A Preliminary Study of the Mandaean Temple: The Soul's Ascent to the Great Life
Today I offered a presentation in my Texts and Ancient Temples class at Brigham Young University that I would like to share here on my blog. This preliminary study offers insights to what I consider (as a faithful Latter-day Saint) to be a fallen form of temple worship still performed by one of the religions that traces itself to the land of Israel, namely, the disciples of John the Baptist known today as Mandaeans.
Of course, this study was for a short presentation, and so other connections to the ancient temple in Jerusalem are present in their rites and ordinances. For another look at the Mandaeans, I would recommend this video on YouTube (and its bibliography) that offers a very brief introduction to their religion and culture. I would also naturally recommend my own sources as found in my footnotes.
The Mandaeans trace their origin to John the Baptist, who declared boldly to “prepare the way of the Lord” according to the New Testament. Their small culture has survived from antiquity to today, and are often described by scholars as the last surviving Gnostic religion. The term “Mandaean” comes from the Aramaic word “manda” meaning knowledge,[1] much like the Greek word “gnosis.”
While the Mandaeans claim to be disciples of John the Baptist, there are substantial differences between Mandaeism and Christianity – for example, they reject Jesus’s Messiahship as is evidenced in the Mandaean Book of John, the core tenet that defines Christian worship. Since the Mandaeans do not find explicit reference in the New Testament but later are referenced in Al Qur’an as the Sabeans, it can be assumed that they did not play an important role in the polity of Israel at the time the New Testament authors lived and wrote their records. [2] Their small faction would have easily led to their being ostracized as a small minority among other religious factions of the day, (e.g. the Essenes and Pharisees). Being ostracized by their fellow countrymen and with growing persecution from Rome as the decades went on (culminating in the siege of Jerusalem and destruction of the Temple), it is only natural that they would attempt to find a new place to worship.
While many aspects of the Mandaean religion remain a mystery, I propose that one key to understanding their origins lies in the Jerusalem Temple. After their exodus to modern-day Iraq and Iran following the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, the Mandaeans found themselves in a position not unlike the mainstream Judaism of their day and many Christian sects (both the early Christian church and its split offs) who looked to the Temple in Jerusalem as an axis mundi. Their sacred texts and manner of worship, I propose, originated in the light of the Temple, of which they had lost access. The ritual texts describing the savior’s descent to the world of darkness and triumphal victory, the creation of the world and the soul, and the return of the soul to the Place of Light after death are representative of the temple drama that unfolded in antiquity, thus allowing the Mandaeans once again to pierce the veil leading into the Holy of Holies and behold the Place of Light and regain the Father’s presence.
What Constitutes a Temple?
Hugh Nibley once noted that the temple drama ritual in antiquity could be defined somewhat definitively through the various texts and traditions that have come to us today from various groups and religions around the world. The ritual drama of each obviously differed, yet many key points persist throughout each. Nibley described these as:
- Memories of dramatic and choral celebration of Creation
- Ritual contests between life and death, good and evil, and light and dark, followed by the triumphant coronation of the King to the New Age, the progenitor of the race by a sacred marriage
- Feasts of abundance attended by ancestors and spirits, sacrifices and scapegoats to rid the people of a year of guilt and pollution, and various types of divination and oracular consultation for the new life cycle
- Covenants and ceremonies of initiation (including baptism and clothing).[3]
As will be shown, the Mandaean scriptures integrate each of these points, showing a lost love for the Temple that the Mandaeans had been stripped access to at the close of the first century A.D.[4] Due to the sacred nature of these ordinances, and how familiar they may ring with other faith traditions (Latter-day Saints especially), I will take great care to quote from the Mandaean text itself accurately and faithfully (and nearly exclusively) and pay their beliefs the utmost respect that they deserve.
Memories of Creation
The main scriptural text of the Mandaeans, the Ginza Rabba,[5] contains many sections and hymns regarding the Creation. Like other Gnostic traditions, it involves what Paul called “endless genealogies” of the angelic host (1 Timothy 1:4). The central figure throughout it all, of course, is God, also known as Hayyi Rabba, meaning Great Life (occasionally shortened to simply Hayyi, or Life). The next most prominent characters in their drama are Manda ’d Hayyi, the Son of God, and Hibil Ziwa, both of whom act as savior figures throughout the Mandaean hymns and lead souls to the Place of Light. They also ritually conquer the evil Ruha and her demons who seek to torture and imprison the soul. The Uthri, or angels, all trace their genealogies back to Hayyi Rabba, their Creator and Father, and most serve Him and obey His commands to create the world.[6]
The Ginza Rabba contains at least seven retellings of creation, most of which are unique and offer contradictions to other accounts. However, each finds place as scripture. One possible reason for these differences is the ritual context that the Creation plays – while retelling how God created the cosmos, historical details often take a proverbial backseat in favor of the ritual drama that likely came with these recitations in times past. While each are unique, each are seen as equally inspired and equally true.[7]
Creation culminates with the formation of Adam and Eve. Upon hearing Hayyi’s decree, “Let Adam be created; he will be a king for the living world!” the angelic beings form the body of Adam. However, he is unable to move and breath; his soul is not in his body. After trying many ways to infuse his body with life, the angel ’Ptahil ascends to the Father of the Uthri and requests aid. The Father of the Uthri receives sacred names from God, wraps them in a white turban, and delivers the sacred bundle to ’Ptahil to place upon the body of Adam so his soul can enter his body. However, ’Ptahil inadvertently does not show the bundle the respect it deserves and the evil Ruha attempts to steal the sacred names, leading Manda ’d Hayyi (God’s Son) to descend to the earth. Dressed in glittering white robes, he chastises ’Ptahil and cast out the darkness brought by Ruha. He infuses Adam’s soul into his body, and Adam stands on his feet and praises the Lord.[8] Later, Eve is created to be Adam’s companion and the two are wed.
Eve dies shortly after Adam, and the two are promised to be with each other in the Place of Light and in the presence of their Father forever: “Your wife [Eve] will come, and all your offspring will ascend after you. Adam, this is the house that We built for you and your wife [Eve], in which you will dwell with Us.”[9]
The Savior's Descent and Victory over Darkness
The Ginza Rabba notes that upon Adam’s death, the evil one Ruha sought to capture and torture Adam’s soul so that she might learn the secrets of the soul and enter the Place of Light. Hibil Ziwa is sent to redeem Adam from Ruha’s imprisonment: “Adam begged for help from Hayyi. Hayyi asked Hibil Ziwa to descend and save Adam from darkness and painful torture, and to raise him on high. I am Hibil Ziwa. I descended from the Place of Light, and removed Adam from the world of evil and sins.”
Hibil Ziwa and Adam each pass gates kept by various angels who allow them to pass after they “extended the hand of Kushta to the soul.”[10] Finally upon admission to the Place of Light, “Adam sat on the throne that was established for him by the command of his Lord, surrounded with light and radiance.”[11] Through the teachings of the prophets, others can be granted the same crown that Adam has received.
Another portion of the Ginza tells how Hibil Ziwa was washed, dressed, and given new names before his call to descend to the darkness. He descends, binds the darkness and the demons, and joyfully ascends to His Father who greets him in the Place of Light.[12]
Holy Days, Forgiveness, Divination, and Rites Performed for the Dead
The Lady E. S. Drower has described many of the Mandaean Holy Days. Many of their holidays are closely aligned with their New Year, and the priests took an active role in preparing the people for the upcoming year. In preparation for these holy days, the Mandaean community is baptized and other ordinances are performed.[13] Baptisms at the New Year are of special import for remission of sins before the New Year begins. On New Year’s, the Priests make divinations regarding the upcoming year for the people.[14]
The priests during this time also perform rites of Masqitha, or Ascent, for the deceased in the cult-huts (a sacred space for ordinances to be performed). Some ordinances, in the Mandaean mind, are not only to be performed for the living, but also for dead who die under certain conditions that may inhibit their ability to ascend to the World of Light. These rites are to only be performed by those authorized to do so and in the places authorized to house such sacred ordinances.[15]
Covenants and Initiation
Covenants and ordinances play an important role in Mandaeism. Baptisms are performed and repeated on a regular basis, and other sacred initiation rites are described in the Ginza Rabba that the soul performs before it is admitted to the Place of Light.
Washings of Baptism
Washings and baptism play an important role in the Mandaean community. They often ritually wash themselves in the name of God so that they might be free from sin. These helped prepare the living for their ascent to the Place of Light after death. Each river is called a “Yardna,” named for the Jordan River that John the Baptist preached by and baptized multitudes in. The river, being sacred space, finds a shadow and likeness in other bodies of living water.[16]
Reception of Sacred Names
The Ginza implies that the receiver of ordinances often receives sacred names as part of his acceptance of Hayyi and his commitment to regain the Place of Light.
When Manda ’d Hayyi disguises himself and speaks with John the Baptist, he petitions John for baptism: “Baptize me with the Masbuta Baptism with which you baptize, and recite upon me all the names that you recite.” Later, when John recognizes Manda ’d Hayyi as the Son of God due to the reaction of the birds and fish, he gives an account of his work thus far to the Son of God: “Blessed be you, Manda ’d Hayyi! In your name, I have baptized the living Masbuta Baptism, in the name which was made known to me and in the name which will later come to me.”[17] John then ascends with Manda ’d Hayyi to the Place of Light as will be briefly examined below.
Even the savior Hibil Ziwa received sacred names upon his call to be the savior of souls: “They baptized [Hibil Ziwa], dressed him, and mentioned hidden names to him, names which were given to his father Yawar alone. Thus Hibil became a great Mana like them.”[18]
The reception of sacred names in the scriptures is clearly attested in the New Testament: “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it” (Revelation 2:17). Many individuals in the Old and New Testaments were also given new names throughout their lives, often due to their faithful service. Such was an element of the ancient temple.
The Sacred Handclasp of Kushta
The act of Kushta is a sacred handclasp that allows the soul to transcend this world and regain the Lord’s presence in the Place of Light. Its ultimate performance to the angelic guards is followed by it being given to God Himself: “[Hayyi] grasped [the soul] with the palm of His right hand and brought her over the dividing waters. They established her in her safe house, in which the Uthri sit. Hayyi sustains the life, and the life has found its own.”[19]
The Ginza Rabba also tells of Adam and John the Baptist’s ascents to the Place of Light. Upon Adam’s death, it is recorded in multiple instances how Adam was visited by the Savior and brought to his heavenly home. One such record reads, “The savior held Adam with his right hand to raise him while his wreath was shining on his forehead. He set him up in the residence of his Father and placed him in the World of Light.”[20] Another states that “Adam will return to be embraced by his Father. He will be established in the house of his fathers.”[21]
Similarly, upon meeting Manda ’d Hayyi, Manda ’d Hayyi takes John the Baptist past the gates and offers acts of Kushta to the gatekeepers. At last, “Manda ’d Hayyi held the hand of [John], the one of remarkable honesty, set him in the place of shrara, recited litanies and prayers over him, and taught him wisdom.” Only after this final act of Kushta does John enter the Place of Light.[22]
There are multiple Kushtas to be given, each received as various ordinances were made. These include one received at baptism, one at marriage, and another at a ritual coronation. The last of the Kushta acts “traveleth to (the other) world. It came, it went, it opened the door to the world. Every man who has performed these [Kushtas] is thereby made perfect, he hath been put to the test by all the worlds and will rise upward and behold the Place of Light.”[23]
David Calabro and Matthew Brown have each written excellent articles on the nature of the divine handclasp in the ancient Temple and Old Testament,[24] and many Psalms or prophetic writings of the Old Testament allude to such a gesture of approach taking place within the Temple precinct.[25] The act of Kushta may be a representation of this ancient gesture of approach, which was similarly seen as an embrace with God by ancient Israelite priests.
Reception of Heavenly Garments
Often in Mandaean scripture the mortal body is seen as clothing the soul temporarily wears, but upon the ascent to the Place of Light wherein Kushtas are offered, new clothing is provided: “Garment after garment she putteth on, she arrayed herself in robe after robe... She… is overjoyed about the glorious splendor resting (upon her) and the glory that accrueth to her.”[26]
These sacred garments were received after each successful act of Kushta and offered gradations of glory and holiness as each was put on. Some of the sacred vestments mentioned in the Ginza Rabba that the soul puts on are white robes, a turban, and a crown. Interestingly, these garments are often stated to be received by the soul from the hand of the savior himself: “Blessed is he who redeemed me, he who got me out of the world of bondage and lack, and clothed me in a garment of radiance. It is the garment that the chosen ones wear, the same as the just and the faithful.”[27]
These garments are perhaps represented on earth by the white baptismal and ceremonial clothing worn regularly by Mandaeans so that they may perform these sacred ordinances – a special shift from the mundane to the holy is required. The ceremonial clothing includes a white robe, a white turban, long white pants, and a sash; this sacred clothing explicitly draws to mind the ancient priestly clothing worn by the Levites in the Temple precinct.[28] Other, less visible, pieces of sacred vestment include a white shirt with a patch sown over the right breast and a stole-like linen cloth.
Mandaean Priests similarly wear special clothing as these ordinances are performed and as they fulfil their priestly duties throughout the year. Noticeably, their turban wraps around the bottom half of their face, perhaps representative of the time when Moses descended from Mount Sinai and veiled his face, still shining with the glory of the Lord.[29] They also wear a white linen crown and a gold ring and carry a long staff tied to their left side.[30]
Conclusion
The Temple, being a place of worship, remembrance of the Creation, the victory of the Savior over the forces of darkness, and the victorious ascent of the deceased to the presence of God is clearly manifest in the sacred writings of the Mandaeans. Ordinances are still performed today in sacred space in preparation for their ascent to the Heavenly Temple – bodies of living water called Yardnas and special huts where priestly duties are performed.
Throughout their scriptural corpus, one learns how to ascend to the Place of Light and dwell with God and the righteous saints in bliss, having successfully passed the angelic Uthri standing guard and having passed all tests offered to them. The knowledge they need is given to them throughout life as sacred covenants are made and ordinances performed, such as baptism, marriage, and coronation. Together, the texts and traditions of the Mandaean community converge upon the Heavenly Temple of God, the ultimate source of lasting joy in this life and the life to come.
While the Mandaean community has altogether lost much knowledge concerning the true nature of the Son of God, the Messiah, and the Temple, they have sought to keep and maintain their faint memories of the Temple they lost. These rituals and ordinances, in the fallen form that they are, call to mind the Savior and His Atonement, reconciling us to God through ordinances performed in the holy Temple today. The hope of the Mandaeans remains to be the hope once expressed by the great Nephite prophet-historian, Mormon (albeit stated with a true Christology):
Yea, we see that whosoever will may lay hold upon the word of God,
which is quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder all the cunning and the
snares and the wiles of the devil, and lead the man of Christ in a strait and
narrow course across that everlasting gulf of misery which is prepared to
engulf the wicked— and land their souls, yea, their immortal souls, at the
right hand of God in the kingdom of heaven, to sit down with Abraham, and
Isaac, and with Jacob, and with all our holy fathers, to go no more out (Helaman
3:29-30).
I would like to thank Matthew Roper and Donald Parry for pointing me in the right direction for additional sources to use while preparing this paper.
[1] The Brown Driver Briggs Lexicon defines manda (מַנְדַּע) as knowledge or the power of knowing.
[2] That being said, a speculative link to the Mandaean origins might be extrapolated from the Gospels. While many, if not most, of John the Baptist’s disciples join Jesus’ disciples (some even being called as Apostles), there was still a very clear divide between a group of “John’s disciples” and Jesus’s, as seen in Matthew 9:14-18 and Matthew 11:2-6, for instance. Furthermore, even some of Jesus’s own disciples, presumably including some who had originally been converted by John the Baptist, had left Jesus after He taught “an hard saying” (John 6:60-66). The primary accusation raised against Jesus’s Messiahship is what Jesus taught, according to the Mandaean Book of John, possibly linking these two stories. While Latter-day Saints reject the notion that Jesus was a false Messiah (His name is, after all, in the name of our Church), this reading of the scriptures may shed light on the origins of groups such as the Mandaeans, who unfortunately refused to accept Jesus Christ as the Messiah and Savior that He is.
[3] Hugh Nibley, “Looking Backward,” in The Temple in Antiquity (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University, 1984), 47-48. I have consolidated the original seven points to the four listed here.
[4] While a further discussion could be drawn based on current Mandaean places of worship and the form and function of each of their ceremonies and rites, the scriptural corpus used by the Mandaeans will constitute the bulk of my argument.
[5] All references from the Ginza are taken from Quais Al-Saadi and Hamed Al-Saadi, trans., Ginza Rabba (n.p.: Drabsha, n.d.). Each uses a generic citation describing what volume (right or left) that the citation appears in, what book of that volume that it appears in, and what chapter (“Glorification”), followed by the bibliographic citation from this edition of the Ginza Rabba so other editions available to the reader may still be useful.
[6] See Right Ginza Book Three, First Glorification for one such lengthy hymn of creation. Quais Al-Saadi et al., Right Volume, 27-57.
[7] For a compelling argument for the use of creation accounts in temple ritual contexts in the ancient world, see
[8] Right Ginza Book Three, Second Glorification. Quais Al-Saadi et al., Right Volume, 58-65, quotation from page 58.
[9] See Left Ginza, Book One, Second Glorification. Quais Al-Saadi et al., Left Volume, 20. Matthew Roper has discussed Adam’s role in Mandaean texts, and I recommend reading his presentation for further discussion on Adam’s instruction by the heavenly Uthri, his ascent to the World of Light, and his reception of sacred ordinances. See Matthew Roper, “Adam in Ancient Texts and the Restoration,” presented at the 2006 FairMormon Conference. Roper reminds the reader of Moses 5:58 in light of Mandaean texts regarding Adam’s reception of knowledge through ordinances: “All things were confirmed unto Adam by an holy ordinance.”
[10] The full significance of receiving the hand of Kushta will be discussed below.
[11] Left Ginza Book Three, Tenth Glorification. Quais Al-Saadi et al., Left Volume, 70-72.
[12] Right Ginza Book Five. Quais Al-Saadi et al., Right Volume, 70-83.
[13] See E. S. Drower, “Cosmogony, Astrology, and Holy Days,” in The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran: Their Cults, Customs, Magic Legends, and Folklore (New York: Oxford, 1937), 73-99.
[14] Drower, Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran, 86.
[15] See Drower, Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran, 178-203 for a discussion on the rites for the souls of the dead.
[16] The ceremonial clothing worn by Mandaeans at baptism will be discussed below.
[17] Right Ginza, Book Six, Third Glorification. Quais Al-Saadi et al., Right Volume, 99 and 102.
[18] Right Ginza, Book Five. Quais Al-Saadi et al., Right Volume, 70.
[19] Left Ginza Book Three, Twentieth Glorification. Quais Al-Saadi et al., Left Volume, 95. A possible wordplay is found in the last couplet: Hayyi/Life sustains our lives, and our life has found its own kind. Mankind finds themselves as a part of the divine “endless genealogy” tracing themselves back to God, and as such share the same divine root nature as God/Hayyi.
[20] Left Ginza, Book Two, Eighth Glorification. Quais Al-Saadi et al., Left Volume, 44.
[21] Left Ginza, Book Two, Third Glorification. Quais Al-Saadi et al., Left Volume, 32.
[22] Right Ginza Book Six, Third Glorification. Quais Al-Saadi et al., 102 – 104, quotation from page 104.
[23] E. S. Drower, The Thousand and Twelve Questions (Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1960), 255-256.
[24] See David Calabro, “The Divine Handclasp in the Hebrew Bible and in Near Eastern Iconography,” in Temple Insights: Proceedings of the Interpreter Matthew B. Brown Memorial Conference, “The Temple on Mount Zion,” 22 September 2012, ed. William J. Hamblin and David Rolph Seely (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation; Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2014), 25–66, Matthew B. Brown, “The Handclasp, the Temple, and the King,” in Temple Insights: Proceedings of the Interpreter Matthew B. Brown Memorial Conference, “The Temple on Mount Zion,” 22 September 2012, ed. William J. Hamblin and David Rolph Seely (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation; Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2014), 5–10. See also Stephen D. Ricks, “The Sacred Embrace and the Sacred Handclasp in Ancient Mediterranean Religions,” in Ancient Temple Worship: Proceedings of The Expound Symposium 14 May 2011, ed. Matthew B. Brown, Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, Stephen D. Ricks, and John S. Thompson (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation; Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2014), 159–70 for a review of sacred handclasps in other ancient Mediterranean religions.
[25] One such example is Psalm 73:23-24: “I am always with you; you have grasped me by my right hand. By your counsel you guide me, and afterwards will you receive me to glory.” My translation. For more examples, see Calabro, “Divine Handclasp.”
[26] E. S. Drower, Canonical Prayer Book of the Mandaeans (Leiden: Brill, 1959), 44.
[27] Left Ginza, Book Three, Eighth Glorification. Quais Al-Saadi et al., Left Volume, 65.
[28] Exodus 28:40-42 describe the priestly clothing to be worn by all Levites while they were operating in sacred space. This clothing included a white robe, a girdle or a sash, a white turban, and white breeches to cover the nakedness of the Levite priests as they went about their service in the temple. Each of these sacred vestments have a counterpart in the Mandaean ceremonial clothing.
[29] This story is found in Exodus 34:29-35. According to Drower, Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran, 31, the veil is worn by the priests so they will not be polluted and made unholy nor will they inadvertently make sacred item unholy, requiring them to undergo rites of purification. Moses wore the veil because his face shone with God’s glory, and took it off when he was in God’s presence – a clean and pure location. Veils often acted to shield the holy from being desecrated by the profane or hiding the holy from the uninitiated in antiquity and find a common use in the restored Temple.
[30] See Drower, Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran, 30-31.
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