''Diwan ḏ-Qadaha Rba Šuma ḏ-Mara ḏ-Rabuta u-Dmut Kušṭa'' (; "The Scroll of the Great Prayer, the Name of the Lord of Greatness and the Image of Truth"), or simply ''

Dmut In Mandaeism, a dmuta () or dmut is a spiritual counterpart or "mirror image" in the World of Light. People, spirits, and places are often considered to have both earthly and heavenly counterparts (''dmuta'') that can dynamically interact with ea ...

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 ...

'' (or ''Dmuth Kushta''), is a Mandaean religious text. It is written as an illustrated scroll. No published translation of the text currently exists. It is also known as ''Tafsir Rba ḏ-Dmut Kušṭa'' ("The Great Explanation/

Tafsir Tafsir ( ; ) refers to an exegesis, or commentary, of the Quran. An author of a ''tafsir'' is a ' (; plural: ). A Quranic ''tafsir'' attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, interpretation, context or commentary for clear understanding ...

of the

Image An image or picture is a visual representation. An image can be Two-dimensional space, two-dimensional, such as a drawing, painting, or photograph, or Three-dimensional space, three-dimensional, such as a carving or sculpture. Images may be di ...

Truth Truth or verity is the Property (philosophy), property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth, 2005 In everyday language, it is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise cor ...

").Morgenstern, Matthew (2013)
New Manuscript Sources for the Study of Mandaic
In: V. Golinets et. al (eds.), ''Neue Beiträge zur Semitistik. Sechstes Treffen der Arbeitsgemeinschaft Semitistik in der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft vom 09.–11. Februar 2013 in Heidelberg''. AOAT, Ugarit Verlag.

Manuscripts

The

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley, it is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in ...

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

holds a manuscript of the text, catalogued as MS Asiat. Misc. C 12. The scroll was copied by Yahia Ram Zihrun, son of Mhatam in 1818 in Qurna. It was acquired by E. S. Drower in 1954. Manuscripts of ''Tafsir Rba ḏ-Dmut Kušṭa'' from the Rbai Rafid Collection (RRC), held by Rbai

Rafid al-Sabti Rbai Rafid al-Sabti, known in full as Rafid al-Rishama Abdallah al-Ganzibra Zahrun al-Rishama Abdallah al-Sabti (; born 1965, Iraq), is an Iraqi-Dutch Mandaean priest in Nijmegen, Netherlands. Biography Al-Sabti was born in 1965 to Rishama Ab ...

Nijmegen Nijmegen ( , ; Nijmeegs: ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and the ninth largest of the Netherlands as a whole. Located on the Waal River close to the German border, Nijmegen is one of the oldest cities in the ...

, Netherlands, are: *RRC 2V: Copied in 1240 A.H. (1824-5 A.D.). *RRC 2X: Copied in 1204 A.H. (1789-90 A.D.). In 1969, Kurt Rudolph had also seen a copy of the text at a private library in

Dora, Baghdad Dora (also al-Dura, or ad-Durah, , Syriac: ܕܘܿܪܵܐ) is a neighborhood in Al Rashid administrative district, southern Baghdad, Iraq. Before the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, it was home to the city's largest concentration of Christian Assyri ...

. In 2002, a published version of ''Dmut Kušṭa'' in

typeset Typesetting is the composition of text for publication, display, or distribution by means of arranging physical ''type'' (or ''sort'') in mechanical systems or ''glyphs'' in digital systems representing '' characters'' (letters and other ...

Mandaic script The Mandaic alphabet is a writing system primarily used to write the Mandaic language. It is thought to have evolved between the second and seventh century CE from either a cursive form of Aramaic (as did Syriac) or from Inscriptional Parthia ...

has been published by

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 ...

, a Mandaean living in Australia.

Illustrations

MS Asiat. Misc. C 12 contains illustrations of various heavenly trees, which are named after (or identified with) uthras. * Abatur Rama, as a

date palm ''Phoenix dactylifera'', commonly known as the date palm, is a flowering-plant species in the palm family Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet #Fruits, fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across North Africa, northern A ...

*Habšaba, as a

fig tree ''Ficus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family (biology), family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few spe ...

Yawar Ziwa In Mandaeism, Yawar Ziwa (; also known as Yawar Kasia "Hidden Yawar", or Yawar Rabba "Great Yawar") is an uthra (angel or guardian) from the World of Light. He is the personification of light, as well as the head of reproductive powers. Sima ...

, as a great

cotton plant ''Gossypium'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the tribe Gossypieae of the mallow family, Malvaceae, from which cotton is harvested. It is native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Old and New Worlds. There are about 50 ''Gossypi ...

Yushamin In Mandaeism, Yushamin () and also known as the 'Second Life', is the primal uthra (angel or guardian) and a subservient emanation who was created by the Mandaean God 'The Great Life' (''Hayyi Rabbi'' or 'The First Life'), hence beginning the cre ...

, as a

mulberry tree ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of 19 species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 subordinate ...

References

Bibliography

*Nasoraia, Brikha (2022). ''A Critical Edition, with Translation and Analytical Study of Diwan Qadaha Rba D-Dmuth Kusta (The Scroll of Great Creation of the Image/Likeness of Truth)'' (forthcoming). Belgium: Brepols Publishers. *Nasoraia, Brikha (2022). ''The Esoteric and Mystical Concepts of the Mandaean Nasoraean Illustrated Scroll: Diwan Qadaha Rba D-dmuth Kusta (the Scroll of the Great Creation of the Image/likeness of Truth)'' (forthcoming). Belgium: Brepols Publishers. * *Nasoraia, Brikha (2010). ''The Esoteric and Mystical Concepts of the Mandaean Nasoraean Illustrated Scroll: Diwan Qadaha Rba D-dmuth Kusta (the Scroll of the Great Creation of the Image/likeness of Truth)''. Sydney, Australia: University of Sydney. *

External links

Diwan Dmuth Kushta
(Mandaic text from the Mandaean Network)

(Mandaic text from the Mandaean Network) {{Authority control Mandaean texts