Maṣbuta
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Maṣbuta (; pronounced ''maṣwottā'' in Neo-Mandaic) is the ritual of immersion in water in the Mandaean religion.


Overview

Mandaeans Mandaeans (Mandaic language, Mandaic: ࡌࡀࡍࡃࡀࡉࡉࡀ) ( ), 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 ...
revere
John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...
and practice frequent
baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...
(''masbuta'') as
ritual purification Ritual purification is a ritual prescribed by a religion through which a person is considered to be freed of ''uncleanliness'', especially prior to the worship of a deity, and ritual purity is a state of ritual cleanliness. Ritual purification ...
, not of initiation. They are possibly one of the earliest peoples to practice ritual
baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...
. Mandaeans undergo baptism on
Sunday Sunday (Latin: ''dies solis'' meaning "day of the sun") is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. Sunday is a Christian sabbath, day of rest in most Western countries and a part of the Workweek and weekend, weekend. In some Middle Ea ...
s (''Habshaba'', ), wearing a white sacral robe ('' rasta''). Baptism for Mandaeans consists of a triple full immersion in water, a triple signing of the forehead with water (in which the priest puts his fingers on the baptized person's forehead and moves it from right to left), and a triple drinking of water. The priest (''
rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...
'') then removes a ring made of myrtle (''
klila In Mandaeism, the klila () is a small Myrtus, myrtle () wreath or ring (translated as "circlet" by E. S. Drower) used during Mandaean religious rituals. The klila is a female symbol that complements the ''taga (Mandaeism), taga'', a white crown w ...
'') worn by the baptized and places it on their forehead. This is then followed by a handclasp (''
kušṭa In Mandaeism, kushta or kušṭa () can have several meanings. Its original literal meaning is "truth" in the Mandaic language, and is thus typically used to refer to the Mandaean religious concept of truth. The same word is also used to refer t ...
'', "hand of truth") with the priest, using right hands only. 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 a requirement for baptism, therefore can only take place in rivers. All rivers are named ''
Yardna In Mandaeism, a yardna () or yardena ([]; ) is a body of flowing fresh water (or in ; pronounced ''meyya heyyi'') that is suitable for ritual use as baptismal water. The masbuta and other Mandaean rituals such as the tamasha (ablution), tamasha ...
'' "
Jordan River The Jordan River or River Jordan (, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn''; , ''Nəhar hayYardēn''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Sharieat'' (), is a endorheic river in the Levant that flows roughly north to south through the Sea of Galilee and drains to the Dead ...
" and are believed to be nourished by the ''
World of Light In Mandaeism, the World of Light or Lightworld () is the primeval, transcendental world from which Tibil and the World of Darkness emerged. Description *The Great Life ('' Hayyi Rabbi'' or Supreme God/ Monad) is the ruler of the World of Ligh ...
''. By the riverbank, a Mandaean's forehead is anointed with
sesame oil Sesame oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from sesame seeds. The oil is one of the earliest-known crop-based oils. Worldwide mass modern production is limited due to the inefficient manual harvesting process required to extract the oil. ...
(''
misha Misha (), also known as Mishka () or The Olympic Mishka (), is the name of the Russian Bear mascot of the 1980 Summer Olympics, 1980 Moscow Olympic Games (the XXII Summer Olympics). He was designed by children's books illustrator Victor Chizhik ...
'') and partakes in a communion of
sacramental bread Sacramental bread, also called Communion bread, Communion wafer, Sacred host, Eucharistic bread, the Lamb or simply the host (), is the bread used in the Christian ritual of the Eucharist. Along with sacramental wine, it is one of two elements ...
(''
pihta In Mandaeism, the pihta () is a type of sacramental bread used with rituals performed by Mandaean priests. It is a small, round, biscuit-sized flatbread that can either be salted or saltless, depending on whether the ritual use of the pihta is ...
'') and water. Baptism for Mandaeans allows for salvation by connecting with the ''World of Light'' and for forgiveness of sins. Although masbuta rituals are typically held only in the presence of Mandaeans, a historic commemorative masbuta ceremony was held at the 13th conference of the ARAM Society (titled "The Mandaeans"), which took place during 13–15 June 1999 on the banks of the
Charles River The Charles River (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ), sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles, is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton, Massachusetts, Hopkinton to Boston along a highly me ...
at
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
.


Procedure

The masbuta consists of several steps. #''Water splashing'': The Mandaean person to be baptized enters the water and stands chest-deep in water behind the officiating priest. The priest will ask for the person's '' malwasha'' (Mandaean baptismal name) if he does not know it. The priest, standing in front of the baptized person, uses both hands to splash water on the baptized person several times in rapid succession as he pronounces the baptized person's ''malwasha'' a few times. During the water splashing, the baptized person holds his burzinqa with both hands. #''First kushta'': The baptized person and priest hold each other's right hands. This handclasp is known as the '' kushta''. #''Triple immersion of head in water'': The priest holds the baptized person's head with both hands and dips the head inside the water three times. #''Triple signing across the forehead'': The priest strokes his right fingers horizontally across the lower front end of the baptized person's '' burzinqa'' (turban) on his forehead three times, from right to left. #''Triple drinking of water from the priest's hand'': The priest dips his right lower arm and right hand in the water, with his elbow forming a 90 degree angle, and then gives the baptized person water to drink from his palm. This is done three times. #''Placing the klila in the burzinqa'': The priest takes the baptized person's ''
klila In Mandaeism, the klila () is a small Myrtus, myrtle () wreath or ring (translated as "circlet" by E. S. Drower) used during Mandaean religious rituals. The klila is a female symbol that complements the ''taga (Mandaeism), taga'', a white crown w ...
'' (myrtle twig ringlet) from his hand and places it in the baptized person's ''burzinqa''. #''Final kushta'': The priest stands up and places his right hand on the baptized person's head as he says final blessings, and the two exchange a final ''kushta'' (handclasp), and the baptized person emerges from the water.


Types

There are different types of masbuta used for different purposes. Similarly, there are also several different types of
masiqta The masiqta () 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 di ...
(see ). A few types of ''masbuta'' are: *360 baptisms: 360 consecutive baptisms are needed to cleanse a polluted priest. Sets of 360 baptisms are described in texts such as '' The Baptism of Hibil Ziwa'' and ''Šarḥ ḏ-Maṣbuta Rabia'' ("The Scroll of the Great Baptism"; DC 50). * Masbuta of Zihrun Raza Kasia, described in the ''
Zihrun Raza Kasia The ''Šarḥ ḏ-Zihrun Raza Kasia'' (; "The Scroll of Zihrun, the Hidden Mystery") is a Mandaean religious text that describes rituals such as the masbuta, masiqta, and other related topics. It is an illustrated scroll. Zihrun (referred to a ...
'' scroll. ''Masbuta'' is distinct from '' ṭamaša'' "immersion" and '' rišama'' "ablution", which are personal
ritual purification Ritual purification is a ritual prescribed by a religion through which a person is considered to be freed of ''uncleanliness'', especially prior to the worship of a deity, and ritual purity is a state of ritual cleanliness. Ritual purification ...
rituals that do not require the presence of a priest. Ṭamaša is typically performed after bodily pollutions, such as seminal discharge,
sexual activity Human sexual activity, human sexual practice or human sexual behaviour is the manner in which humans experience and express their sexuality. People engage in a variety of sexual acts, ranging from activities done alone (e.g., masturbation) t ...
, or after subsiding from unclean thoughts or anger at another person. This ablution is comparable to tevilah in Judaism and
ghusl ( ', ) is an Arabic term that means the full-body ritual purification which is mandatory before the performance of various Islamic activities and prayers. For any Muslim, it is performed after sexual intercourse (i.e. it is fardh), before Fri ...
in Islam. Rišama is performed daily before prayers and religious ceremonies or after bowel evacuation and is comparable to
wudu ''Wuduʾ'' ( ) is the Islamic procedure for cleansing parts of the body, a type of ritual purification, or ablution. The steps of wudu are washing the hands, rinsing the mouth and nose, washing the face, then the forearms, then wiping the head, ...
in Islam.


Parallels with other religious traditions

Birger A. Pearson finds many parallels between the Sethian ritual of the
Five Seals In Sethianism, Sethian Gnostic texts, the Five Seals are typically described as a baptismal rite involving a series of five full immersions in holy running or "living water," symbolizing spiritual ascension to the divine realm. The Five Seals are ...
and the Mandaean baptismal ritual of masbuta. In Mandaic, Christian baptism is not referred to as ''maṣbuta'', but rather as ''mamiduta'' (; cognate with Syriac , used by Syriac Christians to refer to baptism), which Mandaean texts describe as unclean since it is performed in standing rather than flowing water.


Gallery

Gallery of Mandaeans performing ''masbuta'' in the Karun River in
Ahvaz Ahvaz (; ) is a city in the Central District of Ahvaz County, Khuzestan province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is home to Persians, Arabs and other groups such as Qashqai and Kurds. Languages spok ...
,
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
: File:Mandaeans 01.jpg File:Mandaeans 02.jpg File:Mandaeans 03.jpg File:Mandaeans 04.jpg


See also

* History of baptism * Baptism in early Christianity *
Immersion baptism Immersion baptism (also known as baptism by immersion or baptism by submersion) is a method of baptism that is distinguished from baptism by affusion (pouring) and by aspersion (sprinkling), sometimes without specifying whether the immersion is ...
*
Mikveh A mikveh or mikvah (,  ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvot'', or (Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazic) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for ritual washing in Judaism#Full-body immersion, ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve Tumah and taharah, ...
in
Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
* Bīt rimki in Ancient Mesopotamia *
Misogi is a Japanese Shinto practice of ritual purification by washing the entire body. Misogi is related to another Shinto purification ritual, ''harae''. Thus, both are collectively referred to as . Background Every year, many people take pilgrimag ...
in
Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...
* *'' The Baptism of Hibil Ziwa'' * Bihram *
Yardna In Mandaeism, a yardna () or yardena ([]; ) is a body of flowing fresh water (or in ; pronounced ''meyya heyyi'') that is suitable for ritual use as baptismal water. The masbuta and other Mandaean rituals such as the tamasha (ablution), tamasha ...


Further reading

* * * * * * Nasoraia, Brikha (2022). ''Masbuta: The Mandaean Baptism'' (forthcoming). Belgium: Brepols Publishers.


References


External links


Videos and images
from the Worlds of Mandaean Priests (University of Exeter)
Children's Baptism Day (River and Pool) - Sydney (January 2015)Mandaean masbuta performed at 13 June 1999 ARAM conference
{{Mandaeism footer Baptism Mandaic words and phrases