Aeshma

Aeshma (Avestan: 𐬀𐬉𐬴𐬨𐬀 aēṣ̌ma; Old Avestan: 𐬀𐬉𐬱𐬆𐬨𐬀 aēšəma) is the Younger Avestan name of Zoroastrianism's demon of "wrath". As a hypostatic entity, Aeshma is variously interpreted as "wrath", "rage", and "fury". His standard epithet is "of the bloody mace". Tri-syllabic aeshma is already attested in Gathic Avestan as aēšəma, though not yet—at that early stage—as an entity. The word has an Indo-Iranian root, descendant of the Proto-Indo-European root *h₁eish₂- ‘strengthen; propel’, making it cognate with Ancient Greek oîma (οἶμα) ‘spring, rush’, Latin īra ‘wrath’, and Lithuanian aistrà ‘violent passion’. In the Zoroastrian texts of the 9th–12th centuries, aeshma appears as Middle Persian eshm 𐭠𐭩𐭱𐭬 or 𐭧𐭩𐭱𐭬 kheshm, continuing in Pazend and New Persian as خشم xašm. Judaism's Asmodeus (Hebrew: אַשְמְדּאָי ʼšmdʼy) may derive from Avestan aeshma.daeva. The Georgian language word for devil—eshmaki—likewise derives from aeshma.