Saklas

Names

• Saklas
• Belet-ili (Atrahasis)?
• Jehovah?
• Yaldabaoth?

Then Saklas spoke to his angels: “Let us make a human being according to form and according to image.” They formed Adam and his wife Eve, who in the cloud is called Zoe. Through this name, all generations look for the man and each one calls the woman by this name.

Apocryph of Judas.

And from the cloud came an angel, from whose face flames flickered, and whose appearance was tainted with blood. His name was Nebro, which means rebel; others call it Yaldabaoth. Another angel, Saklas, also came out of that cloud. Nebro created six angels, as well as Saklas, to be servants, and these created twelve angels in heaven, from whom each received part of heaven.

Apocryph of Judas

See: The Apocalypse of Adam

“Saklas” is a name often associated with Gnostic teachings, particularly within certain sects that describe the creation and structure of the universe in mythic terms. In Gnostic cosmology, Saklas is sometimes identified as a creator or demiurge, a lesser god responsible for the material world.

Ignorant or malevolent

In some Gnostic texts, Saklas is equated with the Old Testament God and is depicted as either ignorant or malevolent, or both. This contrasts sharply with the benevolent, transcendent God (often called the true God or the Monad) of higher realms in Gnostic theology. The demiurge’s creation of the material world and humanity is seen as flawed or corrupt, trapping the divine spark within the physical form.

The name Saklas itself is sometimes translated as “fool” or “foolish,” reflecting this entity’s lack of true divine wisdom and understanding, according to Gnostic belief. This character is believed to have created the material world and the first human, Adam, with the help of subordinate spirits or powers, often called archons.

These teachings are part of a broader set of beliefs in Gnosticism, which was a diverse and complex religious movement that flourished in the early centuries of Christianity and proposed a dualistic universe, where spiritual enlightenment was the path to escape the material world created by Saklas.

From the Gospel of the Egyptians:

Then Sakla, the great angel, saw the great demon who is with him, Nebruel. And they became together a begetting spirit of the earth. They begot assisting angels. Sakla said to the great demon Nebruel, “Let the twelve aeons come into being in the […] aeon, worlds […].” […] the great angel Sakla said by the will of the Autogenes,

“There shall be the […] of the number of seven […].” And he said to the great angels, “Go and let each of you reign over his world.” Each one of these twelve angels went forth.

• The first angel is Athoth. He is the one whom the great generations of men call […].
• The second is Harmas, who is the eye of the fire.
• The third is Galila.
• The fourth is Yobel.
• The fifth is Adonaios, who is called ‘Sabaoth’.
• The sixth is Cain, whom the great generations of men call the sun.
• The seventh is Abel
• The eighth Akiressina;
• The ninth Yubel.
• The tenth is Harmupiael.
• The eleventh is Archir-Adonin.
• The twelfth is Belias.

These are the ones who preside over Hades and the chaos.