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Qulasta

The Qulasta (Mandaic: ࡒࡅࡋࡀࡎࡕࡀ, meaning "collection"), also known as the Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans, is the primary liturgical text of Mandaeism, the sole surviving Gnostic religion from late antiquity, characterized by its emphasis on gnosis (knowledge) as the path to salvation, ritual immersion in living waters, and a dualistic cosmology pitting light against darkness. Written in Classical Mandaic, an Eastern Aramaic dialect, it compiles over 400 prayers essential to Mandaean worship, including those for baptism (maṣbuta), the rite of soul ascension and commemoration of the dead (masiqta), daily purifications (rišama), weddings (qaṣma), priestly installations, and observances at equinoxes, solstices, and the New Year.^[1] These prayers form the ritual backbone of Mandaean practice, recited verbatim by priests (tarmidia) and lay participants to invoke divine light (hiia) and facilitate the soul's journey from the material world to the realm of pure spirit.^[2] Compiled over centuries through oral transmission and scribal copying within small Mandaean communities in southern Iraq and southwestern Iran, the Qulasta reflects the religion's ancient Mesopotamian roots, with textual layers possibly dating to the 2nd–3rd centuries CE, though its full form emerged later. Manuscripts vary, but the text's structure divides into sections like Sidra ḏ-nišmata (Book of Souls) for baptism and masiqta rites, alongside daily and seasonal liturgies, underscoring Mandaeism's focus on repeated sacramental acts to combat cosmic impurity.^[3] The first scholarly Western edition and German translation appeared in Mark Lidzbarski's Mandaïsche Liturgien (1920), drawing from incomplete manuscripts, while Ethel Stefana Drower's 1959 English translation, based on a rare complete codex, remains the standard reference, including facsimile reproductions and explanatory notes on ritual contexts.^[1] Contemporary Mandaean-led publications, such as the 1998–1999 bilingual edition by Majid Fandi Al-Mubaraki and colleagues, preserve the text in Mandaic alongside Arabic and English, aiding community revitalization amid diaspora and persecution.^[4] In 2025, Carlos Gelbert and Mark J. Lofts published a new English translation and edition, further supporting scholarly access to the text.

Overview and Historical Context

Definition and Liturgical Role

The Qulasta, known in English as the Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans, is a liturgical collection composed in Classical Mandaic that compiles hymns, prayers, and invocations essential to Mandaean religious ceremonies. It serves as the primary textual resource for Mandaean priests, known as tarmida (junior priests) and ganzabra (senior priests or bishops), who recite its contents during sacred rites to invoke divine presence and ensure ritual efficacy. The term "Qulasta" derives from a Mandaic root connoting a "collection" or gathering of prayers, reflecting its function as a compiled anthology rather than a narrative scripture.^[5] In its liturgical role, the Qulasta facilitates core Mandaean rituals, including baptisms (masbuta), soul ascension ceremonies (masiqta), weddings, priestly ordinations, and daily devotions such as the Rahmia prayers recited at dawn. These recitations often occur antiphonally, with priests and participants alternating responses, and involve symbolic elements like flowing water, oil, and wreaths to symbolize purity and ascent to the realm of light. As a priestly manual, it standardizes the orthopraxis of these rites, emphasizing precise invocation to maintain communal and individual spiritual integrity.^[6] Regarded as the most ancient and authoritative Mandaean text after the Ginza Rabba, the Qulasta embodies foundational doctrines such as the cosmic dualism of light versus darkness and the imperative of ritual purity to counteract defilement from the material world.^[7] Its prayers reinforce the belief in salvation through gnosis (manda) and repeated immersion, positioning it as a living repository of Mandaean theology that bridges doctrine and practice in ongoing worship.^[8]

Origins and Dating

The Qulasta, the canonical prayerbook of Mandaeism, is estimated to have been compiled between the 2nd and 7th centuries CE, with its core elements drawing from oral traditions that likely predate the written form by several generations.^[9] A key colophon attributes an early redaction to the priest Zazai d-Gawazta around 272 CE, suggesting incremental assembly during the late Sasanian period, though later additions extended into the early Islamic era.^[10] This timeline aligns with linguistic and paleographic analyses of surviving fragments, which indicate a gradual evolution from Aramaic substrates influenced by regional dialects.^[11] Scholars such as Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley and Kurt Rudolph posit that the text's formation reflects a stabilization process amid cultural shifts in Mesopotamia, potentially finalized by the 7th century to serve as a unified liturgical standard.^[9] The Qulasta's emergence was shaped by influences from ancient Mesopotamian, Jewish, and early Christian liturgical practices, which were adapted into a distinctly Gnostic-Mandaean framework emphasizing baptismal purity and cosmic dualism. Mesopotamian roots are evident in water-ritual motifs traceable to Sumerian and Babylonian ablution cults, while Jewish elements appear in priestly ordinations and covenantal language reminiscent of Second Temple traditions.^[12] Early Christian parallels, such as baptismal formulas and references to figures like John the Baptist (Yahya), suggest interactions in the Jordan Valley region before eastward migrations, though Mandaean texts invert Christian narratives to assert independence.^[9] E.S. Drower highlights this syncretism as a resilient synthesis, incorporating Semitic liturgical structures while rejecting orthodox Christian soteriology in favor of Mandaean light-world cosmology.^[12] Internal references to historical events and figures provide evidence of the text's incremental assembly by Mandaean priests over centuries, including allusions to priestly lineages from Adam and migrations led by figures like Hibil Ziwa. Colophons mention successive copyists and editors, such as those under Zazai, who standardized prayers amid scribal traditions, indicating a collaborative priestly effort to preserve oral hymns and responses.^[10] These elements, combined with mythological narratives of exile from Jerusalem, underscore a compositional history tied to community survival rather than a single authorship.^[12] Exile and persecution played a pivotal role in shaping the Qulasta as a portable, resilient liturgical core for diaspora communities, particularly according to Mandaean tradition following flights from the Jordan Valley to the Mesopotamian alluvial plains during the 1st to 3rd centuries CE. However, the historical validity of this migration is debated among scholars, with some proposing that Mandaeism developed indigenously in Mesopotamia.^[9] Amid Sasanian Zoroastrian pressures and later Islamic integrations, the text's compact, memorizable structure facilitated ritual continuity in scattered settlements along the Tigris and Euphrates.^[9] This adaptability, as noted by Drower, transformed the Qulasta into a foundational anchor for Mandaean identity, paralleling its contemporary companion, the Ginza Rabba.^[12]^[13]

Manuscripts and Scholarly Editions

Surviving Manuscripts

The surviving manuscripts of the Qulasta, the canonical prayerbook of the Mandaeans, are primarily preserved in European institutional collections, with the most significant holdings in the Drower Collection at the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford. This collection, donated by Lady Ethel Stefana Drower in 1958, includes multiple copies acquired from Mandaean communities in Iraq and Iran during the early to mid-20th century. A key example is DC 53, a complete codex copied in 1802 CE by the priest (ganzibra) Adam Yuhana in Huwaiza, Khuzestan, Iran; it was purchased by Drower in 1954 and served as the primary basis for her 1959 edition.^[6]^[14] Other notable manuscripts predate the Drower acquisitions and originate from 19th-century European collections. In 1867, Julius Euting transcribed portions of the Qulasta from exemplars held in the British Library in London and the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, providing early access to the text for scholars like Mark Lidzbarski. These older copies, likely from the 17th to 18th centuries, represent diaspora traditions from Ottoman-era Mandaean centers in Mesopotamia. Overall, scholars estimate around 10-15 known complete or fragmentary versions, though exact counts vary due to limited cataloging of private or community-held copies in the Mandaean diaspora.^[3] Physically, these manuscripts are typically written on European-style paper in the Mandaic script, often in codex form with black ink and occasional red accents for headings or colophons. Marginalia by priests, including ritual annotations or family genealogies, are common, reflecting their use in active liturgy. For instance, DC 53 features detailed colophons tracing scribal lineages back several generations, emphasizing priestly transmission. Variations across copies include local additions, such as notes on regional baptismal practices or supplementary prayers not found in standardized recensions.^[6] Preservation has been precarious, with significant losses during 20th-century conflicts in Iraq and Iran, including the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988) and subsequent instability, which displaced Mandaean communities and destroyed private holdings. European collections owe their survival to 19th- and 20th-century collectors like Euting and Drower, who acquired texts through direct engagement with priests amid declining oral traditions. Today, digitization efforts by institutions like the Bodleian Library safeguard these artifacts, though access to unpublished fragments remains limited.^[14]

Major Translations and Publications

The first major scholarly edition of the Qulasta was published by Mark Lidzbarski in 1920 as Mandäische Liturgien, providing a partial German translation based primarily on the Oxford Collection of Mandaean manuscripts.^[15] This work covered 103 prayers in the core Qolasta section, focusing on key liturgical sections such as those for baptism (masbuta) and the mass for the dead (masiqta), and included transliterations in Hebrew characters alongside explanatory notes that clarified ritual contexts. Lidzbarski's edition advanced early European understanding of Mandaean liturgy by making the text accessible beyond manuscript specialists, though its partial scope left significant portions untranslated and highlighted variations across sources.^[16] In 1959, E. S. Drower produced The Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans, an English translation that became the standard reference for decades, encompassing 414 prayers drawn from multiple manuscripts including those she collected in Iraq.^[17] Drower's edition featured detailed ritual indices, categorizing prayers by function—such as purifications, ordinations, and soul elevations—which facilitated scholarly analysis of the Qulasta's liturgical structure and its role in Mandaean priestly practice.^[18] This work's comprehensive approach and inclusion of contextual notes on performance addressed gaps in Lidzbarski's translation, enabling broader comparative studies with other Gnostic traditions.^[19] Majid Fandi Al-Mubaraki's 2008 bilingual edition, Qulasta, presented approximately 260 prayers (corresponding to numbers 1–259 and 410 in Drower's numbering) in Mandaic with parallel English translations, emphasizing practical usage among contemporary Mandaean priests.^[4] Published in multiple volumes, it incorporated printed Mandaic texts from priestly recensions and focused on ritual accuracy for living traditions, such as marriage and response prayers, thereby bridging scholarly and communal applications.^[20] Al-Mubaraki's contribution enhanced accessibility for non-specialists while preserving orthographic fidelity, influencing subsequent editions by highlighting performative nuances overlooked in earlier Western translations.^[21] The most recent comprehensive edition, The Qulasta by Carlos Gelbert and Mark J. Lofts (2025), offers an English-Mandaic parallel text of 339 prayers, integrating newly analyzed manuscripts to resolve inconsistencies in prior versions, such as incomplete baptism sequences.^[22] This work includes updated transliterations and ritual commentaries, refining Drower's categorizations with insights from digital manuscript comparisons and addressing textual variants for greater philological precision. Gelbert and Lofts' edition has significantly advanced Qulasta studies by providing a more inclusive framework that incorporates post-Drower discoveries, serving as a key resource for ongoing research into Mandaean textual transmission.^[23]

Internal Structure and Organization

Overall Composition

The Qulasta, known as the canonical prayerbook of the Mandaeans, comprises a variable number of prayers across editions, with E. S. Drower's 1959 translation enumerating 414 distinct prayers drawn from principal manuscripts such as DC 3 and DC 53.^[24] More recent editions, such as that by Carlos Gelbert and Mark J. Lofts in 2025, present 339 prayers excluding variants, organized into eight thematic groups to reflect liturgical functions while omitting duplicates found in earlier compilations.^[25] These variations arise from editorial decisions to consolidate or expand based on manuscript evidence, ensuring the text serves as a comprehensive liturgical resource without altering core content.^[24] The high-level architecture of the Qulasta organizes prayers into thematic divisions, often structured as books or sidras, such as the Sidra d-Nismata (Book of Souls), which initiates the collection with baptismal liturgies and invocations to divine luminaries like Hayyi Rabbi, the Great Life.^[24] Subsequent sections progress to ritual-specific groupings, including masiqta (ascension of the soul) rites, hymns of praise, daily devotions (Rishama and Rahmia), and consecrations for elements like oil and crowns, emphasizing themes of light, salvation, protection, and victory over darkness.^[24] This functional grouping facilitates sequential recitation during ceremonies, beginning with general praises of ethereal beings (e.g., Mana, Manda-d-Hiia, Abathur) before delving into specialized invocations.^[24] Integrated throughout are non-prayer elements essential to liturgical performance, including rubrics that provide instructional notes on ritual actions—such as the preparation of myrtle wreaths or the arrangement of ceremonial tables—and recurring responses known as niania, often phrased as "And Life is victorious" or "In the name of the Great Life" to affirm communal participation.^[24] Hymns, or qabin, appear as poetic interludes praising divine radiance and are interspersed to enhance the devotional flow, particularly in sections like marriage rites and priestly investitures.^[26] These components create a dynamic text that blends prose prayers with performative directives.^[24] Editorial approaches have shaped the Qulasta's presentation, with Drower introducing sequential numbering, indices, and comparative notes on manuscript discrepancies to aid scholarly access, features absent in original handwritten copies that relied on thematic or ritual cues for navigation.^[24] Earlier manuscripts, lacking such formal divisions, present prayers in fluid sequences guided by colophons detailing scribal traditions, underscoring the text's evolution as a living liturgical corpus.^[24]

Division by Ritual Functions

The Qulasta organizes its prayers functionally according to their roles in Mandaean ceremonies, enabling priests to invoke specific texts that align with the spiritual requirements of each rite, such as purification, elevation, and communal blessing. This division underscores the text's practical utility in maintaining ritual orthodoxy and efficacy across diverse liturgical contexts. In the baptismal rite (masbuta), prayers approximately 1–100 address immersion in living waters, anointing with oil, and invocations for ritual purity, forming the core of Mandaean initiation and renewal practices. Examples include the turban prayer (Prayer 7), the descent into the Jordan (Prayer 13), the myrtle wreath (Prayer 19), which emphasize symbolic rebirth and protection from impurity. These prayers are recited sequentially during the ceremony to sanctify the participants and the waters. For the soul ascension (masiqta), a funerary rite aimed at elevating the deceased to the Lightworld, prayers roughly 200–300 encompass death hymns, memorial services, and responses for the soul's journey. Key components include the mambuha ordinance (Prayer 33), the invocation to ferrymen across death waters (Prayer 91), the chosen one's ascent (Prayer 92), and the sealing of the masiqta (Prayer 259), which guide the soul through ethereal barriers and commemorate the departed. This section integrates elements of commemoration and intercession to ensure the soul's safe passage. Additional rituals utilize distinct prayer clusters: weddings (qabin or tagha) feature marriage hymns (Prayer 161), wedding invocations (Prayer 179), and blessings for the bridegroom (Prayer 375), recited to sanctify unions and invoke fertility; daily prayers (barakhata or rahmia) draw from devotions like the Rusma recitation (Prayer 104), morning rites (Prayer 106), and banner prayers (336–347), performed for ongoing spiritual maintenance; priestly ordinations include investiture hymns (Prayers 180–187), coronation sequences (305–329), and ganzibra consecration (Prayer 381), marking the elevation of clergy.^[25] Prayers across these categories interconnect through shared motifs and formulas, such as recurring Jordan invocations (e.g., Prayers 79–80, 339) that appear in both baptism and masiqta to invoke sanctity, or oil-anointing rites (Prayers 73–74) adaptable to multiple ceremonies, fostering a unified liturgical tradition that reinforces core Mandaean themes of light and purity.

Key Liturgical Components

Prominent Prayers

The Qulasta features several prominent prayers that are central to Mandaean liturgy, often recited across various rituals to invoke divine presence and ensure spiritual purity. Among these, Prayer 1 serves as the opening invocation to Hayyi Rabbi, the supreme deity, praising the emanations of the Great First Life and seeking blessings of radiance and healing from Manda-d-Hiia, the personification of divine knowledge. This prayer establishes themes of divine light as a purifying force and salvation through immersion in living waters, symbolizing the soul's ascent from darkness. Prayer 105, known as Asut Malkia or "I Am the King," functions as a baptismal declaration recited during the masbuta rite, where the officiant salutes the divine hierarchy and affirms the baptizand's union with the light-world through the sign of kushta (handclasp). It emphasizes salvation via deliverance from hellish realms by ethereal beings called 'uthras, portraying the ritual as a ferry for the soul toward the Place of Light. This prayer underscores themes of victory over evil and communal healing, recited not only in baptisms but also in daily devotions and death commemorations. Another key example is Prayer 360, a soul ferry hymn integral to masiqta ceremonies for the deceased, depicting the soul's guided journey across cosmic barriers to the Everlasting Abode, aided by radiant emanations and the unfolding of divine garments of light. Its themes of cosmic radiance and eschatological salvation highlight the soul's liberation, with imagery of plants and waters symbolizing eternal renewal. These prayers are recited in nearly all major rituals, anchoring ceremonies by framing invocations and responses that unify participants in shared devotion. The Asut Malkia, in particular, appears in multiple contexts beyond baptism, such as priestly ordinations and oil blessings, reinforcing its role as a versatile anchor for ritual efficacy. Culturally, these prominent prayers foster Mandaean community identity, with priests and lay adherents often memorizing them to maintain oral transmission and personal piety amid historical persecution. Recent scholarship, including Carlos Gelbert and Mark J. Lofts' 2025 translation, has revised ambiguous phrasings in these prayers, clarifying references to light and salvation for better ritual understanding.^[27]

Recurring Formulas and Responses

The Qulasta, the canonical prayerbook of Mandaeism, incorporates recurring formulas that serve as standardized invocations and closings, structuring the liturgical flow and emphasizing core theological principles. The most ubiquitous formula is the opening blessing b-šumaihun d-hiia rba, translated as "In the name of the Great Life," which appears at the beginning of nearly every prayer and ritual segment to invoke divine authority and purity.^[24] This phrase, rooted in Mandaean cosmology where the Great Life represents the supreme, emanative source of all existence, establishes a rhythmic doctrinal anchor, reinforcing the community's commitment to light over darkness.^[28] Closings often mirror this with affirmations like u-hiia nḥš ("And Life is victorious") or variations such as u-hiia mšab ("And Life be praised"), which conclude prayers by proclaiming the triumph of spiritual forces.^[24] Responses, known as niania (meaning "answers" or "responses"), form a critical antiphonal element, enabling interactive participation between priests and the congregation or symbolic dialogues within rituals. These are typically chanted in call-and-response patterns, as seen in baptismal (maṣbuta) sequences where the priest poses questions to the soul—such as "What did thy Father do for thee, Soul?"—eliciting replies that affirm descent into the Jordan and trials of faith, thereby guiding the participant toward redemption.^[24] In masiqta (death mass) rites, similar exchanges occur, with priests alternating lines like "Hear me, my Father, hear me!" and communal or divine responses that invoke ethereal beings ('uthras).^[24] Unlike fixed narrative prayers, niania function as modular echoes, akin to an "Amen" in other traditions but more dialogic, fostering communal unity and ritual cadence.^[24] These elements evolved from ancient Semitic liturgical practices, adapting antiphonal chanting and invocatory formulas preserved in Aramaic incantation texts and early Jewish-Aramaic prayer structures, while emphasizing Mandaean distinctives like baptismal immersion.^[29] Their purpose lies in reinforcing doctrinal cohesion—stressing the eternal victory of Life and the soul's ascent—and maintaining ritual rhythm, which unites participants in a shared mystical experience.^[30] In E. S. Drower's 1959 edition of the Canonical Prayerbook, formulas like b-šumaihun d-hiia rba remain consistent across rituals, with slight adaptations for context, such as pluralizing for group baptisms or specifying souls in masiqta.^[24] Carlos Gelbert and Mark J. Lofts' 2025 translation preserves these patterns while clarifying Mandaic phrasing, noting minor orthographic variations in manuscripts that do not alter the core antiphonal intent.^[27] For instance, in marriage (qabin) sections, the opening formula integrates with spousal blessings, adapting the response to emphasize fertility under the Great Life's protection.^[24]

Comprehensive Prayer Catalog

Enumeration in Standard Editions

The standard edition of the Qulasta is E. S. Drower's The Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans (1959), which enumerates 414 prayers drawn primarily from a single complete manuscript (Drower Collection 53). Each prayer includes a Mandaic title, the original text in Classical Mandaic script, an English translation, and annotations on ritual applications, such as baptisms (maṣbuta), death masses (masiqta), or consecrations. For instance, Prayer 1, titled the "Prayer of the Turban," opens with the line "b-šuma ḏ-hahu gabra qadmaia" (In the name of that first man) and is used during baptismal preparations to invoke divine establishment for the ritual participants.^[17] Other examples include Prayer 32, recited in masiqta for soul ascension and opening with "In the name of the great life, let healing be granted to me NN," and Prayer 173 ("Shumhata"), a daily response prayer adaptable to multiple rites. Drower's numbering follows the manuscript's sequential order, grouping prayers by ritual function while noting repetitions that arise from variant manuscript traditions. In 2025, Carlos Gelbert and Mark J. Lofts published The Qulasta, a revised English translation and edition that consolidates the text into 339 unique prayers by omitting duplicates present in Drower's count (reducing from 414 to 339 core entries, excluding variants). This edition renumbers the prayers for clarity, providing cross-references to Drower's system (e.g., Gelbert-Lofts Prayer 1 corresponds to Drower 1; Prayer 150 aligns with Drower 173). It incorporates additional manuscript evidence from the Drower and Macuch collections to resolve textual ambiguities, such as variant phrasings in opening lines, while retaining ritual tags like "for baptism" or "incense offering." Representative entries include their Prayer 32, emphasizing its use in masiqta.^[25] Majid Fandi Al-Mubaraki's 2010 edition, Qulasta: Sidra d-Nishmata (Mandaean Liturgical Prayer Book, Book of Souls), presents a bilingual Mandaic-Arabic version similar in scope to Drower but limited to 260 prayers (corresponding to Drower 1–259 and 410), focusing on core liturgical elements with Arabic annotations for pronunciation and exegesis. Published in multiple volumes, it covers essential prayers: Book 1 (Sidra d-Nišmata) includes 103 prayers for baptisms and soul rituals; subsequent volumes address responses (niania, prayers 104–169) and marriage (qabina, prayers 248–259, plus 410). It prioritizes those for baptisms, marriages (qabina), and soul rituals, while omitting some esoteric variants. For example, it includes Prayer 1 with the same opening as Drower but adds Arabic glosses on terms like mšihia (messiahs), tagging it explicitly for maṣbuta. This edition resolves minor numbering discrepancies in Arabic-script manuscripts by aligning with Drower's sequence.^[31] Numbering inconsistencies across editions stem from manuscript variations, where prayers may repeat for ritual emphasis or differ in order due to scribal traditions; Drower preserves all 414 for fidelity, while Gelbert and Lofts consolidate variants into unified entries with footnotes on alternatives (e.g., merging three similar incense prayers into one). Al-Mubaraki addresses this by standardizing to a "core" set suitable for contemporary Mandaean practice, using Arabic to bridge classical and modern usage. These approaches ensure accessibility while maintaining textual integrity, often cross-referencing ritual contexts like baptisms without altering the prayers' functional divisions.^[17]^[25]^[31]

Comparative Analysis Across Versions

The editions of the Qulasta reveal significant variations in prayer inclusion, omission, and organization, reflecting the challenges of working with fragmentary Mandaean manuscripts and differing editorial priorities. E.S. Drower's 1959 English translation, drawn primarily from a single manuscript in the Drower Collection (DC 53), encompasses 414 prayers, incorporating 75 additional ones compared to Carlos Gelbert and Mark J. Lofts' 2025 edition; these extras stem from fragmentary additions preserved in Drower's source but deemed less central or potentially inauthentic in Gelbert's more conservative approach, which prioritizes verified core texts for a total of 339 unique prayers. In parallel, Mark Lidzbarski's 1920 German edition, Mandäische Liturgien, omits substantial later ritual sections, limiting its scope to 103 primary prayers in the initial part focused on baptismal and ascensional rites, while excluding marriage (qabin) and response (niania) sequences that appear in fuller versions, due to reliance on two earlier manuscripts lacking those extensions.^[32] Reordering of prayers further distinguishes these editions, influencing how rituals are conceptualized. Drower's sequential numbering follows the manuscript's linear flow, presenting prayers in a chronological ritual progression from baptism to death rites. By contrast, Majid Fandi Al-Mubaraki's multi-volume Mandaic edition (2008–2010) imposes a stricter grouping by ceremony, organizing content into discrete books—such as Sidra d-Nišmata for soul prayers (103 entries) and separate volumes for responses and marriage— to align more closely with contemporary Mandaean liturgical use, diverging from Drower's broader, less compartmentalized structure. Scholarly discussions on these variances focus on manuscript authenticity and editorial methodology, with modern editions like Gelbert and Lofts' incorporating cross-verification from multiple sources to address ambiguities in earlier works. Lidzbarski's omissions, meanwhile, are attributed to the incomplete nature of his 19th-century sources, prompting ongoing considerations about transmission gaps, with scholars favoring inclusive editions to capture ritual diversity. These textual differences carry practical implications for modern Mandaean communities, particularly in diaspora settings where access to priests and manuscripts varies. In Iraq and Iran, traditional practitioners often adhere to Drower- or Al-Mubaraki-inspired versions for comprehensive rituals, ensuring inclusion of all prayers to maintain esoteric completeness during baptisms (maṣbuta) and soul elevations (masiqta). However, condensed editions like Gelbert's facilitate abbreviated practices among expatriate groups in Australia and Sweden, where time and resource constraints lead to selective use of core prayers, potentially altering the ritual's symbolic depth and fostering subtle divergences in communal observance.

Textual Relationships

Parallels with the Ginza Rabba

The Qulasta and the Ginza Rabba share significant doctrinal correspondences, particularly in their depiction of Mandaean cosmology centered on the light worlds (alma d-nhura). Prayers within the Qulasta invoke the hierarchical structure of ethereal realms and emanations of divine light, paralleling the Right Ginza's tracts that outline the origins and organization of these luminous domains. For example, invocations to uthras—celestial priestly beings—in Qulasta rituals echo the hymnic praises of these entities in Ginza Rabba passages, emphasizing their role as intermediaries between the divine and human realms. Linguistic and thematic parallels are evident in specific sections, such as Qulasta Prayer 32, which extols the "great mystery of radiance" and the strengthening of cosmic order, akin to the creation narrative in Ginza Rabba Book 1, where Ptahil fashions the material world from ethereal prototypes. Likewise, the masbuta (baptism) prayers in the Qulasta stress ritual immersion for achieving purity and spiritual rebirth, concepts mirrored in Ginza Rabba Book 18's exposition on the soul's purification through living waters and ascent beyond material bonds. These overlaps underscore a unified Mandaean view of creation, redemption, and the rejection of darkness. While the Qulasta functions primarily as a practical liturgical compendium for rituals, contrasting with the Ginza Rabba's more speculative and narrative-driven philosophical content, the texts complement each other by embedding mythic elements into performative contexts, thereby reinforcing core theological tenets like dualism and soteriology.

Usage Alongside Other Mandaean Works

The Qulasta serves as a vital liturgical text in baptismal rituals (maṣbuta), recited by priests during actions like laying hands on the candidate's head to emphasize purification and spiritual ascent.^[12] Similarly, the Qulasta is used in conjunction with other texts like the Haran Gawaita, which provides historical context for Mandaean origins and migration.^[12] In liturgical combinations, Qulasta prayers are recited alongside readings from the Ginza Rabba during the masiqta (death mass for soul elevation), where the Qulasta's hymns structure the ceremony while the Ginza supplies cosmological explanations of the afterlife and divine emanations to guide the proceedings.^[12] For instance, specific Qulasta sections, such as prayers 65, 15, 22, 23, 24, 40, 43, and 44, are intoned over a proxy figure in the hava d mani rite, complemented by Ginza references to figures like Yushamin and Abathur for ritual efficacy.^[12] The Qulasta also integrates with the Diwan Abatur in soul judgment hymns during masiqta and zidqa brikha (blessed oblation), using its prayers to invoke the Scales of Abathur while the Diwan elaborates on the soul's post-mortem weighing and ascent, ensuring a unified focus on redemption.^[12] In modern Mandaean diaspora communities, primarily in Australia (over 10,000 as of 2020), Sweden (10,000–20,000), and North America following displacements from Iraq and Iran, the Qulasta remains the core text for rituals as of 2025, often supplemented by oral traditions transmitted by priests to adapt ceremonies to new environments without fixed river access for baptisms. These communities, facing ongoing challenges including further migrations (over 50 families from Iraq in early 2025), rely on the Qulasta's standardized prayers for continuity, while incorporating secondary scholarly works like Mark Lidzbarski's annotated translations and glosses of Mandaean liturgies to aid interpretation and teaching among younger generations.^[33] The interdependence of the Qulasta with other Mandaean texts underscores its role as the primary "script" for rituals, providing precise liturgical sequences that operationalize the narrative and doctrinal content found in works like the Ginza Rabba, Book of John, Haran Gawaita, and Diwan Abatur.^[12] This synergy ensures that descriptive elements in the complementary texts—such as soul journeys or historical exoduses—translate into performative actions, maintaining the holistic integrity of Mandaean worship across baptism, marriage, death, and daily devotions.^[12]

References

[1]
https://brill.com/display/title/17840
[2]
[PDF] DİNخ VE FELSEFخ METİNLER - isamveri.org
Prayer Book). This book can be said to be the “backbone” of the Sabian Mandaean religion. The Canonical Prayer Book or Qulasta means 'praise.' It is a ...
[3]
[PDF] 36757.pdf - IGNCA
Whilst this volume contains all the baptism prayers and masiqta prayers, it represented only about a third of the complete book possessed by Mandaean.
[4]
Qulasta = The Mandaean liturgical prayer book / [edited by] Majid ...
Qulasta = The Mandaean liturgical prayer book / [edited by] Majid Fandi Al-Mubaraki, Rbai Haithim Mahdi Saaed, Brian Mubaraki · Book 1 Sidra d Nismata (Book of ...
[5]
Full text of "Canonical Prayer Book Of The Mandaeans"
In 1867 Euting transcribed the Qulasta (a word which means “collection ... origin, place of origin, source, home etc. 48 THE CANONICAL PRAYERBOOK OF ...Missing: definition etymology
[6]
The Colophons in the Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans - jstor
THE CANONICAL PRAYERBOOK OF THE MANDAEANS 39. I find mysteries as reliable as these mysteries of Baptism and Masiqta and Oil-of-Unction. I h written them ...
[7]
The Mandaeans: Ancient Texts and Modern People - Academia.edu
Mandaeism, as a surviving Gnostic faith, emphasizes the duality of spirit and soul in rituals. The Book of John, a lead codex, is believed to be 2,053 years old ...
[8]
Mandaeans - Brill Reference Works
Characteristic of the Mandaean religion is the close connection between rituals and gnostic ideas. It is not only “knowledge” (manda, madihta, yada) that brings ...Missing: core purity
[9]
None
Below is a merged summary of the "Qulasta Origins, Dating, Compilation, and Historical Influences in Mandaeism" based on all provided segments. To retain all information in a dense and organized manner, I will use a combination of narrative text and a table in CSV format for detailed data points. The narrative provides an overview, while the table captures specific details such as dating, compilation evidence, influences, and scholarly views with references to pages, scholars, and URLs where applicable.
[10]
[PDF] The problems of the nature and date of Mandaean sources - DergiPark
The Mandaearı/Sabiancommunity ofsouthem Mesopotamia has had a significant role in westem scholarship for one and half centuries, mainly because of its Gnostic.
[11]
(PDF) The Problems of the Nature and, Date of Mandaeane Sources
Dating Mandaean sources is contentious; extant manuscripts date back to the 16th century AD, while earlier origins are debated.
[12]
[PDF] Mand-The-Mandaeans-of-Iraq-and-Iran-E-S-Drower.pdf
... origins. When I questioned the priests and got the answer 'We came from ... Qulasta, and the Iniani d Rahmi. The twenty-four learned men had various ...
[13]
MANDAEANS ii. THE MANDAEAN RELIGION - Encyclopaedia Iranica
Apr 7, 2008 · The Mandaic Text with Translation, Notes and Commentary, Vatican City, 1953. Idem, The Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans, Leiden, 1959.<|control11|><|separator|>
[14]
Mandäische Liturgien : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming
Mar 4, 2021 · Mandäische Liturgien 295 pages 25 cm Mandaean text transliterated into Hebrew characters, and German translationMissing: source | Show results with:source
[15]
Catalog Record: Mandäische Liturgien | HathiTrust Digital Library
Mandäische Liturgien / mitgeteilt, übersetzt und erklärt von Mark Lidzbarski. ; Language(s): German ; Published: Göttingen : Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht ; 1970.
[16]
Canonical prayer book of the Mandaeans : Drower, E.S.
Nov 5, 2020 · Canonical prayer book of the Mandaeans. by: Drower, E.S.. Publication date: 1959. Topics: Mandaeans, Prayers, Devotional literature, DLI Top-Up.
[17]
The Colophons in the Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans
IN 1954, Lady E. S. Drower, the primary field-worker among the Mandaeans in. Iraq, was able to purchase a complete Mandaean prayerbook from a ganzibra (Man-.
[18]
Qolasta - Wikisource, the free online library
Jul 21, 2025 · The Qolasta is the most important written collection of liturgical prayers in Mandaeism. It was originally written in Classical Mandaic, a linguistic variety ...
[19]
The Mandaean prayer book - 'niania / [compiler, Brian Mubaraki]
A Mandaic dictionary : Mandaic-English / edited by Brian Mubaraki and Majid Fandi Al-Mubaraki · Sidra d Nismata, `niania and Qabin : English transliteration ...
[20]
Mandaean Liturgical Prayer Book (The Responses + Marriage)
Aug 30, 2015 · Qulasta (the <strong>Mandaean</strong> liturgical prayer book) [electronic resource] : 'niania<br /> & qabin (the responses & marriage) / editors, Majid Fandi ...
[21]
King of Kings (prayer) - Mandaepedia
Text and translation. The Mandaic text below is from Al-Mubaraki (2010), and the English translation below is partially adapted from Gelbert and Lofts (2025).
[22]
https://www.mandaepedia.miraheze.org/wiki/Drabsha
[23]
List of Qulasta prayers - Wikipedia
The list below contains the 414 Mandaean prayers in E. S. Drower's 1959 Canonical Prayerbook along with their ritual uses. Contents. 1 Outline; 2 List.Outline · List · Explanatory notes · Table
[24]
Carlos Gelbert - Wikiquote
... Mandaean Book of John together with Mark J. Lofts as the co-editor. īn 2025, he also published an English translation of the Qulasta with Mark J. Lofts.
[25]
https://livingwaterbooks.com.au/product/4304/
[26]
The Qulasta - Gelbert - Complete - Living Water Books
The Qulasta (the liturgical Collection of all Mandaean Prayers and Hymns) is regarded as the most ancient and important book. It is complete and unabridged.
[27]
Qulasta: Mandaean liturgical prayer book. ʻNiania, the responses ...
Title, Qulasta: Mandaean liturgical prayer book. ʻNiania, the responses and Qabin, marriage, Book 2 ; Publisher, Majid Fandi Al-Mubaraki, 1999 ; Length, 8 pages.
[28]
[PDF] Creation in Mandaean Holy Book Ginza Rba
The research consists of three parts: (1) The introduction: The Mandaeans and the Question of Their Origin, The. Mandaean system, The Main Characteristic ...Missing: Qulasta | Show results with:Qulasta
[29]
The Aramaic Incantation Texts as Sources for the Mandaic Scriptures
... mandaean traditions. While the manuscripts themselves are late, the ... Jewish liturgy, apart from some manuscript fragments such as the nash papyrus.
[30]
The Making of a Mandaean Priest: The Tarmida Initiation - jstor
196 Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley. Lightworld, respectively-the Mualia again ... The rba recites the main Mandaean prayer formula given at the beginning of CP ...
[31]
Qulasta (the Mandaean Liturgical Prayer Book): Sidra D Nishmata ...
Bibliographic information ; Contributors, Majid Fandi Al-Mubaraki, Brian Mubaraki ; Publisher, Majid Fandi Al-Mubaraki, 2010 ; ISBN, 1876888148, 9781876888145.
[32]
Mandaïsche Liturgien : Lidzbarski, Mark, 1868-1928 - Internet Archive
May 7, 2008 · Publication date: 1920. Topics: Mandaean language and literature, Mandaeans. Publisher: Berlin : Weidmann.Missing: source | Show results with:source
[33]
Probing the Relationships Between Mandaeans (the Followers of ...
His book shows Mandaeism to be a Gnostic religion that “reflected, recorded, evaluated and thus transformed various religious traditions of different identities ...
[34]
Ginza Rba - Gelbert - Complete - Living Water Books
A$100.00The Ginza Rba is divided into two parts – the Right Ginza, containing 18 books, and the Left Ginza, containing 3 books.Missing: notes parallels Qulasta