Personifications of death: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Anthropomorphized depiction of life's end}}

'''Death, personified''' is an [[anthropomorphism|anthropomorphic]] figure or a [[fictional character]] who has existed in [[mythology]] and popular culture since the earliest days of storytelling. Because the reality of [[death]] has had a substantial influence on the human psyche and the development of [[civilization]] as a whole, the personification of Death as a living, sentient entity is a concept that has existed in all known societies since the beginnings of recorded history.

{{pp-move}}

[[File:CathedralOfTrier Skeleton.JPG|thumb|Statue of Death, personified as a [[human skeleton]] dressed in a [[shroud]] and clutching a [[scythe]], at the [[Cathedral of Trier]] in [[Trier]], [[Germany]]]]

'''Personifications of death''' are found in many religions and mythologies. In more modern stories, a character known as the [[Grim Reaper]] (usually depicted as a berobed skeleton wielding a [[scythe]]) causes the victim's [[death]] by coming to collect that person's [[soul]]. Other beliefs hold that the spectre of death is only a [[psychopomp]], a benevolent figure who serves to gently sever the last ties between the soul and the body, and to guide the deceased to the [[afterlife]], without having any control over when or how the victim dies. Death is most often [[personified]] in male form, although in certain cultures death is perceived as female (for instance, [[Marzanna]] in [[Slavic mythology]], or [[Santa Muerte]] in [[Mexico]]). Death is also portrayed as one of the [[Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse]]. Most claims of its appearance occur in states of [[Near-death experience|near-death]].<ref>''Online Nursing Continuing Education - RnCeus.com''. [https://www.rnceus.com/uncon/ungrim.html Apparitions of the Grim Reaper] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231012032347/https://www.rnceus.com/uncon/ungrim.html |date=12 October 2023 }}. Retrieved on 11 Oct. 2023</ref>

==By region==

[[Image:holbein-death.png|right|From The Dance of Death by Hans Holbein]]

{{refimprovesect|date=October 2023}}

===Americas===

====Spanish Latin America====

As is the case in many [[Romance languages]] (including French, Portuguese, Italian, and Romanian), the Spanish word for death, ''muerte,'' is (like Latin ''mors''/''mortis'' whence it derives) a [[Grammatical gender in Spanish|feminine noun]]. As such, it is common in Spanish-speaking cultures to personify death as a female figure. A common term for the personification of death across Latin America is ''"la Parca"'' from one of the three Roman [[Parcae]], a figure similar to the Anglophone Grim Reaper, though usually depicted as female and without a scythe.{{CSS image crop|Image=Codex Borgia page 56.jpg|bSize=440|cWidth=220|cHeight=300|oTop=30|oLeft=45|Description=Mictlantecutli in the [[Codex Borgia]]|Location=left}}In [[Aztec mythology]], [[Mictēcacihuātl|Mictecacihuatl]] is the "[[Queen regnant|Queen]] of [[Mictlan]]" (the Aztec [[underworld]]), ruling over the [[afterlife]] with her husband [[Mictlantecuhtli]]. Other epithets for her include "Lady of the Dead," as her role includes keeping watch over the bones of the dead. Mictecacihuatl was represented with a fleshless body and with jaw agape to swallow the stars during the day. She presided over the ancient festivals of the dead, which evolved from Aztec traditions into the modern [[Day of the Dead]] after synthesis with Spanish cultural traditions.{{Citation needed|date=December 2019}} Mictlāntēcutli, is the Aztec god of the dead and the king of [[Mictlan]], depicted as a skeleton or a person wearing a toothy skull.<ref name="Miller2">Miller & Taube 1993, 2003, p.113.</ref> He is one of the principal gods of the Aztecs and is the most prominent of several gods and goddesses of death and the underworld. His headdress was shown decorated with owl feathers and paper banners and he wore a necklace of human eyeballs,<ref name="Miller2"/> while his [[earspool]]s were made from human bones.<ref name="Fernandez">Fernández 1992, 1996, p.142.</ref> He was not the only Aztec god to be depicted in this fashion, as numerous other deities had skulls for heads or else wore clothing or decorations that incorporated bones and skulls. In the Aztec world, skeletal imagery was a symbol of fertility, health and abundance, alluding to the close symbolic links between life and death.<ref>Smith 1996, 2003, p.206.</ref>

There was also the [[goddess]] of [[suicide]], [[Ixtab]]. She was a minor goddess in the scale of [[Maya mythology]]. She was also known as The Hangwoman as she came to help along those who had killed themselves.[[File:Posada2.Catrina.jpeg|thumbnail|[[La Calavera Catrina]], one of [[José Guadalupe Posada]]'s ''[[La Calavera Catrina|Catrina]]'' [[engraving]]s (1910–1913)]]

In modern-day, European-based folklore, Death is also known as the '''Grim Reaper'''. In the [[Septuagint]] version of the [[Bible]], Death is portrayed in the book of [[Tobit]] (considered [[apocryphal]] by [[Protestants]]) as [[Azrael]], the angel of death. [[Father Time]] has sometimes said to be Death

[[Santa Muerte|Our Lady of the Holy Death]] (Santa Muerte) is a female [[deity]] or [[folk saint]] of Mexican folk religion, whose popularity has been growing in [[Mexico]] and the [[United States]] in recent years. Since the [[pre-Columbian era]], Mexican culture has maintained a certain reverence towards death, as seen in the widespread commemoration of the Day of the Dead. [[La Calavera Catrina]], a character symbolizing death, is also an icon of the Mexican [[Day of the Dead]].

==Mythological portrayals of Death==

''Main article: [[death deity]]''

[[San La Muerte]] (Saint Death) is a skeletal folk saint venerated in [[Paraguay]], northeast [[Argentina]]. As the result of internal migration in Argentina since the 1960s, the veneration of San La Muerte has been extended to [[Greater Buenos Aires]] and the national prison system as well. Saint Death is depicted as a male skeleton figure usually holding a [[scythe]]. Although the [[Catholic Church]] in Mexico has attacked the devotion of Saint Death as a tradition that mixes paganism with Christianity and is contrary to the Christian belief of Christ defeating death, many devotees consider the veneration of San La Muerte as being part of their [[Catholic faith]]. The rituals connected and powers ascribed to San La Muerte are very similar to those of Santa Muerte; the resemblance between their names, however, is coincidental.

Several mythologies had [[god]]s who embodied Death or aspects of Death:

In [[Guatemala]], [[San Pascualito]] is a skeletal folk saint venerated as "King of the Graveyard." He is depicted as a skeletal figure with a scythe, sometimes wearing a cape and crown. He is associated with death and the curing of diseases.

*[[Thanatos]] (Greek)

*[[Mors]] (Roman)

*[[Anubis]] (Egyptian)

*[[Hel (goddess)|Hel]] (Norse)

*[[Yama]] (Hinduism)

*Yomotsukami (Shinto)

*[[Izanaminokami]] (Shinto)

*[[Sielulintu]] ([[Finnish paganism]])

*[[Ankou]]

In [[Haitian Vodou]], the [[Gede (Haitian Vodou)|Gede]] are a family of spirits that embody death and fertility. The most well-known of these spirits is [[Baron Samedi]].

A [[psychopomp]] is a spirit or deity whose task is to conduct the souls of the recently dead into the afterlife.

====South America====

== Angels of death ==

In the African-South American religion [[Umbanda]] originated at the start of the XX century in Brazil, the [[orixá]] [[Omolu]] personifies sickness and death as well as healing. The image of the death is also associated with [[Eshu|Exu]], lord of the crossroads, who rules cemeteries and the hour of midnight.

In the [[Bible]], death is viewed under form of an [[angel]] sent from God, a being deprived of all voluntary power.

===Asia===

The "angel of the Lord" smites 185,000 men in the Assyrian camp (II Kings xix. 35). "The destroyer" kills the first-born of the Egyptians (Ex. xii. 23), and the "destroying angel" ("mal'ak ha-mash&#7717;it") rages among the people in Jerusalem (II Sam. xxiv. 15). In I Chronicle xxi. 15 the "angel of the Lord" is seen by [[King David]] standing "between the earth and the [[heaven]], having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over [[Jerusalem]]."

====East Asia====

[[File:Ten Kings of Hell Enra (Nara National Museum).jpg|left|thumb|A depiction of [[Yanluo]], one of the [[Ten Kings of Hell]].|370x370px]]

{{See also|Life replacement narratives}}

[[Yama (East Asia)|Yama]] was introduced to [[Chinese mythology]] through [[Buddhist mythology|Buddhism]]. In China, he is known as [[Yanluo Wang]] ({{lang-zh|s=阎罗王|t=閻羅王|first=t|p=Yánluó Wáng}}) or Yan Wang ({{lang-zh|s=阎王|t=閻王|first=t|p=Yán Wáng}}), ruling the ten gods of the [[underworld]] [[Diyu]]. He is normally depicted wearing a Chinese judge's cap and [[hanfu|traditional Chinese robes]] and appears on most forms of [[hell money]] offered in [[Chinese ancestral veneration|ancestor worship]]. From China, Yama spread to [[Japanese mythology|Japan]] as the Great King Enma ({{lang|ja|{{linktext|閻魔|大|王}}}}, ''Enma-Dai-Ō''), ruler of Jigoku ({{lang|ja|{{linktext|地獄}}}}); [[Korean mythology|Korea]] as the Great King Yeomra ({{lang|ko|염라대왕}}), ruler of Jiok ({{lang|ko|지옥}}); and [[Vietnamese mythology|Vietnam]] as ''{{lang|vi|Diêm La Vương}}'', ruler of ''{{lang|vi|Địa Ngục}}'' or ''{{lang|vi|Âm Phủ}}''.[[File:Li Song-Skeleton Fantasy Show.jpg|thumb|''Skeleton Fantasy Show'' by [[Li Song (painter)|Li Song]] (1190–1264)|246x246px]]{{anchor|Korea}}Separately, in [[Korean mythology]], death's principal figure is the "Netherworld Emissary" Jeoseungsaja ({{lang|ko|저승사자}}, shortened to Saja (사자)). He is depicted as a stern and ruthless bureaucrat in Yeomna's service. A [[psychopomp]], he escorts all{{snd}}good or evil{{snd}}from the land of the living to the netherworld when the time comes.<ref name="test">{{cite web |url=http://210.204.213.131/minsok/dic_index.jsp?P_MENU=04&DIC_ID=2506&ref=T2&s_idx=4&P_INDEX=0&cur_page=1 |title=The Korean National Encyclopedia of Ethnic Practices (Page in Korean) |publisher=210.204.213.131 |access-date=2013-11-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610213556/http://210.204.213.131/minsok/dic_index.jsp?P_MENU=04&DIC_ID=2506&ref=T2&s_idx=4&P_INDEX=0&cur_page=1 |archive-date=10 June 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> One of the representative names is Ganglim (강림), the Saja who guides the soul to the entrance of the underworld. According to legend, he always carries Jeokpaeji (적패지), the list with the names of the dead written on a red cloth. When he calls the name of Jeokpaeji three times, the soul leaves the body and follows him inevitably.

The biblical [[Book of Job]] (xxxiii. 22) uses the general term "destroyer" ("memitim"), which tradition has identified with "destroying angels" ("mal'ake Kabbalah") and Prov. xvi. 14 uses the term the "angels of death" ("mal'ake ha-mawet").

The ''[[Kojiki]]'' relates that the [[Japanese mythology|Japanese]] goddess [[Izanami-no-Mikoto|Izanami]] was burnt to death giving birth to the fire god [[Kagu-tsuchi|Hinokagutsuchi]]. She then entered a realm of perpetual night called [[Yomi|Yomi-no-Kuni]]. Her husband [[Izanagi]] pursued her there but discovered his wife was no longer as beautiful as before. After an argument, she promised she would take a thousand lives every day, becoming a goddess of death, as well as giving birth to the gods, [[Raijin]] and [[Fūjin]], while dead. There are also death gods called [[shinigami]] (死神), which are closer to the Western tradition of the Grim Reaper; while common in modern Japanese arts and fiction, they were essentially absent in traditional mythology.

=== Angel of death in Judaism ===

====India====

The [[Rabbi]]s found the angel of death mentioned in [[Psalms]] lxxxix. 45 (A. V. 48), where the Targum translates: "There is no man who lives and, seeing the angel of death, can deliver his soul from his hand". Eccl. viii. 4 is thus explained in [[Midrash]] Rabbah to the passage: "One may not escape the angel of death, nor say to him, 'Wait until I put my affairs in order,' or 'There is my son, my slave: take him in my stead.'"

{{unreferencedsect|date=November 2024}}

[[File:Yama's Court and Hell.jpg|thumb|left|[[Yama (Hinduism)|Yama]], the Hindu lord of death, presiding over his court in hell]]

The [[Sanskrit language|Sanskrit]] word for death is ''mrityu'' (cognate with Latin ''mors'' and Lithuanian ''mirtis''), which is often personified in [[Dharmic religions]].

In [[Hinduism|Hindu]] scriptures, the lord of death is called [[Yama (Hinduism)|King Yama]] ({{lang|sk|यम राज}}, ''Yama Rāja''). He is also known as the King of [[Dharma|Karmic Justice]] (''Dharmaraja'') as one's [[karma]] at death was considered to lead to a just [[reincarnation|rebirth]]. Yama rides a black [[Water Buffalo|buffalo]] and carries a rope lasso to lead the [[soul]] back to his home, called [[Naraka (Hinduism)|Naraka]], pathalloka, or Yamaloka. There are many forms of reapers, although some say there is only one who disguises himself as a small child. His agents, the [[Yamaduta]]s, carry souls back to Yamalok. There, all the accounts of a person's good and bad deeds are stored and maintained by [[Chitragupta]]. The balance of these deeds allows Yama to decide where the soul should reside in its next life, following the theory of [[reincarnation]]. Yama is also mentioned in the [[Mahabharata]] as a great philosopher and devotee of the Supreme [[Brahman]].

Where the angel of death appears there is no remedy ([[Talmud]], Ned. 49a; Hul. 7b). If one who has sinned has confessed his fault, the angel of death may not touch him ([[Midrash]] Tanhuma, ed. Buber, 139). God protects from the angel of death ([[Midrash]] Genesis Rabbah lxviii.).

====Western Asia====

By acts of benevolence the anger of the angel of death is overcome; when one fails to perform such acts the angel of death will make his appearance (Derek Ere&#7827; Zu&#7789;a, viii.). The angel of death receives his order from God (Ber. 62b). As soon as he has received permission to destroy, however, he makes no distinction between good and bad (B. &#7730;. 60a). In the city of Luz the angel of death has no power, and when the aged inhabitants are ready to die they go outside the city (So&#7789;ah 46b; compare Sanh. 97a). A legend to the same effect existed in Ireland in the Middle Ages ("Jew. Quart. Rev." vi. 336).

{{Main|Mot (god)}}

The [[Canaanites]] of the 12th- and 13th-century BC [[Levant]] personified death as the god Mot (<small>{{abbr|lit.|literally}}</small>&nbsp;"Death"). He was considered a son of the [[king of the gods]], [[El (god)|El]]. His contest with the [[storm god]] [[Baʿal]] forms part of the [[Baʿal Cycle|Ba'al Cycle]] from the [[Ugaritic texts]]. The [[Phoenician religion|Phoenicians]] also worshipped death under the name Mot and a version of Mot later became Maweth, the devil or angel of death in Judaism.<ref name="Baal and Mot in the Ugaritic Texts">{{cite journal|last1=Cassuto|first1=U.|title=Baal and Mot in the Ugaritic Texts|journal=Israel Exploration Journal|date=1962|volume=12|issue=2|pages=81–83|jstor=27924890}}</ref><ref>See, e.g., {{bibleref|Hab.|2:5|HE}} & {{bibleref|Job|18:13|HE}}.</ref>

==== Form and functions ====

===Europe===

[[Image:Deathgrave.JPG|thumb|240px|right|''La mort du fossoyeur'' by [[Carlos Schwabe]] is a visual compendium of [[symbolism (arts)|Symbolist]] motifs.]]

====Baltic====

[[File:Le Mire et Oudry - La Fontaine, fable 'La mort et le mourant' (illustration).jpg|thumb|A European depiction of Death as a skeleton wielding a [[scythe]]]]

[[File:Rozentals_Nave.jpg|thumb|left|"Death" (''Nāve''; 1897) by [[Janis Rozentāls]]]]

[[Latvian people|Latvians]] named Death [[Veļu māte]], but for [[Lithuanian people|Lithuanians]] it was [[Giltinė]], deriving from the word ''gelti'' ("to sting"). Giltinė was viewed as an old, ugly woman with a long blue nose and a deadly venomous tongue. The legend tells that Giltinė was young, pretty, and communicative until she was trapped in a coffin for seven years. Her sister was the goddess of life and destiny, [[Laima]], symbolizing the relationship between beginning and end.

Like the Scandinavians, Lithuanians and Latvians later began using Grim Reaper imagery for death.

The angel of death was created by God on the first day (Tan. on Gen. xxxix. 1). His dwelling is in heaven, whence he reaches earth in eight flights, whereas pestilence reaches it in one (Ber. 4b). He has twelve wings (Pir&#7731;e R. El. xiii). "Over all people have I surrendered thee the power," said God to the angel of death, "only not over this one which has received freedom from death through the Law" (Tan. to Ex. xxxi. 18; ed. Stettin, p. 315). It is said of the angel of death that he is full of eyes. In the hour of death he stands at the head of the departing one with a drawn sword, to which clings a drop of gall. As soon as the dying man sees the angel, he is seized with a convulsion and opens his mouth, whereupon the angel throws the drop into it. This drop causes his death; he turns putrid, and his face becomes yellow ('Ab. Zarah 20b; in detail, Jellinck, "B. H." i. 150; on putrefaction see also Pesi&#7731;. 54b; for the eyes compare Ezek. i. 18 and Rev. iv. 6). The expression "to taste of death" originated in the idea that death was caused by a drop of gall ("Jew. Quart. Rev." vi. 327).

====Celtic====

The soul escapes through the mouth, or, as is stated in another place, through the throat; therefore the angel of death stands at the head of the patient (Jellinek, l.c. ii. 94, Midr.Teh. to Ps. xi.). When the soul forsakes the body its voice goes from one end of the world to the other, but is not heard (Gen. R. vi. 7; Ex. R. v. 9; Pir&#7731;e R. El. xxxiv.). The drawn sword of the angel of death, mentioned by the Chronicler (I. Chron. xxi. 15; comp. Job xv. 22; Enoch lxii. 11), indicates that the angel of death was figured as a warrior who kills off the children of men. "Man, on the day of his death, falls down before the angel of death like a beast before the slaughterer" (Grünhut, "Li&#7731;&#7731;u&#7789;im," v. 102a). R. Samuel's father (c. 200) said: "The angel of death said to me, 'Only for the sake of the honor of mankind do I not tear off their necks as is done to slaughtered beasts'" ('Ab. Zarah 20b). In later representations the knife sometimes replaces the sword, and reference is also made to the cord of the angel of death, which indicates death by throttling. Moses says to God: "I fear the cord of the angel of death" (Grünhut, l.c. v. 103a et seq.). Of the four Jewish methods of execution three are named in connection with the angel of death: burning (by pouring hot lead = the drop of gall), slaughtering (by beheading), and throttling. The angel of death administers the particular punishment which God has ordained for the commission of sin.

[[Image:Banshee.jpg|thumbnail|''[[Bunworth Banshee]]'', "Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland", by Thomas Crofton Croker, 1825]]

In [[Bretons|Breton]] folklore, a spectral figure called the [[Ankou]] (''or Angau'' in [[Welsh language|Welsh]]) portends death. Usually, the Ankou is the spirit of the last person that died within the community and appears as a tall, haggard figure with a wide hat and long white hair or a skeleton with a revolving head. The Ankou drives a deathly wagon or cart with a creaking axle. The cart or wagon is piled high with corpses and a stop at a cabin means instant death for those inside.<ref>Anatole Le Braz : Légende de la Mort</ref>

Irish mythology features a similar creature known as a [[dullahan]], whose head would be tucked under their arm (dullahans were not one, but an entire species). The head was said to have large eyes and a smile that could reach the head's ears. The dullahan would ride a black horse or a carriage pulled by black horses, and stop at the house of someone about to die, and call their name, and immediately the person would die. The dullahan did not like being watched, and it was believed that if a dullahan knew someone was watching them, they would lash that person's eyes with their whip, which was made from a spine; or they would toss a basin of blood on the person, which was a sign that the person was next to die.

A peculiar mantle ("idra"-according to Levy, "Neuhebr. Wörterb." i. 32, a sword) belongs to the equipment of the angel of death (Eccl. R. iv. 7). The angel of death takes on the particular form which will best serve his purpose; e.g., he appears to a scholar in the form of a beggar imploring pity (M. &#7730;. 28a). "When pestilence rages in the town, walk not in the middle of the street, because the angel of death [i.e., pestilence] strides there; if peace reigns in the town, walk not on the edges of the road. When pestilence rages in the town, go not alone to the synagogue, because there the angel of death stores his tools. If the dogs howl, the angel of death has entered the city; if they make sport, the prophet Elijah has come" (B. &#7730;. 60b). The "destroyer" ("sa&#7789;an ha-mash&#7717;it") in the daily prayer is the angel of death (Ber. 16b). Midr. Ma'ase Torah (compare Jellinek, "B. H." ii. 98) says: "There are six angels of death: Gabriel over kings; &#7730;ap&#7827;iel over youths; Mashbir over animals; Mash&#7717;it over children; Af and &#7716;emah over man and beast."

Gaelic lore also involves a female spirit known as [[Banshee]] (Modern Irish Gaelic: ''bean sí'' pron. banshee, literally ''fairy woman''), who heralds the death of a person by shrieking or keening. The banshee is often described as wearing red or green, usually with long, disheveled hair. She can appear in a variety of forms, typically that of an ugly, frightful hag, but in some stories she chooses to appear young and beautiful. Some tales recount that the creature was actually a [[ghost]], often of a specific murdered woman or a mother who died in childbirth. When several banshees appeared at once, it was said to indicate the death of someone great or holy. In Ireland and parts of Scotland, a traditional part of mourning is the keening woman (bean chaointe), who wails a lament – in [[Irish language|Irish]]: Caoineadh, caoin meaning "to weep, to wail."

==== Identical with Antichrist ====

In Scottish folklore there was a belief that a black, dark green or white dog known as a [[Cù Sìth]] took dying souls to the afterlife. Comparable figures exist in Irish and [[Cŵn Annwn|Welsh]] stories.

When the [[Messiah]] comes all the dead will arise, and there will be an end to death; for the angel of death himself will be destroyed by the Messiah (Pesi&#7731;. R., ed. Friedmann, p. 161b). Satan, as the angel of death, is identified here with [[Antichrist]]. "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death" (I Cor. xv. 26; compare Heb. ii. 14). The same idea seems to be expressed in the Book of Jubilees xxiii. 29: "And they shall fulfil all their days in peace and joy, and shall live on, since there will be no Satan and no evil to destroy them."

In Welsh Folklore, [[Gwyn ap Nudd]] is the escort of the grave, the personification of Death and Winter who leads the Wild Hunt to collect wayward souls and escort them to the Otherworld, sometimes it is [[Melwas|Maleagant]], [[Arawn]] or [[Afallach]] in a similar position.

The angel of death, who is identified with [[Satan]], immediately after his creation had a dispute with God as to the light of the Messiah (Pesi&#7731;. R. 161b). When Eve touched the tree of knowledge, she perceived the angel of death, and thought: "Now I shall die, and God will create another wife for Adam" (Pir&#7731;e R. El. xiii., end; compare Targum Yer. to Gen. iii. 6, and Yal&#7731;. i. § 25). Adam also had a conversation with the angel of death (Böklen, "Die Verwandtschaft der Jüdisch-Christlichen mit der Parsischen Eschatologie," p. 12). The angel of death sits before the face of the dead (Jellinek, l.c. ii. 94). While Abraham was mourning for Sarah the angel appeared to him, which explains why "Abraham stood up from before his dead" (Gen. xxiii. 3; Gen. R. lviii. 5, misunderstood by the commentators). Samuel told Sarah that Abraham had sacrificed Isaac in spite of his wailing, and Sarah died of horror and grief (Pir&#7731;e R. El. xxxii.). It was Moses who most often had dealings with the angel. At the rebellion of Korah, Moses saw him (Num. R. v. 7; Bacher, l.c. iii. 333; compare Sanh. 82a). It was the angel of death in the form of pestilence which snatched away 15,000 every year during the wandering in the wilderness (ib. 70). When Moses reached heaven, the angel told him something (Jellinek, l.c. i. 61).

====Hellenic====

When the angel of death came to Moses and said, "Give me thy soul," Moses called to him: "Where I sit thou hast no right to stand." And the angel retired ashamed, and reported the occurrence to God. Again, God commanded him to bring the soul of Moses. The angel went, and, not finding him, inquired of the sea, of the mountains, and of the valleys; but they knew nothing of him (Sifre, Deut. 305). Really, Moses did not die through the angel of death, but through God's kiss ("bi-neshi&#7731;ah"); i.e., God drew his soul out of his body (B. B. 17a; compare Abraham in Apocryphal and Rabbinical Literature, and parallel references in Böklen, l.c. p. 11). Legend seizes upon the story of Moses' struggle with the angel of death, and expands it at length (Tan., ed. Stettin, pp. 624 et seq.; Deut. R. ix., xi.; Grünhut, l.c. v. 102b, 169a). As Benaiah bound [[Asmodeus|Ashmedai]] (Jew. Encyc. ii. 218a), so Moses binds the angel of death that he may bless Israel (Pesi&#7731;. 199, where "lifne moto" [Deut. xxxiii. 1] is explained as meaning "before the angel of death").

{{main|Thanatos}}In [[Greek mythology]], [[Thanatos]], the personification of death, is one of the offspring of [[Nyx]] (Night). Like her, he is seldom portrayed directly. He sometimes appears in art as a winged and bearded man, and occasionally as a winged and beardless youth. When he appears together with his twin brother, [[Hypnos]], the god of sleep, Thanatos generally represents a gentle death. Thanatos, led by [[Hermes (mythology)|Hermes ''psychopompos'']], takes the shade of the deceased to the near shore of the river [[Styx]], whence the ferryman [[Charon (mythology)|Charon]], on [[Charon's obol|payment of a small fee]], conveys the shade to [[Hades]], the realm of the dead. Homer's ''[[Iliad]]'' 16.681, and the [[Euphronios Krater]]'s depiction of the same episode, have [[Apollo]] instruct the removal of the heroic, semi-divine [[Sarpedon#Son of Zeus and Laodamia|Sarpedon]]'s body from the battlefield by Hypnos and Thanatos, and conveyed thence to his homeland for proper funeral rites.{{citation needed|date=March 2018}} Among the other children of Nyx are Thanatos' sisters, the [[Keres (Greek mythology)|Keres]], blood-drinking, vengeful spirits of violent or untimely death, portrayed as fanged and taloned, with bloody garments.

====Scandinavia====

[[Solomon]] once noticed that the angel of death was grieved. When questioned as to the cause of his sorrow he answered: "I am requested to take your two beautiful scribes." Solomon at once charged the demons to convey his scribes to Luz, where the angel of death could not enter. When they were near the city, however, they both died. The angel laughed on the next day, whereupon Solomon asked the cause of his mirth. "Because," answered the angel, "thou didst send the youths thither, whence I was ordered to fetch them" (Suk. 53a). In the next world God will let the angel of death fight against [[Pharaoh]], [[Sisera]], and [[Sennacherib]] (Yal&#7731;., Isa. 428).

[[Image:Hel (1889) by Johannes Gehrts.jpg|thumb|''Hel'' (1889) by [[Johannes Gehrts]], pictured here with her hound [[Garmr]]]]

In [[Scandinavia]], [[Norse mythology]] personified death in the shape of [[Hel (being)|Hel]], the goddess of death and ruler over the realm of the same name, where she received a portion of the dead.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/259835/Hel |title=Hel (Norse deity) – Encyclopædia Britannica |publisher=Global.britannica.com |access-date=2013-12-08 |archive-date=17 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210217112912/https://global.britannica.com/topic/Hel-Norse-deity |url-status=dead }}</ref> In the times of the [[Black Plague]], Death would often be depicted as an old woman known by the name of Pesta, meaning "plague hag", wearing a black hood. She would go into a town carrying either a rake or a broom. If she brought the rake, some people would survive the plague; if she brought the broom, however, everyone would die.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://snl.no/d%C3%B8d%2Ffolketro |title=død – folketro – Store norske leksikon |publisher=Snl.no |access-date=2013-12-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212113026/http://snl.no/d%C3%B8d/folketro |archive-date=12 December 2013 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

Scandinavians later adopted the Grim Reaper with a scythe and black robe. Today, [[Ingmar Bergman]]'s 1957 film ''[[The Seventh Seal]]'' features one of the world's most famous representations of this personification of Death.{{Citation needed|reason=When? Why?|date=December 2018}}

The teaching of God shields one from the power of the angel of death. The children of Israel have accepted the Torah only in order that the angel may have no power over them ('Ab. Zarah 5a). Since death results only from sin, it can not, of course, come to those who live in accordance with the Torah. Although the sentence of mortality once pronounced could never be recalled ('Ab. Zarah 5a), yet the angel of death may not visit teachers of the Law; he is rather their friend (ib. 35b), and even imparts learning to them (Ber. 51a).

====Slavic====

==== Scholars and the Angel of Death ====

[[File:Taras Shevchenko painting 0096.jpg|right|thumb|"Fairy tale", drawing by [[Taras Shevchenko]]. Death is depicted as a female skeleton with a scythe. ]]

In [[Poland]], Death – ''Śmierć'' or ''kostucha'' – has an appearance similar to the Grim Reaper, although its robe was traditionally white instead of black. Because the word ''śmierć'' is feminine in gender, death is frequently portrayed as a skeletal old woman, as depicted in 15th-century [[dialogue]] [[Master Polikarp's Dialog with Death|''"Rozmowa Mistrza Polikarpa ze Śmiercią"'']] (Latin: ''"Dialogus inter Mortem et Magistrum Polikarpum"'').

In Serbia and other South Slavic countries, the Grim Reaper is well known as ''Smrt'' ("Death") or ''Kosač'' ("Reaper"). Slavic people found this very similar to the Devil and other dark powers. One popular saying about death is: ''Smrt ne bira ni vreme, ni mesto, ni godinu'' ("Death does not choose a time, place or year" – which means death is destiny.){{original research inline|date=May 2017}}

Talmud teachers of the fourth century associate quite familiarly with him. When he appeared to one on the street, the teacher reproached him with rushing upon him as upon a beast; whereupon the angel called upon him at his house. To another he granted a respite of thirty days, that he might put his knowledge in order before entering the next world. To a third he had no access, because he could not interrupt the study of the Talmud. To a fourth he showed a rod of fire, whereby he is recognized as the angel of death (M. K. 28a). He often entered the house of Bibi and conversed with him (&#7716;ag. 4b). Often he resorts to strategy in order to interrupt and seize his victim (B. M. 86a; Mak. 10a).

[[Morana (goddess)|Morana]] is a Slavic goddess of winter time, death and rebirth. A figurine of the same name is traditionally created at the end of winter/beginning of spring and symbolically taken away from villages to be set in fire and/or thrown into a river, that takes her away from the world of the living.

The death of Joshua ben Levi in particular is surrounded with a web of fable. When the time came for him to die and the angel of death appeared to him, he demanded to be shown his place in paradise. When the angel had consented to this, he demanded the angel's knife, that the angel might not frighten him by the way. This request also was granted him, and Joshua sprang with the knife over the wall of paradise; the angel, who is not allowed to enter paradise, catching hold of the end of his garment. Joshua swore that he would not come out, and God declared that he should not leave paradise unless he was absolved from his oath; if not absolved, he was to remain. The angel of death then demanded back his knife, but Joshua refused. At this point a heavenly voice ("bat &#7731;ol") rang out: "Give him back the knife, because the children of men have need of it" (Ket. 77b; Jellinek, l.c. ii. 48-51; Bacher, l.c. i. 192 et seq.).

In the [[Czech Republic]], the medieval [[Prague Astronomical Clock]] carries a depiction of Death striking the hour. A version first appeared in 1490.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.prague.eu/en/articles/timeline-14397|title=History of the Astronomical Clock|website=prague.eu|access-date=23 June 2020|archive-date=8 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308182742/https://www.prague.eu/en/articles/timeline-14397|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.orloj.eu/en/orloj_historie.htm|title=Brief history of the Prague Astronomical Clock|website=orloj.eu|access-date=23 June 2020|archive-date=28 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328211417/http://www.orloj.eu/en/orloj_historie.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== In Islamic literature ===

====The Low Countries====

The angel of death is spoken of in the [[Qur'an]] (suras xxxii. 11, lxxix. 1), and is called by the [[Muslim]]s [[Azrael]] -&nbsp;probably identical with the angel of Gehinnom, according to "'Eme&#7731; ha-Melek" ("Ti&#7731;&#7731;une Teshubah"; quoted by Eisenmenger, "Entdecktes Judenthum," ii.333). "When Death was created by God, he, on account of his terrible power, had to be put in 70,000 chains of a thousand years' journey's length each, and behind millions of barriers. When Azrael was placed in charge of him and saw him, he called the angels to look at him, and when he, at God's command, spread his wings over him and opened all his eyes, the angels fainted away and remained unconscious for a thousand years. Azrael was given all the powers of the heavens to enable him to master Death."

In the [[Kingdom of the Netherlands|Netherlands]], and to a lesser extent in [[Belgium]], the personification of Death is known as ''Magere Hein'' ("Thin Hein") or Pietje de Dood ("Peter the Death").<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vlaamswoordenboek.be/definities/term/Pietje%20de%20Dood|title=Het Vlaams woordenboek » Pietje de Dood|website=www.vlaamswoordenboek.be|access-date=2019-01-21}}</ref> Historically, he was sometimes simply referred to as ''Hein'' or variations thereof such as ''Heintje'', ''Heintjeman'' and ''Oom Hendrik'' ("Uncle [[Henry (given name)|Hendrik]]"). Related archaic terms are ''Beenderman'' ("Bone-man"), ''Scherminkel'' (very meager person, "skeleton") and ''Maaijeman'' ("[[mower|mow]]-man", a reference to his [[scythe]]).<ref name=booze/>

The concept of ''Magere Hein'' predates [[Christianity]], but was [[Christianization of saints and feasts|Christianized]] and likely gained its modern name and features (scythe, skeleton, black robe etc.) during the [[Middle Ages]]. The designation "Meager" comes from its portrayal as a [[Skeleton (undead)|skeleton]], which was largely influenced by the Christian "[[Dance of Death]]" ([[Dutch language|Dutch]]: ''dodendans'') theme that was prominent in Europe during the late Middle Ages. "Hein" was a [[Middle Dutch]] name originating as a short form of ''Heinric'' (see [[Henry (given name)]]). Its use was possibly related to the comparable German concept of "Freund Hein."{{Citation needed|date=December 2019}} Notably, many of the names given to Death can also refer to the Devil; it is likely that fear of death led to Hein's character being merged with that of [[Satan]].<ref name=booze>{{cite book |last1=Niermeyer |first1=Antonie |date=1840 |title=Verhandeling over het booze wezen in het bijgeloof onzer natie: eene bijdrage tot de kennis onzer voorvaderlijke mythologie |trans-title=Treatise on the evil being in the superstition of our nation: a contribution to the knowledge of our ancestral mythology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n09bAAAAQAAJ |language=nl |___location=[[Rotterdam]] |publisher=A. Wijnands |pages=32–33 |access-date=23 May 2016 |via=[[Ghent University]] |archive-date=13 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230113094053/https://books.google.com/books?id=n09bAAAAQAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[http://gtb.inl.nl/iWDB/search?actie=article&wdb=WNT&id=M025219&lemmodern=Hein Lemma: Hein] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181005030813/http://gtb.inl.nl/iWDB/search?actie=article&wdb=WNT&id=M025219&lemmodern=Hein |date=5 October 2018 }}, ''INL''</ref>

Azrael reaches from one end of the world to the other (Jellinek, "B. H." v. 49), and has 70,000 feet and 4,000 wings. His whole body is covered with eyes (see 'Ab. Zarah 20b) and with tongues as numerous as the living creatures on earth. When any of these latter die, the corresponding eye bulges forth. At the end of the world all these eyes excepting eight are plucked out by God--those of Israfil (Sarafel), Michael, Gabriel, Azrael, and the four "Hayyot" of the Heavenly Chariot alone remaining. The times of the death of persons is made known to the angel of death through the roll-book in his possession showing a white stripe around the name of the person doomed. Forty days before death, however, a leaf falls from the tree of life, under the throne of God, into the lap of Azrael, who is seated in the seventh heaven, thus announcing the death (compare Yer. Ber. ii. 8, 5c, and the picture of the fig-tree).

In Belgium, this personification of Death is now commonly called ''Pietje de Dood'' "Little Pete, the Death."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/960/Buitenland/article/detail/1730183/2013/10/27/Pietje-de-Dood-jaagt-mensen-de-stuipen-op-het-lijf-in-de-VS.dhtml|title='Pietje de Dood' jaagt mensen de stuipen op het lijf in de VS|access-date=26 January 2018|archive-date=9 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009041731/http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/960/Buitenland/article/detail/1730183/2013/10/27/Pietje-de-Dood-jaagt-mensen-de-stuipen-op-het-lijf-in-de-VS.dhtml|url-status=live}}</ref> Like the other Dutch names, it can also refer to the Devil.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.verhalenbank.nl/items/show/35545|title=Nederlandse Volksverhalenbank – Duivel|website=www.verhalenbank.nl|date=January 1872|access-date=26 January 2018|archive-date=8 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308101141/http://www.verhalenbank.nl/items/show/35545|url-status=live}}</ref>

"When people lament and weep too much over the death of a person, the angel of death shall stand at the door and say: 'What cause have you for such violent complaint? I am only the messenger of God and have done His bidding, and if you rebel against Him, I shall return often to take one of your house'" (compare Midr. Yal&#7731;. to Deut. xiv. 1, 2; 'Er. 19b; and Böklen, l.c.).

====Western Europe====

"When a righteous person dies, the angel of death comes with a host of good angels, carrying sweet odors of paradise, and makes the soul leave the body like a drop taken out of a bucket of water. When a wicked person dies, the angel of death comes in the company of demons, who pull the soul out as with iron spits".

[[File:Cary-Yale Tarot deck - Death.jpg|thumb|Death from the [[Visconti-Sforza tarot deck#Cary-Yale|Cary-Yale Tarot Deck]] (15th century)|344x344px]]In [[Western Europe]], Death has commonly been personified as an animated skeleton since the [[Middle Ages]].<ref name="Noyes35">{{cite book |last1=Noyes |first1=Deborah |title=Encyclopedia of the End: Mysterious Death in Fact, Fancy, Folklore, and More |date=2008 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |___location=Boston |isbn=978-0618823628 |page=35}}</ref> This character, which is often depicted wielding a [[scythe]], is said to collect the souls of the dying or recently dead. In English and German culture, Death is typically portrayed as male, but in French, Spanish, and Italian culture, it is not uncommon for Death to be female.<ref name="Guthke">{{cite book |last1=Guthke |first1=Karl S. |title=The Gender of Death: A Cultural History in Art and Literature |date=1999 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |___location=Cambridge |isbn=0521644607 |page=7}}</ref>

In England, the personified "Death" featured in [[Middle Ages|medieval]] [[morality play]]s, later regularly appearing in traditional folk songs.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Gilchrist|first=Anne G.|date=1941|title="Death and the Lady" in English Balladry|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4521180|journal=Journal of the English Folk Dance and Song Society|volume=4|issue=2|pages=37–48|jstor=4521180|issn=0071-0563}}</ref> The following is a verse of "Death and the Lady" (Roud 1031) as sung by [[Henry Burstow]] in the nineteenth century:

=== In India ===

{{poemquote|Fair lady, throw those costly robes aside,

=== In the Far East===

No longer may you glory in your pride.

Take leave of all sour carnal vain delight

I'm come to summon you away this night.<ref name=":1" />}}

In the late 1800s, the character of Death became known as the [[Grim Reaper]] in English literature. The earliest appearance of the name "Grim Reaper" in English is in the 1847 book ''The Circle of Human Life'':<ref>''The Circle of Human Life'' is a translation by Robert Menzies of part of an earlier German book by [[August Tholuck]], ''Stunden Christlicher Andacht'', published in 1841.</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=grim reaper |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grim%20reaper |website=Merriam-Webster |access-date=1 September 2020 |archive-date=29 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161029125822/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grim%20reaper |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Menzies |first1=Robert |title=The Circle of Human Life |date=1847 |publisher=Myles Macphail |___location=Edinburgh |page=11}}</ref>

===Japan===

{{blockquote|All know full well that life cannot last above seventy, or at the most eighty years. If we reach that term without meeting the grim reaper with his scythe, there or there about, meet him we surely shall.}}

In [[Kojiki]], after giving birth to the fire-god [[Hinokagutsuchi]], the goddess [[Izanami]] dies from wounds of its fire and enter the perpetual night realm called Yominokuni that the gods thereto retire. After Izanagi, her husband god, failed in the attempt to reclaim her from the land of Yomi, in a brief argument with Izanagi, she claimed to take 1000 lives everyday signifying her position as the goddess of death.

==In Abrahamic religions==<!-- This section is linked from [[Angel]] -->

The another popular death personification is ''Enma Daiou'' lit. Great King of underworld. He is originally from a Chinese popular belief with the same name that has its root in India. Enma Daiou rules the underworld and decides whether someone dead goes to heaven or to hell. He appears in many arts and anime, one of the most notable being [[Dragon Ball Z]] and its sequel [[Dragon Ball GT]]. As the human race is nearly exterminated on at least three occasions and humans subsequently regains their lives, Enma Daiou is swamped with billions of restless souls who he must decide on their fate even temporalily.

{{See also|Destroying angel (Bible)}}

{{cleanup lang|section|date=January 2022}}

The "[[Angel of the Lord]]" smites 185,000 men in the [[Assyria]]n camp (II Kings 19:35). When the Angel of Death passes through to [[Plagues of Egypt|smite the Egyptian first-born]], [[God]] prevents "the destroyer" (''shâchath'') from entering houses with blood on the lintel and side posts ([[Book of Exodus|Exodus]] 12:23). The "destroying angel" (''mal'ak ha-mashḥit'') rages among the people in Jerusalem (II Sam. 24:16). In I Chronicles 21:15 the "angel of the Lord" is seen by [[David|King David]] standing "between the earth and the [[heaven]], having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over [[Jerusalem]]." The biblical [[Book of Job]] (33:22) uses the general term "destroyers" (''memitim''), which tradition has identified with "destroying angels" (''mal'ake Khabbalah''), and Prov. 16:14 uses the term the "angels of death" (''mal'ake ha-mavet''). The angel [[Azrael|Azra'il]] is sometimes referred as the Angel of Death as well.<ref>{{citation|last1=Davidson|first1=Gustav|year=1967|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ed7yHWuTEewC|title=A Dictionary of Angels, Including the Fallen Angels|isbn=978-0029070505|pages=64–65|publisher=Free Press }}</ref>

Jewish tradition also refers to Death as the Angel of Dark and Light, a name which stems from Talmudic lore. There is also a reference to "[[Abaddon]]" (The Destroyer), an angel who is known as the "Angel of the Abyss". In [[Talmudic lore]], he is characterized as [[archangel]] [[Michael (archangel)|Michael]].<ref>Bunson, Matthew, (1996). ''Angels A to Z : Who's Who of the Heavenly Host''. Three Rivers Press. {{ISBN|0517885379}}.{{page needed|date=August 2022}}</ref>

=== In Precolumbian Cultures of North and South America===

=== In Africa Judaism===

[[File:Mort du fossoyeur.jpg|thumb|''La mort du fossoyeur'' (Death of the gravedigger) by [[Carlos Schwabe]]]]

In Hebrew scriptures, Death (''Maweth''/''Mavet(h)'') is sometimes personified as a devil or angel of death (e.g., {{bibleverse||Habakkuk|2:5|NRSV}}; {{bibleverse||Job|18:13|NRSV}}).<ref name="Baal and Mot in the Ugaritic Texts"/> In both the [[Book of Hosea]] and the [[Book of Jeremiah]], [[Mot (god)|Maweth/Mot]] is mentioned as a deity to whom God can turn over Judah as punishment for worshiping other gods.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Appearance of the Pantheon in Judah in The Triumph of Elohim|last=Handy|first=Lowell|publisher=Eerdmans|year=1995|isbn=0802841619|___location=Grand Rapids, Michigan|page=[https://archive.org/details/triumphofelohimf00edel/page/40 40]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/triumphofelohimf00edel/page/40}}</ref> The memitim are a type of angel from biblical lore associated with the mediation over the lives of the dying. The name is derived from the [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] word מְמִיתִים (''mᵊmītīm'' – "executioners", "slayers", "destroyers") and refers to angels that brought about the destruction of those whom the [[guardian angel]]s no longer protected.<ref>Olyan, S.M., ''A Thousand Thousands Served Him: Exegesis and the Naming of Angels in Ancient Judaism'', p. 21.{{ISBN?}}</ref> While there may be some debate among religious scholars regarding the exact nature of the memitim, it is generally accepted that, as described in the [[Book of Job]] 33:22, they are killers of some sort.<ref>Gordon, M.B., Medicine among the Ancient Hebrews, p. 472.</ref>

==Death as a fictional character==

====Form and functions====

[[Image:Death-rws.jpg|right|Death, the tarot card, from the Rider-Waite-Smith deck]]

According to the [[Midrash]], the Angel of Death was created by God on the first day.<ref>[[Midrash]] [[Tanhuma]] on [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] 39:1</ref> His dwelling is in [[heaven]], whence he reaches earth in eight flights, whereas Pestilence reaches it in one.<ref>[[Talmud]] [[Berakhot (Talmud)|Berakhot]] 4b</ref> He has twelve wings.<ref>[[Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer]] 13</ref> "Over all people have I surrendered thee the power," said God to the Angel of Death, "only not over this one [i.e. [[Moses]]] which has received freedom from death through the Law."<ref>[[Midrash]] [[Tanhuma]] on [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]] 31:18</ref> It is said of the Angel of Death that he is full of eyes. In the hour of death, he stands at the head of the departing one with a drawn sword, to which clings a drop of [[bile|gall]]. As soon as the dying man sees Death, he is seized with a convulsion and opens his mouth, whereupon Death throws the drop into it. This drop causes his death; he turns putrid, and his face becomes yellow.<ref>[[Talmud]] [[Avodah Zarah]] 20b; on putrefaction see also Pesikta de-Rav Kahana 54b; for the eyes compare Ezekiel 1:18 and [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]] 4:6</ref> The expression "the taste of death" originated in the idea that death was caused by a drop of gall.<ref>[[Jewish Quarterly Review]] vi. 327</ref>

The soul escapes through the mouth, or, as is stated in another place, through the throat; therefore, the Angel of Death stands at the head of the patient ([[Adolf Jellinek]], l.c. ii. 94, Midr. Teh. to Ps. xi.). When the soul forsakes the body, its voice goes from one end of the world to the other, but is not heard (Gen. R. vi. 7; Ex. R. v. 9; Pirḳe R. El. xxxiv.). The drawn sword of the Angel of Death, mentioned by the Chronicler (I. Chron. 21:15; comp. Job 15:22; Enoch 62:11), indicates that the Angel of Death was figured as a warrior who kills off the children of men. "Man, on the day of his death, falls down before the Angel of Death like a beast before the slaughterer" ([[Grünhut]], "Liḳḳuṭim", v. 102a). R. Samuel's father (c. 200) said: "The Angel of Death said to me, 'Only for the sake of the honor of mankind do I not tear off their necks as is done to slaughtered beasts'" ('Ab. Zarah 20b). In later representations, the knife sometimes replaces the sword, and reference is also made to the cord of the Angel of Death, which indicates death by throttling. [[Moses]] says to God: "I fear the cord of the Angel of Death" (Grünhut, l.c. v. 103a et seq.). Of the four [[Jewish]] methods of execution, three are named in connection with the Angel of Death: Burning (by pouring hot lead down the victim's throat), slaughtering (by beheading), and throttling. The Angel of Death administers the particular punishment that God has ordained for the commission of sin.

The character of Death is typically depicted in the West as wearing a dark hooded [[cloak]] and wielding a [[scythe]]. Death is one of the [[four horsemen of the Apocalypse]]. In many [[icon]]s of the [[Resurrection of Jesus Christ]], death is portrayed as an almost naked man who is bound hand and foot lying amid the bones under the earth. In [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Eastern Orthodox]] theology, death is one of humanity's three enemies; the other two are [[sin]] and the [[devil]]. This figure of Death is also known as the ''Grim Reaper''. Death, in this guise, appears also on one of the [[Tarot]] [[playing cards|card]]s. In [[Mexico]], death is sometimes referred upon as ''La Calaca'', a skull like character that comes and takes away people when they die.

A peculiar [[Mantle (vesture)|mantle]] ("idra" – according to Levy, "Neuhebr. Wörterb." i. 32, a sword) belongs to the equipment of the Angel of Death ([[Ecclesiastes Rabbah|Eccl. R.]] iv. 7). The Angel of Death takes on the particular form which will best serve his purpose; e.g., he appears to a scholar in the form of a beggar imploring pity (the beggar should receive [[Tzedakah]])(M. Ḳ. 28a). "When pestilence rages in the town, walk not in the middle of the street, because the Angel of Death [i.e., pestilence] strides there; if peace reigns in the town, walk not on the edges of the road. When pestilence rages in the town, go not alone to the synagogue, because there the Angel of Death stores his tools. If the dogs howl, the Angel of Death has entered the city; if they make sport, the prophet [[Elijah]] has come" (B. Ḳ. 60b). The "destroyer" (''saṭan ha-mashḥit'') in the daily prayer is the Angel of Death (Ber. 16b). Midr. Ma'ase Torah (compare Jellinek, "B. H." ii. 98) says: "There are six Angels of Death: [[Gabriel]] over kings; Ḳapẓiel over youths; Mashbir over animals; Mashḥit over children; Af and Ḥemah over man and beast."

The allegorical figure of Death appears many times in the works of [[Albrecht D&uuml;rer]] and [[Terry Pratchett]].

[[Samael]] is considered in Talmudic texts to be a member of the [[heavenly host]] with often grim and destructive duties. One of Samael's greatest roles in Jewish lore is that of the main angel of death and the head of ''satans''.<ref name="JVL">{{Cite web |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/samael |title=Jewish Virtual Library – Samael |access-date=2 November 2020 |archive-date=30 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191130144328/https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/samael |url-status=live }}</ref>

===List of works using Death as a fictional character===

*[[Discworld]] novels

*[[Good Omens]]

*[[Family Guy]]

*[[The Seventh Seal]] movie

*[[Incarnations of Immortality]] novels

*[[Death Takes a Holiday]] movie (1934)

*[[Meet Joe Black]] movie (1998 remake)

*[[The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy]] cartoon

*[[Dead Like Me]] television show

*[[The Sandman (DC Comics Modern Age)| The Sandman]] comic book

*[[Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey]] movie

*La Dama del Alba (<i>Lady of the Dawn</i>) play

*[[Irregular Webcomic!]]

====Scholars and the Angel of Death====

==Death in popular fiction ==

[[File:Paolo Monti - Serie fotografica (Venezia, 1951) - BEIC 6342929.jpg|thumb|''The Angel of Death'', sculpture of a funeral gondola, Venice. Photo by Paolo Monti, 1951.]]

[[Talmud]] teachers of the 4th century associate quite familiarly with him. When he appeared to one on the street, the teacher reproached him with rushing upon him as upon a beast, whereupon the angel called upon him at his house. To another, he granted a respite of thirty days, that he might put his knowledge in order before entering the next world. To a third, he had no access, because he could not interrupt the study of the Talmud. To a fourth, he showed a rod of fire, whereby he is recognized as the Angel of Death (M. K. 28a). He often entered the house of Bibi and conversed with him (Ḥag. 4b). Often, he resorts to strategy in order to interrupt and seize his victim (B. M. 86a; Mak. 10a).

The death of [[Joshua ben Levi]] in particular is surrounded with a web of fable. When the time came for him to die and the Angel of Death appeared to him, he demanded to be shown his place in paradise. When the angel had consented to this, he demanded the angel's knife, that the angel might not frighten him by the way. This request also was granted to him, and Joshua sprang with the knife over the wall of paradise; the angel, who is not allowed to enter paradise, caught hold of the end of his garment. Joshua swore that he would not come out, and God declared that he should not leave paradise unless he had ever absolved himself of an oath; he had never absolved himself of an oath so he was allowed to remain. The Angel of Death then demanded back his knife, but Joshua refused. At this point, a heavenly voice (''bat ḳol'') rang out: "Give him back the knife, because the children of men have need of it will bring death." Hesitant, Joshua Ben Levi gives back the knife in exchange for the Angel of Death's name. To never forget the name, he carved Troke into his arm, the Angel of Death's chosen name. When the knife was returned to the Angel, Joshua's carving of the name faded, and he forgot.

The character of Death has recurred many times in popular fiction. He has made appearances in many stories, from serious dramatic fiction to comedy, including playing roles in [[science fiction]] and fantasy stories.

(Ket. 77b; Jellinek, l.c. ii. 48–51; Bacher, l.c. i. 192 et seq.).

====Rabbinic views====

''[[Death Takes a Holiday]]'' was a [[1934]] film directed by Mitchell Leisen, and written by Maxwell Anderson. Death ([[Fredric March]] as Prince Sirki) decides to take a holiday from his usual business to see how the mortals live. Complications ensue as those who should have died do not. ''Death Takes a Holiday'' was remade in the [[1998]] film ''[[Meet Joe Black]]'', directed by [[Martin Brest]] and starring [[Brad Pitt]] and [[Anthony Hopkins]]. While ''Meet Joe Black'' touches briefly on the consequences of a world where Death is not doing his job, its focus is on Death's experience as a human, and on the personal relationships within the family he chooses to stay with.

The [[Rabbi]]s found the Angel of Death mentioned in [[Psalm]] 89:48, where the Targum translates: "There is no man who lives and, seeing the Angel of Death, can deliver his soul from his hand." Eccl. 8:4 is thus explained in [[Midrash]] Rabbah to the passage: "One may not escape the Angel of Death, nor say to him, 'Wait until I put my affairs in order,' or 'There is my son, my slave: take him in my stead.'" Where the Angel of Death appears, there is no remedy, but his name ([[Talmud]], Ned. 49a; Hul. 7b). If one who has sinned has confessed his fault, the Angel of Death may not touch him ([[Tanhuma|Midrash Tanhuma]], ed. Buber, 139). God protects from the Angel of Death (Midrash [[Genesis Rabba]]h lxviii.).

By acts of benevolence, the anger of the Angel of Death is overcome; when one fails to perform such acts the Angel of Death will make his appearance (Derek Ereẓ Zuṭa, viii.). The Angel of Death receives his orders from God (Ber. 62b). As soon as he has received permission to destroy, however, he makes no distinction between good and bad (B. Ḳ. 60a). In the city of Luz, the Angel of Death has no power, and, when the aged inhabitants are ready to die, they go outside the city (Soṭah 46b; compare Sanh. 97a). A legend to the same effect existed in Ireland in the Middle Ages (''[[Jewish Quarterly Review|Jew. Quart. Rev.]]'' vi. 336).

In [[1957]], [[Sweden|Swedish]] director [[Ingmar Bergman]] made ''[[The Seventh Seal]]'', an influential (and heavily symbolic) movie depicting one of the most famous moments in the fictional portrayal of Death. In the movie, a medieval knight plays a game of [[chess]] with Death, with the knight's life depending upon the outcome of the game. The concept of playing games with Death has been used (and spoofed) many times since Bergman's movie. A 1968 short film called ''The Dove'' deliberately spoofed this famous movie scene, a young couple challenge Death to a game of [[badminton]]. [[Woody Allen]] has written a [[short story]] in which Death loses a game of [[gin rummy]]. [[Bob Burden]]'s [[surrealist]] [[comic book]], "[[The Flaming Carrot]]", features a cover in which the title character rejects Death's offer of playing chess and suggests instead [[Jarts]]. In ''[[Bill &amp; Ted's Bogus Journey]]'', the brainless protagonists challenge Death to a series of inane games including [[Cluedo]] (Clue) and [[Twister (game)|Twister]]. In the short-lived TV series [[Big Wolf on Campus]] the main character goes on a frantic gaming spree in which he loses several games to Death, a reverse-spoof of Bill and Ted, as well as [[Ingmar Bergman]]. In [[The Sims]], Death will come to collect the souls of dead Sims; the player may have the option of challenging Death to a game of [[Rock, Paper, Scissors]] in exchange for the life of the dead.

===In Christianity===

In a number of comedy roles, the character of Death has had a [[Swedish (language)|Swedish]] [[Non-native pronunciations of English|foreign accent]], paying homage (sometimes unintentionally) to his role in ''The Seventh Seal.'' In ''[[Monty Python's The Meaning of Life]]'', in which he is designed by [[Terry Gilliam]] and voiced by [[John Cleese]], he annoys the hosts and guests at a dinner party by breaking it up prematurely. In the comedy [[Red Dwarf (television)|Red Dwarf]], Rimmer knees Death in the groin, telling him that "only the good die young".

[[File:Gustave Dore - Death on the Pale Horse resized.png|thumb|[[Gustave Doré]] ''Death on the Pale Horse'' (1865) – The [[Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse#Pale Horse|fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse]]]]

Death is one of the [[Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse]] portrayed in the [[Book of Revelation]], in [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%206:7-8&version=NASB; Revelation 6:7–8].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+6:7-8&version=NASB;|title=Bible Gateway passage: Revelation 6:7–8 – New American Standard Bible|website=Bible Gateway|access-date=26 January 2018|archive-date=8 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308212302/https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+6:7-8&version=NASB;|url-status=live}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.|Revelation 6:8, [[King James Version]]}}

As the Grim Reaper, Death even stars in an [[animated series]] on the [[Cartoon Network]] cable channel called ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy]]'' (formerly ''Grim and Evil''). The Grim Reaper has also made several appearances on ''[[The Simpsons]]'', ''[[South Park]]'', ''[[Family Guy]]'', and even an early [[Mickey Mouse]] cartoon.

He is also known as the [[Pale Horseman]] whose name is [[Thanatos]], the same as that of the ancient Greek personification of death, and the only one of the horsemen to be named.{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}

The character of [[Death (Discworld)|Death]] is also a major player in the humorous ''[[Discworld]]'' novels of [[Terry Pratchett]], where he is perhaps paradoxically seen as an ally of humanity, since he is a part of the natural order of things and often finds himself defending humanity against threats to that order.

[[Paul the Apostle|Paul]] addresses a personified death in {{bibleverse|1|Corinthians|15:55|NKJV}}.

A different personification of [[Death (Sandman)|Death]] appears in ''[[The Sandman (DC Comics Modern Age)|The Sandman]]'', a series of [[comic book]]s written [[Neil Gaiman]], in which Death, one of the [[Characters in The Sandman|Endless]], appears in the guise of a [[Gothic]] girl incongrously wearing an [[Ankh]] around her neck. Gaiman's Death is characteristically cheerful and supportive, perhaps Gaiman's way of playing with audience expectations.

{{Blockquote|"O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?"|1 Corinthians 15:55, [[New King James Version]]}}

[[Piers Anthony]]'s [[Incarnations of Immortality]] series of fantasy novels features a modernised Grim Reaper, who is the central character of ''On a Pale Horse'', the first book in the series.

In some versions, both arms of this verse are addressed to death.<ref>{{bibleverse|1|Corinthians|15:55|ASV}} in the [[American Standard Version]] and the [[New Revised Standard Version]]</ref>

In the [[CBS]] [[television]] show ''[[Touched by an Angel]]'', Death was a recurring character, played by [[John Dye]]. Unlike many portrayals, ''Touched by an Angel'' depicted Death as a sympathetic character.

The [[Scriptures#Christianity|Christian scriptures]] contain the first known depiction of [[Abaddon]] as an individual entity instead of a place.

[[Showtime]]'s ''[[Dead Like Me]]'' portrays soul collection as a widespread organization with many different divisions and, most likely, thousands of "employees", each of whom take souls from the living upon death.

{{Blockquote|A king, the angel of the bottomless pit; whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek Apollyon; in Latin Exterminans.|Revelation 9:11, [[Douay–Rheims Bible]]}}

In {{bibleverse|Hebrews|2:14|NKJV}} the devil ''"holds the power of death."''<ref>{{bibleverse|Hebrews|2:14|NIV}} in the [[New International Version]]</ref>

The ''[[Castlevania]]'' series of video games portrays Death as the right hand man of [[Dracula (Castlevania)|Dracula]], and must be defeated in each incarnation of the series. However, the most known personification of death in gaming is [[Manny Calavera]], from ''[[Grim Fandango]]'', who is also a travel agent to the afterlife.

{{Blockquote|Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.|Hebrews 2:14–15, [[English Standard Version]]}}

In [[Philip Pullman]]'s [[His Dark Materials]] trilogy, each individual has a personal death just lurking over their shoulders; when it's time for that person to die, their death takes them by the hand and gently leads them to the land of the dead.

Conversely, the early Christian writer [[Origen]] believed the destroying angel of {{bibleverse|Exodus|12:23|NIV}} to be Satan.<ref>[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Author:Origen Origen] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508092838/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Author:Origen |date=8 May 2021 }}(Author), [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Author:Frederick_Crombie Rev. Frederick Crombie] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117062640/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Author:Frederick_Crombie |date=17 January 2021 }} (Translator). ''[[Against Celsus]]'', [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Ante-Nicene_Fathers/Volume_IV/Origen/Origen_Against_Celsus/Book_VI/Chapter_XLIII Book 6, Chapter 63] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123230829/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Ante-Nicene_Fathers/Volume_IV/Origen/Origen_Against_Celsus/Book_VI/Chapter_XLIII |date=23 January 2021 }}. [[CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform]]. {{ISBN|978-1534622609}}</ref> Death is stated to be destroyed by the Lake of Fire that burns with sulfur.

[[Irregular Webcomic!]] has Death as a unifying "theme", or set of characters. Each very specific manner of death has an assigned Death, some of whom are not very busy. Death of Insanely Overpowered Fireballs, Death of Choking On A Giant Frog, Head Death, and Death of Being Ground By A Mars Rover Rock Abrasion Tool are some mentioned.

{{Blockquote|Death and Hell were thrown into the Lake of Fire. This is the second death.|Revelation 20:14, [[King James Version]]}}

{{Blockquote|The last enemy to be destroyed is death.|1 Corinthians 15:26, [[New International Version]]}}

===In Bibliography Islam===

In [[Islam]], Archangel [[Azrael]] is the ''Malak al-Maut'' (angel of death). He and his many subordinates{{disputed inline|date=October 2024}}{{fact|date=October 2024}} pull the souls out of the bodies and guide them through the journey of the afterlife. Their appearance depends on the person's deeds and actions: those who did good see a beautiful being, and those who did wrong see a horrific one.{{fact|date=October 2024}}

{{JewishEncyclopedia}}

*Winer, B. R. ii. 383-386;

*Hamburger, R. B. T. i. 990-992:

*A. Kohut. Ueber die Jüdische Angelologie und Dämonologie in Ihrer Abhängigkeit vom Parsismus, Leipsic, 1866;

*E. Stave, Ueber den Einfluss des Parsismus auf das Judenthum, Haarlem. 1898;

*E. Böklen, Die Verwandtschaft der Jüdisch-Christlichen mit der Parsischen Eschatologie, Göttingen, 1902;

*F. Weber, Jüdische Theologie, Leipsic, 1897;

*A. Dillmann, Alttestamentliche Theologie, § 37, ib. 1895;

*M. Schwab, Vocabulaire de l'Angélologie d'Après les Manuscrits Hebreux de la Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, 1897;

*D. Joël, Der Aberglaube und die Stellung des Judenthums zu Demselben, especially pp. 67-74, Breslau, 1881;

*A. P. Bender, Beliefs, Rites, and Customs of the Jews Connected with Death, Burial, and Mourning, in Jew. Quart. Rev. vi. 317, 664 et seq.K. L. B.

Islamic tradition discusses elaborately as to what exactly happens before, during, and after the death. The angel of death appears to the dying to take out their souls. The sinners' souls are extracted in a most painful way while the righteous are treated easily.<ref name="Stefon-83">{{cite book |editor=Matt Stefon|title=Islamic Beliefs and Practices |url=https://archive.org/details/islamicbeliefspr0000stef|url-access=registration|publisher=[[Britannica Educational Publishing]] |year=2010 |___location=[[New York City|New York]] |isbn=978-1615300600|pages=[https://archive.org/details/islamicbeliefspr0000stef/page/83 83–85]}}</ref> After the burial, two angels – [[Munkar and Nakir]] – come to question the dead to test their faith. The righteous believers answer correctly and live in peace and comfort while the sinners and disbelievers fail and punishments ensue.<ref name="Stefon-83"/><ref name="Nigosian-123">{{cite book |last=Nigosian |first=S. A. |title= Islam: Its History, Teaching, and Practices |publisher=Indiana University Press |url=https://archive.org/details/islamitshistoryt0000nigo |url-access=registration |year=2004 | isbn= 0253216273 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/islamitshistoryt0000nigo/page/123 123]–124}}</ref> The period or stage between death and resurrection is called ''[[barzakh]]'' (the interregnum).<ref name="Stefon-83"/>

== Related topics ==

Death is a significant event in Islamic life and theology. It is seen not as the termination of life, but rather the continuation of life in another form. In Islamic belief, God has made this worldly life a test and a preparation ground for the [[Afterlife#Islam|afterlife]]; and with death, this worldly life comes to an end.<ref name="Leaman-27">{{cite encyclopedia |editor= Oliver Leaman |title= The Qur'an: An Encyclopedia |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=isDgI0-0Ip4C&pg=PA27|publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2006 |isbn=978-0415326391|page=27}}</ref> Thus, every person has only one chance to prepare themselves for the life to come where [[God in Islam|God]] will resurrect and judge every individual and will entitle them to rewards or punishment, based on their good or bad deeds.<ref name="Leaman-27"/><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |editor=Juan E. Campo |title=Encyclopedia of Islam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OZbyz_Hr-eIC&pg=PA185 |publisher=[[Facts on File]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-0816054541|page=185}}</ref> Death is seen as the gateway to and beginning of the afterlife. In Islamic belief, death is predetermined by God, and the exact time of a person's death is known only to [[Allah]].

*[[Afterlife]]

*[[Angel]]

*[[Bible]]

*[[Death]]

*[[God]]

*[[Psychopomp]]

*[[Saint Death]]

*[[Skull (symbolism)]]

*[[Soul]]

*[[Symbols of death]]

==Gallery==

[[fi:Viikatemies]]

<gallery>

[[de:Sensenmann]]

File:Taby kyrka Death playing chess.jpg|Medieval painting of Death playing chess from [[Täby Church]] in [[Sweden]]

File:The silent highwayman.jpg|Death personified in ''[[Punch (magazine)|Punch]]''

File:Cholera.jpg|Death by [[Cholera]] personified as a Reaper in ''[[Le Petit Journal (newspaper)|Le Petit Journal]]''

File:DeVauceHours.jpg|Death personified in ''de Vauce-Hours'' by [[Jean Fouquet]]

File:Muerte-Blanca 6.jpg|Art from a [[votive candle]] of [[Santa Muerte]]

File:Triumph death clusone.jpg|''Trionfo Della Morte'', painted on the external wall of the Church of Disciplini in [[Clusone]], [[Italy]]

File:Petrarch-triumph-zompini-3-death.jpg|Illustration of Petrarch's ''Triumph of Death''

File:Petrarch-triumphs-french-XVI-3-death.jpg|Illustration of Petrarch's ''Triumph of Death''

File:Hrastovlje Dans3.jpg|The Danse Macabre in the Holy Trinity Church in Hrastovlje, Slovenia

File:Danse macabre by Michael Wolgemut.png|''The Dance of Death'' (1493) by [[Michael Wolgemut]]

File:RWS Tarot 13 Death.jpg|Death Tarot card

File:1-9 new battalion logo.jpg|[[1st Battalion 9th Marines|1/9 Insignia]]

File:De triomf van de dood, James Ensor, 1887, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen, 2741.002-1.JPEG|De triomf van de dood, by [[James Ensor]], 1887, [[Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp]]

File:Hugo Simberg Garden of Death.jpg|''[[The Garden of Death]]'' (1896) by [[Hugo Simberg]]

File:The Plague, 1898.jpg|''[[Plague (painting)|Plague]]'' (1898) by [[Arnold Böcklin]], tempera on wood

File:Paul Gustave Dore Raven1.jpg|An Illustration by [[Gustave Doré]] from "[[The Raven]]"

File:Tenture Apocalypse Angers cavalier 4.jpg|Death as one of the [[Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse]] from the [[Apocalypse Tapestry]] in [[France]]

File:Musée Unterlinden - Théophile Schuler - Le Char de la Mort (1848) (2).jpg|''[[The Chariot of Death]]'', 1848–1851 painting by [[Théophile Schuler]]. Death is depicted both as a beautiful angel and as a hideous skeleton.

</gallery>

==See also==

[[Category:Personifications of death|*]]

* [[Ankou]]

* [[Anthropomorphism]]

* [[Danse Macabre]]

* [[Davy Jones's locker]]

* [[Death and the Maiden (motif)|Death and the Maiden]]

* [[Death (Tarot card)]]

* [[Death (Discworld)]]

* [[List of death deities]]

* [[Shinigami]]

* [[Skeleton (undead)]]

* [[Skeleton]]

* [[Skull art]]

* [[Veneration of the dead]]

==Notes==

{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==

* {{cite journal | first=A. P. | last=Bender | title=Beliefs, Rites, and Customs of the Jews, Connected with Death, Burial, and Mourning | journal=The Jewish Quarterly Review | volume=6 | issue=2 |date=January 1894 | pages=317–347 | doi=10.2307/1450143 | jstor=1450143}}

* {{cite journal | first=A. P. | last=Bender | title=Beliefs, Rites, and Customs of the Jews, Connected with Death, Burial, and Mourning | journal=The Jewish Quarterly Review | volume=6 | issue=4 |date=July 1894 | pages=664–671 | doi=10.2307/1450184 | jstor=1450184}}

* {{cite book | first=Ernst | last=Böklen | title=Die Verwandtschaft der Jüdisch-Christlichen mit der Parsischen Eschatologie | url=https://archive.org/details/dieverwandtscha01bkgoog | ___location=Göttingen | year=1902 | publisher=Vendenhoeck & Ruprecht}}

* Cantu, Dean (March 2018). "Memento Mori: The Personification of Death." ''TEDxTalk'', University of Tulsa. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvnnqRy6ctI

* {{cite book | first=August | last=Dillmann | author-link=August Dillmann | title=Handbuch der alttestamentlichen Theologie | url=https://archive.org/details/handbuchderaltte00dill | year=1895 | ___location=Leipzig | publisher=S. Hirzel}}

* {{cite journal |last1=Gordon |first1=Maurice Bear |date=December 1941 |title=Medicine among the Ancient Hebrews |journal=[[Isis (journal)|Isis]] |volume=33 |issue=4 |pages=454–485 |jstor=330623 |doi=10.1086/358601 |s2cid=41263628 }}<!--|access-date=3 March 2013-->

* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Hamburger |first=J[acob] |encyclopedia=Real-Encyclopädie für Bibel und Talmud: Wörterbuch zum handgebrauch für Bibelfreunde, Theologen, Juristen, Gemeinde- und Schulvorsteher, Lehrer &c |title=Tod |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0XMpAAAAYAAJ&pg=990 |access-date=3 March 2013 |language=de |year=1884 |publisher=Selbstverlag des Verfassers |volume=1 |___location=Strelitz, Mecklenburg |oclc=234124918 |pages=990–992}}

* {{cite book | first=David | last=Joël | title=Der Aberglaube und die Stellung des Judenthums zu Demselben | ___location=Breslau | year=1881 | publisher=F.W. Jungfer's Buch}}

* {{JewishEncyclopedia|article=Angel of Death|author=[[Kaufmann Kohler]] and [[Ludwig Blau]]|url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?letter=D&artid=178}}

* {{cite book | first=Alexander | last=Kohut | author-link=Alexander Kohut | title=Ueber die Jüdische Angelologie und Dämonologie in Ihrer Abhängigkeit vom Parsismus | ___location=Leipzig | year=1866 | publisher=Brockhaus}}

* {{cite book |last=Lynette |first=Rachel |series=Monsters |title=The Grim Reaper |year=2009 |publisher=KidHaven Press |___location=Farmington Hills, MI |isbn=978-0-7377-4568-9 |oclc=317921894}}

* {{cite book | first=John | last=Milton | author-link=John Milton | title=Paradise Lost| title-link=Paradise Lost }}

* {{cite book |last=Olyan |first=Saul M. |title=A Thousand Thousands Served Him: Exegesis and the Naming of Angels in Ancient Judaism |year=1993 |publisher=J.C.B. Mohr |___location=Tübingen |isbn=978-3-16-146063-0 |oclc=28328810 |series=Texte und Studien zum antiken Judentum, 36}}

* {{cite book | first=Moïse | last=Schwab | author-link=Moïse Schwab | title=Vocabulaire de l'Angélologie d'Après les Manuscrits Hebreux de la Bibliothèque Nationale | ___location=Paris | year=1897}}

* {{cite book | first=Erik | last=Stave | title=Ueber den Einfluss des Parsismus auf das Judenthum | ___location=Haarlem | year=1898 | publisher=E. F. Bohn}}

* {{cite book | first=F. W. | last=Weber | title=Jüdische Theologie auf Grund des Talmud und verwandter Schriften, gemeinfasslich dargestellt | url=https://archive.org/details/judischetheolog00webe | ___location=Leipzig | publisher=Dörffling & Franke | year=1897}}

* {{cite book | first=Dave | last=Hunter | author-link=Dave Hunter | title=Reapers inc}}

==External links==

* {{Commons category-inline}}

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150610213556/http://210.204.213.131/minsok/dic_index.jsp?P_MENU=04&DIC_ID=2506&ref=T2&s_idx=4&P_INDEX=0&cur_page=1 Korea National Encyclopedia of Ethnic Practices] {{in lang|ko}}

* [https://exchange.umma.umich.edu/resources/23680 Collection: "Death Personified"] from the [[University of Michigan Museum of Art]]

{{Death and mortality in art}}

{{Fantasy fiction}}

{{Horror fiction}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}

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[[Category:Personifications of death| ]]

[[Category:Psychopomps]]

[[Category:Stock characters]]

[[Category:Supernatural legends]]

[[Category:Undead]]

[[Category:Devils]]