The ''Asut Malkia''
("Salutation of Kings"
) is one of the most commonly recited prayers in
Mandaeism
Mandaeism (Mandaic language, Classical Mandaic: ),https://qadaha.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/nhura-dictionary-mandaic-english-mandaic.pdf sometimes also known as Nasoraeanism or Sabianism, is a Gnosticism, Gnostic, Monotheism, ...
. In the prayer, the reciter wishes health and victory (''asuta u-zakuta'' ) upon dozens of heavenly and ancestral figures. According to
E. S. Drower, it is recited daily by priests and also before all baptisms (''
masbuta
Maṣbuta (; pronounced ''maṣwottā'' in Neo-Mandaic) is the ritual of immersion in water in the Mandaean religion.
Overview
Mandaeans revere John the Baptist and practice frequent baptism (''masbuta'') as ritual purification, not of initia ...
''), ritual meals (''
lofani''), and various rites.
The ''Asut Malkia'' is numbered as Prayer 105 in E. S. Drower's version of the
Qulasta
The Qulasta, also spelled Qolastā in older sources (; ), is a compilation of Mandaean prayers. The Mandaic word ''qolastā'' means "collection".
The prayerbook is a collection of Mandaic prayers regarding baptisms ('' maṣbuta'') and other sa ...
, which was based on manuscript 53 of the
Drower Collection (abbreviated DC 53).
Etymology
''Asut'' or ''asuta'' can be literally translated as 'healing' and can also mean 'salutation' or 'greeting', while ''malkia'' means 'kings' (singular form: ''malka'').
Similarly, Mandaeans typically greet other individual Mandaeans with the phrase:
:''Asuta nihuilak'' ()
Multiple people are greeted using the plural form:
:''Asuta nihuilkun'' ()
Prayer
The formula ''asuta u-zakuta nihuilkun'' ( "health and victory are yours") is recited dozens of times in the prayer before the names of each
uthra
An uthra or ʿutra (, Neo-Mandaic ''oṯrɔ'', traditionally transliterated ''eutra''; plural: ʿuthrē, traditionally transliterated ''eutria'') is a "divine messenger of the light" in Mandaeism. Charles G. Häberl and James F. McGrath transl ...
or set of uthras,
Hayyi Rabbi, some of the prophets, and the reciter himself, almost all of whom are addressed as ''malka'' ( "king").
Drower (1937)
Drower's (1937) version lists the following
uthras
An uthra or ʿutra (, Neo-Mandaic language, Neo-Mandaic ''oṯrɔ'', traditionally transliterated ''eutra''; plural: ʿuthrē, traditionally transliterated ''eutria'') is a "divine messenger of the light" in Mandaeism. Charles G. Häberl and Jame ...
, etc.
[Drower, Ethel Stefana. 1937. ''The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran''. Oxford At The Clarendon Press.]
The word ''
niṭufta'' (spelled ''niṭupta'') originally means 'drop' and has sometimes also been translated as 'cloud'. It is also often used as an appellation to refer to the consorts of
uthra
An uthra or ʿutra (, Neo-Mandaic ''oṯrɔ'', traditionally transliterated ''eutra''; plural: ʿuthrē, traditionally transliterated ''eutria'') is a "divine messenger of the light" in Mandaeism. Charles G. Häberl and James F. McGrath transl ...
s.
Drower (1959)
Drower's (1959) version, which differs from the version in Drower (1937), lists the following
uthras
An uthra or ʿutra (, Neo-Mandaic language, Neo-Mandaic ''oṯrɔ'', traditionally transliterated ''eutra''; plural: ʿuthrē, traditionally transliterated ''eutria'') is a "divine messenger of the light" in Mandaeism. Charles G. Häberl and Jame ...
, etc.
Al-Mubaraki (2010)
Below is a list of names and entities mentioned in the ''Asut Malkia'', from
Majid Fandi Al-Mubaraki
Majid Fandi Al-Mubaraki () is an Iraqi-Australian writer and researcher based in the Sydney metropolitan area. He is known for his publications of Mandaic texts, including the Ginza Rba and Qulasta.
Biography
Al-Mubaraki is a Mandaean who wa ...
's Qulasta (volume 2),
as edited by
Matthew Morgenstern and Ohad Abudraham in the ''
Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon
The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon (CAL) is an online database containing a searchable dictionary and text corpora of Aramaic dialects. CAL includes more than 3 million lexically parsed words.
The project was started in the 1980s and is currently ...
''.
Some names are addressed with the title ''Malka'' ("King"), while others are not. It is longer than Drower's version and is currently the most commonly used version recited by contemporary Mandaeans.
Mandaic text
Below is the full transliterated
Mandaic text of the above. The recurring formula 'healing and victory' is repeated 66 times.
See also
*
Brakha
Daily prayer in Mandaeism, called brakha in Mandaic (cognate with Hebrew ''berakhah'' and Arabic ''barakah'') or occasionally ''birukta'' (''birukhta''), consists of set prayers that are recited three times per day. Mandaeans stand facing nort ...
(daily prayer in Mandaeism)
*''
Tabahatan
The ''Ṭabahatan'' (), also known as the ''Abahatan Qadmaiia'',. is one of the most commonly recited prayers in Mandaeism, in which the reciter asks for the forgiveness of sins. As a commemoration prayer with a long list of names, the prayer star ...
''
*''
Shumhata''
*
Rahma (Mandaeism)
In Mandaeism, a rahma (; plural form: ''rahmia'' ) is a daily devotional prayer that is recited during a specific time of the day or specific day of the week. There is a total of approximately 60 rahma prayers, which together make up the '' Eniani ...
*
Qulasta
The Qulasta, also spelled Qolastā in older sources (; ), is a compilation of Mandaean prayers. The Mandaic word ''qolastā'' means "collection".
The prayerbook is a collection of Mandaic prayers regarding baptisms ('' maṣbuta'') and other sa ...
*
List of Qulasta prayers
*
Litany of the Saints
The Litany of the Saints (Latin: ''Litaniae Sanctorum'') is a formal prayer of the Roman Catholic Church as well as the Old Catholic Church, Lutheran congregations of Evangelical Catholic churchmanship, Anglican congregations of Anglo-Catholic c ...
*
Intercession of saints
The intercession of saints is a Catholic doctrine that maintains that saints can intercession, intercede for others. To intercede is to go or come between two parties, to plead before one of them on behalf of the other. In ecclesiastical usage bo ...
References
External links
Salutation of Kings (Asut malkia)recited by Rbai
Rafid al-Sabti in the Netherlands
Salutation of Kings (Asut malkia)recited by
Abdullah Khaffagi in Ahvaz in 1960
Asut Malkiarecited by
Abdullah bar Negm (recorded on 21 November 1977 by
Kurt Rudolph)
Salutation of Kings (Asut malkia)recited at a Parwanaya service held at a
mandi in Michigan
Asut malkiarecited in Stockholm, Sweden (part 1)
Asut malkiarecited in Stockholm, Sweden (part 2)
Asut malkiarecited in Stockholm, Sweden (part 3)
{{Italic title
Mandaic words and phrases
Litanies
*
Mandaean prayer
Qulasta