Lamia Abbas Amara ( ar, لميعة عباس عمارة, also sometimes spelled Lamea Abbas Amara; 1929 – 18 June 2021) was an Iraqi poet. She was a pioneer of modern

Arabic poetry Arabic poetry ( ar, الشعر العربي ''ash-shi‘ru al-‘Arabīyyu'') is the earliest form of Arabic literature. Present knowledge of poetry in Arabic dates from the 6th century, but oral poetry is believed to predate that. Arabic poetry ...

and an important figure in contemporary poetry in Iraq.

Name

Lamia is her given name, while Abbas is her father's name, and Amara is her paternal grandfather's name.

Early life and education

She was born to a

Mandaean 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 ...

family in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

in 1929, and later grew up in

Amarah Amarah ( ar, ٱلْعَمَارَة, al-ʿAmārah), also spelled Amara, is a city in south-eastern Iraq, located on a low ridge next to the Tigris River waterway south of Baghdad about 50 km (31 mi) from the border with Iran. It lies at the ...

. Her father was Bayan bar Manu. Her uncle

Zahroun Amara Zahroun Mulla Khidr bin Badran bin Qarjar Al-Zahroun Amara ( ar, زهرون الملا خضر بن بدران بن قارجار ال زهرون عمارة), known simply as Zahroun Amara (also spelled Zahrun, Zahron or Zahroon Amarah) ( ar, زهر ...

(died 1929) was a famous silversmith, while her cousin Abdul Razzak Abdul Wahid (1930–2015) was also a poet. Her mother, the sister of Sheikh

Dakhil Aidan Sheikh (''Rabbi'') Ganzibra Dakhil Aidan (also spelled Dakheel Edan or Dakhil Idan) ( ar, دخيل عيدان; born April 14, 1881, died June 24, 1964) was the patriarch and international head of the Mandaean religion from 1917, until his death ...

, belonged to the Manduia priestly lineage. She studied at the Teachers' Training College, which later became part of the

Baghdad University The University of Baghdad (UOB) ( ar, جامعة بغداد ''Jāmi'at Baghdād'') is the largest university in Iraq, tenth largest in the Arab world, and the largest university in the Arab world outside Egypt. Nomenclature Both University ...

, and graduated in 1950.

Career

She was a member of the administrative board of the Iraqi Writers Union in Baghdad between 1963 and 1975, a member of the administrative board of the Syriac Synod in Baghdad, and deputy permanent representative of Iraq to

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

between 1973 and 1975, and director of culture and arts at the

University of Technology An institute of technology (also referred to as: technological university, technical university, university of technology, technological educational institute, technical college, polytechnic university or just polytechnic) is an institution of te ...

in Baghdad. She left Iraq in 1978 and lived most of her exile in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

, United States after emigrating during the time of

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...

. Her sister, Shafia Abbas Amara, also emigrated to San Diego. Lamia Abbas specialized in Arabic eloquent and popular Iraqi poetry. She was awarded the

National Order of the Cedar National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

by the Lebanese state for her work.الموت يُغيّب الشاعرة العراقية لميعة عباس عمارة
/ref> Together with her sister Shafia Abbas Amara, she published a magazine called ''Mandaee'' in the United States, which was mostly in Arabic but also partially in English. Lamia Abbas owned several

Mandaean manuscripts This article contains a list of Mandaic manuscripts, which are almost entirely Mandaean religious texts written in Classical Mandaic. Well-known Mandaean texts include the ''Ginza Rabba'' (also known as the ''Sidra Rabbā'') and the '' Qolast ...

that were given to her by her maternal uncle,

. These manuscripts, including the ''

Ginza Rabba The Ginza Rabba ( myz, ࡂࡉࡍࡆࡀ ࡓࡁࡀ, translit=Ginzā Rbā, lit=Great Treasury), Ginza Rba, or Sidra Rabba ( myz, ࡎࡉࡃࡓࡀ ࡓࡁࡀ, translit=Sidrā Rbā, lit=Great Book), and formerly the Codex Nasaraeus, is the longest ...

'' (two copies dating to 1886 and 1935), ''

Mandaean Book of John The Mandaean Book of John (Mandaic language ࡃࡓࡀࡔࡀ ࡖࡉࡀࡄࡉࡀ ') is a Mandaean holy book in Mandaic Aramaic which is believed by Mandeans to have been written by their prophet John the Baptist. The book contains accounts of Jo ...

'', and ''

Book of the Zodiac The ''Book of the Zodiac'' ( myz, ࡎࡐࡀࡓ ࡌࡀࡋࡅࡀࡔࡉࡀ, translit=Sfar Malwašia) is a Mandaean text. It covers Mandaean astrology in great detail. The book is used to obtain a Mandaean's baptismal name (''malwasha''). Manuscrip ...

'', were studied by

Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley (born Jorunn Jacobsen in 1944 in Norway) is an American religious studies scholar and historian of religion known for her work on Mandaeism and Gnosticism. She was a former Professor of Religion at Bowdoin College. She is kn ...

. Buckley and Abbas were also lifelong friends. Abbas died in the United States on 18 June 2021, aged 92.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbas, Lamia 1929 births 2021 deaths Iraqi Mandaeans 20th-century Iraqi poets Iraqi women poets People from Baghdad Recipients of the National Order of the Cedar American people of Iraqi-Mandaean descent Iraqi emigrants to the United States Poets from California Writers from San Diego Iraqi book and manuscript collectors People from Amarah