Silence over the Karun, silence over Jerusalem
The Aramaic languages of Late Antiquity can be Eastern or Western. The Eastern languages developed in areas shaped by Iranian influence, while the Western ones belonged to territories under Hellenistic and Roman rule. Mandaic, both as a language and as a script, belongs to the Eastern group, but it also shows clear signs of contact with the Levant, with some Greek vocabulary. The Mandaean script is unusual in that, unlike most Semitic writing systems, it is not an abjad but a full alphabet. It marks not only long vowels, the so-called “mothers of reading” familiar from Hebrew, Arabic, and Syriac, but also short vowels.
The central figure of the Mandaean religion is John, the same figure known in Christianity as John the Baptist. As is well known, the Greek word baptisma means “immersion” (for purification). In Mandaeism, immersion is a central rite performed repeatedly throughout life, not just once as in Christian baptism. For this ritual, the essential condition is flowing water, yardnā, a term that recalls the Jordan River.
The Mandaeans call their teaching Nāṣirutā, “Nazorenism,” and call themselves nāṣorāyi, “Nazorenes.” Their community consists of the tarmidutā, the priesthood, and the mandāyutā, the laity, from mandā, “knowledge.” When modern scholars describe the Mandaeans as “Gnostics,” this should not be understood to mean that they are somehow descended from, say, the Valentinians. “Gnosticism” is a broad umbrella term for many quite different currents of Late Antiquity, so simply calling the Mandaeans “Gnostic” explains very little by itself.
As Charles Häberl writes, “to their non-Mandæan neighbours, they are most commonly known as ṣubba or Sabians,” using a term taken from the religious vocabulary of the Qur’an. The Sabians are mentioned there alongside the other “People of the Book”:
Indeed, the believers, Jews, Christians, and Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day and does good will have their reward with their Lord. And there will be no fear for them, and they shall not grieve. (2:62)
Since the Qur’an does not describe the Sabians in a way that would identify them conclusively with the Mandaeans, modern scholarship has looked for the “Sabians” among a wide variety of ethno-confessional groups. At the same time, this very ambiguity has sometimes been used as a pretext for the persecution of Mandaeans.
The answer is fairly straightforward. First, among all the groups modern scholars have tried to identify as Sabians, only the Mandaeans themselves accept this designation. Second, while the Qur’an does not explicitly say that the Sabians are Mandaeans, it also does not say that they are not. What matters is that they are presented as a scriptural community, and John, the figure known to Christians as John the Baptist, is indeed present in their sacred tradition. For that reason, it is quite reasonable to see them as part of a Levantine religious constellation alongside Jews and Christians.
One of the early descriptions of the Mandaeans was given by the eighth-century Christian scholar Bar Konai. He says that they lived in Meshan, that is, not only in the area of modern Missan Governorate but across the whole Marsh region of Southern Mesopotamia and the lands downstream toward Basra; and also in Beth Aramaye, or Central Mesopotamia between Ctesiphon and Nippur. They still live there today, although after 2003 many were forced to leave Iraq. As a result, it is now Australia which has the largest Mandaean population in the world.
Illustration: an incantation bowl with inscription in Mandaic, IM77292, from the collection of Iraq Museum
