The Book of Daniel and the Appearance of Angels

In: The international journal of Kurdish studies: IJOKS

Abstract

The biblical Book of Daniel is an epic and chronicle telling of the Succession of Kings in the Middle East after the Babylonian conquest of UrShalīm al-Kuds. It is narrated by "Daniel" who has a cyclic existence as a visionary who first supports the Babylonian King of Kings, and later Darius the Mede, the Median King of Kings. Important to this discussion on angels is the appearance of a divine being arguably a "proto-angel." The rabbinic redactors of Daniel's narrative, twelve chapters written down and recorded, describe but do not mention the name of the proto-angel arguably "Sraosha." Sraosha as understood in this study is a divine being known to us through Mazdaism. The two angels Michael and Gabriel known to early Judaism are not clothed or otherwise described, and it is not until Daniel supports Darius the Mede that Daniel's vision presents Gabriel as a "personage" who "flies."