The Mandaean World

Mandaeism: Origins and Glimpses of History

The Mandaean religion is commonly classified with Gnosticism, and the origin of the
Mandaeans can be traced to the Jordan/Palestine area. Central religious terms such as
yardna1 (running water), kuta (truth), and manda (knowledge) point decidedly toward
the religions western origins there. Exactly when the Mandaeans emigrate from the
Jordan valley to the rivers and marshes of present-day southern Iraq and southwest Iran
(Khuzistan) is still subject to debate. Discernible from the second century C.E. on, the
Mandaeans perhaps leave their western habitat in the first-century migration, as Rudolf
Macuch argues,2 though others, such as Kurt Rudolph, still considers the third century
to be more likely.3 Three (of four) Parthian kings named Artaban, who span three centuries,
appear as candidates for the role of protector of the Mandaeans eager to leave the
Jordan/Palestine area. Whatever the case may be, the Mandaeans arrive during early
Christian times into Iraq and Iran, probably incrementally and via the Harran area.
Early on, the religion clearly experiences more or less hostile contacts with various
forms of Christianity and becomes acquainted with Babylonian remnants, Zoroastrianism,
Manichaeism, and other religions. Parts of Manichaean hymnic literature are borrowed
and translated from Mandaean poetry.4 From the seventh century onward,
Mandaeism persists under Islamic rulers. A complete portrait of Mandaean history
through the centuries is impossible to acquire, but glimpses appear here and there.
Mythological traditions contain grains of history, as in the emigration legend Haran
Gawaita, which mentions an Arsacid king Artabanusbut does not specify which
Artabanusas the protector of the persecuted Mandaeans leaving their western habitat
for the east. If the emigration takes place in the first half of the first century, as Macuch
holds, one must assume that Mandaeism already existed in some original form. Alone
among scholars, Rudolph has drawn attention to a number of links between features
found in Mandaeism and in the Coptic Gnostic Nag Hammadi documents. 5 This area
of scholarship urgently awaits further investigation. Given Mandaeisms affinities with
other forms of Gnosticism, one might be able to combine research in the earliest data
and strata of Mandaeism with those of other Gnostic sources. This would be crucial for
the aim of obtaining a clearer historical picture of Gnosticisms beginnings.
According to Haran Gawaita, the Mandaeans know of the destruction of Jerusalem
and its Temple in 6970 C.E. However, according to the text, they do not emigrate as a
result of this calamity. In Mandaean eyes, the punishment of the Jews is deserved, but
the Mandaeans have another consideration: they abandon Adonai after Mary (Miriai)
becomes pregnant by witchcraft, or by someone other than her husband. 6 Miriai, the
Jewess turned Mandaean, is a heroineas I will explore in chapter 5though her son
Jesus swerves from his true, Mandaean heritage. Historically and mythologically, it is
significant that, according to Haran Gawaita, Mandaeans consider themselves former
Jews. In this context it is worth mentioning that the language of the Babylonian Talmud
is quite close to classical Mandaic.
Macuch insists that the Mandaeans must have arrived via northern Babylonia and
Media into Khuzistan already in the second century, and that the religion was fully
developed with texts and rituals at this time. As noted, technical terms, including major
cultic ones, point westward to the Jordan area, though strong secondary Babylonian
and Persian influences on Mandaeism soon become notable. But the idea that Mandaeism
is of Babylonian origin, as Edwin Yamauchi holds, is vociferously opposed by Macuch. 7
Since 1987, I have been researching parts of Mandaean history by studying and
comparing accessible Mandaean colophons, which are lists of scribes appended to nearly
all Mandaean documents. At present, my findings show that the earliest attested, named
historical person in Mandaeism is the woman lama, daughter of Qidra (cooking pot).
This woman, named in relation to her mother and/or initiator into priesthood, is the
earliest recorded Mandaean copyist of the text called the Left Ginza. The Mandaean

holy book, Ginza (treasure), is separated into a right (GR) and a left (GL) part.8 GL,
much of it in poetic form, deals largely with the souls ascent to the Lightworld, and
this section of the Ginza belongs among the religions most ancient textual material.
lama may be dated to approximately 200, for she appears several generations before
the famous early copyist Zazai of Gawazta, who flourished in the 270s. One may note
that Zazai belongs to the decade of Manis death.9
Whether the Aramaic-speaking people in Elymais, near Susa, may have been Mandaeans
is impossible to know, but the Aramaic inscriptions from Tang-i-Sarwak, Khuzistan,
stem from the second century and resemble Mandaean letters. Macuch thinks that the
Mandaean letters precede the Elymaic ones.10
Under Persian rule, during the time of the later Arsacids, the Mandaeans evidently
enjoy royal protection. This situation changes as the Sasanid ruler Bahram I comes to
power in 273. Mani is executed at the beginning of his reign, as the influential and zealous
Zoroastrian high priest Karter continues to suppress adherents of non-Zoroastrian
religions, such as Mandaeans, Manichaeans, Jews, Christians, Hindus, and Buddhists.
During these dangerous years, one might surmise a consolidation of Mandaean literature
in an attempt to rescue and codify the religion. Zazais extensive copyist activities
testify to this.
The persecutions instigated by Karter do not quench Mandaeism, however. Except
for a few copyists names in the Mandaean colophons, the religion seems to fade from
recorded history for centuries. But a particular form of literature emerges, perhaps as
early as the third to seventh centuries: the inscribed, so-called magical bowls, and also