Dumah, or Douma in Aramaic, is the Angel of Silence and Stillness in Death. Dumah was also once the tutelary angel of Egypt.
Overview[]
The Zohar speaks of him as having a flaming sword and "tens of thousands of eyes, one for each angel under his command", which he can use to see through the eyes of his angelic followers.
In the Babylonian legend of the descent of Istar into Hades, Dumah shows up as the guardian of the 14th gate. And according to hadiths mentioned in Al-Suyuti's al-Haba'ik fi akhbar al-mala'ik, Azrael hands over the souls of the deceased unbelievers to Dumah.
History[]
Background[]
Dumah was one of the angels of death serving under Azrael, the Archangel of Death. At some point he was appointed of being the prince of the death angels, second only to Azrael himself due to his commitment and efficiency in collecting certain souls of mortals that fell to natural causes or wars across the centuries.
Relieved of Duty[]
Many centuries later, Dumah became the patron angel of Egypt and would watch over the Egyptians while having a mutual pardon to cross the sovereign borders placed by the Egyptian gods. During his stays he struck up several friendships with the Egyptian gods as well though he did not partake in their affairs such as the warring conflicts between Horus and Set.
Dumah observed God's wrath being unleashed upon Egypt, particularly over Ramses' stubbornness to release the Hebrews from enslavement; he was unaware that the pharaoh's hardening of his heart was because of Mastema. This also in the process led to attacks upon the Egyptian gods themselves and was understandably stunned by this display of ruthless anger from the Almighty. Things, however, only took a turn for the worst when the final plague would be unleashed.
As the patron angel of Egypt, as well as the prince of the death angels, he was commanded by God to take the lives of the first born children of Egypt. To the shock of the Heavenly Host, he disregarded the command of God to exercise judgment over the Egyptian deities, having become attached to the Egyptian people as well as their worship. Dumah also viewed God's command to slaughter the firstborn as immoral, and convinced the angels under his command to rebel against the Heavens.
Fall from Grace[]
Dumah even went so far as to throw down his fiery sword to the ground as a declaration of his defiance towards God's actions. Upon seeing this, the forces of Heaven banished Dumah and his angels to Sheol so that the slaughter of the firstborn could proceed. It was later revealed that his banishment to Sheol was only after Abaddon took over Pluto's seat in Tartarus.
The fall from Heaven caused Dumah to fall into an eternal silence out of grief for his lost faith and trust in God. At some point, he encountered three angels of destruction which with time came to serve under. He and his fellow angels torment the Watchers every day in the week except on Sabbath. Angels in servitude to the fallen angel became Silent Angels, reflecting the depressive nature of the Angel of Silence. Eventually it is said that Dumah came to rule in Sheol as a "Chief of demons in Hell with 12,000 myriads of attendants, all charged with the punishment of the Sons of God."