By Ethel Stefana Deowee, Oxford
Note on Transliteration and Pronunciation
As some indication of pronunciation is better than none, I use Latin script
for transliteration of Mandaic, and not the customary Hebrew characters.
In Hebrew and Arabic two 'Ii's appear in the alphabet and in texts, the
one soft and the other hard. The former indeed appears hi Mandaic alphabets
as^ or Q and as a terminal . It has, however one use only, for it is employed solely as a possessive^ or objective suffix, and never as a consonant in a word.
Moreover, I can detect no difference in pronunciation. It appears to me,
therefore, unjustifiable to imply by any device in transliteration that a
difference exists, so that wherever a ist written in Mandaic texts I trans¬
literate 'h' regardless of cognates. For the suffix I transliterate h underlined.
In order to indicate pronunciation I print the Mandaean jj as 't' when
hard and as 'th' when the letter is pronounced like the 'th' in the English word ''truth." Similarly, the Mandaean \^ is transcribed 'k' when hard and a 'kh'
when guttural. 'KH' is pronounced like an Arabic . The letter ^ is written
'p' and 'f according to pronunciation, as in the words pasimkha and fras. The
letter ^ is written 'g^' (underlined) when pronounced like the Arabic ^, and
'g' when hard; e. g., tagha and gimra.
Vowels vary in pronunciation ; even priests disagree. I have not attempted
to indicate in transliteration how they should be pronounced. The Mandaic
'a', O, (terminale!— ) is often broad, almost 'aw' (e.g., mäna), but is usually pronounced as in Italian.
Occasionally it is quite short as in the second syllable oiabad, pronoimced
äväd or äved. 'Y' ) may be pronounced 'y', and so indicated in pronuncia¬
tion, or as 'i' in Italian, but when short often approximates the French '6' and sometimes the English 'e' in the Enghsh word "met" or the 'i' in "hid". For example, yurba (pron. yur-ba); bit (pron. beyth when meaning "house" or
"egg", but bit when meaning "I sought"); sahdinabh {sah-dinä-bl) ; zidqa (zedqa) ; biSa (bi-sa) ; hiia (h6-yi) ; tiniana (tinn-ya-na) ; etc. The letter may be 'w' or 'u' or 'o'. E.g., b' waSkha (pron. hi weskh,a); ganzibria utarmidia
igan-ziv-ri u-tar-mi-di) ; amintul (ämin-töl).
'AV is usually pronounced 'äi' and the plural suffix 'aiva' is pronounced 'oyyi:
' Die Photographien des mandäischen Textes werden dem Aufsatz auf
Wunsch der Redaktion beigegeben. Die Redaktion glaubt auf diese Weise
Unklarheiten und Zweifeln, die durch die von der Verfasserin angewendete
Transkription entstehen könnten, am einfachsten zu begegnen.
Die Redaktion
^ If masculine it is pronounced 'I' if feminine 'ä.' 8*
116 Ethel Stefana Drovvek
The consonant ^ presents difficulty : it is sometimes pronounced 'b' and
sometimes 'v' or 'w.' As pronimciation even of a single word differs, I have
not attempted to reproduce its vagaries in transliteration. Ganzibra, for in¬
stance, is sometimes 'ganzivra' and sometimes 'ganzowra', but never 'ganzi-
bra'. AbahaAa is usually 'owhäüia' but occasionally 'abaJiüAa' . Labsa is some¬
times 'lav-sa' and sometimes 'läu-Sa'. Arba ("boat", "ferry") is pronounced as written. (The letter 'r' is always rolled.) Gabra ("man") is usually 'gowa' , occasionally 'gavra', but never 'gabra'.
The consonants and fy (a and t ) are pronounced like the Arabic and
t. The Mandaic ^= , (transliterated 'to distinguish it from the guttural ^
(trs.') and ^ since it is not a guttmal) is often pronounced like an 'i', but
when followed by a vowel is coloured by it, e.g., 'uQira is pronounced 'üOi-ra'.
It is, in short, a very indefinite somid.
The particle tj— which Nöldeke and Lidzbab.ski transliterated I
transcribe'd'. It is pronounced 'd' or as if preceded by a short vowel sound.
The adverb which Nöldekb and Lidzbabski transliterated t' 3, I tran¬
scribe 'kth' as this approximates its pronunciation, viz. 'käth' to rhyme with the English "hath".
I have not indicated in transliteration mute letters,^ but should mention that the final 'a' of the masculine plural termination is silent. Hence humria,
sibiahia. and kadabia are pronounced 'hüm-ri', 'Sivi-ähi' (or Siwi-ähi'), and
'kad-ävi'.
The accent tends to fall on the penultimate syllable.
In the Middle East, except in towns, meat is a luxury rather than a
necessity. Poor folk - and the vast majority live from hand to mouth —
cannot afford it Their food is in most cases very literally "daily bread"
eked out by vegetables, rice, eggs, fish and mük if villagers and fellahin,
and by dates, rice and mük if tribesmen. The daily task of viUage and
nomad women includes the grinding of grain into flour, then kneading
jt into dough and baking it. So truly is bread "the staff of life" that in
Egypt both flour and wheat are called ^juc "life". Arab women
mention the name of God when plunging the hand into the fiourbin. To
aUow a person to pass by when eating bread by the roadside without
offering to share it, even if it be a last crust, would be shameful; to refuse
bread to one who asks it, impious. To sell bread is disgraceful unless, of
course, the seller is a baker by trade. Bakers, however, are townsmen:
outside the towns baking bread is not a man's task at aU.
If bread for secular use is thus hallowed and honoured, how far more
sacred is a loaf ritually prepared and ritually eaten! Preparation of
sacramental bread in the Eastern churches is elaborate and careful: its
breaking on the altar and prothesis table is both comphcated and sym-
^ The 'q' in arqa is mute : pronounce 'arra'.
(Photograph by Liz Shearman, 1954.)
A priest has arranged the table for a Blessed Oblation. He holds a Sa.l
(Photograph by Liz Shearman, 1954.)
bolically significant. Semi-sacred preparations of wheat, such dishes as
harlsa {^.y^) prepared hy SWa Moslems and Yazidis; the Greek
Orthodox kolyba and the Persian and Kurdish samani or samanu, are
accompanied by prayer and religious exercises. The Zoroastrian draona
or daruv} of India and Persia (which had an identically named Mithraic
counterpart) resembles the Christian qurban, prosphora and neshkar in that
it is sacramentally prepared and eaten in commemoration of the dead
and with prayers for the living, just like the pihtiia in the Mandaean
masiqÜia.^
In short, bread is not merely a symbol of life. Itself the union of macer¬
ated grains into a single substance, when broken into fragments and
divided amongst a number of persons gathered together it becomes the
symbol of a society united both in this world and the next by a common
faith and shared ritual.
In Mandaean literature the word lahma is employed in a generic sense
as "food", "nourishment" and might sometimes be rendered by "liveli¬
hood", "means of subsistence" and so on. In the Book of the Zodiac,^
lahma rba tikul (lah-ma rab-ba ti-kkul), lit. "she will eat great lahma"
means "she wül have plenty to eat" "will have a good income" "be well- off". Yahib lahma umia is equivalent to "entertains" "offers hospitality".
In the Sarh d Qabin d Sislam Bba* household loaves are called grisaüia,
and these are baked by the bridegroom's family. I have not found the
word elsewhere since Mandaean texts are mainly concerned with ritual
bread.
In their ritual texts and liturgies three words are used for bread;
namely: - pihüia (pronounce pih-tha), fatira and sa^. AU three are nn-
leavened, and the fatira and sa are sometimes saltless. When the word
hitia (wheat) is used for ritual bread, it merely indicates that the flour
must be ground just before the ceremony.
The fatira when made by priests for the masiqtha is a small disc about
as big as a florin or two-mark piece; on other occasions it is a round flap
of bread, somewhat smaller than the flat loaf used domestically all over
the Arab East.
Grain for ritual bread is carefully selected and the finest wheat
is used. It is washed in fiowing water and sun-dried before it is ground
by the priest between two freshly-immersed and dried millstones.
! In the sacrament of the Yasna ce ;emony.
^ Masiqdia (pr. mas-seq-tiia) means "a raising-up"- i.e., of the dead.
^ Published by the Royal Asiatic Society, Luzeic, 1949.
* Biblica et Orientalia, no. 12, Rome 1950. (GrisaQia tfia. bnura: "loaves baked in the fire"). Qabin is pronounced qä-ven, the 'a' broad.
* Plmals: - saia, fatiria and pihthania. (The final 'a' is not pronoimced.)
118 Ethel Stefana Drowbr
Water to wet the dough is taken directly from the yardna i. e., from the
river or from a pool connected with a running source in such a manner
that the water flows and is hiia {heyi), "living" and not "cut-off" or
stagnant. The brazier over which the bread is baked must have been
previously immersed thrice, and is fed with wood previously washed in
the same manner. The fire is sanctified by prayer and incense cast into it.
The fatiras first described, the small discs of dough made for the masiqüia,
are merely passed thrice through the heat and not properly baked like
fatiras of the second type.
When making pih^a, the priest adds a little salt to the flom in the
palm of his right hand, kneading the dough by the waterside with the
fingers of his left. The size varies according to the number of communi¬
cants. If a single person awaits baptism, the priest makes and bakes a
small pihtha for himself and consumes it with the proper rites and prayers
before the ceremony begins. During the baptism he makes another small
pihüia which he administers on the bank to the baptised person after his
or her baptism in the water. Finally, he makes, bakes and consumes a
third pihüia for himself. Each time the appropriate prayers for the
pihüia^ are recited and each time the ritual is the same. Each time the
consumption of the pihtha is followed by the drinking of the mambuha,
i.e., water from a bowl freshly-filled at the yardna. The pihtha on all
three occasions is about the size of a small biscuit. When the priest is
providing for a number of communicants after baptism, as at the larger
feasts and especially at Panja^ and the New Year, a larger pihtha is
broken into the requisite number of pieces.*
In its most literal sense the word pihtha means "opened". That is to
say, it is something opened up, broken apart or into pieces.*
Both the verbal roots pta {ptha) and pth pAh are used with pihüia:
priests have told me that the verb pta used with pihüia means "to break
into pieces" : the verb used for breaking the sa is jyrA.
The ritual breaking of a loaf into pieces might conceivably symbohse
the creative self-division of a Whole into parts, that is, a divine act of
^ They are eight in number. Lidzbarski gives them in his Mandäische
Liturgien ; xxxlvi-xliü. The prayers for the mambuha are two ; ibid, xliv-xlv.
^ A spring feast celebrated during the five intercalary da.ys. It is also called
Parwanaiia. During the feast every male and female Mandaean should be
baptised.
" Cf. the Aramaic XP'S piece, bread (Targ. O. Gen. xviii t.; Targ Y. ib.
xl, 16; etc.)
* Analagous is the Arabic _,J»9 which might be translated "something split open, or divided into pieces," since the verb is "to cleave, splits thing, to find out, begin a thing" as well as "to break a fast" and metaphori¬
cally of God, "to create". See Hava's Arabic-English Dictionary.
manifestation. I have, however, found nothing in the ritual texts which could indicate such a symbolic interpretation.
In the preface to his Mandäische Liturgien^ (pp. xxi-xxiii) Lidzbarski
pointed out that several Mandaean creation myths relate that the creation
of the material world was entrusted to the demiurge Pthahil whose name,
he suggested, indicated that the roots PTH, PHT and PTA (pronounced
püih, phth and ptha) could convey the meaning "to create"
(schufen), but his attempt to identify Pthahil^ with the Egyptian god
Ptah as creator is far from convincing. Pth and pth, literally "to
open", can of course be used in the sense of "to reveal", "disclose" and
"to inaugurate".
Familiarity with Mandaean ritual, a knowledge of the actions which
accompany pihtha prayers is important for comprehension of the words
used in them. So scrupulously has the ritual of the Mandaeans been
preserved and so heavily penahsed is the least departure from traditional
procedure, that it is not unreasonable to suppose that rites have changed
httle over a very long period and that they are probably older than the
prayers and hymns recited during their celebration. Nevertheless, certain
prayers have undoubtedly been attached to some of these rites for many
centuries, and in all probabüity considerably before the liturgy was
edited in the time of Ramuia.*
It is useful, therefore, to examine the wording of prayers in context
with the actions of the priest during their recitation. Lidzbarski had no
opportunity to do this : had he witnessed Mandaean ceremonies I venture
to think that his translation of some phrases and words would be changed.
I may instance a zhara (admonition to a priest, rubric)* which has some¬
how been copied as part of Prayer XXVI {MasiqAa prayers, M. L. p.
70): — Afris ugalil wamar manda d hiia. .. kul gahra nasuraia kth yatib
nitab unimar mqaimitun hiia qadmaiia upihüia nipüia agzartha tihuia 'Ih
mn bith hiia. - Lidzbarski translates this: - "Manda dHaije. .. lehrte,
offenbarte und sprach : 'Über jeden Nasoräer, der sitzend sagt 'du erstes
1 A selection of liturgical prayers and hymns from a collection found in the
libraries of most Mandaean priests. The collection is in codex form. Lidz¬
babski was acquainted with parts of this collection but not with the whole.
I shall refer to his book as M. L.
^ Pthahil's work as creator was so imperfect that it was amended by divine beings higher than himself.
ä Most Mandaean religious texts appear to have been collected and edited
by a priest of this name in early Islamic times.
* The zhara "warning" is a direction to the priest inserted in books of ritual and liturgical prayers. It often indicates a place in a prayer or hymn
where the celebrant should insert the name or names of persons to be com¬
memorated; hence the word is sometimes better translated "insertion".
120 Ethel Stefana Drowee
Leben bist gefestigt' und das Pihtä hersteht, wird die Verdammung aus
dem Hause des Lebens kommen".
Now Mqaimitun hiia qadmaiia is a formula repeated sixty-one times
by the priest, standing, every time that he has communicated (i.e., mixed,
kneaded, baked and consumed a pihüia and drunk mambuha)^ so that the
words pihtha niptha would seem to refer to the actions just performed,
that is, to his communion. Hence it is possible that the verb pAa used with
pihüia means the act of taking communion, as if the expression "breaking
bread" were used by a Christian as a synonym for taking the eucharist.
Prayers XXXVII, XXXVIII, XL and XLI in Lidzbarski's coUection
acquire a new liturgical meaning: - e. g. "I worship, laud and praise that
occult great first Cloud^ of Light with whom in the Hidden he, broke
bread (püia pihüia) and gave thereof in secret to the Occult Life and to
the mighty First Life" (XXXVII, M. L. p. 70). - "He arose and broke
bread {ptha pihtha) in the Hidden and gave (thereof ?) to the sons of men
and set up his shecinah in the Hidden" (XXXVIII, M. L. p. 71).
I suggest that the above rather than Lidzbarski's translation "schuf
das Pihtä im Verborgenen" is the meaning of püia pihtha bkisia.
At the beginning of a long prayer for a newly ordained priest it is the
verb pht (in an Ethpeel form) which is hnlied with pihüia; (this prayer
was unknown to Lidzbarski) :
BHuma d hiia sagidna Sahabana unisabarm
lliakh yardna kasia rba qadmaia d minh huat
tuSbihtiia u'tnafaS ziwh I'uOiria minh hun - ■
mia hiia u'tnafaS nhurk Ikulhun pasimkhia minh huat 'ruüia d 'uüiria bgauJi rauzia
uminh huat aina d ziwa minh hun piria u'mbia
Wlania minh huat pihtha u'tpihthat u'tyahbat Uiatdi mana rba riSaia uhu mana rba riSaia
minaihun HanafaS walmia d nhura w'uAria
wSkinadia kulhun minh mitaibia. . . (etc.)
"In the Name of the Great Life!
"I worship, praise and laud that secret,
great first Jordan from which there was
praise ; and its glory inspired the 'uthras.
From it proceeded living water, and its
light enhanced all the Rays.'' From it came enlightenment in which all the 'utjiras
^ Mambuha and mambugha are names given to the sacramental water.
^ A "Cloud" in many Mandaean hymns is an epithet used to describe heavenly beings of a female character, "a heavenly spouse". The wives of priests are sometimes cahed "clouds" in this complimentary sense.
^ PasimMiia : personified rays of hght.
rejoiced^ and from it emanated a Wellspring through which fruits, grapes and trees
derived existence. And from it came pihüia
(bread) and it was opened (broken) and given
to the One, the Great First Mana. And He,
the Great First Mana, was refreshed thereby^
and worlds of light, the 'uthras and the shecinahs were all invigorated thereby"^
... (etc.)*
We find both p^a and phüi associated with pihüia : both roots meaning
"to open", "break apart" and hence "to reveal". In the Alf Trisar
Suialia ("Thousand and Twelve Questions") is the following passage: -
Uk^ pihüia baiin d niSaun pahtiiilh htiOw,
mn Sunibiltiia uhaizakh mSauin uhanatun d
aiüiinun halmia 'laiia pahüiilh lamuza iisfarghila unasbin minh upihüia minh msawin.
"And when they wish to prepare bread (pihüia)
they open up (separate) the wheat from the ear
and then prepare. And those whom they bring
into the celestial worlds open a walnut^ and
a quince and partake thereof, and prepare bread
therewith, with all the ginzia (sacramental foods, sacramental rites)."
In his Orientalische Stvdien für Theod. Nöldeke (pp. 959-67 Zimmekut
compared the Mandaean pihtha and mambuha with the Babylonian pit
pl and m,is pl (opening-of-the-raouth and washing-the-mouth). Dr. Franz
Rosenthal, in his Die Aramaistische Forschung^ discussed both this
suggestion and Lidzbarski's interpretation of xriD {ptha) and pihüia
(op. cit. pp. 231-2), advising cautious adherence to etymology - ,,nur
Bedeutung und Funlvtion des Begriffes feststellen, bis sich eine befriedi¬
gende Ableitung ergibt". There is one prayer in the Mandaean liturgy
which seems to support a connection with mis pl, for it is said as cele¬
brants open up their pandamas (the cloths which veil their mouths),
1 Rauzia,. Rauza = "in a state of well-being", "healthily vigorous" and of a plant "flourishing" "fresh".
2 and ä This form of the verb tub (Ethpe.) means "to be quickened" "to refresh oneself" or "to be made well", and is often used for the act of partak¬
ing of sacramental food and drink.
* The hymn is recited at a celebration of the "Blessed Oblation", at which fruit and bread are eaten ritually.
^ Wahmts and quince are broken into small pieces and set on the ritual
table for the Blessed Oblation. Hence, pahMlb hero could mean "divide the
fragments."
* Die Aramäistische Forschung seit Th. Nöldeke's Veröffentlichungen (Lei¬
den, E. J. Brill, 1939).
122 Ethel Stefana Dbowek
place their pihthas in their mouths and swallow them : — Malil uptha hiia
rhia bpumaihun bziwa unhura u'qara d najsaihwn}
The priests translate this "The Great Life spoke and opened His
mouth in the radiance and light and glory of Himself" - associating the
action with opening their own mouths.^ The prefix b ("with" or "in")
however would rather favour another translation: - "The Great Life
spoke and revealed with His mouth. .. etc." Then, as the priest may refer
to the souls of the dead, there is another possible meaning to the hne,
namely that the Great Life opened "their mouths", etc. The line is always
associated with the act of eating the sacramental bread, hence, with
opening the mouth!*
Here is one more instance of the use of püia with pihtha, taken from
the right side of the Gi7iza Rabba. It is a command to the faithful : - Bun
buOia upthun jjihtha usghud usaba Ihiia rbia* ("Seek in prayer, break
bread, worship and praise the Great Life"). I suggest that pthun pihth a is
! Lidzbarski {op. cit. p. 89) translates this ,,Das große Leben sprach und
schuf mit seinem Munde, in eignem Glanz, Licht und Herrlichkeit".
^ For instance, in a treatise on the masiqdia celebrated on the last day of
the five-day feast of Parwanaiia (Part IV B of the scroll entitled Alf Trisar Suialia), we find : -
"Uk^ malil uptha hiia rbia pumaikfiun (bpumaikhun) amritun um-
paltitun (umpalgitun) pandamaikhun (bpandamaikhun) waMitun pihüiai-
kfiun läatitun {uiaitinun) mamhuhaiMiun umhalalitun {umhalilitun) lhama
umia uspinza taba IniHmta haMia bzuadia {zuadh) 'liabtulh"
(The words in brackets are variations of the text which occur in an¬
other copy of this text, viz in D. C. 6)
Translation: "And when ye have recited 'The Great Life spoke and
opened your mouths' and ye opened up your pandamas, ate your pihüia and
drank your mambulia and rinsed" (i.e. drank the rinsing-water used for the
wine-bowl) "ye bestowed food, drink and good wayside fare on that soul as
its viaticum".
Note that instead of bpumaihun as in the Liturgical Prayers, it is
bpumaitdiun - "in your mouths".
Hence, it would seem that priests teach that the opening of the mouth
mentioned in the prayer means that at that moment the mouths of the cele¬
brants, the mouth of the soul for whom the masiqdia is celebrated, and those
of souls mentioned in the Commemoration, all open to receive viaticum in the
shape of food and drink.
^ The liturgical prayer referred to is "edited" in a text used for the
mstruction of priests (Alf Trisar Suialia, Part IV. Pumaikhun is written in¬
stead of pumaihun. The passage is "And when ye recited 'The Great Life
spake and opened your mouths' and ye opened opened your pandamas, and
rinsed; (i.e. the wine-bowl in order to drink the rinsing after the wine) 'ye
bestowed food and drink and wholesome wayside fare to that soul as its
viaticum'."
^ In his translation of Qinza Rabba Lidzbarski translated this : - „Ver.
richtet das Gebet und bereitet das Pihtä. .." etc.
an exhortation to be diligent in performing the sacramental rite of break¬
ing bread.
During the celebration of a masiqüia two kinds of pihtha are consumed
by celebrants.^ Twice the pihtha is of the type already described as used
at baptism by priest before and after, and by the persons baptised after
their immersion. This is the kind of pihtha which the priest consumes
when communicating himself before he enters the cult-hut, and again
before leaving it at the end of the masiqtha. Every time he communicates
himself with this pih&a it is as a living person, himself. The pihüia
prepared at the most solemn stage of the masiqtha, however, is con¬
sumed by each celebrant in the character of the deceased person for whose
benefit the mmiqtha is performed. It is not made hke the baptismal
pihüia. The fiour is saltless. Because for the duration of the masiqüia no
priest may leave the cult-hut, it is the aSganda, not a priest, who mingles
the flour with water at the yardna. Between the pool and the hut a fire
burns, and on his way back to the hut the aSganda passes the dough
thrice through the flame or heat with the words "The name of Life and
of Manda-d-Hiia is pronounced on thee". When he re-enters the hut,
each celebrant takes from him a pinch of the dough, holds it with a tiny
myrtle wreath he has just made, repeats eight prayers of consecration
and dips his gold ring into the bowl of hamra (wine). Later in the ceremony he "clothes" the myrtle wreath with the soft dough, that is, he folds the
pinch of dough about the wreath. When it has been removed from the
wreath each priest presses into the surface of the dough, now called a
pihüia, two small scraps taken from the fatiras lying on the top and
bottom of the pile on his tariana^ and adds to these a shred of the sacriflced
dove's flesh. After reciting The Great Life spoke and opened, quoted above,
he pushes back his pandama, swallows the pihtha and drinks the hamra.
Fatiria made for a masiqüia are saltless and, hke the pihüia just
described, only symbohcally baked. Their passing through the fire or
heat is called sahduüia dnura "the witness of the fire". For most masiqüias sixty fatiras are made, fifteen for each priest and fifteen for the ganzibra.
Upon each of these flabby discs fragments of the sacred food (tabuüia)^
1 For a masiqtha there should be at least fom celebrants, three priests and a ganzibra (head-priest), and a server (aSganda).
^ The tariana is a thick clay tray with a recess at one side. It stands upon a clay ring. The word tariana means "table". Large tariania often omit the recess : they are used for the Blessed Oblation.
^ The word tabutipa ("goodness", "bounty") is used both for ritual food in
general and for ritual bread in particular. The foods on each tariana for the
masiqtha are grape-seeds, pomegranate-seeds, quince-seeds, dates, shredded
cocoanut, almonds, walnuts, citron (ethrog) and dove's flesh, beside the
fatiria. The coimnentaries name five essential items for the masiqOia: -
124 Ethel Stefana Deower
are laid, including a minute shred cut from the breast of the dove, the Ba.
These the priest selects from small heaps of the tabutka previously ranged
by him round his tariana. Every fatira is thus "fed" and also triply signed
with miSa} that is to say, the priest dips the forefinger of his right hand
into his bowl of miSa and draws it horizontally across the fatira. When
all the fifteen have been thus treated and laid one above the other, and
pieces have been taken from the bottom and top of the pile described and
added to the pihtha, the aSganda collects the four piles, wraps them
together with the rest of the dead body of the sacrificed dove in a white
cloth and puts the bundle aside. At the end of the Blessed Oblation which
follows the masiqüia he takes this bundle and inters it somewhere within
the sacred area, but not to the east of the cult-hut.
A second type of fatira is made for weddings, for Lofani^ and other
rites performed outside the cult-hut. They are usuahy about the size of
a smah plate and are properly baked, not merely passed through or above
the fiames hke the fatira for a masiqtha. For a wedding there should be
nine tariania, that set before the ganzibra being larger than the others.
The ceremony takes place in the 'ndiruna, a lightly-constructed booth
of reeds, myrtle, greenery and flowers specially built for the ceremony.
To quote the /§arh :* - "Then they shall bring the ritual table set out with
nine mysteries, (namely) salt, tabutha (ritual bread), green stuff (salad
and herbs), fish, dates, grapes, walnuts and almonds and sesame mixed
with salt. And they shall set wine* and paluda^ on the ritual table. Then
"wheat" (i.e., bread), walnuts, grapes, pomegranate and quince, together with the Ba (dove's flesh).
' This 7niäa (oil of unction) is prepared by a priest just before the masiqtha
begins, and its preparation greatly resembles tliat of the Parsi liaoma. The
roasted sesame is placed with date-pulp in a mortar (all having been previous¬
ly immersed in the jordan) and is well-pounded. The result is strained through a white cloth into a basin and thence into a bottle. A httle of this "oil" is poured into the »lÄ-bowl of each celebrant.
^ A ritual meal for the dead prepared and eaten by laymen or priests or
both. 3 See p. 117, n. 4.
* The hamra for a masiqtha is not prepared beforehand. Each celebrant has
on his table a small bowl into which he places four grapes or raisins. On these
he pours water and then macerates the fruit in the water with finger and
thumb. When he dips his priestly ring into this Jiamra, it is to symbolise the divine marriage. Into the tuimra he pours a little water from the phial handed him by the aSganda. The added water ("water of prayer") is explained by commentaries as the "semen of the Father" and the hamra-haw\ is called "the
womb of the Mother". The commixture therefore represents a marriage and
conception - preludes to the soul's re-birth. Hamra for a marriage is made in a similar way up to a point, but dates (symbolical of male fertility) are added to the raisins (female fertility) in the bowl, and no "water of prayer" is added
as in the tnasiqdia. Both bridegroom and bride drink the hamra.
* Paluda is a Persian dish of honey, starch and water.
they shall bring eight (other) ritual tables and set them up beside the
large ritual table that is before the bridegroom and headpriest. And then
they shall take from the large ritual table some of the mysteries, salt,
sesame, herbs, fish and dates and shall place (them) upon all the other
(tables). And of the tabutiia three fatiria shall be placed upon each table.
But by the table before (nearest) the large table and bet%yeen the two
there shall be two fatiria: their name is 'the sheaf (or 'handful') 'that is
laid down'" (op. cit. pp. 35-36).
These two loaves are folded together and upon them are placed some
of all the ritual foods on the tables after the sa (see below) has been
prepared. Three silver coins are added to the rest, and the bridegroom
gives these fatiria with their content to the bride's mother.
This brings us to the third type of ritual bread, the sa. It is peculiar to
the form of sacred meal known as the Blessed Oblation (Zidqa Brikha),
and the meal consumed in the 'ndiruna is of this kind. I discussed its
probable phallic significance in Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran'- (p. 193) and
it is an interesting coincidence that its facsimUe appears in the ante-com¬
munion of the Jilu Nestorians at the rite known as the "Mixing", at which
there is certainly a symbolical marriage between malka and malkaitiia.
In shape it is sausage-hke, and its length between three and a half and
four inches long. It is sometimes a sohd roll of dough, (this, I think, was
probably its original form) and sometimes a thin round of dough or a
fatira rolled into a scroll of about the same size and appearance. It is
invariably broken into two (at the Nestorian masses I witnessed it was
broken in two between the celebrant and deacon at the end of the mass).
One would expect to find it at the masiqtha at the part of the rite
which represents the Divine Union, but it appears earlier at a form of
Blessed Oblation performed shortly before the priests enter the cult-hut.
The sa^ is made when the fatiria are prepared. The priests dip their hands
in the yardna, crouch to repeat the long commemoration prayer, then
two of them take the sa, which is solid, and break first into two halves
and then into pieces. They dip three pieces into salt, eat them, and give
three other fragments dipped in salt to the ganzibra and asganda respec¬
tively, each making three mouthfuls of their portion. They then partake
of the other foods laid on their tariania, recite the deconsecration prayers and remove their taghas.^ Thus this is an entirelj' separate rite.
' Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1937.
2 I imagine that the word must be related to the Aramaic "a plate, a dish"
(piu. "-»S) (Pes. Illb; Bets. 32a, Meg. 7b and Yoma 83b).
3 The tagha (crown) is a fillet of silk. It is the insignia of priesthood, for every priest is a malka.
126 Ethel Stefana Dkower
Two solid saia are made for the Blessed Oblation celebrated immediate¬
ly after the masiqtha. Again they are broken into two, and the breaking
and eating with salt precedes a ritual meal, during which the other kind
of sa is made by each priest by wrapping a fatira scroUwise round scraps
of the sacred food (tabutha). Each man holds his sa at arm's length over
the table before him and recites the commemoration prayer, inserting the
name of the deceased for whom the masiqüia has been celebrated, their
own names, and those of others, dead and alive. The sa is eaten and this
is followed by a solemn drinking of hamra, the myrtle rite and mjrrtle
prayers performed with ritual inhalation. Myrtle is always placed with
the sa on the ritual table.
At a wedding, the sa is of the scroh type. The ganzibra inserts morsels
of food, walnuts, almonds and paluda into the half which he gives the
bridegroom, and into the half which goes to the bride a grape or a raisin.
Later in the ceremony the bridegroom drinks hamra'- seven times.
During the five-days feast of Panja or Parwanaiia a ceremony takes
place which is called the Ahaha d Mania - colloquially the GmaSi. It is a
propitiatory rite for a person who died during the preceding twelve¬
month not wearing his religious dress (rasta) and girdle (himiana). A
proxy resembling the deceased in sex, age and occupation represents him
or her, and is called the nafaqa "the departing (soul)". The proxy is
provided with a new rawto and girdle before the ceremony and these are
immersed in the "jordan" early on the day appointed and dried in the
sun. The rite includes a Blessed Oblation and is usually performed after
the sacrifice of the dove for the masiqtha on the last day of the feast.
The ganzibra, two priests, an aSganda and the nafaqa seat themselves
round a large tariana^ the celebrants of course wearing their rastas, and
the three priests carrying their ritual staves. In front of the ganzibra upon
the large tariana is a smaller tariana with a recess containing a drinking
bowl and a heap of salt. Upon this smaller tariana are ranged the sacred
foods, which I was told were called rahbatha.^ As I listed these recently
there were : - (a) A sa (a solid roll) and two fatiria made of salted flom*
(b) pieces or seeds of orange or citron, onion, dates (sindirka), cocoanut,
quince, almonds, walnuts, raisins, pomegranate and fish (c) a tiny frag¬
ment of the dove-flesh. Also upon the large tariana is a small brass bowl
in which three fatiria are laid, bringing the canonical number of fatiria
to five. Priests explain that the three represent the niSimta* (soul) and
1 See p. 124, n. 4.
" See 123, n. 2. Failing a large tarianaa tray or space of waished and smooth-
ened mud may be used. ' Or rihbatha.
* The't' is often almost pronoimced 'th' (niSimtha) by priests of the Persian school.
the two the ruha (spirit) On the large tariana before the two priests is a big bowl of water just filled from the "jordan" or river. The aSganda sits
between the ganzibra and priests, directly opposite the nafaqa, whose
place is before the small bowl containing the three fatiria. The nafaqa,
being supposedly dying, or dead, may not utter a word during the cere¬
mony, which opens when the aSganda reaches across the large tariana and
grasps the proxy's right hand in his own, saying: "This kuSia which 1
bear to thee, bear thou to AbaOiur. .." etc., i.e., the same formula that is pronounced at the ceremony of the 'ngir&a or "Letter".^
The priests and the ganzibra then hold the sa and break it in two : the
ganzibra eating the whole of his piece and the priests dividing their piece
between them. When the sa is consumed, they fill the drinking bowl from
the large bowl, drink, and eat a little of the various foods on the smaller
tariana. They give the nafaqa some mouthfuls of the bread and food,
either placing this dhectly into his mouth or putting it into his veUed
right hand which he then raises to his mouth. I have seen both methods.
The nafaqa also drinks water.
The ganzibra and priests finally recite the great commemoration prayer
Abahathan Qadmaiia (Our Forefathers), being careful to inset at the
appointed places the name of the deceased represented by the proxy. AU
rise and the food and drink remainmg on the tables is tipped into the
"jordan" or river.
If, as is often the case, a second GmaSi ceremony succeeds the first,
entirely fresh food and water is placed on the tariania. Should the first
proxy be qualified to represent another deceased person, at the repetition
of the rite he or she must put on another freshly washed rasta. Nothing
used in the former rite may be used at the repetition, except the tariania
and bowls.
The .sa eaten by the graveside at the Lofani or Laufa (a meal for the
bier-bearers and men present at a burial) is not solid, but is a fatira.
Avrapped round fragments of the ritual food, so as to form a small
scroll. The fatira has been held with extended arm over the foodmat or
tray upon which the food for the ritual meal has been placed, and broken
between two persons, one to each pair. The commemorative prayer is
repeated by all or by the priest present for the benefit of the souls of the
deceased, his family, his priest, of themselves and their famihes alive and
dead, and of the forefathers. The sa is then eaten, water is drunk and the
food on the table consumed. Whatever is left is cast into the river, in¬
cluding all crumbs of the sacred bread. A similar Laufa is performed at
* I query this : priests are glib with explanations which are not infrequently correct.
2 See Lidzbabski: op. cit. p. 117, 1. 9 of text.
128 Ethel Stefana Dboweb
set intervals after death at the house of the bereaved or that of the priest,
especially on the third day after decease. The commemoration prayer is
recited, always with mention of the deceased.
It should be noted that wheat used for ritual bread is ground by the
priest between small millstones, after he has picked it over grain, by grain,
washed it and dried it in the sun. Only the finest and best wheat pro-
eurable is bought for the purpose.
Finally, in the complete collection of Mandaean prayers used by most
priests there is a group of hymns dedicated to the pihtha'- used in the
Blessed Oblation. These were not translated by Lidzbarski to whom
they were probably unknown, since in his time they were not found in
any European collection. They make, therefore, a fitting appendage to
this paper.
Note
The prayers for the sacramental bread which follow are taken from the
prayers for the Zidqa Brikha, the Blessed Oblation. They are preceded
directly by the myrtle ceremony and myrtle prayers during which the
perfume of the mjTtle is inhaled. Prayers and rite must be extremely
ancient, and the inhalation recalls the ritual use of barsom by the Magians
and the "branch to the nose" condemned by the Jewish prophet. Lidz¬
babski does not include these prayers in his Mandäische Liturgien and
was not acquainted with them, as no copy was then available in Europe.
I now have two copies of the Zidqa Brikha prayers and am able to verify
D. C. 3 by D. C. 53.
(A prehminary prayer asks forgiveness for the souls of the copyist and
his family adding : — nitbirkhun bhalin bawaAa uharakatha d pihthania d
zidqa brikha uninharlan 'usran umadan umadihtan bhailh d yawar ziwa
usimat hiia. "Ye shall be blessed by means of these prayers and blessings
of the loaves of the Blessed Oblation. And our thought, our knowledge
and our intelhgence shall enlighten us through the strength of Yawar-
Ziwa and Simat-Hiia".)
' As no prayer is especially addressed to the jatira or to the sa I conclude that the word pihtha, in its sense of "ritual bread" "bread that is to be broken" covers these also.
BSumaihun d hiia rbia Hazin zidqa brikha
Kusta mtaiib Irahmih
KuSta Irahmh mtaiablun
THE TEXT
A"-
'Üiith ubrikhh birikhta
Sahdinabh byawar ziioa
D taibinin mn tabth
BSumaihun d hiia rbia
Pihtha ana hiwara
Mn bith ginzaihun d hiia 'tnisbit
Hnisbit mn biüi ginzaihun d hiia
rbia
Umn yardna Itibil sadrun
Mn yardna sadrun Itibil
Usawia Srara balma
Srara balma VSawia
Lnhuria lilbia haskhia 'usrai d sritibh wanharth
Utaqinth mn ris briS
Mn ris briS anharth utaqinth WaiOiit sritibh tabta Siqlit minh tinihta D Suba Ipaghria aitkun Suba aiOiun Ipaghria
USrun blilbia haSkhia
Pihüia lakhlh ufamar umaSmalh
B
Lgabra nasbh pihüia lalMh
Wamar hzun 'dilma bkadba
tikhlun
Hzun 'dilma tikhlun bkadba
Hzun 'dilma bsiqra tinisbun
Amintul d bisia ukadabia d
akhlilih
Bkadba pkhiria bhSukha rmin
Pkhiria rmin bhsukha
Wazil habara ukabar 'lavmihun
Ainaihun d bisia hazia hSukha
Ulighraihun srara lamaSkia Tabia d akhlilia bku^ta Salqia hazilh lathar nhur
Ainaihun hazia nhura
Ulighraihun srara maSka
Uhiia zakin
Sahdinabh byawar ziwa d taibinin
mn tabth
C
BSumaihun d hiia rbia Nisban yawar ziwa
Pihüia ana hiwara Ulinsab ziwa ydhban
QriÜia mn nhura huit Nisban nsab ziwa
Pihüia ana hiwara Uyahban Izarziil nhura rba
D yawar hualia nasba Nisban Zarziil nhura rba
Yawar na§ba hualia Ulhibil ziwa yahban
Mn biüi ginzik athian Nisban hibil ziwa
' I give an example of pronunciation :
Bushmeyhun ad heyi rabbi 'Üieyti uberkhi bbirekhta
Hazen zedqa brikha c< u- -i • -i.
I, J . 7- ■ I "7 7 • isahainaoi to yawar ziwa
Kushta mtaieb el rahmi "
Kushta el rahmi mtäiebellun 'd täibenen min tavti
ZDMQ 105/1
130 Ethel Stefana Dboweb
WaOiian harqa d tihil rman
AÜiian rman harqa d tibil
Likhilta d adam ukulhun hnh
KOi hua dara qadmaia
Ldilia bkusta akhlun Ldilia akhlun bkusta
Vlabadbia hargtha HargÜia labadbia Labadbia hasir ubsir Hasir ubsir labadbia
UqiriaÜia d Suba la' stalat 'lai Kül hua dara tiniana
Ldilia bkusta akhlun Ldilia akhlun bkusta
Labadbia hargtha hargtha labadbia Ulabadbia hasir ubsir
Hasir ubsir labadbia üqiriaüia d Suba La stalat 'lai Kül hua dara tlithaia Adunai bna baiüia
Adunai baitha hna
VSuba bgauh lightta Ighat
Haizakh 'tpalag büilathma u^itin
utrin lisania
Haizakh 'tnisbit mn binataihun TJhinia thlathma uSitin utrin
liSania rmun
Haizakh ldilia bkadba aldilun
Akhlun bkadba wahadbia hargüia
Hargtha abadbia wahadbia hasir
ubsir
Hasir ubsir abadbia
üqiriaüia d suba 'Stalat 'lai Haizakh 'tinsib minai haila Minai haila {'tinsib)
Uziwa utuqna utama usauüia
U'khilta d hiwaniaüia sawiun Nismatha hia kilaiun mn paghraiin
najqan
Nasuraiia d akhliHa bkadba
Lgumria d nura mitharldiia Usabiia mia d akhlilia
Bihrara alwaüi mahzura daitca mi-
Stiknia (?) mistikhnia Kul aüiwath d latishar huüia
utushihtha
Pihüia minh latisawia
Bskhinta d ruha d qudsa tistkhin Kül hzun bii usamis
Nafsaihun brabutha Ighat
NafSaihun Ighat brabutha Ulqudam pthahil azlia
Kabsia usaghdia qudamh
Umahtia qumthaihun
Umsabia wamria
Bhaiakh ahuhan pthahil 'hablan paqadta
D nizal uniqria qriüia mn ris bris
Haizakh qam abuhun püiahil
U'hablun paqadta'- wamarlun 'zil
Mindam d baiitun qrun
HaizaMi mn razia d apra usumqa
UsfiÜia udurdia d anania Azal Irunza qiriuia Azal qiriuia Irunza
Uqudam pthahil lightuia Püiahil kül hizih mia bgurmaizih Wsqaf Itarhasia hadaih
Wamar mn hazin qritha d anatun
qraitun
Pihüia minh haizin nafqa
Haizin nafqa minh pihüia
U'khilÜia d haizin mamlila Mn ris bris
Haizakh qrun hda malakha mn
qudamaihun D pihtika minh nfaq
Pihüia nfaq minh ulqudam püiahil
lightuia
' The d of paqadta is slightly soft : almost paqadhta.
Püiahil hüi hizih nhar whda uruwaz uHbasarri'-
Mn ris bris wamar
Mn kulhun qiriatha d 'kd^ barqa d
tibil
TabuÜia d hazin raza
D anatun qraitun titqdbal Halin trin kania^ d zidqa upatura
Yawar brakhinun mn birikhth
Hazin kana tliOiaia ana püiahil Brakhth mn birikktai
Hazin kana tliüiaia ana
Püiahil brakhth mn birikhtai
Uhazin drasa kasia
Mn pumai dilia Hibil ziwa nfaq
Kul man d niziriih bmia tahmia
Nitimhia bqulfa d rughza
Unighnalh guha b'usrh
Ü nisrunh bmasirqia rurbia d parzla
TJldudia d msiha uruha d qudsa
nisdunh
Kul man d nikisiih uninatrh Nitnatar baüira yaqra Kulman d niziriih Banasia ksitia umJiaimnia Nisaq nihizih laüiar nhur
Uhiia zakin
Sahdinabh byawar ziwa d taibinin
mn tabth
D
Pihüia ana hiwara d hibil hualia Malil yawar ziwa
nasba Ulpihtha brikha d nimarlh
Hibil nasba hualia Kth anin maulinalakh,
Wathian barqa d tibil sran Lalma d bisia ukadabia
AÜiian sran barqa d tibil Zhara dakhia yahbinalakh
Bgauh d hazin alma Malil yawar ziwa ulnasuraiia
Malil pihüia brikha D nimarlun bhirai ktik mitaibitun
Ulyawar ziwa d nimarlh Mn zidqai bkusta lizidqa udukia
Kül anat maulatlia lalma 'faibuih
D bisia ukadabia Latisdunh IqriÜm d aria
Bkadba unikhla akhlilia D kul hiwa bala minh hua
Kt hua dara qadmaia Latisdunh IqriÜm d bith Simiaiil
Ldilia bkusta alMilia satana
Kül hua dara tiniana D kulh tnufia bisia mlia
Turn ldilia bkusta akhlilia NiÜira d nathar minaihun
Kül hua dara tliÜiaia 'sduih b yardna ularqa lanafil
Kadabia 'lai miStaltia D lighraikhun 'Ih lataüinun^
Uqaimia uqatlia gitla Lighraikhun 'Ih lataüininun^
Wathin ldilia qarbin* ^ Amintul d mn athra d nf is aüia
Ulamhalalia sbaüiun mn zma Atha mn aüira d nfis
Ugatlia gitla wathin ldilia qarbin Umn abinia ganzibria yaqria
Minai nasbia haila 'tinsib
Ubgauai msawin hasir ubsir Bhirai sut usuma u'zdahar bzidqai
* Pr. wehda uerwaz u'tbassam ^ Pr. ekka. ^ Pr. kaimi.
* As in D. C. 3. ^ Pronounce latethnenun. * In D. C. 53 latathnun.
9*
132 Ethel Stefana Dbower
D mn biOi hiia rbia atha
UmSabin hiia
E Pihüia ana hiwara
P hiia sihlun usadrwn btabuAh
Bhaila d hibil ziwa ldilia
Sadrun lhazin alma
Bisa d kimsa sawiun
Umqaimana d bawatha qrun
AÜiit wafrasth lalma USrara Itarmidia huit MnaÜia d hiia lightit Uqritibh bqala d br rurbia
Afristh lhahsaba wanpia yuma d
yaqir sumh
Usritibh usauÜia galulia galilit Itarmidia
F
BSumaihun d hiia rbia
Qala d manda d hiia
Lbhiria zidqa mqarilun Mqarilun lbhiria zidqa P Izidqai mzaharlun
Amarlun bzhara qadmaia
Amarlun hzun zidqai hzun zidqai
Hzun zidqai d mn biOi rbia 'tinsib
Zidqai 'tinsib mn biA hiia rbia
BbuSta usidqa udukia 'taibuia Bzhara tiniana Izidqai mzaharlun
Amarlun hzun zidqai hzun zidqai
Hzun zidqai mn bith hiia rbia 'tinsib Zidqai 'tinsib mn bith hiia rbia
BbuOia utuSbihÜia 'taibuih Bzhara tlitimia Izidqai mzaharlun
Amarlun Hzun zidqai hzun zidqai
hzun zidqai
Mn biA hiia rbia 'tinsib 'tinsib mn biA hiia rbia BdraSia usidria 'taibuih
^ A hiatus in the text ?
Sahdinabh byawar ziwa d taibinan
mn tabth
Usrit blibaihun tabta 'hablun 'ruAa bnfis P lanihisrun ulanibisrun
Nibun buAa utuSbihAa
Unitirsun bqala Sania
Uninihrun bginza d hiia
Umalala d mn bith hiia rbia
aAa
Nitqaimun bskhinatha
Nisqun nihzunh laAar nhur
Uhiia zakin
Sahdinabh byawar ziwa d taibinan
mn tabth
Hzun zidqai hzun zidquai hzun
zidqai
Akhlh man Izidqai (variant AMilia
mn zidqai)
Lsibia damia damia Isibia d akhlh
Izidqai
Laria damia d Ipalga d 'uhra rmia
zidqai
Ltura damia tura d lamkikibh 'uhra ...!
Zidqai lyama damia lyama d mabra
liAlh
D akhlh Izidqai ulamiStalambh
Mipsiq unafil by ama rba d suf
P 'Alh ulayahib ainh nhura lahazia
Hazin zidqa briJAa kusta mtaiib
Irahmh
Kusta Irahmh mtaiablun 'Aith ubrikha brikhth
Sahdinalh lyawar ziwa d taibinan
mn tabth
Hzun zidqai hzun zidqai hzun zidqai
AlMh man
Akhluih yahutaiia ama biSa Uta
umlatata
Akhluih kiwanaiia d byaqdania d
nura pisqu
Aldiluih yazuqaiia sitia d nura
mauqria
Sitia d mauqria nura usbu d lahaiib
abdia
Akhluih dumaiia d gtil gabarun
rmia
Gtil gabarun uqaimin ImiÜta
saghdia
AlMuih zandiqia d 'Z stunia d kadba
yatbia
0
Uuatunia d kadba upasquilh Izirai-
hun mn alma
Akhluiih arbaiia biSia kadabia
surba bisa d Satin zma
Aldiluih nasuraiia
Ama kana umkanana
AlMuih sbiria liba
AnaSia ksitia umhaimnia
Akhluih sbaiia mia
P Imasbutaihun salqia hazilia laÖiar anhur
UmSabin hiia hiia zaFin
Sahdinalh byawar ziwa d taibinan
mn tabth
THE TRANSLATION
A
In the name of the Great Life!
This is the Bessed Oblation !
Kusta regaleth his friends Kusta his friends regaleth.
He prepared^ and blessed it with his blessing.
I testify to Yawar-Ziwa (Dazzling-Light)
Who quickeneth us with his bounty.^
B
In the Name of the Great Life !
I am the white Pihtha ;
From Life's treasure-house was I transplanted
I was transplanted from the treasure-house of the Great Life.
Prom the Jordan they sent me to earth,
From the Jordan to earth they sent me
To spread truth in the world.
Truth in the world to spread abroad,
^ in».
* Tabta: pron. tajta "bounty," "benefaction", i.e. the ritual food, the fruit bread.
134 Ethel Stefana Drower
To enlighten darkened hearts.
It is my treasure which I instilled therein.
I illumined and transformed it from end to end ;
From end to end I illumined and transformed it.
I came, and caused goodness to dweU therein;
I removed therefrom the groaning
Which the Seven had brought to bodies,
The Seven brought to bodies.
And they dwelt in darkened hearts.
They ate not pihtha.
And his Creator spoke
And made Man who ate not pihtiia hearken to him.
And he said "Beware lest ye eat falsely.
See lest ye partake hypocritically !
For the wicked and liars who eat it with falsehood
Will be bound and be cast into darkness.
Bound and cast into darkness.
Gloom will weigh them down and lie heavy upon them.
The eyes of the wicked look on darkness
And their feet find nothing stable.
(But) the good, who eat it with kusta'
Arise and behold the Place of Light.
Their eyes behold the hght
And their feet find surety.
And Life is triumphant.
I testify to Yawar-Ziwa
Who quickeneth us with his bounty.
C
In the Name of the Great Life!
The white PihÜia am I !
The creature of light, I came into existence.
Pihtha am I, the white;
For Yawar was my Transplanter.^
Bringing me from his treasure-house,
Yawar-Ziwa took me
And gave me to Nsab-Ziwa.
' Bkusta, "truly", "sincerely", "in good faith" ; or, speaking of ritual, with
the handshake and kiss which is a form of oath, an act of fealty, a symbol of
pact and peace. - Or, "creator".
k
Nsab-Ziim took me
And gave me to Zarziel-Nhura-Rba.
Zarziel-Nhura-Rba took me
And gave me to Hibil-Ziwa.
Hibil-ZiuM took me
And brought me into the earthly world.
He set me down, he brought me
He set me down in the earthly world
As food for Adam and all his sons.
WhUst the first generation^ existed
They ate me in true fealty-
In true fealty did they eat me.
They did not use me wrongly,^
Wrongly they used me not.
Nor did they omit or subtract from me*
From me they neither omitted nor subtracted;
And the creatures of the Seven
Had no dominion over me.
When a second generation came to be,^
They ate me in true fealty,-
In true fealty did they eat me.
They used me without perversion^
Without perversion they used me.
They did not omit or subtract from me,*
From me they neither omitted or subtracted.
And the creatures of the Seven
Had no power over me.
When a third generation arose,
Adonai^ buUt a House :
Adonai a House buUt,
And the Seven obtained a faction therein.'
Then it divided itself^ amongst the three hundred and sixty-two tongues*
^ Or, "When the first age existed".
^ See p. 134, note 1.
^ Hargüia: "distortion", ,,obhquity", "misuse", "ritual invalidity".
* Literally: - "They performed me with nothing lacking or deficient".
* The name Jews used for Yahweh: lit. "My lord".
* Lightta with Ight = "to form a party", "form a faction" "get a hold on".
' Or "separated into".
* Or "nations"; i.e. those who speak a different language.
136 Ethbl Stefana Dboweb
Then was I taken from theh midst
And they cast me amongst the three hundred and sixty -two nations.
And then they ate me with falsehood:
Me they ate with falsehood.
Wrongly did they use me.
Wrongly did they use me
And did with me that which was deficient and lacking;
That which was deficient and lacking they did with me.
And creatures of the Seven^ gained dominion over me.
Then strength was taken from me ;
Prom me strength was taken away ,
And radiance, seemly preparation^ and glory.
They made me the fare of beasts.
Souls departed from their bodies without their meed.
Nasoraeans who eat me with falsehood
Wül be burnt upon coals of fire ;
Baptisers in water who eat me with a clot of blood*
Shah be made to dweU with the demon Mahzura;*
(As for) any woman who beheveth not in prayer and praise.
Make not bread^ with her!
She wiU be made to dwell in the abode of Ruha-d-Qudsa.^
When Bel and ShamisW beheld me
They assumed an air of arrogance.
An arrogant air of authority they assumed
And going into the presence of Pthahil
They bend themselves and bow before him
And, prostrating their forms and uttering praise,
They say: - "By thy life, our father, Pthahil,
' I.e. sects imder the seven planets: those of other faiths.
^ Ttiqna "order" "orthodox rite" "orthodoxy".
^ Hrara has two meanings: "illusion" or "delusion" and "clot of blood".
The reference is to the Christian chalice spoken of as containing the blood of
Christ.
* Mahzura N^iTniO a Jewish prayerbook for annual festivals? (Targ.
Y. Oen. I, 14).
' Ritual bread is never made by a woman: PihOia is kneaded and baked
by a priest.
' The "Holy Spirit", is in polemical Mandaean writings an epithet for
Ruha, the personification of human desires and emotions, or the lower part
of human personahty.
' Jupiter and Sim.
Commission us that we may go
And create a creation from start to finish".
Then their father Pthahil arose
And commissioned them and said to them: - "Go,
Create the thing that ye have desired!"
Thereupon, with the mystery of ashes and red^ (dust)
And the overflow and dregs^ of the clouds
They went to create Rice ;
They went to create Rice
And to hold it before Pthahil.
When he beheld it, Pthahil clenched his fists
And beat on the forecourt of his breasts
And said "From this creation which ye have created
How can bread be produced therefrom ?
How can be produced from it bread,
Or food from that which is thus prepared*
From beginning to end V
Then They* summoned an angel from those before Them
(One) from whom the pihtha came forth :
Pihüia was produced by him,
And they held it before Pthahil.
When Pthahil beheld it he brightened
And rejoiced and was glad and pleased
Altogether. And he said
"AU the creations which there are in the earthly world.
The exceUence of this mystery surpasseth !
Yon two fundamentals^ - the oblation and table -
Yawar hath blessed with his blessing ;
And this, the third fundamental, I, Pthahil,
Have blessed it with my benediction."
And this is my secret teaching
Which hath issued from mine own mouth - Hibil-Ziwa's —
"He who casteth it abroad in turbid waters
^ Dust-storms in Babylonia were, and still are, red in colour. The mihusked
rice of Lower Babylonia (S. 'Iraq) is also red in colom. Bread made with rice
flour is the staple food of the rice-growing marsh Arabs of the south.
^ Or "sediment", i.e. that which sinks down in a liquid.
^ Mamlila.
* "They", i.e. the Great Life, Hiia Rhia.
' Kania (kannia) - "sources", "foimdations", "bases".
138 Ethel Stefana Dbower
Shall be beaten with a scourge of wrath,
And sobs wih convulse him.^
{He that bringeth shame on) my treasure
They will tear him with mighty iron combs.
They will cast him into the cauldrons of Messiah and Holy-Spirit!^
(But) he who covereth and taketh care of it
Will (himself) be cared for in a worthy place.
Any man who circulateth it amongst righteous people
And behevers, shall rise and behold the Place of Light."
And Life is victorious.
I testify to Yawar-Ziwa
Who quickeneth us with his bounty!
D
I am the white PihQia whose Transplanter was Hibil,
Hibil was my Transplanter,
And brought me, in the earthly world he caused me to dweU,
Brought me, placed me in the earthly world.
Into this world.
The blessed Pihtha speaketh,
Saying to Yawar-Ziwa : —
''When thou broughtest me to the world
Of evil ones and hars,
They ate me -with lie and deception.
During the first age* they ate me in good faith,*
And when the second age arrived they ate me in good faith.
(But) when the third generation came into existence
Liars misruled^ me, (those who) arise
And murder, {then) come approaching me.
With fingers uncleansed from blood!
They commit murder and come, approaching me.
Depriving me of strength.
Causing lack and defect in me."
Yawar-Ziwa speaketh.
Saying to the Blessed PihÜia: -
1 Guha ("thunder", "sobbing") may have been inserted by a scribe who misunderstood the verbgrno,or gnh (a) "togroan" and (b) "to shame". To make
sense, I have made an addition. The line may have been d nighnalh I'usrai,
"he that bringeth shame on my treasme". ^ See p. 136 note 6.
3 Or "generation". * See p. 134, note 1. ^ Lit. "governed me".
"When we brought thee into the world Of evil one and hars,
We gave out a pure warning : —
' Yawar-Ziiva speaketh to Nasoraeans
And saith to them: My Elect!
When ye have refreshed yourselves with my bounty,
Wliich is to be consumed in sincerity, silence and purity.
Cast it not down as an invitation-*^ to the Lion^
From whom every wild beast had being.
Cast it not down as invitation to the House of SimiaeP the Demon
Which is fuU of evil poUutions !
The crumbs* which fall from you
Cast into running water lest they fall on the ground.
Lest your feet be placed thereon.
Trample it not underfoot^
For it came from the Place which is hfe-giving,
From amongst worthy treasurers was it transplanted.
My Elect, hearken and hear! and take care of my benefaction®
Which came from the House of the Great Life !
And Life be praised !'"
I testify to Yawar-Ziwa
Who quickeneth us with his bounty.
E
The white Pihtha am I,
Which the Life summoned and sent
In His benevolence.
In the strength of Hibil-Ziwa
He sent me to this world.
Made me chief of his hidden treasure^
And cahed me Uphfter of Prayers.
1 Qritha: the meaning here is doubtful ; "creature" or "creation" is unlikely.
It could be "rending" (qra, qr').
2 The Lion of Judah ?
3 A demon of blindness : mentioned in the Oinza Rabba and elsewhere.
* Nithra d nathar "That which falls off", "which falls to the ground" : here the fragments of the holy food, or crumbs.
' Freely translated : lit. put down your feet on it.
• Zidqa, "pious gift", "oblation".
' Kim§a, a word of uncertain meanmg, judging from contexts "treasure- house" or "storehouse". Translation is tentative.
140 Ethel Stefana Dboweb
I came, and became an offering set apart^
For the world, and sure strength^ for the priests.
I held a portion of Life
And called with the voice of a son of the Mighty (Life) ;
Setting apart Sunday and the morn of the day*
Whose name is reverenced.
And I dwelt therein and revealed its glory to the priests,
And dwelt in their hearts. Goodness
I give them ; enlightenment in plenty.
So that they may be not lacking or faulty.
They shall offer prayer and praise
And put them up in a sublime voice.
They wül shine in (the hght of) the Treasure* of Life
And the Word that came from the House of Life.
They shall be estabhshed in the skintas^
They wiU rise up, they wül behold the Place of Light.
And Life is victorious.
I testify to Yav>ar-Ziwa
Who refresheth us with his bounty.
F
In the Name of the Great Life !
The voice of Manda-d-hiia Calling to the chosen righteous.
To the chosen righteous it calleth
Warning them about my Oblation.
It uttered to them a first warning.
Admonishing them about my Oblation,
He said to them: "Behold my oblation, behold my oblation.
Behold my oblation that was transplanted from the House of the Great
Life
My oblation translated from the House of the Great Life !
^ Afraila.
^rara "firmness", "smeness", "truth".
^ The Mandaean day, unlike that of Jews, Moslems and the Eastern
churches, begins at dawn, not sunset.
* Oinza a word often used as synonjonous with raza, "mystery", "sacra¬
ment".
' Skinatiia, Mandaean sanctuaries ; the cult-hut with its enclosure is aikinta and a biA maSkna.
Partake thereof^ in good faith, silence and purity".
With a second warning he admonisheth them about my Oblation :
"Behold my oblation, behold my oblation, behold my oblation
Transplanted from the House of the Great Life,
My oblation translated from the House of the Great Life.
Partake thereof with prayer and praise."
With a third warning he admonisheth them
He said to them "Behold my oblation, behold my oblation.
Behold my oblation transplanted from the House of the Great Life !
Partake thereof with hymns and recitations.
Behold my Oblation, behold my Oblation, behold my Oblation!
Eat of my oblation!^ Those who eat it resemble guests*
They resemble guests those that eat my oblation
( But) those who cast down my oblation in the midst of the road
Resemble a lion: are like a mountain in which no road hath been laid
down.
(Those who throw doum my oblation?) resemble a sea
A sea that hath no crossing (or "ford").
He who eateth my oblation but handeth over nothing*
WiU be cut off and wiU fall into the great Sea of the End.^
He that hath but giveth nought
His eyes see not the Light.
This is the Blessed Oblation!
KuSta regaleth his friends Kusta his friends regaleth
He prepared and gave it his blessing.
I testify to Yawar-Ziwa
Who quickeneth us with his bounty.
G
Behold my Oblation, behold my Oblation, behold my Oblation !
Who ate it ?
The Jews, an evil nation, cursed and blasphemous, ate it.
^ The Pa. of tub meaning "to refresh oneself" has the ritual meaning of "to partake of sacramental food".
^ The two versions differ. I think the imperative tense is indicated.
3 Sihia. Or, "visitors".
■ * Surrendereth nothing.
* The Yam^a Rba d Suf, could also mean "the great Sea - or lake - of
ruin".
142 Ethel Stefana Deoweb
The Kiwanaeans,! who were castrated (?) m flames of fire ate it.
The Yazuqaeans ate it, despicable people who reverence fire.
Despicable people who reverence fire, worshipping a thing that is power¬
less.
Idumaeans ate it, who destroyed their virility, cast away,
Destroyed their virility and set up Death, worshipping it.
Zandiqs (ManicJiamns) ate it who rest on supports of falsehood
On pillars of falsehood do they rest and cut ofi" their seed from the world.
Arabs, evil liars, ate it : they who drink blood.
And Nasoraeans ate it, a people, a community nested* as one.
The faithful of heart ate it, righteous and believing people ate it ;
Baptisers in water ate it, who at their baptism*
Arise and behold the Place of Light.
And Life be praised : Life is victorious !
I testify to Yawar-Ziwa
Who quickeneth us with his bounty.
^ Kiwanaiia: "people of Saturn, Saturn-worshippers". There is a Biblical reference to worship of Saturn: - (Amos 5, 25-26) "Have ye offered imto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel ? But
ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun (Kiwan ?), your
images, the star of your god which ye made to yourselves. ( See also Bbown
Deivee and Beiggs Hebrew Dictionary, pp. 475b and 476a). It is possible
that the Kiwanaiia may be worshippers of Zervan who was identified with
Saturn.
^ I.e. gathered into a group, as birds nestle into one nest.
3 Note that Christians and the Messiah are not mentioned.
144 Ethel Stefana Dbower
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ZDMG 105/1
146 Ethel Stefana Drower
148 Ethel Stefana Dboweb
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The Sacramental Bread (Pihttia) of the Mandaeans 149
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150 Ethel Stefana Dkoweb, The Sacramental Bread (Pihtha)
Von Herman Lommel
1. Jg. aw. oifra
Bartholomaes „schreckliche Erklärung" von aw. oifra, Air. Wb. 357,
ist für Nyberg, Religionen usw., S. 469, Anm. zu S. 292, ,, unfaßbar".
Er ersetzt sie durch eine andere, nämlich vifra, wobei es für mich un¬
faßlich ist, daß ein Mann, der Pählävi lesen kann, ein vokalisch, also in
der Schrift mit dem Aequivalent von X, beginnendes Wort konsonan¬
tisch anlauten lassen konnte. Kaum weniger befremdlich ist, daß ihm
nicht auch das Versmaß des Textes, und dann dessen Inhalt, sogleich
gesagt hat, daß aoifra, oifra, IQ""!«, nicht *vifra, sondern vielmehr
avifra gelesen werden muß, was übrigens in meiner Übersetzung der
Yästs (1927) in der Anmerkung zu Yt. 13,104 schon gesagt ist, aUer¬
dings, aus übergroßer Vorsicht, mit Fragezeichen, und noch ohne Ein¬
gehen auf das Metrum.
Die Schlußzeilen des Textstücks, die dieses Wort enthalten, sind acht-
silbige Verse. Aber der ganze Abschnitt ist in der Hauptsache metrisch
abgefaßt. Allerdings bestehen metrische UnvoUkommenheiten, die wohl
daraus sich ergeben haben, daß einige der Namen sich nicht in die meist
eingehaltenen Silbenzahlen der Zeilen einpassen ließen, und man in
solchen Fällen ungerade für gerade gelten ließ ; dies konnte wohl durch
die Art der Recitation notdürftig ausgeglichen werden.
a huSyao dnahe fräSaoStrayanahe 10
b aSaono fravaSim yazamaide 10
c xvädaenahe fräSaoStrayanahe 10
d = b aSaono fravaSim yazamaide 10
e hayhauruSö jämäspanahe 9!
f = b aSaono fravaSim yazamaide 10
g varSnahe hayhauruSöiS 7!
h = b aSaono fravaSim yazamaide 10
i vohunymarjhö aväraoStröiS 9!
k = b aSaono fravaSim yazamaide 10
1 paitiStätSe ayanqmca x^afnanqm 12
m ayanqmca daesanqm 8
n ayanqmca ■^avifranq.m (öifranqm) 8
0 ayanqmca parikanqm 8
