Pdf mandaeism a religion between sweden and the middle east. Despite these considerable efforts, mandaeans were unable to use these editions in iraq and iran due to the unfamiliarity of german and latin there. As a small minority living under the threat of cultural extinction and ethnocide, mandaeans have. New opportunities to reach iraqi mandaean refugees with. As a small endogamous group under the hegemony of the non mandaeans and exposed to epidemics, they always have been under the threat of cultural extinction. As a student who is studying the mandaeans and who has mandaean friends i find this book offensive, disturbing, and full of hate. The mandaeansbaptizers of iraq and iran is a fascinating and scholarly book.
May 29, 2010 the american led invasion of iraq was meant to usher in democracy, liberty, freedom, and a revitalized iraq. He was born in iran, where a small mandaean minority lives today. Pdf the mandaeans, members of a small ancient gnostic. Mandaeanism, from mandaean mandayya, having knowledge, ancient middle eastern religion still surviving in iraq and khuzistan southwest iran. They are a religious and ethnic minority that is facing annihilation. Mar 04, 2007 the sabian mandaeans one of the oldest religious groups in the world are facing extinction, according to its leaders. Wellresearched, but permeating throughout is the heartbeat that karen has, that i can only describe as motivated by love. Mandaeism simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Historically located in iraq and iran, their traditional homelands have often proved less than hospitable to them. Until the iraq war, almost all of them lived in iraq. As the result of an increasing need to have a comprehensible ginza in iraq, the headship of the mandaeans decided to translate the ginza rabba into arabic. The mandaeans were originally native speakers of mandaic, a semitic language that evolved from eastern middle aramaic, before many switched to colloquial. The united states has strongly criticized both syria and iran for contributing to the regions volatility and, in particular, for playing a destabilizing role in each of three regional conflicts.
Iran and iraq had established diplomatic relations so that the iraqi. The human rights group watches, investigates and exposes human rights violations against mandaeans. There are thought to be between 60,000 and 70,000 mandaeans worldwide. Modern cultic structures are built of bricks, and often the ritual font is connected with the public water system. Mandaeanism is a faith based on the teachings of john the baptist, and its rituals and. Their cults, customs, magic legends, and folklore e. The mandaeans of iran lived chiefly in ahvaz, iranian khuzestan, but have moved as a result of the iraq iran war to other cities such as tehran, karaj and shiraz. Ghazi expected only about a few dozen people to attend the ceremony. Oct 17, 2018 until 2003, nearly all the worlds mandaeans lived in iraq, but the cycles of conflict since the united states invasion have driven minorities out of the country for security reasons and economic. The mandaeans are part of the indigenous people of iraq. Drower relates a tradition that the mandaean sacred books were brought down from the world of light and entrusted to adam by the savior spirit hibil ziua. As a result, today mandaeans are found all over the world, but in communities the size of which leaves the persistence of their culture into the future at peril. Drower mandaean scriptures, mandaean scriptures collection, part of a vast collection of materials dealing with gnosis and gnosticism, both ancient and modern. To the british school of archaeology in iraq for permission to reprint part of an article on mandaean writings which appeared in iraq vol.
No more than two thousand mandaeans now live in basraabout a tenth of the number during ghazis. Yazidism and religious syncretism practiced by minorities in iraq includes mandaeism, shabakism, and yarsanism accounts for 1. Amid the deterioration of the iraqi government authority to the. Mar 20, 2011 this is a video that shows the religion of the sabian mandaean people in iraq, australia and all around the world. Mandaeans are believed to be part of the group of sabean religions mentioned. Almonitor estimates that 3,000 mandaeans remain in iraq. Independent of judaism christianity and islam, mandaeanism follows the teachings of john the baptist.
Most sabean mandaeans live in southern iraq, including basrah and the southern governorates of dhi qar and maysan, but small numbers live in baghdad and the kurdistan region. Mandaeans, an ethnoreligious group mostly living in iraq and iran, are bearers of a gnostic tradition based on the scriptures written in mandaic. Because the rituals of birth, baptism, marriage and death centre on water, the mandaeans have from time immemorial lived close to rivers the karoun in khuzestan province of southwest. Pdf landscape and constructs in the mandaean culture. However, since the mid1970s, the mandaeans of iraq and iran have partly changed the tradition of their cultic areas in order to avoid polluted streams and rivers. The sabeanmandaean community in iraq is threatened with extinction. Bbc news middle east iraqs mandaeans face extinction. According to their own story the mandaeans took this step as a means of better following the teachings of john the baptist who used ritual immersion as a central tenet of his practice. They, along with minorities in iraq, are still facing extremely difficult and dangerous times. Pdf ritual purity and the mandaeans identity mehrdad. Department of state country facts background the islamic republic of iran is a constitutional, theocratic republic that proclaims the twelver jaafari school of shia islam to be the official religion of the country. The mandaeans or subba of iraq and iran it is a peculiarity of the various communities and religions classed together as minorities in modern iraq that, for the most part, they keep to themselves, associating only with coreligionists and rarely marrying an outsider.
Available formats pdf please select a format to send. These iraqi immigrants revere john the baptist, but theyre not christians. Today, this area belongs to iraq and khuzestan province in iran. Submission on behalf of the mandaean human rights group.
The mandeans have their own language mandaic, a form of aramaic close to the dialect of the babylonian talmud, an impressive body of literature, and a treasury of cultural and religious traditions amassed over two millennia of living in the southern marshes of presentday iraq and iran. Qoluta is the canonical prayer book of the mandaeans, a gnostic sect from iraq and iran. No anthropologist has conducted fieldwork among the mandaeans, not even in recent decades, and therefore drower remains a singular figure. It is also a call to evangelism, as more mandaeans now live in the united states than in iraq and iran. The mandaeans, who were traditionally considered as people of the book members of a protected religion under islamic rule lost this status after the islamic revolution. They claim that islamic extremists in iraq are trying to wipe them out through forced conversions, rape and murder. The religion of the mandaeans is a written tradition and is the main reference of their identity. The mandaeans of today live as their ancestors did, along the rivers and waterways of southern iraq and khuzistan, iran. With a passion for the obscure, karen baker has delved into this secret sect, exploring the effects of the turmoil they have faced in their homeland. Mandaean human rights group mandaeans of iraq since 2015 the mandaeans is an an ethnolinguisticreligious minority lived in mesopotamia modern iraq and iran for thousands of years. Mandaean refugees started to arrive in australia during the iraniraq war of 19801988 and the gulf war of.
No anthropologist has conducted fieldwork among the mandaeans, not even in recent decades and therefore drower remains a singular figure. Jan 02, 2016 mandaeans the ancient gnostic people of iraq and iran. In the aftermath of the iraq war of 2003, the mandaean community of iraq, which used to. Mandaeans the ancient gnostic people of iraq and iran youtube. The constitution stipulates that followers of five other schools of.
The mandaeans of iran lived chiefly in ahvaz, iranian khuzestan, but have moved as a result of the iraniraq war to other cities such as tehran, karaj and shiraz. Religion in iraq was overwhelmingly muslim as of 2015, with over 9598% of the population practicing islam. The mandaeans ancient texts and modern people american academy of religion. A study of all aspects of mandaean life, the mandaeans of iraq and iran remains the work that brings the people alive. Following the outbreak of war in 2003, many fled to neighbouring countries, including jordan. The mandaeans are pacifists, followers of adam, noah and john the baptist. The site includes the gnostic library, with the complete nag hammadi library and a large collection of other primary gnostic scriptures and documents. The source of this tradition, her chief informant and good friend hirmiz bar anhar of baghdad, added that these books included the great treasure. The mandaeans from manda, knowledge practice a religion that has affinities with judaism and christianity. Their cults, which are regarded by them as more sacred than their books, and older, have been tenaciously retained. Introduction in the following pages an attempt is made to relate what the author has seen, heard, and observed of the mandaeans of iraq. This evidence, we submit, is useful, not only to the student of anthropology, folklore, and ethnology, but to students. She was considered the primary specialist on the mandaeans, and the chief collector of mandaean manuscripts.
Mandaeism, mandaeans, sweden, iraq, iran, baptism, religious minorities. Their life, customs and religious tracts or ginza rba are all lovingly recorded and described by elizabeth stephens drower. They are one of the oldest monotheistic religions in the middle east. Jul 31, 2012 the mandaeans of iraq and iran by drower, e. Mandaeans are an ethnoreligious group native to the alluvial plain of southern mesopotamia. The religion has been practised primarily around the lower karun, euphrates and tigris and the rivers that surround the shattalarab waterway, part of southern iraq and khuzestan province in iran.
Prefatory note i have been assisted in the publication of this book by two learned bodies. Their number in iraq has been decreasing since april 2003. Socially, it emphasizes marriage, family, and living a peaceful. The mandaeans are suffering and though i appreciate the author is helping refugees, she seems to only be helping them so she can convert them, which is. The sabeanmandaeans united states institute of peace. Its followers, the mandaeans, think highly of adam, abel, seth, enosh, noah, shem, aram and especially john the baptist. Christianity, including catholic, orthodox, protestant, assyrian church of the east, accounted for 1% and other religions made up the remaining 14%. Whereas most scholars date the beginnings of mandaeanism. The term mandaeans mandayi is not an original selfdesignation see ii. Approximately 3540 mandaeans are in sulaimaniyah and four in dohuk. In 2011, al arabiya put the number of hidden and unaccounted for iranian mandaeans i n ira n as high as 60,000. The mandaeans sabian mandaeans in iraq demography the mandaeans are a religious sect of great antiquity.
Mandaeans the ancient gnostic people of iraq and iran. Water pollution threatens mandaean religious practices in iraq. As noted, it is not impossible that the mandaeans had come to the rivers of khuzestan as early as the 1st century. Otherwise the rituals were performed directly on the banks of the rivers or creeks close to the residences of the community. We live in a situation which is quite similar to velayat faqih as it is in iran. According to the 15 september 2004 united states department of state international religious freedom report for iran, section 1, the current mandaean population in persia comprises between 5,000 and 10,000 persons. Water pollution in iraq threatens mandaean religious rites. The university of chicago library the mandaeans of iraq and iran by e.
Save up to 80% by choosing the etextbook option for isbn. As a small endogamous group under the hegemony of the non mandaeans. Of the 60,000 mandaeans who were in iraq in 2003, before. The mandaeans of iraq and iran 1937 edition open library. Amal bejjani the secrets of a complex belief system that have sustained the mandaeans in their centuriesold native lands in iraq and iran have been collapsing before their eyes. Originally, mandaeism was practiced mainly in the countries around the lower euphrates and tigris and the rivers that surround the shattalarab waterway. The sabeanmandaean community and reconciliation the sabeanmandaean community identifies itself as a linguistic and religious minority indigenous to iraq mandaean union, 2016. According to a 2009 article in the holland sentinel, the mandaean community in iran has also been dwindling, numbering between 5,000 and at most 10,000 people. The mandaeans or subba of iraq and iran mandaean religious literature ritual dress and insignia lay life marriage cosmogony, astrology, and holydays baptism the manda or culthut the priesthood. The secrets of a complex belief system that have sustained the mandaeans in their centuriesold native lands in iraq and iran have been collapsing before their eyes. Mandaeans have been living in iraq and iran for about two millenniums. This littleknown gnostic sect has been hidden from global awareness until now. The mandaeansbaptizers of iraq and iran 9781498246200. Today, the mandaeans are found chiefly in ahwaz ahvaz, q.
Observations were made over a number of years and furnish a considerable body of new evidence as to their customs, beliefs, cults, and magic. As followers of john the baptist, members of this small faith group, numbering between 5,000 and 10,000 in iran, immerse themselves in moving water every sunday. Such modest figures explain why mandaeans fear extinction. Sadly, from the outset other forces would be unleashed and this applies to radical islam, terrorism, sunnishia clashes, the persecution of christians, and other negative forces. The mandaeansbaptizers of iraq and iran karen baker. The prayerbook is a collection of mandaic prayers regarding baptisms and other sacred rituals involved in the ascension of the soul.
Older mandaeans still remember lady drower with fondness, and for many scholars, students, and aficionados, her book the mandaeans of iraq and iran remains the work that brings the people alive. Lady, 1937, the clarendon press edition, microform in english. Hitherto our knowledge of the mandaeans a small community of some 5,000 souls dispersed over a few places in iraq and iran has been confined to the. Drower mandaean scriptures, mandaean scriptures collection, part of a vast collection of materials dealing with gnosis. From preislamic times to the present, they have lived in southern iraq and southwestern iran khuzestan, but since the iraniraq war 198088 and later upheavals in the region, they are also to be found in europe, north america, and australia.
Mandaeans perform a religious ritual on the banks of the tigris river in baghdad, iraq, on oct. These iraqi immigrants revere john the baptist, but they. The mandaeans are the members of an ethnoreligious group living in iran and iraq. Ginza rabba the great treasure the holy book of the. Only 6,000 remain in iraq meaning that 90% of mandaeans are now refugees.