The Mandaean Gnostic Religion

Description

CONTENTS Transliteration, Transcription and Signs Table ix List of Illustrations x Acknowledgments xii From the Author xiii Foreword xiv Chapter One: The Mandaeans: Their Religious Life and Ideals 1 Mandaeans Today 1 What does it Mean to be Mandaean? 3 Mandaean Teachings 7 Mandaean Beliefs 12 The Mandaean Salvation 16 The Prime Symbol for Mandaeans: the a-Drabsa/o-Drafsa (Drabsa) 18 Mandaean Rituals and Practices 20 Mandaean Feasts and Festivals 23 The Teachers of Righteousness 29 The Mandaean “House of Enlightenment/Knowledge” or “Wisdom’s House” 31 The Mandaean Holy Books (Bith Ginzi: Bit Ginzia) 33 The Mandaean Society and its Priesthood 36 Selections from Mandaean Scriptures 39 Chapter Two: Mandaean Gnostic Wisdom and Art 48 The Mandaeans 48 The Writings and Art of the Mandaeans 53 Mandaean Writings and Literature Listed 57 Introductory Comments on Mandaean Illustrations and Symbology 64 Reflections on Cosmology: Descent and Ascent 71 Thoughts about Art in the Scrolls’ Mystical Messages 85 Chapter Three: Do Gnostics ‘Believe’? The Role of Belief in Relation to Gnosis in Mandaeism 89 The Mandaean Populace 91 Mandaean Gnosticism 95 Nasirutha: Deep Knowledge and Wisdom in Mandaeism 101 The Mandaean Nasoraean Universal Framework 104 The Mandaean Diaspora and Concerns with Secularization of the Community 106 Concluding Remarks 107 Glossary 110 Select Bibliography 123 Index 130