This article contains a list of historical and active
Mandaean priests
A Mandaean priest or ''Rabbi'' refers to an ordained religious leader in Mandaeism.
Overview
All priests must undergo lengthy ordination ceremonies, beginning with tarmida initiation. Mandaean religious leaders and copyists of religious texts hol ...
, all of whom have the ranks of
Rishama,
Ganzibra or
Tarmida.
Mandaean priestly families include the Manduia (Manduwi), Kupašia (
Khaffagi
The Khaffagi (also spelled Khaffagy, Khaffajy, Khafajy; fa, خفاجي; ar, خفاجی or ; written Mandaic: Kupašia ) family is a Mandaean priestly family with origins in Khuzestan, Iran, although some family members also lived in southern I ...
), Kuhailia (
Choheili), and Durakia (Dorragi) families, all of which can be traced back to the mid-1400s.
List of Mandaean priests
Active
Most of the following list of currently active Mandaean priests is based on Buckley (2023)
and from ''The Worlds of Mandaean Priests'' website curated by Christine Robins,
Yuhana Nashmi
Akhmad Bassah (also Bassakh; ; fl. 1923–30), best known by the pen name Joehana (; Perfected Spelling: Yuhana), was an author from the Dutch East Indies who wrote in Sundanese. He worked for a time on the railroad before becoming an author ...
et al.
*Rishamma
Sattar Jabbar Hilow, Iraq
*Rishamma
Salah Choheili
(, plural , romanized: or Old Arabic ͡sˤaˈloːh, ( or Old Arabic ͡sˤaˈloːtʰin construct state) ), also known as ( fa, نماز) and also spelled , are prayers performed by Muslims. Facing the , the direction of the Kaaba with ...
, Australia
*Rishamma Professor
Brikha Nasoraia, Australia
*Ganzibra
Najah Choheili
Ganzibra Najah Choheili ( fa, نجاح چحیلی) is an Iranian Mandaean priest who currently serves as the head of the Mandaean community in Iran.
Biography
Najah Choheili was born in Ahvaz, Iran into the Kuhailia (Persian pronunciation: ' ...
, Iran
*Ganzibra
Khaldoon Majid Abdullah, Australia
*Ganzibra
Waleed Khashan, Australia
*Ganzibra
Salwan Alkhamas (or Salwan Shakir Khamas), Sweden
*Ganzibra
Salam Ghaiad, Sweden
*Ganzibra
Walid Abdul Razzak, Sweden
*Ganzibra
Taleb Dorragi, Iran
*Ganzibra
Walid Ebadfardzadeh, United States
*Tarmida
Bassam Fadhil al-Haider, United States
*Tarmida
Asaad Muttar al-Othmani, Australia
*Tarmida
Thamir Shamkhi, Australia
*Tarmida
Sahi Bashikh, Australia
*Tarmida
Peyam Jizan, Australia
*Tarmida
Saleem al-Zuhairi, Australia
*Tarmida
Yuhana Nashmi
Akhmad Bassah (also Bassakh; ; fl. 1923–30), best known by the pen name Joehana (; Perfected Spelling: Yuhana), was an author from the Dutch East Indies who wrote in Sundanese. He worked for a time on the railroad before becoming an author ...
, Australia
*Tarmida
Qais Edan (
Qais Aidan), Sweden
*Tarmida
Rafid Al-Sabti
Mandaean priest, Rbai Rafid al-Sabti, known in full as Rafid al-Rishama Abdallah al-Ganzibra Zahrun al-Rishama Abdallah al-Sabti ( ar, رافد الريشاما عبدالله الگنزبرا نجم الگنزبرا زهرون الريشاما ...
, Netherlands
*Tarmida
Behram Khafajy (
Bihram Khaffagi), Iran
*Tarmida
Sam Zahrooni, Iran
Historical
This list of historical Mandaean priests, along with the accompanying notes, is primarily adapted from
Buckley
Buckley may refer to:
Businesses and organizations
* Buckley's, a Canadian pharmaceutical corporation
* Buckley Aircraft, an American aircraft manufacturer
* Buckley Broadcasting, an American broadcasting company
* Buckley School (California), ...
(2010).
The majority of the names are from
colophons ( ) in
Mandaean texts that provide detailed information about the scribes who had transcribed them. Note that written Mandaic ''br'' means "son of," while written Mandaic ''pt'' means "daughter."
References
{{Mandaeism footer
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Mandaean