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Qolusta
The Qolastā, Qulasta, or Qolusta ( myz, ࡒࡅࡋࡀࡎࡕࡀ; mid, Qōlutā, script=Latn) is the canonical prayer book of the Mandaeans, a Gnostic ethnoreligious group from Iraq and Iran. The Mandaic word ''qolastā'' means "collection". The prayerbook is a collection of Mandaic prayers regarding baptisms (''masbuta'') and other sacred rituals involved in the ascension of the soul (''masiqta''). Date The ''Qolasta'', and two other key texts to Mandaic literature, the ''Mandaean Book of John'' and the ''Ginza Rabba'', were compiled together. However, their date of authorship is heavily debated, some believing it to be during the second and third centuries, and others believing it to be conceived during the first century. In 1949, Torgny Säve-Söderbergh demonstrated that many passages in the Manichaean Psalms of Thomas were paraphrases or even word-by-word translations of Mandaean prayers in the Qolasta. Säve-Söderbergh also argued that the Manichaean psalms had borrowed fro ...
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Mandaeism
Mandaeism (Classical Mandaic: ࡌࡀࡍࡃࡀࡉࡉࡀ ; Arabic: المندائيّة ), sometimes also known as Nasoraeanism or Sabianism, is a Gnostic, monotheistic and ethnic religion. Its adherents, the Mandaeans, revere Adam, Abel, Seth, Enos, Noah, Shem, Aram, Jesus and especially John the Baptist. Mandaeans consider Adam, Seth, Noah, Shem and John the Baptist prophets with Adam being the founder of the religion and John being the greatest and final prophet. The Mandaeans speak an Eastern Aramaic language known as Mandaic. The name 'Mandaean' comes from the Aramaic ''manda'', meaning knowledge. Within the Middle East, but outside their community, the Mandaeans are more commonly known as the (singular: ), or as Sabians (, ). The term is derived from an Aramaic root related to baptism. The term Sabians derives from the mysterious religious group mentioned three times in the Quran alongside the Jews, the Christians and the Zoroastrians as a 'People of the Book', and ...
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Gnosticism
Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ... and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized personal spiritual knowledge (''gnosis'') above the orthodox teachings, traditions, and authority of religious institutions. Gnostic cosmogony generally presents a distinction between a supreme, hidden God and a malevolent demiurge, lesser divinity (sometimes associated with the Yahweh of the Old Testament) who is responsible for creating the nature, material universe. Consequently, Gnostics considered material existence flawed or evil, and held the principal element of salvation to be direct ...
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Mandaean Priest Initiation 10
Mandaeans ( ar, المندائيون ), also known as Mandaean Sabians ( ) or simply as Sabians ( ), are an ethnoreligious group who are followers of Mandaeism. They believe that John the Baptist was the final and most important prophet. They may have been among the earliest religious groups to practice baptism, as well as among the earliest adherents of Gnosticism, a belief system of which they are the last surviving representatives today. The Mandaeans were originally native speakers of Mandaic, an Eastern Aramaic language, before they nearly all switched to Iraqi Arabic or Persian as their main language. After the invasion of Iraq by the United States and its allies in 2003, the Mandaean community of Iraq, which before the war numbered 60,000-70,000 persons, collapsed due to the rise of Islamic extremism and the absence of protection against it; with most of the community relocating to Iran, Syria and Jordan, or forming diaspora communities beyond the Middle East. Mandea ...
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Drower Collection
This article contains a list of Mandaean texts (Mandaean religious texts written in Classical Mandaic). Well-known texts include the ''Ginza Rabba'' (also known as the ''Sidra Rabbā'') and the '' Qolastā''. Texts for Mandaean priests include ''The 1012 Questions'', among others. Some, like the ''Ginza Rabba'', are codices (bound books), while others, such as the various ''diwan'' (illustrated scrolls) are scrolls. This list is by no means exhaustive. Institutional libraries and private collections contain various Mandaean religious texts that are little known or even unknown to the international scholarly community. Background Mandaean copyists may transcribe texts as a meritorious deed for one's own forgiveness of sins, or they may be hired to copy a text for another person. Mandaean sacred scriptures, such as the ''Ginza Rabba'' are traditionally kept in wooden chests wrapped in layers of white cotton and silk cloth. These protected manuscripts are generally not touched ...
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ʿniania
In Mandaeism, a ʿniana ( myz, ࡏࡍࡉࡀࡍࡀ; plural form: ''ʿniania'' ) prayer is recited during rituals such as the masiqta and priest initiation ceremonies. There is a total of 26 ʿniana prayers. They form part of the Qolasta. Etymology ''ʿNiana'' literally means "response," since the prayers may have originally been recited in a call and response manner. Manuscripts and translations Jacques de Morgan's manuscript collection included a ʿniania manuscript dating back to 1833. The prayers have been translated into English by E. S. Drower (1959). They have also been translated into German by Mark Lidzbarski (1920).Lidzbarski, Mark. 1920. ''Mandäische Liturgien''. Abhandlungen der Königlichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, phil.-hist. Klasse, NF 17.1. Berlin. List of niana prayers The ʿniana prayers are numbered from 78– 103 in both Drower's and Lidzbarski's versions of the Qolasta. * Prayer 78 * Prayer 79: prayer for the klila for the staff (''ma ...
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Drabsha
The drabshaDrower, Ethel Stefana (1937). ''The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran''. Oxford at the Clarendon Press. ( myz, ࡃࡓࡀࡁࡔࡀ) or darfash ( ar, درفش) is the symbol of the Mandaean faith. It is typically translated as 'banner'. Etymology The Mandaic term ''drabša'' is derived from the Persian word ''dirafsh'' (), which means 'banner or standard; a flash of light; sunrise'. In Mandaic, ''drabša'' can also mean 'a ray or beam of light'. Description and symbolism The drabsha (''drabša'') is a banner in the shape of a cross made of two branches of olive wood fastened together and half covered with a piece of white cloth traditionally made of pure silk, and seven branches of myrtle. The drabsha white silk banner is not identified with the Christian cross. Instead, the four arms of the drabsha symbolize the four corners of the universe, while the pure silk cloth represents the Light of God (Hayyi Rabbi). The seven branches of myrtle represent the seven days of creation ...
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Qabin
The qabin ( myz, ࡒࡀࡁࡉࡍ) is the Mandaean wedding ritual. Mandaean weddings are typically held for several days. Traditionally, weddings must be officiated by a Mandaean priest and can only be performed for ethnic Mandaeans, although this has proved to be challenging for the contemporary Mandaean diaspora. During the ''qabin'' wedding ceremony, a Mandaean priest reads prayers from ''The Wedding of the Great Šišlam''.Drower, E. S. 1950. Šarḥ ḏ qabin ḏ šišlam rba (D. C. 38). Explanatory Commentary on the Marriage Ceremony of the great Šišlam'. Rome: Ponteficio Istituto Biblico. (text transliterated and translated) Zidqa brika, which includes hamra and various dried fruits and nuts, is also offered and consumed. Drower (1937: 59–71) contains a detailed account of a traditional Mandaean village wedding. A wedding chamber or canopy used during Mandaean wedding ceremonies is called an ''andiruna'', a term which is also used to refer to temporary reed huts used d ...
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Rahma (Mandaeism)
In Mandaeism, a rahma ( myz, ࡓࡀࡄࡌࡀ; plural form: ''rahmia'' ) is a daily devotional prayer that is recited during a specific time of the day or specific day of the week. Translations E. S. Drower's version of the Qolasta, the ''Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans'', has 64 rahma prayers translated into English that are numbered from 106 to 169. In Drower's ordering, the rahma prayers directly follow the ''Asiet Malkia'' prayer (''CP'' 105), while the '' Ṭabahatan'' prayer (''CP'' 170) comes after the rahma prayers. Part 1 of the Oxford Collection in Mark Lidzbarski's '' Mandäische Liturgien'' (1920) contains 60 rahma prayers translated into German that correspond to prayers 106–160 and 165–169 in Drower (1959).Lidzbarski, Mark. 1920. ''Mandäische Liturgien''. Abhandlungen der Königlichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, phil.-hist. Klasse, NF 17.1. Berlin. List of rahma prayers Below, ''Oxford'' refers to Lidzbarski's (1920) numbering, while ' ...
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Masiqta
The masiqta ( myz, ࡌࡀࡎࡉࡒࡕࡀ) is a mass or ritual practiced in the Mandaean religion in order to help guide the soul (''nišimta'') towards the World of Light in Mandaean cosmology. They are typically performed as funerary rites for Mandaeans who have just died. Although usually translated as "death mass", a few types of ''masiqta'' are also performed for living people, such as when priests are ordained. Purpose The complex ritual involves guiding the soul through the ''maṭarta'', or toll houses located between the Earth (Tibil) and the World of Light, which are guarded by various uthras and demons. A successful masiqta merges the incarnate soul ( myz, ࡍࡉࡔࡉࡌࡕࡀ ; roughly equivalent to the ''psyche'' or " ego" in Greek philosophy) and spirit ( myz, ࡓࡅࡄࡀ ; roughly equivalent to the ''pneuma'' or "breath" in Greek philosophy) from the Earth (Tibil) into a new merged entity in the World of Light called the ''ʿuṣṭuna''. The ''ʿuṣṭuna'' can ...
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Masbuta
Maṣbuta ( myz, ࡌࡀࡑࡁࡅࡕࡀ) is the ritual of immersion in water in the Mandaeism, Mandaean religion. Overview Mandaeans revere John the Baptist and practice frequent baptism (''masbuta'') as a Ritual purification, ritual of purification, not of initiation. They are possibly one of the earliest peoples to practice ritual baptism. Mandaeans undergo baptism on Sundays (''Habshaba''), wearing a white sacral robe (''Rasta (Mandaeism), rasta''). Baptism for Mandaeans consists of a triple full immersion in water, a triple ''signing'' of the forehead with water and a triple drinking of water. The priest (''Mandaean priest, rabbi'') then removes a ring made of myrtle (''klila'') worn by the baptized and places it on their forehead. This is then followed by a handshake (''kušṭa'' - hand of truth) with the priest. The final blessing involves the priest laying his right hand on the baptized person's head. ''Living water'' (fresh, natural, flowing water, called ''mia hayyi'') is ...
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