by the Lord to Jacob
to explain to him the meaning of the dream about the ladder.
In the Talmud
he is said to have taught Rabbi Ishmael ben Elisha
hygiene. The name Juriel is described as "An angel of the divine face or presence." which is why Sariel might be considered a possible name for Metatron
.
Beta Israel
writings call him "Suriel the Trumpeter" and "Suriel, the Angel of Death".
The book of Liber Juratus by Honorius of Thebes
, has a number of translation which lists Saryell as being "the names of the angells of the .8. monthe that is sayde marquesnan" and Saryel as "the names of the angells of the .10. monthe (Tammuz) that is sayde thebeth be these". In a different translation Sariell is "The names of the angels of the eighth month, which is called marquesnan heshvan" and Sariel as "The names of the angels of the tenth month, which is called Tevet". The month of Heshvan marquesnan would make Sariels ruler Barfiell, or the month of Tevet
would make the ruler Anael.
In The Lesser Key of Solomon
it lists the dukes Asteliel and Gediel as commanding Sariel by night. The book A dictionary of angels by Gustav Davidson and The complete book of devils and demons by Leonard Ashley list Sariel as a Fallen Angel
.
The University of Michigan has a section devoted to Traditions of Magic in Late Antiquity, Protective Magic, Babylon
ian Demon Bowls. One clay bowl Seleucia-on-Tigris, 6th or 7th century lists Sariel twice:
-Christian
texts say Sariel is the angel of death attributed to the fifth angel Apollyon. Some Enoch translations for Sariel use Arazyal/Araziel/Asaradel which in its anglo translation sounds very similar to Azrael
. If Azrael is the same as Sariel he is one of the four Islamic angels in conjunction with Mikhail, Djibril
, and Israfil. The name Azrael
is listed in Muslim and Islamic theology as the angel of death "forever writing in a large book and forever erasing what he writes: what he writes is the birth of man, what he erases is the name of the man at death". We also see parallels in Rabbinical lore for Sammael, Falasha for Suriel, and Azrael in the Arabic.
to be the fifth archangel, set over spirits who sin in the spirit,change into all virtues, Before the identification of Sariel/Saraqael as the fifth archangel, however, the Book of Enoch
identifies Sariel as one of the fallen host's "chiefs of tens."
as one of the Fallen Angels pursued by Enoch. He is depicted as being quite tall and lanky, and wears a pink bodysuit under his armor. When faced as a full-fledged boss, he transforms into a bat creature before being defeated by Enoch and imprisoned.
In Resurrection Man issue #1 (September 2011) Suriel is sent to 'collect' the soul of the protagonist. In doing so he crashes a plane bound for Portland killing all on board. Mitch wakes up in the wreckage after being killed when sucked through the planes engines to find that he now has the power to turn into water. Suriel is shown talking on a cell phone to someone 'upstairs' noting that Mitch, the Resurrection man, has already gotten up and left.
Sariel is one of the final bosses in the game Highly Responsive to Prayers, the first game in the Touhou Project
series of games. He is, however, depicted as female.
Archangel
An archangel is an angel of high rank. Archangels are found in a number of religious traditions, including Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Michael and Gabriel are recognized as archangels in Judaism and by most Christians. Michael is the only archangel specifically named in the Protestant Bible...
s mainly from Judaic
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
tradition. Other possible versions of his name are Suriel, Suriyel (in some Dead Sea Scrolls
Dead Sea scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of 972 texts from the Hebrew Bible and extra-biblical documents found between 1947 and 1956 on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, from which they derive their name...
translations), Esdreel, Sahariel, Juriel, Seriel, Sauriel, Surya
Surya
Surya Suraya or Phra Athit is the chief solar deity in Hinduism, one of the Adityas, son of Kasyapa and one of his wives, Aditi; of Indra; or of Dyaus Pitar . The term Surya also refers to the Sun, in general. Surya has hair and arms of gold...
, Saraqael, Sarakiel, Jariel, Suruel, Surufel
and Sourial.
Suriel is sometimes identified with Ariel
Ariel (angel)
Ariel is an archangel found primarily in Jewish and Christian mysticism and Apocrypha. Generally presented as an authority over the Earth and its elements, Ariel has also been called an angel of healing, wrath & creation....
, Metatron
Metatron
Metatron or Mattatron is the name of an angel in Judaism and some branches of Christian mythology. There are no references to him in the Jewish Tanakh or Christian Scriptures...
, and Uriel
Uriel
Uriel is one of the archangels of post-Exilic Rabbinic tradition, and also of certain Christian traditions...
. In 1 Enoch, he is one of the four holy archangels who is "of eternity and trembling". In Kabbalistic
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
lore, he is one of seven angels of the earth. Origen
Origen
Origen , or Origen Adamantius, 184/5–253/4, was an early Christian Alexandrian scholar and theologian, and one of the most distinguished writers of the early Church. As early as the fourth century, his orthodoxy was suspect, in part because he believed in the pre-existence of souls...
identified Suriel as one of seven angels who are primordial powers. In Gnosticism
Gnosticism
Gnosticism is a scholarly term for a set of religious beliefs and spiritual practices common to early Christianity, Hellenistic Judaism, Greco-Roman mystery religions, Zoroastrianism , and Neoplatonism.A common characteristic of some of these groups was the teaching that the realisation of Gnosis...
, Suriel is invoked for his protective powers. He is commemorated in the calendar of the Coptic Orthodox Church on 27 Tubah.
Like Metatron, Suriel is a prince of presence and like Raphael, an angel of healing. He is also a benevolent angel of death (one of a few). Suriel was sent to retrieve the soul of Moses. It is said that Moses received all his knowledge from Suriel, (although Zazagel is credited also with giving Moses his knowledge).
History
According to the Book of Enoch, Sariel (same angel as archangel Saraqael(communicants of God) & Azrael (whom God helps)according to Al-Qur'an,angel of death,malaku I-mawati) was one of the leaders of angels who lusted after the daughters of men. They descended to the summit of Mount HermonMount Hermon
Mount Hermon is a mountain cluster in the Anti-Lebanon mountain range. Its summit straddles the border between Syria and Lebanon and, at 2,814 m above sea level, is the highest point in Syria. On the top there is “Hermon Hotel”, in the buffer zone between Syria and Israeli-occupied...
, in the days of Jared
Jared (ancestor of Noah)
Jared, or Jered, in Judeo-Christian religious belief was a fifth-generation descendant of Adam and Eve.- Tradition :...
, to acquire wives and lead men astray. Sariel specifically taught men about the course of the moon. Knibbs translation of the names of the Book of Enoch says it is possibly “light of God” or “moon of God” however he is listed as Araziel. His name is also listed as Arazyal and Asaradel in some 1 Enoch translations. The name being a combination of sa'ar and 'God'. In the book of 2 Enoch he is usually listed as the fourth angel with the name of Samuil or Sariel.
The book of War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness
War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness
The War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness is a manual for military organization and strategy that was discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls. It is also known by the names "War Rule", "Rule of War", and "War Scroll". The manuscript was among the scrolls from Qumran Cave 1 acquired by...
lists the name of Sariel (שריאל, officer of God, an alternate spelling of Sariel) along with Michael
Michael (archangel)
Michael , Micha'el or Mîkhā'ēl; , Mikhaḗl; or Míchaël; , Mīkhā'īl) is an archangel in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic teachings. Roman Catholics, Anglicans, and Lutherans refer to him as Saint Michael the Archangel and also simply as Saint Michael...
, Raphael
Raphael (archangel)
Raphael is an archangel of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, who in the Judeo-Christian tradition performs all manners of healing....
, and Gabriel
Gabriel
In Abrahamic religions, Gabriel is an Archangel who typically serves as a messenger to humans from God.He first appears in the Book of Daniel, delivering explanations of Daniel's visions. In the Gospel of Luke Gabriel foretells the births of both John the Baptist and of Jesus...
as names to write upon the shields of soldiers in a tower during maneuvers (1QM 9,15). It is used on the shields of the third Tower (1QM 9,16).
The angel Suriyel is briefly mentioned in the Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan
Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan
The Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan is a Christian pseudepigraphical work found in Ge'ez, translated from an Arabic original and thought to date from the 5th or 6th century AD....
as bearing Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve were, according to the Genesis creation narratives, the first human couple to inhabit Earth, created by YHWH, the God of the ancient Hebrews...
from the top of a high mountain to the Cave of Treasures.
- "… bring what he had brought, and give it to Adam. And they did so, one by one. 6 And God commanded Suriyel and Salathiel to bear up Adam and Eve, and bring them down from the top of the high mountain, and …" - Bible. O. T. Apocryphal books. English First Book of Adam and Eve.
In the Ladder of Jacob
Ladder of Jacob
The Ladder of Jacob is a pseudepigraphic writing of the Old Testament. It is usually considered to be part of the Apocalyptic literature. The text has been preserved only in Slavonic, and it is clearly a translation from a now lost Greek version...
Sariel is dispatched by the Lord to Jacob
Jacob
Jacob "heel" or "leg-puller"), also later known as Israel , as described in the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, the New Testament and the Qur'an was the third patriarch of the Hebrew people with whom God made a covenant, and ancestor of the tribes of Israel, which were named after his descendants.In the...
to explain to him the meaning of the dream about the ladder.
In the Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
he is said to have taught Rabbi Ishmael ben Elisha
Ishmael ben Elisha
Rabbi Ishmael or Ishmael ben Elisha was a Tanna of the 1st and 2nd centuries . A Tanna is a rabbinic sage whose views are recorded in the Mishnah.-Disposition:...
hygiene. The name Juriel is described as "An angel of the divine face or presence." which is why Sariel might be considered a possible name for Metatron
Metatron
Metatron or Mattatron is the name of an angel in Judaism and some branches of Christian mythology. There are no references to him in the Jewish Tanakh or Christian Scriptures...
.
Beta Israel
Beta Israel
Beta Israel Israel, Ge'ez: ቤተ እስራኤል - Bēta 'Isrā'ēl, modern Bēte 'Isrā'ēl, EAE: "Betä Ǝsraʾel", "Community of Israel" also known as Ethiopian Jews , are the names of Jewish communities which lived in the area of Aksumite and Ethiopian Empires , nowadays divided between Amhara and Tigray...
writings call him "Suriel the Trumpeter" and "Suriel, the Angel of Death".
The book of Liber Juratus by Honorius of Thebes
Honorius of Thebes
Honorius of Thebes, a possibly mythical character from the Middle Ages, is said to have authored The Sworn Book of Honorius, although the first printed manuscript of this work did not appear until 1629. Considerable mystery still exists about the identity of Honorius, both Pope Honorius I and Pope...
, has a number of translation which lists Saryell as being "the names of the angells of the .8. monthe that is sayde marquesnan" and Saryel as "the names of the angells of the .10. monthe (Tammuz) that is sayde thebeth be these". In a different translation Sariell is "The names of the angels of the eighth month, which is called marquesnan heshvan" and Sariel as "The names of the angels of the tenth month, which is called Tevet". The month of Heshvan marquesnan would make Sariels ruler Barfiell, or the month of Tevet
Tevet
Tebet is the fourth month of the civil year and the tenth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It follows Kislev and precedes Shevat. It is a winter month of 29 days...
would make the ruler Anael.
In The Lesser Key of Solomon
The Lesser Key of Solomon
The Lesser Key of Solomon or Clavicula Salomonis , is an anonymous 17th-century grimoire, and one of the most popular books of demonology...
it lists the dukes Asteliel and Gediel as commanding Sariel by night. The book A dictionary of angels by Gustav Davidson and The complete book of devils and demons by Leonard Ashley list Sariel as a Fallen Angel
Fallen angel
Fallen angel is a concept developed in Jewish mythology from interpretation of the Book of Enoch. The actual term fallen angel is not found in either the Hebrew Bible or the New Testament. Christians adopted the concept of fallen angels mainly based on their interpretations of the Book of...
.
The University of Michigan has a section devoted to Traditions of Magic in Late Antiquity, Protective Magic, Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
ian Demon Bowls. One clay bowl Seleucia-on-Tigris, 6th or 7th century lists Sariel twice:
- "I wrote all of the curses upon a new bowl of clay and I sent back the curses of those who cursed Negray daughter of Denday to their masters until they release and bless in the name of Sariel the angel and Barakiel the angel and in the name of Sariel and Barakiel you release from the curses of those who curse Negray daughter of Denday as a man is freed from the house of bondage and from the house of weapons amen amen selah"
As an angel of death
JudaicJudaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
-Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
texts say Sariel is the angel of death attributed to the fifth angel Apollyon. Some Enoch translations for Sariel use Arazyal/Araziel/Asaradel which in its anglo translation sounds very similar to Azrael
Azrael
Azrael is the name of the Archangel of Death in some extrabiblical traditions. He is also the angel of death in Islamic theology and Sikhism. It is an English form of the Arabic name ʿIzrāʾīl or Azra'eil , the name traditionally attributed to the angel of death in some sects of Islam and Sikhism,...
. If Azrael is the same as Sariel he is one of the four Islamic angels in conjunction with Mikhail, Djibril
Djibril
Djibril may refer to:* Gabriel in Islam* Djibril – The Devil Angel, a Japanese adult visual novel series* Djibril Cissé, French footballer* Lord Djibril, a fictional character in the anime Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny...
, and Israfil. The name Azrael
Azrael
Azrael is the name of the Archangel of Death in some extrabiblical traditions. He is also the angel of death in Islamic theology and Sikhism. It is an English form of the Arabic name ʿIzrāʾīl or Azra'eil , the name traditionally attributed to the angel of death in some sects of Islam and Sikhism,...
is listed in Muslim and Islamic theology as the angel of death "forever writing in a large book and forever erasing what he writes: what he writes is the birth of man, what he erases is the name of the man at death". We also see parallels in Rabbinical lore for Sammael, Falasha for Suriel, and Azrael in the Arabic.
As the archangel Saraqael
Sariel is identified as being the same angel as Saraqael, said in the Book of EnochBook of Enoch
The Book of Enoch is an ancient Jewish religious work, traditionally ascribed to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah. It is not part of the biblical canon as used by Jews, apart from Beta Israel...
to be the fifth archangel, set over spirits who sin in the spirit,change into all virtues, Before the identification of Sariel/Saraqael as the fifth archangel, however, the Book of Enoch
Book of Enoch
The Book of Enoch is an ancient Jewish religious work, traditionally ascribed to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah. It is not part of the biblical canon as used by Jews, apart from Beta Israel...
identifies Sariel as one of the fallen host's "chiefs of tens."
In Popular Culture
Sariel appeared in the 2011 video game El Shaddai: Ascension of the MetatronEl Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron
is an action video game for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game consoles. It is developed and published by Ignition Entertainment. The development is led by Takeyasu Sawaki, who was a character designer in Devil May Cry and Ōkami. The game was released on April 28, 2011 in Japan, on August...
as one of the Fallen Angels pursued by Enoch. He is depicted as being quite tall and lanky, and wears a pink bodysuit under his armor. When faced as a full-fledged boss, he transforms into a bat creature before being defeated by Enoch and imprisoned.
In Resurrection Man issue #1 (September 2011) Suriel is sent to 'collect' the soul of the protagonist. In doing so he crashes a plane bound for Portland killing all on board. Mitch wakes up in the wreckage after being killed when sucked through the planes engines to find that he now has the power to turn into water. Suriel is shown talking on a cell phone to someone 'upstairs' noting that Mitch, the Resurrection man, has already gotten up and left.
Sariel is one of the final bosses in the game Highly Responsive to Prayers, the first game in the Touhou Project
Touhou Project
The , also known as Toho Project or Project Shrine Maiden, is a Japanese dōjin game series focused on bullet hell shooters made by the one-man developer Team Shanghai Alice, whose sole member, known as ZUN, is responsible for all the graphics, music, and programming for the most part...
series of games. He is, however, depicted as female.
