Scroll of the Ancestors

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Scroll of the Ancestors
Šarḥ ḏ-Ṭabahata
Information
ReligionMandaeism
LanguageMandaic language

The Scroll of the Ancestors (Classical Mandaic: ࡔࡀࡓࡇ ࡖࡈࡀࡁࡀࡄࡀࡕࡀ Šarḥ ḏ-Ṭabahata) is a Mandaean religious text that describes the rituals of the Ṭabahata (ancestors') masiqta, held during the 5-day Parwanaya festival.[1]

Manuscripts[edit]

Copies of the scroll include Manuscript 42 of the Drower Collection (DC 42), currently held at the Bodleian Library. The scroll was originally transcribed in 1743 and has 834 lines. It is similar to Prayer 170 of the Qolasta, but some names are different.[2]

Ṭabahata Masiqta[edit]

The Ṭabahata Masiqta, or the "masiqta of the Parents",[3] is held only once a year during the Parwanaya intercalary festival. Priests recite dozens of prayers, prepare 72 faṭiras (small, round, saltless, half-baked biscuits for ritual use) symbolizing ancestors, and also sacrifice a white dove, called ba, which symbolizes the spirit (ruha). According to The Thousand and Twelve Questions, this masiqta cannot be held at any other time other than during the Parwanaya. For a more detailed description of the Ṭabahata Masiqta according to the Scroll of the Ancestors, see chapter 8 in Buckley (2002).[1]

Below is the Qolasta prayer sequence (i.e., order of prayers to be recited) for the Ṭabahata Masiqta, following the numbering in Drower's 1959 Canonical Prayerbook. Some of the prayers involve fatiras that must be signed by a priest, who dips it with four fingers, tips pressed together, into sacramental masiqta oil and signs the fatira with oil three times, from left to right (similar in some ways to the sign of the cross). The masiqta has 3 parts. The first two parts are known as the "Mother Masiqta," while the final part is known as the "Father Masiqta."[1]

1st ritual:
60 fatiras
2nd ritual:
6 fatiras
3rd ritual:
6 fatiras
91
96
79
80
33 33 33
81
34 34 34
35 35 1
75–77 75–77 75–77
9 9 9
35 35 35
36–45 36–45 36–45
46–47 46–47
48 48 48
49, signs 49, no signs at 6th 49, all 6 signed
50, signs 50, no signs 50
51, signs 51, no signs at 6th 51, all 6 signed
52, signs, except for last 52, no signs at 6th 52, all 6 signed
53 ("seal of the masiqta") 53
49, with ḏ-abahatan 49
44 44
54, pihta in hamra 54 54
55, pihta swallowed 55 55
56, drinking halalta (rinsing water) 56 56
57–72 57–72 57–72
91 91–99 91–99
71 70
100 102
71–72 71–72
80
101–103 101–102
63 63
108 58
3 3
9
58 58
65 65
71 76
170 ("Tabahatan") 170 ("Tabahatan")

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2002). The Mandaeans: ancient texts and modern people. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-515385-5. OCLC 65198443.
  2. ^ Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2010). The great stem of souls: reconstructing Mandaean history. Piscataway, N.J: Gorgias Press. ISBN 978-1-59333-621-9.
  3. ^ Aldihisi, Sabah (2008). The story of creation in the Mandaean holy book in the Ginza Rba (PhD). University College London.