Pre-Islamic Arabia
On the other hand, a number of commentators have noted that satyrs are also similar to beings in the beliefs of ancient Near Eastern cultures. Various demons of the desert are mentioned in ancient Near Eastern texts, although the iconography of these beings is poorly-attested. Beings possibly similar to satyrs called "śě’îrîm" are mentioned several times in the Hebrew Bible. "Śĕ’îr" was the standard Hebrew word for "he-goat", but it could also apparently sometimes refer to demons in the forms of goats. They were evidently subjects of veneration, because forbids Israelites from making sacrificial offerings to them and mentions that a special cult was established for the "śě’îrîm" of Jeroboam I. Like satyrs, they were associated with desolate places and with some variety of dancing. predicts, in Karen L. Edwards's translation: "But "wild animals" ["ziim"] will lie down there, and its houses will be full of "howling creatures" ["ohim"]; there ostriches will live, and there "goat-demons" ["śĕ’îr"] will dance." Similarly, declares: ""Wildcats" ["ziim"] shall meet with "hyenas" ["iim"], "goat-demons" ["śĕ’îr"] shall call to each other; there too "Lilith" ["lilit"] shall repose and find a place to rest." "Śě’îrîm" were understood by at least some ancient commentators to be goat-like demons of the wilderness. In the Latin Vulgate translation of the Old Testament, "śĕ’îr" is translated as "pilosus", which also means "hairy". Jerome, the translator of the Vulgate, equated these figures with satyrs. Both satyrs and "śě’îrîm" have also been compared to the jinn of Pre-Islamic Arabia, who were envisioned as hairy demons in the forms of animals who could sometimes change into other forms, including human-like ones.