This is the first installment of my new Demonology Profiles. Each profile will include several entries with cited material from Wikipedia and other sources. Starting it out is a well-known demon named Asmodeus...
Asmodai (Asmodeus, Asmodaeus, pronounced Ashmed or Ashmedai in Hebrew, also Chammadai, Sydonai) is a semi-Biblical demon mostly known thanks to the deuterocanonical Book of Tobit; he is also mentioned in some Talmudic legends and in demonology, as he is a leading figure in the construction efforts of the Temple of Solomon. Amongst critical scholars, legends about Asmodai are thought to derive from Zoroastrianism, and incorporated into Judaism (and hence Christianity) during the Persian Achaemenids' rule over the Jews.
Spelling variations
Æshma (Old Persian), Æshma-dæva, Ashmadia, Ashmedai (Hebrew), Asmodaios (Greek), Asmoday, Asmodée (French), Asmodee, Asmodei, Ashmodai, Asmodeios, Asmodeo (Spanish, from a Latin declination), Asmodeius, Asmodeus (Latin, as he is known in most translations of the Book of Tobit), Asmodi, Chammaday, Chashmodai, Sidonay, Sydonai. (Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asmodai)
