Possible Origins of "Azarath"

First published online Oct 10, 2014. "Theory 4" added Dec 18, 2014.

Non-fictionally speaking, where did the name of Raven's birth-world, Azarath, get its name? The answer almost definitely starts with Marv Wolfman and/or George Perez (the creators of the Raven from the comics that inspired the show), but how did they think it up? Through my own readings I have come up with some theories. Perhaps the true answer's already been stated somewhere before, but nonetheless I hope this will be an interesting read.

The land of Azarath. Episode: The Prophecy

Theory 1: Demons
Seeing as Azarath has ties to half-demon Raven and her father Trigon (a full demon), it only seems appropriate that a demon's name would be a good starting point for Azarath's name. The best suspect would be the demon Astaroth, a fairly well known demon referenced in many sources. Astaroth's name itself has its own origins, beginning with a goddess who was worshiped by many throughout the Middle East named "Astarte". Old Testament writers were naturally against the worshipping of her as she stood as a rival to the God their religion believed in. Due to this, they referred to her as "Ashtoreth", which combined Astarte's name with the Hebrew word "bosheth", meaning "shame". Eventually, they went all out and transformed her into a demon, a practice they often did to gods and goddesses beyond their own, and named her (now him) "Astaroth". Additionally, if we were to combine Astaroth's name with one of the several demons with a name beginning with "az", such as Azael or Aziabelis, we get "Azaroth", which is mighty close to "Azarath".

Side Theory: Something else I noticed about Astaroth's name is that it contains the name "Roth", which is the last name given to Raven at some point in non-show-continuity comics. Although there's no reason I know of to believe this is also Raven's last name in the show, it's still intriguing to think about.

Theory 2: H.P. Lovecraft
Azarath fits well into the realm of dark fantasy and the otherworldly, and when it comes to such things, there aren't many writers more acclaimed than H.P. Lovecraft. The famous horror writer may be best known for his Cthulhu Mythos, which is where we get the following two deities. The first, Azathoth, is already itself very closely named to "Azarath", but when taken with the second's name, "Shub-Niggurath", we can now splice them together to spell out Azarath's name exactly.

Theory 3: An Epic Birthplace
Azarath's probably known best as the place where Raven was born and raised in her fantastic saga, thus, it seems that the name of another hero's homeland (as told in another epic saga) would be a fair possibility as the origin for its name. This leads us to Nazareth, which is by some considered to be the place Jesus Christ grew up and was possibly born in. The two names are very similar, needing only to remove one letter and change another to have them match.

Side Theories: Besides being the name of Raven's first home, the word "Azarath" is also known as the first part of Raven's mantra "Azarath Metrion Zinthos". Something interesting I've noticed about it is that "Azarath" starts with the first letter of the alphabet, "Metrion" starts with the middle letter of the alphabet (tied with "N"), and "Zinthos" starts with the last letter of the alphabet. So we have the start, middle, and end of the alphabet as the initials of the phrase. Perhaps that idea is how it got its start in creation. Additionally, there's said to be an angel named "Metatron", which is close to how "Metrion" is spelt. The connection there goes back to Theory 1 since it's believed that demons were once angels before falling.

Theory 4: Witchery
As mentioned a moment ago, "Azarath" is also used in a mantra. In the real-world, there's a chant (similar to a mantra) that's supposedly been used by different covens throughout history which contains a word very similar to "Azarath" -- "Azarak". There are variations as to how the whole chant goes, and its very origins seem muddled, but, if nothing else, it seems the Wiccan religion has made use of it. This reference could make sense seeing as how Raven's magickal prowess is somewhat comparable to the witches of lore.

Conclusion
And there we have it. There's also obviously the chance that the name was made up without inspiration, but I won't bother listing that as a theory as it goes without saying. I'm glad I had a chance to get my thoughts organized and down somewhere. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.