英
MANCHESTER, CHARLES: Church of God;
b. at Burritt, 111., Dec. 28, 1858. He was educated
at Park College, Mo. (A.B., 1883), and Oberlin Theo-
logical Seminary (B.D., 1886). Having been or-
dained a minister in his denomination as early as
1879, he held pastorates at Mt. Carroll, 111. (1886-
1888), Decatur, 111. (1888-89), and Milmine and
Lodge, 111. (1889-90), whUe from 1890 to 1896 he
was preacher in a church at Barkleyville, Pa., and
also principal of the academy in the same place.
He was then connected with Findlay College, Find-
lay, O., from 1896 to 1904, being successively pro-
fessor of Greek and philosophy (1896-1901), and
professor of philosophy and theology (1901-04), in
addition to being acting president of the same in-
stitution from 1896 to 1900, and president from
that year to 1904. Since 1904 he has been pastor
of a church of his denomination at Wooster, O. He
was secretary of the Board of Missions of the Gen-
eral Eldership of the Church of God from 1893 to
1901, and was editor of the Missionary Signal, which
he founded, from 1893 to 1896 and of the Findlay
College News from 1897 to 1904.
146
HANDiBANS.
Orisin and Names (S 1).
Recent Reporta. The System Outlined (( 2).
The Earliest Theogony and Cosmogony (S 3).
Later Theogony and Cosmogony (( 4).
Mandsan Cosmology ({ 5).
Chronology and Eschatology (S 6).
The many Gnostic sects against which the Church
Fathers strove left little Uterature to survive till
the present. The Mancheans, who still are found
in scanty numbers in Persia and the region of
southern Babylonia, are an exception; and their
rich Uterature is very suggestive of the varied
sources of Gnostic systems. This sect, belonging to
ophitio Gnosticism, to form its system combined
elements from Judaism, early Chris-
z. Origin tianity, and Sassanian Parseeism with
and an original Babylonian and early
Names. Aramaic basis of religion. Connection
is to be found also with the heretical
sect of disciples of John the Baptist, and derivation
is allowed by the Mandseans themselves from the
Sabians of pre-Mohammedan Arabia (Koran, ii.
69, v. 73, xxu. 17). Indeed, " Sabian " is an
Arabized word meaning '' baptist." In their prin-
cipal sacred work, the Ginza or the Sidra Rabba
(" Great Book ")» the Mand^eans call themselves
N<i9orayya, the " Nazarenes." In the same source
the name Mandayya is also employed, from the
word madda*, " knowledge,'' with which is com-
bined hayya, ** life," in the sense of gnosis or knowl-
edge of life (see Gnosticism). Theodore bar Choni
gives them other names, as MashkenayyCf from
MasKkeruit the Mandaean word for church; Dosti,
from Persian dost^ ** friend "; and Adonseans, from
their assumed founder, Ado, who was perhaps a
reformer or leader of a party. Theodore makes
Ado come from Adiabene to the district of Maishan
(Mesene) on the lower Euphrates and Tigris, where
he lived as a mendicant (perhaps like the Brah-
manic bhikshu or fakir), surrounded by disciples.
Ado is then said to have heard of a man named
Papa on the upper course of the river Ulai (the
modem Karun), of whom he sought shelter. There
he settled by the wayside to beg from travelers.
Theodore gives also the names of Ado's father,
mother, and brothers, which names all have signifi-
cance in the Mandsan religion. On account of the
honor which they pay to John the Baptist, the Man-
dffians bear also the name Christians of St. John,
though there is little in their life and nothing in
their dogma which merits the name Christian, their
doctrine of redemption going back to the god Mar-
duk (see Babylonia, VII., 2, § 10).
The first knowledge of this sect in modem times
wajs brought to Europe by the Carmelite missionary
Ignatius a Jesu, who in the middle of the seven-
teenth century lived many years in
2. Recent Basra and converted some of the
Reports, adherents to Christianity (see bibliog-
The raphy below for his book). He re-
System garded them as descendants of disci-
Outlined, pies of John the Baptist, who had fled
thither from persecution, being led to
this view by the honors paid by them to the Bap-
tist, their many legends of him, and their practise
System of Ceremonial (S 7).
The Clergy ({ 8).
Last Rites; the Soul's Hap (S 9).
Present Conditions; the Language (10).
Sources of Mandman Doctrines ({ 11).
Babylonian and Manichean Ideas Borrowed (f 12).
of baptizing only in rivers. He gave their number
as from 20,000 to 25,000 families, scattered through
Babylonia, Persia, Goa, Ceylon, and India, in the
latter coimtry reckoning to them the Thomas-Chris-
tians (Nestorians). Further information came
through Abraham Ecchellensis (q.v.), the mission-
ary Angelus a Sancto Josepho, Pietro deUa Valle,
Jean Th^venot, Carsten Niebuhr, and others. The
reports of these writers have considerable value,
dealing as they do with a time when the sect was
relatively large. The sources of first importance
for knowledge of the Mandseans are their own wri-
tings, especially the Ginza, which are, however, only
fragments of a once large religious literature. The
older parts of the Ginza date back to the early
Mohainmedan period, 700-900 a.d. Besides the
great collections of the sect, there are many tracts
for priests and for laity, dealing with sickness and
demoniacal possession, often employed as amulets
and worn on the breast. The present Mandsean
religion has, under Mohammedan influence, taken
on a monotheistic form. But study of the Ginza
shows that this is the result of development; the
early form was polytheistic (cf. W. Brandt, Die
mand&ische Religion^ Leipsic, 1889) and dealt with
theogony and cosmogony; this was succeeded by
a combination of Jewish-Christian sources under
Indian influence. The next stage appears to have
been under the ascendancy of Persian thought, es-
pecially in its eschatology, followed by a period of
confusion, which in turn gave way to a monotheis-
tic type of theology with a " Great King of Light "
as the chief deity, from which the step to Allaha as
God was eajsy.
The earliest priestly form of the religion dealt,
as did the systems of Phenicia and Babylonia, with
the origins of gods and of the world. There stand
out in this two forms, now distinct, now united, the
" Great Fruit " (cf. Hebr. periy), Pira Rabba, and
Mana Rabba, " Great Spirit."
Pira Rabba is the All, the comprehensive basis
of things, bounded only by itself, from which all
things came. It is the '' golden egg '*
3. The of the Brahmanic cosmogony which,
Earliest at first a unit in which rests Brahma
Theogony or Purusha, divides into heaven and
and earth. It is regarded as an independ-
Cosmogony. ent and spontaneous deity and as crea-
tor. This is a conception not peculiar
to India and the Mands^ans. With Pira Rabba is
closely connected Ayar Ziwa Rabba, " Great Lus-
trous Ether " (cf. Syr. o'ar, Gk. aer), or Yora Rabba,
' Great Brilliance,'' from which last sprang the
" Great Jordan " or stream of heaven. In Pira
Ayar appears as a personal spirit Mana Rabba de
et^ara, '* Great Spirit of Excellence," usually called
in the system Mana Rabba (ut sup.). While the
origin and meaning of this last term are not clear,
derivations are given from the Indo-Persian man,
147
tt
thought/' and Arabic ma*na, ** mind/' " mean-
ing." It probably corresponds to the Indian at-
marif " principle of life or individuality." With it,
as female potency, Demutha, " image/' is joined,
and a triad of Pira-Ayar, Mana Rabba, and Demu-
tha is formed. Thus far no visible world or life
existed, only the transcendental. Hence there ap-
pears l^ayye Eadmaye, " First Life," formed from
Mana Rabba; and in Blandiean prayers he is al-
ways the first invoked. From him proceeded the
countless emanations of gods, eons, and angels,
whose task it was to create the visible world. (This
theogony is not the only one present in the system,
since other parts speak of a Nitufta, '' Material of
Life," corresponding to Qayye Kadmaye; another
name given is Nebat, " sprout," who creates 800
eons and other beings.) From Mana Rabba pro-
ceed in fantastic completeness other Manas, called
also Piras, more commonly Uthriyye (Uthras),
" dominions " or " powers." From " First Life "
emanated Sayye Tinyaniyye, " Second Life,"
called also Yoshamin (cf. Hebr. ahamayim,
" heavens "), who evoked Uthras, erected dwell-
ings, and called a ** Jordan " into existence. Three
of these Uthras desired to enter upon the work of
creation, to which Second Life agreed, but First
Life was averse and called into existence Kebar
Rabba or Manda de tiayye, ** Spirit of Life," which
personifies knowledge of life. This last creation
becomes the center of Mandsan theology and its
preexistent Christ, with which Hibil Ziwa, the
power acting as redeemer in the world of fact, was
identified. Yet this redemption and this '' Christ "
are not at all parallel to the conceptions carried by
the same names in the Christian system. Manda
de l^ayye is to be derived from Marduk, and his
work may be equated with Marduk's in vanquish-
ing the monster Tiamat. Many epithets applied
to Marduk are applied also to Manda de t^ayye,
such as ** beloved son," ** good shepherd," " word
of Ufe "; and, like Marduk, Manda de ^ayye be-
came potent in creation, acting in opposition to
the presumptuous Uthras and Second Life. Before
this, however, he had to make a " descent into
hell," during which he came into conflict with the
powers of darkness, including one Rufia (Heb.
ruahf the " Spirit of God " of Gen. i. 2, converted
by the Mandseans in their anti-Christian bias into
a chief devil), conquered them and appointed as
their pimishment that their food should be fire and
their drink foul water. He created Gabriel, who
was to be the demiurge (known also as Petahil,
who appears elsewhere as an emanation of '' Second
Life "). The seven planets and the twelve signs
of the zodiac are created, land, water, and the fir-
mament follow in order, then the first man, in
whose creation Hibil, Sitil, and Anos (cf. the
Biblical Abel, Seth, and Enos), " brothers " of
Manda de l^ayye, cooperate, after which they
marry Adam to Eve. The " seven " (planets)
attempt to lead the pair into sin, but are pre-
vented by the creators of man; vain attempts
are also made to destroy man. Yet the evil
spirits maintain their hold on the world, the
" twelve " (zodiacal signs) divide the world-age
among themselves, and the " seven " found false
religions and call into existence beasts of prey and
other evil beings.
When the religion began to develop toward
monotheism (ut sup., § 2, end), the divine figures
took another form. Pira, Ayar, Yora, and Mana
disappear, and instead of them the
4. Later '' great king of light " reigns alone.
Theogony The portrayal of the world of light,
and in which this being sits enthroned,
Cosmogony, agrees with the Manichean picture of
the " kings of the paradise of light."
The address to him at the beginning of the Ginza
is noteworthy: ** Praised, blessed, glorified, cele-
brated and highly honored be thou, O god of truth,
whose might is great, who hast no bounds, who
art pure glory and sheer light which nothing dims;
a gracious, approachable and spiritual existence
[art thou], a kind deliverer of all who are faithful,
supporting and upholding all good in strength and
wisdom." The bridge to the creation of the visible
world Lb found, according to this phase of Man-
dffian thought, in the unfolding of the light-god in
his shining ether. From this early epitome of light
go forth the numerous eons (*Uthre, ** splendors "),
Second Life, sometimes called Yoshamin (" Yah-
weh of the heavens "), then Manda de t^ayye, the
life-spirit, mediator and savior of Mandsean theol-
ogy, the first man. Second Life seeks to gain su-
premacy over First Life, fails, and is exiled from
the world of pure ether into that of dimmer light.
Then there issue a series of emanations, the first
of whom are Hibil, Sitil and Anos (ut sup.). The
last is John the Baptist. These appear both as
brothers and as sons of Manda de t^ayye, and also
in other relationships. Of these Hibel, or Hibil
Ziwa, is the most celebrated. He receives the same
titles as Manda, has the same activity, and indeed
is merged as though he were the same being. From
Second Life also emanate sons, the last one named
variously Third Life and Abathur, the " Ancient
One," also called Father of Uthra. He sits at
the outermost bound of the world of light, where
is the great gate which leads to the middle and
lower regions; there he weighs the deeds of the
departed who come to him, returning to the lower
regions those spirits whose deeds prove too light,
while to the others Abathur opens the way to the
higher regions of light. In the beginning there was
under Abathur an immense void, and at the bot-
tom the troubled black water. As he looked into
this and saw his image reflected, Petahil (the mate-
rial nature of the deep of Chaos) came into exist-
ence as his son to become the demiurge of the
Mandaeans, equivalent to the Yaldabaoth (" Chaos-
son ") of the Ophites. He was commanded by his
father to create the earth and man. Some passages
make him do this alone, others assign to him de-
mons as his helpers, especially the seven spirits of
the planets. From this point confusion exists as
to the sequence of events. Here begin " the en-
tanglements of Mands^an theology " (A. J. H. W.
Brandt, ut. sup., pp. 48-55). The course of action
follows in part the usual Semitic cosmogony —
Petahil erects the heaven, reduces the diffused,
floating matter into form as the earth and fixes it
in position, and creates the bodies of Adam an4
MandSBans
148
EvB; but can not give them life, which was accom-
plished by Hibil, Sitil, and Anos, who obtained life
from Mana Rabba. Petahil, because of his failure,
was by his father Abathur excluded from the world
of light until the judgment day, when he will be
raised by Hibil, be baptized and made king of the
Uthras, and receive worship.
The imderworld, described in the Ginza, consists
of four entrances and three hells. Each of the en-
trances is governed by a king and queen. The
kingdom of darkness is divided into
5. Man- thr^ stories, each ruled by an old
d»an king. These kings, named from above
Cosmology, downward, are S'dum, the " Warrior,"
Giv, the " Great," and Krun or Kar-
kum, the oldest and mightiest, most often called
the " Great Mountain of Flesh." The entrances to
hell contain filthy, slimy water; in hell there is no
water, and in the lowest hell (Krun's) there are
only ashes, dust, and vacancy. In these regions
fire continually bums, but, though it consumes, it
gives no light. From these kings Hibil Ziwa took
away all power by descending, clothed with the
might of the god of light, Mana Rabba, into the
lowest hell and wresting from Krun the knowledge
of the secret name of darkness (see Name). Above
the entrances to hell is the dwelling-place of Ru^a, a
mighty she-devil, mother of Kin, queen of the
fourth entrance. She was brought out from the
underworld by Hibil and prevented from returning
thither. The conception of Ru^a finely illustrates
Mandffian hostility to Christianity, since she is
the Syriac ruha dekudahaf " the Holy Ghost " (cf.
Gen. i. 2). She corresponds to the Manichean
Qawwa (Eve). She is the mother of Ur, Fire, the
most fearful of all devils, corresponding to the
original devil of the Manicheans. Ur attempted
to take by storm the world of light, but was by
Hibil cast back into the " black waters," chained
there, and surrounded by seven iron and seven
golden walls. While Petahil was engaged in the
work of creation, Ru^a bore to her son Ur first
seven sons, then twelve, and finally five more, all of
whom Petahil set in the heavens, the seven as the
planets, the twelve as the zodiacal signs, whUe what
the five were is as yet undetermined. The planets
are the sun, Venus, Mercury, the moon, Saturn,
Jupiter, and Mars, and the names given to the last
five are the old Babylonian names. These planets
were set in the seven heavens; the sun is the ruler
and is in the middle (fourth) heaven. They were
intended by the creator to be helpers of man, but
instead they sought to do him harm. They are the
sources of evil. They have their stations to which
they return after completing their heavenly journeys,
and these stations are fixed on anvils which rest
upon the belly of the conquered Ur. Heaven is by
the Mandseans regarded as created out of the pur-
est, clearest water, but so solidified that even the
diamond will not cut it. On this water the planets
and other stars sail; these arc all, like evil demons,
dark by nature, but are illuminated by radiant
crosses carried by angels. The clearness of the
firmament enables man to look through all seven
heavens to the polar star, the central sun about
which the other bodies revolve, and to which Man-
dseans turn their face at prayer. The earth they
regard as a circle, inclining somewhat to the south,
and surrounded on three sides by the sea. On the
north is a great moimtain of turquoise, the refleo-
tion of which causes the sky to appear blue. Be-
hind this mountain is the world of the blessed, a
kind of lower paradise, where the Egyptians reside
who did not perish with Pharaoh in the Red Sea.
They are regarded as the ancestors of the Man-
dseans, since Pharaoh had been high priest and king
of the Mandseans. Both worlds are surrounded by
the Yamma rabba d'suf, the outer sea.
The period of duration of the earth is fixed at
480,000 years, divided into seven epochs, each of
which IB governed by a planet. According to the
Ginza, the hmnan race has been three
6. Chro- times destroyed by water, fire, sword,
nology and pestilence, only one couple r&-
and Escha- maining alive after each time. At the
tology. time of Noah, the world was 466,000
years old. After him rose many false
prophets. The first prophet was Abraham, who
came 6,000 years after Noah, when the sim ruled
the world. Then came Moses, in whose time the
Egyptians had the true religion. After him came
Solomon, to whom the demons yielded obedience.
The third false prophet is Yishu Mesilt^a (i.e., Jesus
the Messiah) , the planet Mercury, a sorcerer. Forty-
two years before him Uved, under King Pontius
Pilate, the only true prophet, Yahya, or Yuhana
bar Zikary& (i.e., John, son of Zacharias; Luke i.
13), whose mother was Enishbai (Elizabeth);
Yahya, being deceived by the Messiah, baptized
him. He is an incarnation of Hibil, who had
preached repentance in the time of Noah. As a
contemporary of the Messiah and John the Baptist
lived Anos Uthra, a younger brother of Hibil, who
had descended from heaven, was baptized by John,
wrought miracles, healed the sick, raised the dead,
was the cause of the crucifixion of the false Messiah,
proclaimed the true religion, and, before his return
to the world of lights, sent 360 prophets into the
world to proclaim his teaching. Jerusalem, which
was once built at the command of Aduna^ (Adonai),
was destroyed by Anos, while the Jews were dis-
persed into all the world, having killed John the
Baptist. Two hundred and forty years after the
appearance of the Messiah, 60,000 Manda^ans came
out of the world of Pharaoh. Their high priest set-
tled in Damascus, and their sacred writings are
concealed there in the cupola of the mosque of the
Omayyade. The last of the false prophets was
Mohammed, called " the Perverter." After 4,000
or 5,000 years, mankind will again be destroyed by
a terrific storm; but the earth will be again re-
peopled by a man and a woman from the upper
world, whose descendants will dwell on earth for
50,000 years in piety and virtue. Then ^ill Ur
destroy the earth and the other middle worlds,
after which, bursting asunder, he will fall into the
abyss of darkness, to be annihilated there with all
worlds and powers of darkness. Then the universe
will become a realm of light, enduring forever.
The weekly holy day of the Mandseans is Sunday,
which is celebrated by abstention from work and
by divine service, with reading of the scriptures by
149
the priest. Modem travelers record the use of
Thuraday also as holy and as sacred to Hibil Ziwa.
The Ginza does not enjoin other sacred
7. System seasons, but it seems clear that cer-
of Cere- tain festivals have been long in use.
*wft"i^l New Year's Day is mentioned in the
Ginza as a time to abstain from ablu-
tions In running water, probably on the groimd that
on that day the angel who protects the waters is
engaged in celebrating a festival and consequently
the evil powers find their opportunity for assailing
men; Mandseans are therefore on that day not to
leave the house and especially not to approach
water. Yet scholars testify to the celebration of
a New Year's festival, called Nauruz rabba, be-
ginning on the first day of the first ^\inter month
and continuing six days, or seven, if with them be
reckoned the last day of the old year. On the first
day of the year the priests and scholars forecast the
prospects of that year. From the eighteenth to the
twenty-second of the fourth month is celebrated
the feast of the ascension of Hibil Ziwa from the
regions of darkness to his own realm of light. The
five days intercalated between the eighth and ninth
months of the year are a great festival of baptism
during which all Mandseans must bathe three times
daily, before meals, and dress wholly in white. The
first day of the eleventh month is a feast in honor
of the 360 Uthras. The first day of the fifth month
is employed to commemorate the Egyptians who
perished in the Red Sea. The lost day of the old
year is preparatory to the New Year's festival. The
Mandsan year is solar, divided into twelve months
of thirty days each, with five days intercalated be-
tween the eighth and ninth months. The year is
further divided into seasons of three months each,
beginning with winter. The week has seven days,
named after the planets. In the matter of the
time for prayer there is some contradiction; one
passage seems to require it three times a day and
twice in the night, another seems to forbid it dur-
ing the darkness. Prohibition of fasting appears
as a mark of opposition to Christianity, though a
pretense of fasting is said now to be made because
of fear of the Mohammedans. Yet spiritual fasts
are enjoined in keeping the members and organs
of the body from sinning; moreover, there are times
when the priests abstain from flesh. Mandseans
may not eat of the blood of animals, of anything
that is pregnant, or of that which still has life or
which a beast of prey has pulled down. What has
been killed with iron, cleansed, and purified is edi-
ble, provided it has not been prepared by others
than the faithful. There is no distinction made be-
tween what in the natural world is clean and un-
clean, since " all things which Petahil has made
were made for Adam." Of Mandsean sacraments
the chief is baptism, with which is bound up com-
munion. Unbaptized children are not reckoned
as belonging to the Mandsean community. Baptism
must be performed in running water and not in
pools or tanks, and is by complete and trine immer-
sion. The baptism of adults is required in a great
number of cases; when demanded by an act of
consecration or of sin, on Sunday and festivals, on
return from a foreign landi after contact with a
corpse, after being bitten by a snake or a wild ani-
mal, or when a ceremony has been omitted. In the
Eucharist are used two elements, corresponding to
the Host and wine of Catholic ceremonial. Its pur-
pose is to consecrate the participant by imparting
special strength. Prerequisites are baptism, good
repute, and adherence to the Mandsean faith. It is
received at the festivals. The bread is prepared
from fine white flour by priests, without salt or
leaven, divided into small portions, and baked in a
new oven. It is kept in the priest's house, and la
received directly into the mouth from the priest's
fingers. Another usage connected with baptism
and with Sunday observance is the giving of the
hand, called by the Mandseans kiuta (" fidelity "),
which may be understood from a corresponding
Manichean custom to signify mutual support. As
a provision against sudden death, unprovided with
the common consecration, there is a sort of mass
for the soul by the bishop, by which the beneficiary
is obligated to an ascetic life. The church building
proper of the Mandseans is for the priests and their
helpers only; the laity remain at the entrance. It
is small, holding only a very few persons, has only
two windows, and the door is always at the south,
so that the entrant may look at the North Star.
It contains no altar and no ornament, but has a
few shelves in the comers for vessels. It is al-
ways near running water. At the consecration of
a church a dove is sacrificed — a trace of the old
Ishtar worship. The injunction to marry and peo-
ple the earth is stringent, and condenmation of
Christian asceticism severe.
The Mandiean ministry has three grades. The
first is that of Shkanda, deacon. The candidate
must be without physical blemish, and is generally
taken from the family of a priest or a bishop. He
undergoes a preliminary training of twelve years
under priests, accompanying them on their jour-
neys, and at the age of nineteen is ordained and
begins to assist the priest or bishop in
8. The the services. After a year in this
Clergy, grade, he is admitted to the second
grade, that of Tarmtda, priest or pres-
byter, being ordained by a bishop and two priests
or by four priests empowered by the bishop, but
only on condition that the candidate is approved
by the community. The period of probation in-
volves a trial lasting over at least sixty-two days,
and may through inadvertence or accident in the
conduct of the trial be prolonged for several months.
A part of the ceremony is bathing three times daily
in a river in full clothing, the wet robes being
changed only after the candidate has completed a
ritual of prayer. The ordination is terminated by
baptism, in which the candidate's wife and mother
participate, if they are still living, and a feast in
which presents are given to the poor. The highest
grade is Ganzivra, " treasurer," or bishop. The
candidate, who is chosen from among the presby-
ters, must show his ability to explain difficult pas-
sages in the Mandsean scriptures. Still another
grade is reported by Petermann, that of Risk amma,
" head of the people," a rank corresponding to that
of patriarch or pope. This grade, according to the
Mandsans, has been filled only twice, once before
HandsBans
Kande
150
John the Baptist by Pharaoh, and onoe since, by a
certain Adam abu al-farash, both of whom were
not of this world but came from the upper world.
Women are admitted to the clergy. They enter
the diaconate as virgins and become presbyters
only after marriage with one of the higher orders.
The official dress of the clergy is white throughout,
consisting of breeches, tunic, girdle, stole, and tur-
ban, and on the little finger of the right hand the
priest wears a gilt and the bishop a golden ring, on
which is inscribed shum Yawar ziioar, '' name of
Yawar Ziwa," i.e., of Hibil Ziwa. In exercising
their ministerial functions the clergy go barefooted.
Man consists of three parts, the body, the ani-
mal soul, and the heavenly soul. On the approach
of death a Mandsean is attended by a deacon and
two or more nurses, is bathed with warm and then
with cold water, and then clothed in the funeral
robes consisting of seven pieces. The body is laid
out with the head to the south so that
9. Last the eyes are directed to the polar star,
Rites; the and the grave is dug so that the body
Soul's Hap. maintains the same position, and
prayers are offered at the interment.
The soul of the dead passes out of the earth-region
into the sphere of light, and according to some pas-
sages of the scriptures is accompanied by an Uthra,
who comes for that purpose from the kingdom of
light, finally passing a stream which constitutes
the last hindrance to its approach to the ** house of
Ufe." At the door of this house sits Abathur with
his scales to weigh the deeds of the departed; after
passing this ordeal, the soul is received and clothed
in garments of light. Those whose deeds do not
permit their reception are remitted to the lower
regions, there to receive punishment of stripes
without end. The end of the world is called ** the
day of the end " and " the second death," and is
brought about by the serpent Leviathan which
destroys all not belonging to the world of light and
the earth itself. Mand£eans are not willing to dis-
close their beliefs to strangers for fear of arousing
the fanaticism of the Mohammedans. Part of the
knowledge gained came through the son of a priest
who became a convert to Roman Catholicism and
communicated information to M. N. Siouffi, the
French consul in Mosul 1874-75.
While in the seventeenth century the munbers
of the Mandsans were given at about 20,000 fam-
ilies, at present there is only a small remnant of
about 1,500 persons, living south of Bagdad along
the Tigris and Euphrates and in Khuzistan, ply-
ing the trades of goldsmiths, black-
zo. Present smiths, builders, and carpenters. They
Conditions; are not to be confused with the Mo-
the hammedan sect of Nosairiyah in
Language. Lebanon. Externally the Mandseans
do not distinguish themselves from
Mohammedans. Since the latter arrogate to them-
selves white clothing, which the Ginza regards as
holy, Mand£eans usually wear brown raiment or
brown with white stripes. MandsBans speak Arabic
or Persian, but the language of their scriptures is an
Aramaic dialect of great value for the student of
language and is related lexically and granmiatically
to that of the Babylonian Talmud and to the Na-
bataean tongue. It was probably the native tongue
of Mani, and the Ginza doubtless contains long
passages from the Manichean writings (see Mani,
Manicheans, S 13). Nevertheless, the pronuncia-
tion as at present employed by Mandseans has not
been correctly transmitted. The vocabulary is Ara-
maic in groundwork, with loan words from Jewish,
Sjrrian-Christian, and especially Persian sources,
while the later writings are mixed with Arabic. The
alphabet, which probably arose in Babylonia and
combines the early Aramaic and Palmyrene ele-
ments, has twenty-two letters.
The origins of Mandsean doctrine, it must firmly
be maintained, are to be sought in the religion of
Babylonia; and Babylonia itself was the place
where it arose. A Jewish or Christian source in
Palestine is out of the question. Mandseans are
not the descendants of the disciples of John the
Baptist, although he and the Jordan are so fre-
quently mentioned in their writings.
zz. Sources The tradition of the people themselves
of Man- that they arose in Galilee, were perse-
dsean cuted in Jerusalem and driven thence
Doctrines, by the caliphs is historically worth-
less. They are to be compared with
such sects as the Hemerobaptists of the Church
Fathers (Eusebius, Hist, ecd., IV., xxii. 6; NPNF,
2 ser., i. 199; Epiphanius, Hcer. xvii.; " Clementine
Recognitions,*' i. 54: " Some even of the disciples
of John, who seem to be great ones, have separated
themselves from the people and proclaimed their
own master as the Christ "; ANF, vui. 92). The
reputed founder and other Biblical characters and
coloring have come into the religion through the
syncretistic process. To connect them with these
early sects is no more right than to associate them
with the Nazaraioi of Epiphanius (Hcer. xviii.).
The mistake arose in the misapprehension of mis-
sionaries of the seventeenth century, who mistook
them for a kind of Christians on accoimt of their
practise of baptism and related them with the Bap-
tist and with Galilee. It is true that during the
second and third centuries the religion passed
through a period of sympathetic feeling for Chris-
tianity and was influenced by its ritual. Thus
Biblical reminiscences and nomenclature, from
Adam to John and Jesus, including even the tei^
minology of parts of the Jewish ritual, went to the
building of the Mandsean scriptures and teaching.
But the antichristian bias appears in making Moses
a false prophet, Jesus the evil planet Mercury, and
the Holy Ghost the most devilish evil spirit, as well
as in the polemics against Christian monasticism
and other Christian institutions. Still more ob-
servable is the antijudaic bias, especially in the
utter abhorrence of circumcision. While the con-
stant use of the name " Jordan " might seem to
imply derivation of the sect from people \^ho onoe
dwelt on that river, the usage is to be compared
with that in Hippolytus (Hcer. v. 2; ANF, v. 52),
where the ** great Jordan " is employed in the
Naassene system to express the idea of the great
sanctifying element of life in the world of light.
Thus the name of the Biblical Jordan was employed
in the earliest Gnostic systems, and notably in that
of the Perata) (who were in the Euphrates regioa)|
161
Mandaans
Kande
who also employed " Egyptians '* and " Red Sea "
in just such a metaphorical sense as did the Man-
dsans. Indeed, the question of the sources of
Mandseism is just that of the sources of Ophitism
and Gnosticism in general. These systems are not
traceable to the teachings of the Persian Zarathus-
tra, nor to Phenician heathenism, nor to the Greek
mysteries, but simply to the Babylonian-Chaldean
national religion, which was domiciled in the region
where Ophites, Peratse, and Mandseans Uved, and
where they were distinguished from Christians (cf.
W. Anz, ZuT Frage nach der Ursprung des GnosH-
gi8mu8f pp. 59 sqq., Leipsic, 1897). While some
fundamental conceptions are changed, as when the
names of Babylonian deities become the names of
the planets and arc regarded as evil spirits, yet the
derivation is so clear upon investigation that no
doubt can be entertained upon this point.
The Mandsan baptism can not be derived from
the Jewish baptism of proselytes, nor is it Christian
baptism taken over and exaggerated; the Man-
dsean practise is diametrically opposed to both.
Christian baptism implies metanoiaf
12. Baby- ethical rebirth, and it marks the in-
lonian and auguration of an ethical renewing of
Manichean the heart after the pattern of the Ssr
Ideas vior; the Mandaean rite, so frequently
Borrowed, repeated, b a theurgic-magical opersr
tion and aims at an ever-increasing
insight into the secrete of the kingdom of light
through the mediation of water, the element of the
king of light. The MandsDan light-god Mana Rabba
is to be identified with the Babylonian Ea (see
Babylonia, VII., 2, § 3), and his emanation Manda
de ^ayye or his son Hibil Ziwa with B^'s son Mar-
duk (see Babylonia, VII., 2, § 10). Ea, the god
of profound knowledge, father of the mediator
Marduk, enthroned in the world-sea, whose holy
clement is water, is the Ea of the brilliant ocean of
heaven, as comes out in the Ayar-yora and the
heavenly Jordan of the Mandapans. Similarly, as
Marduk, the conqueror of Tiamat, appears in vari-
ous incarnations like that of Gilgamesh, so do Hibil
Ziwa and his successors. The parallels of Ishtar's
descent into hell and that of Hibil Ziwa, the divi-
sion of the planetary worlds into a system of seven,
and the seat of Ea in the North with the MandsDan
direction of worship to that quarter are sufficiently
obvious. Similar relationship can be established
with Manicheanism. Mani was in his youth an ad-
herent of the Babylonian Mu'tasUah (" baptizers ")»
an early Babylonian sect. Palestinian Hemero-
baptists, Elkesaites (q.v.), Nazarenes, and Ebion-
ites (q.v.) were sects which propagated in the West
under Jewish influence Babylonian ideas, especially
those of a mediator and the closely connected rite
of baptism; these sects took form in pre-Christian
times and later were hostile to Christianity. John
the Baptist gave to the rite of baptism, thus de-
rived, a new ethical content by connecting with it
the Old-Testament expectation of a Messiah. Sim-
ilarly the second sacrament of the Mandieans, the
Eucharist, must be explained upon usage grounded
in nature-religions, in honor paid to the pure ele-
ments of nature and its gifts, and not as a perver-
sion of the Christian mystery. The original teach-
ing of Mani could not have been very different in
this matter from the common Mands^n-Gnostio
doctrine (see Mani, Manicheans). The conception
of eons and of the ruh al-hayat, " spirit of life,'' are
alike in the two systems (cf. the Valentinian Z6S).
Similarly the work of the original man in combating
the original devil is practically the same in Man-
dffiism and Manicheanism, though the former has
made the development more complex by introdu-
cing a stratum of Aramaic thought in the names of
angels and devils. While, then, the religious sys-
tem of the Mandseans has especial interest rather
in connection with the universal history of religion
than with the theology of Christianity, yet there is
much in it which can shed light upon the history of
doctrine. In particular, the form of the Mandsean
sacraments affords ground for thought to the in-
vestigator of the history of the Christian sacra-
ment of baptism. (K. Kessler.)
Bibuoorapht: The Oima, called also the Sidra rabba, is
beat consulted in the ed. of H. Petermann, Thetaurut tire
liber magnue, viUgo '* Liber Adami," vol. i.. Berlin, 1867,
vol. ii., Leipsic, 1867 (based on a comparison of four MSS.
of 16th and 17th centuries). A prior ed. was by M. Nor-
berg. Codex Naaarcsue, liber Adami appellatue, vols, i.-iv.,
Copenha^n, vol. v (onomasticon), Lund, 1817 (mislead-
ing, being a Syriac transcription, but has Latin transl.).
A (jerm. transl.. with notes, has been issued by W. Brandt,
Gdttingen, 1893, and the same scholar gives the titles of
the tracts or books of which the Gima is composed in his
very scholarly AfandOiache Religion, pp. 207-209, Leipsic,
1889. Other Mand^ean writings published are: QoUuta,
by J. Euting, Stuttgart, 1867 (a liturgical work); parts
of the Sidra de Yahya (" Book of John "). in Germ.
trannl. by G. W. Lorsbach, in Beitr&gen zur Philoeophie
und Geechiehte, v (1799), 1-44. Manda>an inscriptions
have been published: U. Pognon, Inacriptions mandaiUm
dee coupea de Khouabir, 2 vols., Paris, 1898-99 (cf. the re-
view by M. Lidsbarski in TLZ, 1899); idem, Une incan"
tation corUre lee geniee malfaieanU en Mandaite, Paris,
1892; M. Lidcbarski, in Ephemerie fUr eemitietjie Epi-
graphik, i. 1 (1900). 89-106; cf. J. H. Mordtmann and
D. H. MQller, Sabaieche DenkmAler, Vienna, 1883.
For early reports concerning the Manda^ans consult:
F. Ignatius a Jesu, Narratio originie, rituum et errorum
Chriatianorum S. Joannia, Rome, 1652; Abraham Ecchel-
lensis, Euiychixia patriarcha Alexandrinua vindicatua, pp.
310-336, Rome. 1660; Jean Thdvenot, Voyage au Levant,
Paris, 1664; J. Chardin, Journal du voyage ... en Perae,
London. 1686; C. Niebuhr, Reiaeheachreibung nach Arabian
und andem . . . LAndem, 3 vols., Hamburg, 1774-1837,
Eng. transl., 2 vols., Edinburgh. 1792. The two impor-
tant modem works, besides that of W. Brandt, ut sup.,
are by H. J. Petermann, Reiaen im Orient, 2 vols.. Leip-
sic, 1861; and M. N. Siouffi, Studea aur la religion dea
Soubbaa ou Sabtena, leura dogmea, leura mcpura, Paris, 1880.
Not to be overlooked is W. Brandt, in JPT, xviii (1892).
405-438. 575-603. Consult further: J. Matter, Hiat. du
gnoaticiama, ii. 394-422, Paris, 1828; L. E. Burckhardt,
Lea Naxoriena ou Mandai-Jahja {discipiea de Jean), Stras-
buig, 1840 (based on Norberg); D. Chwolsohn, Die Sao-
bier, i. 1(X)-138. St. Petersburg, 1856; J. M. Chevalier
Lycklama, Voyagea . . . dana la Miaopotamie, vol. iii..
book 3, diap. iv.. Paris, 1868; Babelon, in Annalea de
phUoaophie chrHienne, 1881; E. Bischoff, Im Reiehe der
Onoaia. Die myatiachen Lehren dea jiidiachen und chriat-
lidien Onoaticiamua, Mand&iamua und AfanichQiamua und
ihr babyloniachroatraler Uraprung, Leipsic, 1906; an im-
portant body of magazine literature is indicated in Rich-
ardson, Encyclopaedia, pp. 674-675; Encyclopcedia Bri-
tannica, xv. 467. For the language: T. N6ldeke, MandA-
iache Orammatik, Halle. 1875; idem, in Abhandlungen der
OdUinger OeaeUaehaft, 1862; H. Pognon, InacripHona, ut.
sup., pp. 257-308.
