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145-507: Mandaeans ( Mandaic : ࡌࡀࡍࡃࡀࡉࡉࡀ) ( Arabic : المندائيون al-Mandāʾiyyūn ), also known as Mandaean Sabians ( الصابئة المندائيون al-Ṣābiʾa al-Mandāʾiyyūn ) or simply as Sabians ( الصابئة al-Ṣābiʾa ), are an ethnoreligious group who are followers of Mandaeism . They believe that John the Baptist was the final and most important prophet . They may have been among the earliest religious groups to practice baptism , as well as among

290-520: A Krest’anstvo (“Islam and Christianity”), in order to finance the journey to Iran . Shortly after their arrival in Tehran their only child, a daughter named Maria Macuch, was born on 1 January 1950. Although it had been planned otherwise, Macuch was not able to return to Bratislava because of political reasons. He refused to follow an order of the Czechoslovakian embassy to return immediately because of

435-505: A Mandaean priest and scholar, believes in a two-origin theory in which he considers the contemporary Mandaeans to have descended from both proto-Mandaeans originating in the Jordan valley as well as another group of Mandaeans (or Gnostics) indigenous to southern Mesopotamia. Mandaic language Liturgical use of Mandaic or Classical Mandaic is found in Iran (particularly the southern portions of

580-528: A babylonskom” ). His first published monograph Islám a Krest’anstvo (”Islam and Christianity”) is mainly an introduction to Islamic history and culture with a chapter on parallel developments in Christianity, which was so well received in the year of its publication that it was reprinted the following year (then repressed during the long Communist regime of Antonín Novotný in Czechoslovakia). He returned to

725-771: A better understanding of their historical and cultural context, among others “Gnostische Ethik und die Anfänge der Mandäer” (“Gnostic Ethics and the Beginnings of the Mandeans” ); “The Importance of Samaritan Traditions for the Hermeneutics of the Pentateuch”; “The μεταγράφαι of Jesus’ Words in the Gospels and the Traditional Pronunciation of Samaritan Aramaic”. Other contributions relevant to this area, especially in connection with

870-601: A broad introduction in “Samaritan Languages: Samaritan Hebrew, Samaritan Aramaic”, and an overview of the state of the art in „Der gegenwärtige Stand der Samaritanerforschung und ihre Aufgaben“. Macuch's third major speciality is dedicated to the study of the language and literature of the Nestorian Christians residing in Iran and Iraq, who call themselves “Assyrians”. His monograph Neusyrische Chrestomathie (“New Syriac Chrestomathy”), conceived together with Estiphan Panoussi,

1015-467: A distinct Southeastern Aramaic branch. This classification is based on clear isoglosses in phonology, morphology, syntax, and lexicography that separate the Mandaic language. The roots of the Mandaic language extend back to the early Parthian period, with no compelling evidence of Western Aramaic linguistic influence. The Mandaeans are thought to descend from a Babylonian population, further reinforcing

1160-447: A dualistic view of life, that encompasses both good and evil; all good is thought to have come from the World of Light (i.e. lightworld) and all evil from the World of Darkness . In relation to the body–mind dualism coined by Descartes, Mandaeans consider the body, and all material, worldly things, to have come from the dark, while the soul (sometimes referred to as the mind) is a product of

1305-505: A full professor (Ordinarius). In Berlin he immediately began realizing different projects, working on the two other specialities he has since become famous for: Samaritan and New Syriac Studies. He undertook several long voyages to Nablus , where he came into contact with the Samaritans and collected Samaritan manuscripts , establishing the worldwide most extensive specialist library, including rare and valuable manuscripts, which has since been

1450-569: A large number of hitherto unknown manuscripts during her stay in Iraq (the “ Drower Collection ” of the Bodleian Library Oxford ), hereby laying the foundation for this large work, which was completed by the material recorded by Macuch in Khūzistān and the card index by Mark Lidzbarski for the classical religious texts. The dictionary is therefore based not only on literary sources, but also includes

1595-595: A line of Mandaeans who had originated from the Jordan Valley , as well as another group of Mandaeans (or Gnostics) who were indigenous to southern Mesopotamia. Thus, the historical merging of the two groups gave rise to the Mandaeans of today. There are several indications of the ultimate origin of the Mandaeans. Early religious concepts and terminologies recur in the Dead Sea Scrolls , and Yardena (Jordan) has been

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1740-529: A lively correspondence on scholarly subjects with Franz Altheim , Professor of Ancient History of the Orient at the Freie Universität Berlin . Altheim had never met Macuch personally, but was nevertheless deeply impressed by his vast knowledge in the field of Semitic Studies and personally committed himself to bringing him to Berlin. After long years of waiting and desperation Rudolf Macuch finally received

1885-535: A meticulous comparison of the colloquial and traditional languages. The result of this work was published in his monograph Handbook of Classical and Modern Mandaic , in which he undertakes a parallel description of both idioms. Although this work was already finished by 1955, it took ten years to be published due to circumstances already mentioned above (see Vita). It was not Macuch's goal to replace Theodor Nöldeke ’s classical Mandaic Grammar of 1875, but to complement it, especially in his treatment of Mandaic phonetics on

2030-439: A philologist not only in the languages of the said minorities, but also especially in the culture and identities of the people he was working with. He kept in touch with friends, informants and colleagues over many decades, corresponding with them in letters filling several thick volumes in different languages and scripts, English, French, German, Slovak, Czech, Russian, Persian, Arabic, Hebrew, Mandaic and Syriac. He saw language as

2175-563: A result of religious persecution over the decades. Unlike other religious minorities such as Christians , Jews and Zoroastrians , Mandaeans have no protection from persecution whatsoever, similar to Baháʼís in Iran. By 2007, the population of Mandaeans in Iraq had fallen to approximately 5,000. There are estimated to be 60,000–100,000 Mandaeans worldwide. About 10,000 Mandaeans live in Australia and between 10,000 and 20,000 in Sweden , making them

2320-522: A spirit of brotherhood." Rudolf Mac%C3%BAch Rudolf Macúch (16 October 1919, in Bzince pod Javorinou – 23 July 1993, in Berlin ) was a Slovak linguist, naturalized as German after 1974. He was noted in the field of Semitic studies for his research work in three main areas: (1) Mandaic studies , (2) Samaritan studies and (3) New Syriac language and literature. Although his scholarly work also covers

2465-667: A term found in the Book of Enoch and Genesis Apocryphon II, 4. As Nasoraeans , Mandaeans believe that they constitute the true congregation of bnia nhura , meaning 'Sons of Light', a term used by the Essenes . The bit manda ( beth manda ) is described as biniana rba ḏ-šrara ("the Great building of Truth") and bit tušlima ("house of Perfection") in Mandaean texts such as the Qulasta , Ginza Rabba , and

2610-571: A thesis which has been criticized by James F. McGrath . Al-Zuhairy (1998) believes that the roots of Mandaeism lies in Mesopotamia, inherited from the Sumerians, and the present form of Mandaeism likely emerged in Mesopotamia in the 3rd century BCE. The Mandaean author Aziz Sbahi in his book, The Origins of Sabians and their Religious Beliefs , traced the Mandaeans to the Babylonian Era. Sbahi, who

2755-453: Is pacifistic and forbids its adherents from carrying weapons. During the 20th century in Iraq, most Mandaeans lived in large towns and cities, although a minority also lived in rural villages in the marshlands of southern Iraq. Many Iraqi Mandaeans have fled the country in the face of this violence, and the Mandaean community in Iraq faces extinction. Out of the over 60,000 Mandaeans in Iraq in

2900-581: Is a mandi in Detroit . The status of the Mandaeans has prompted a number of American intellectuals and civil rights activists to call upon the US government to extend refugee status to the community. In 2007, The New York Times ran an op-ed piece in which Swarthmore professor Nathaniel Deutsch called for the Bush administration to take immediate action to preserve the community. Iraqi Mandaeans were given refugee status by

3045-560: Is a monotheistic , Gnostic , and ethnic religion (Aramaic manda means "knowledge," and is conceptually related to the Greek term gnosis .) Its adherents revere Adam , Abel , Seth , Enosh , Noah , Shem , Aram , and especially John the Baptist . Mandaeans consider Adam, Seth, Noah, Shem and John the Baptist to be prophets with Adam the founder of the religion and John being the greatest and final prophet. The Mandaeans group existence into two main categories: light and darkness. They have

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3190-462: Is based mainly on extensive field work in various countries of the Middle East , where he personally collected the material used in his studies, thus in many cases preserving the cultural heritage of these minorities from being lost altogether. Rudolf Macúch was born on 16 October 1919, in a little village called Dolné Bzince (today Bzince pod Javorinou ) in western Slovakia , about 6 kilometers from

3335-661: Is hardly possible to describe his contributions to them separately without risking repetitions – an attempt which is nevertheless undertaken in the following overview for the sake of clarity. Due to his first field of study Rudolf Macuch's first publications were dedicated to religious and theological topics, many of which appeared in the Slovak journal Evanjelickí Teológ . Among these contributions three articles documenting his early interest in Old Testament studies and comparative religious history may be mentioned here: “Marcion’s Views of

3480-578: Is interesting from the point of view of linguistic history, he did not rely on his predecessors Z. Ben-Ḥayyim and A. Murtonen, but used his own recordings of texts from his sessions with the Samaritan priests in Nablus. The language is problematic, since the Samaritans were far more flexible in their handling of the sacred text than the Jews, with the result that Samaritan-Hebrew manuscripts show not only numerous variants to

3625-531: Is known more as a secretary of the Iraqi Communist Party, acknowledges that Mandaeism may have been affected by religions in Mesopotamia and the Dead Sea region. Sbahi believes that Mandaeism originated in surroundings that had Hellenic, Babylonian, Gnostic and Judaic influence. However, due to Sbahi's lack of knowledge of the Mandaic language, he read only secondary sources on the Mandaeans. Brikha Nasoraia ,

3770-611: Is of utmost interest for Slavic studies , since the oldest of these Arabic geographies were written before the emergence of Slavic literatures. Expressions transmitted in them could therefore contribute to our knowledge of the oldest and even pre-literary levels of the Slavic languages, but the Arabic authors hardly ever noted the terms correctly, leading to numerous problems of reading and interpretation. Although his mentor Bakoš and other teachers pressed him to publish this work immediately, he himself

3915-512: Is the first collection of excerpts and examples from a large range of different literary texts written in New Syriac from various periods, beginning in 1848 up to the 1970s. Most of the texts are written in the dialect of Urmia , others in the dialects of Iraq, Alqoš and Sanandaǧ . Besides a short grammatical sketch, the book contains a detailed glossary, in which all the idioms are taken into consideration. His next major achievement in this field,

4060-615: The Ecole nationale des langues orientales vivantes and the Ecole pratiques des hautes études . There he attended the courses of Professors Blachère and Sauvaget in the field of Arabic Studies and those of Professors Dhorme, Dupont-Sommer, Février, Virollaud, among other prolific scholars, in the field of Semitic Studies. Living in the Cité Universitaire he came into contact with students from different nationalities and met his later wife, Irandokht Shaghaghi, from Iran who studied Hygiene at

4205-613: The Mandaean Book of John . The only known literary parallels are in Essene texts from Qumran such as the Community Rule , which has similar phrases such as the "house of Perfection and Truth in Israel" ( Community Rule 1QS VIII 9) and "house of Truth in Israel." The Mandaic language , a Southeastern Aramaic dialect, exhibits significant inherited features from Akkadian , particularly from

4350-523: The Abbasid Caliphate when they gained fame as intellectuals in the cultural and scientific fields. In modern Iraq, Mandaeans have gained prominence as academics, writers, artists, poets, physicians, engineers and jewelers. The number of Iranian Mandaeans is a matter of dispute. In 2009, there were an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 Mandaeans in Iran, according to the Associated Press . Alarabiya has put

4495-868: The Aramaic language (“ Imperial Aramaic ” or “Reichsaramäisch”) in the Achaemenid period, “ Zabān-e ārāmī dar dowre-ye haḫāmanišī. Qesmat-e awwal” (“The Aramaic Language in the Achaemenid Period. Part One.”). Contributions of later years include „ Ahammiyyat-e sāmī-šenāsī barāye īrān šenāsī“ (“The Importance of Semitic Studies for Iranian Studies“) and „Zur altiranischen Onomastik in aramäischer Nebenüberlieferung“ („On Old Iranian Onomastics in Aramaic Secondary Sources“) . Macuch made major contributions to this field, one of his three main specialities, to which he dedicated many years of his life. Seeking to study

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4640-575: The Bibliothèque Nationale (Paris), the British Library (London), and in the households of various Mandaeans as religious texts . More specific written objects and of linguistic importance on account of their early transmission (5th–7th centuries CE) are the earthenware incantation bowls and Mandaic lead rolls ( amulets ) (3rd–7th centuries CE), including silver and gold specimens that were often unearthed in archaeological excavations in

4785-530: The Faculty of Oriental Studies in Oxford to invite him to work with her on A Mandaic Dictionary, which she had been planning for some time. After moving to Oxford with his small family, Macuch worked for two years, from 1957-1958, checking the material put into his disposition by Lady Drower, combining it with his own lexicographical collections, adding missing references, establishing meanings and etymologies. Although it

4930-577: The First World War , the Mandaeans were still largely living in rural areas in the lower parts of British protected Iraq and Iran . Owing to the rise of Arab nationalism , Iraqi Mandaeans were Arabised at an accelerated rate, especially during the 1950s and '60s. The Mandaeans were also forced to abandon their stances on the cutting of hair and forced military service, which are strictly prohibited in Mandaeaism. The 2003 American invasion of Iraq and

5075-684: The Nasoraeans . Mandaeans believe that their religion predates Judaism. According to Mandaean scripture, the Mandaeans descend directly from Shem , Noah 's son, in Mesopotamia and also from John the Baptist 's original Nasoraean Mandaean disciples in Jerusalem. According to the Mandaean Society in America, Mani (the founder of Manichaeism ) was influenced by the Mandaeans, and a pre-Manichaean presence of

5220-552: The Quran . That same year, Ayatollah Sajjadi of Al-Zahra University in Qom posed three questions regarding the Mandaeans' beliefs and seemed satisfied with the answers. These rulings, however, did not lead to Mandaeans regaining their more officially recognized status as People of the Book. In 2009, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a fatwā recognizing the Mandaeans as People of

5365-884: The US (c. 4,000–7,000), the UK (c. 2,500), New Zealand and Canada . There are also Mandaeans living in Germany , the Netherlands (in Nijmegen , The Hague , etc.), Denmark , Finland , France , and smaller communities in Norway and Italy . The Sydney metropolitan area in Australia has one of the largest Mandaean diaspora communities in the world. The community is centered in Greater Western Sydney suburbs such as Penrith and Liverpool . In Liverpool,

5510-798: The US State Department in 2007. Since then, more than 2500 have entered the US, many settling in Worcester , Massachusetts. The community in Worcester is believed to be the largest in the United States and the second largest community outside the Middle East. About 2,600 Mandaeans from Iran have been settled in Texas since the Iraq War . Mandaeans are a closed ethno-religious community, practicing Mandaeism , which

5655-520: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights . Mandaic: ". ࡊࡅࡋ ࡀࡍࡀࡔࡀ ࡌࡀࡅࡃࡀࡋࡇ ࡀࡎࡐࡀࡎࡉࡅࡕࡀ ࡅࡁࡊࡅࡔࡈࡂࡉࡀࡕࡀ ࡊࡅࡉ ࡄࡃࡀࡃࡉࡀ. ࡄࡀࡁ ࡌࡅࡄࡀ ࡅࡕࡉࡓࡀࡕࡀ ࡏࡃࡋࡀ ࡏࡉࡕ ࡓࡄࡅࡌ ࡅࡆࡁࡓ ࡁࡄࡃࡀࡃࡉࡀ ‎" Transliteration: "kul ānāʃā māudālẖ āspāsiutā ubkuʃᵵgiātā kui hdādiā. hāb muhā utirātā ʿdlā ʿit rhum uzbr bhdādiā." English original: "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in

5800-486: The World of Light is ruled by a Supreme God, known as Hayyi Rabbi ('The Great Life' or 'The Great Living God'). Other names used are Mare d'Rabuta ('Lord of Greatness'), Mana Rabba ('The Great Mind'), Melka d'Nhura ('King of Light') and Hayyi Qadmaiyi ('The First Life'). God is so great, vast, and incomprehensible that no words can fully depict how awesome God is. It is believed that an innumerable number of uthras (angels or guardians), manifested from

5945-470: The laity , the Mandaiia (Mandaeans). A form closer to the vernacular than the language of the sacred books is preserved in ancient magic texts and formulae from a different sphere of religious beliefs. He dedicated a long article in two parts (1967 and 1968) to the decipherment and editing of lead rolls inscribed with Mandaic charms, „Altmandäische Bleirollen“ (“Old Mandaic Lead Rolls”). The first part discusses

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6090-423: The war that followed brought more troubles to the Mandaeans, as the security situation deteriorated. Many members of the Mandaean community, who were known as goldsmiths, were targeted by criminal gangs for ransoms. The rise of ISIS forced thousands to flee the country, after they were given the choice of conversion or death . It is estimated that around 90% of Iraqi Mandaeans were either killed or have fled after

6235-541: The 'inner Adam' or Adam kasia , is in dire need of being rescued from the dark, so it may ascend into the heavenly realm of the lightworld. Baptisms are a central theme in Mandaeism, believed to be necessary for the redemption of the soul. Mandaeans do not perform a single baptism, as in religions such as Christianity; rather, they view baptisms as a ritual act capable of bringing the soul closer to salvation. Therefore, Mandaeans are baptized repeatedly during their lives. John

6380-522: The 17th century, the Mandaeans originated in Judea and later migrated east to the Mesopotamian Marshes . This theory was gradually abandoned, but was revived in the early 20th century through the first translation of Mandaean texts, which Biblical scholars like Rudolf Bultmann believed capable of shedding new light on the development of early Christianity . However, most New Testament scholars rejected

6525-421: The 3rd century BC and the 9th century AD into the colloquial language of Palestine, Aramaic , then enlarged and commented on. No grammatical study of the language of these texts had been hitherto undertaken, since there was still no reliable edition of the Aramaic translation ( Targum ) of the Samaritan texts before 1980. The material for this grammar had to be extracted from the original unedited manuscripts. After

6670-407: The 3rd to the 7th century. The Mandaeans re-emerged at the beginning of the Muslim conquest of Mesopotamia in c.  640 , when their leader, Anush bar Danqa , is said to have appeared before the Muslim authorities, showing them a copy of the Ginza Rabba , the Mandaean holy book, and proclaiming the chief Mandaean prophet to be John the Baptist , who is also mentioned in the Quran by

6815-498: The Apical Liquids of Samaritan Hebrew“); „Zur Grammatik des samaritanischen Hebräisch“ (“On the Grammar of Samaritan Hebrew“); „Einige Probleme der Grammatik des samaritanischen Aramäisch“ (“Several Problems of the Grammar of Samaritan Aramaic“);“A New Interpretation of the Samaritan Inscription from Tell Qasile”; “Les bases philologiques de l’ herméneutique et les bases herméneutiques de la philologie chez les Samaritains“; “Pseudo-Ethiopisms in Samaritan Hebrew and Aramaic” . He gives

6960-418: The Arabic word Ṣābiʾ is disputed. According to one interpretation, it is the active participle of the Arabic root ṣ - b -[ʾ] Error: {{Transliteration}}: transliteration text not Latin script ( help ) ('to turn to'), meaning 'converts'. Another widely cited hypothesis is that it is derived from an Aramaic root meaning 'to baptize'. According to a theory first proposed by Ignatius of Jesus in

7105-497: The Aramaic dialects attested in Late Antiquity, probably Mandaic. Neo-Mandaic preserves a Semitic "suffix" conjugation (or perfect) that is lost in other dialects. The phonology of Neo-Mandaic is divergent from other Eastern Neo-Aramaic dialects. Three dialects of Neo-Mandaic were native to Shushtar , Shah Vali , and Dezful in northern Khuzestan Province , Iran before the 1880s. During that time, Mandeans moved to Ahvaz and Khorramshahr to escape persecution. Khorramshahr had

7250-739: The Assyrians in Iran”, and “Tūr ʿAbdīn through the Ages”. As a scholar with an exceptionally broad range of knowledge in Semitic languages, Macuch also published articles on other topics besides these three major fields, especially in the area of comparative Aramaic studies: „Gesprochenes Aramäisch und aramäische Schriftsprachen“ (“Spoken Aramaic and Aramaic Written Languages”), “A ‘Revised Reading’ of an Aramaic Papyrus”; „Hermeneutische Akrobatik aufgrund phonetischen Lautwandels in aramäischen Dialekten“ (“Hermeneutic Acrobatics due to Phonetic Change in Aramaic Dialects”); “Recent Studies in Palestinian Aramaic” ; “Recent studies in Neo-Aramaic dialects”; “Some Orthographico-phonetic Problems of Ancient Aramaic and

7395-401: The Baptist is a key figure for the Mandaeans; they consider him to have been a Nasoraean Mandaean. John is referred to as their greatest and final teacher. According to Edmondo Lupieri , as stated in his article in Encyclopædia Iranica , The possible historical connection with John the Baptist , as seen in the newly translated Mandaean texts, convinced many (notably R. Bultmann ) that it

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7540-426: The Baptist. Their ancestors fled from the Jordan Valley about 2000 years ago and ultimately settled along the lower reaches of the Tigris , Euphrates and Karun Rivers in what is now Iraq and Iran. Baptism is the principal ceremony of the Mandaean religion and may only take place in a freshwater river. A number of ancient Aramaic inscriptions dating back to the 2nd century CE were uncovered in Elymais . Although

7685-611: The Beginnings of the Mandeans”) . Other contributions include a concise introduction to “Mandaic”; an overview on the state of the art („Der gegenwärtige Stand der Mandäerforschung und ihre Aufgaben“ ); on the situation of the Mandean community in Iran after the Islamic revolution in 1979 („Ein neumandäischer Brief aus dem Frühjahr 1990 und die Lage der iranischen Mandäer nach der islamischen Revolution“ ) and comparative studies, „Der keilschriftliche Beschwörungstext aus Uruk und die mandäische Phraseologie“ (“The Cuneiform Incantation Text from Uruk and Mandaic Phraseology”). After his call to

7830-445: The Book . To avoid further investigation by the authorities, the Mandaeans paid a bribe of 50,000 dinars and were left alone. It appeared that the Mandaeans were even exempt from paying the Jizya , otherwise imposed upon non-Muslims. It has been suggested by some scholars that Harranian intellectuals who worked at the Abbasid court such as Thābit ibn Qurra may have been Mandaeans, though most scholars believe they were adherents of

7975-409: The Book. Prior to the Iraq War , the Iraqi Mandaean community was centered in southern Iraq in cities such as Nasiriyah , Amarah , Qal'at Saleh , Wasit , and Basra , as well as in Baghdad (particularly the district of Dora ). Historically, Mandaean quarters had also existed in southern Iraqi towns such as Qurna and Suq al-Shuyukh . Many also live across the border in Southwestern Iran in

8120-478: The Dialect of Ahwāz”). Both books include extensive chapters on the grammar besides a phonetic transcription of the texts, translation and glossary . The latter publication was prepared with the help of Sheikh Sālem Čoheylī, a priestly candidate from Ahwāz, who had written to Macuch asking him for help in perfecting his knowledge of classical Mandaic, since he had opened a unique Mandaic school for children and adults in Ahwāz. Using his sojourn in Berlin in 1990, which

8265-436: The East Aramaic language of the Mandaeans , a small gnostic sect living in the Iranian province of Khūzistān , bordering on the Persian Gulf , in Ahwāz near the Karun river , he contacted them in 1953. Although it was known that Mandaeans lived in Khūzistān, no one had hitherto tried to consult them in order to check the linguistic and contextual controversies involved in the study of classical Mandaic texts. Macuch undertook

8410-534: The Faculty of Medicine. In the meantime Rudolf Macuch's former teacher, Ján Bakoš, had left the Theological Faculty and became the first Ordinarius for Semitic Studies at the Philosophical Faculty of the Comenius University in Bratislava. This enabled Macuch to register as Bakoš's PhD student at the Philosophical Faculty, where he submitted his thesis on Slovanské mená a výrazy u arabských geografov (“Slavic Names and Expressions in Arabic Geographies”). He had already started to prepare this work in Paris , collecting

8555-419: The Jewish-Masoretic text, but also among themselves. The Grammar is an especially important contribution to the linguistic history of Hebrew. Macuch's other extensive monograph in this field, his Grammatik des samaritanischen Aramäisch (“Grammar of Samaritan Aramaic”), was an even more difficult task to achieve due to the complicated state of the sources. Hebrew manuscripts of the Bible were translated between

8700-399: The Late Babylonian phase. Phonetic, grammatical, and lexicographic elements traceable to Akkadian strongly suggest that the origins of Mandaic and its speakers, the Mandaeans, are deeply rooted in Mesopotamia . While Mandaic has historically been classified alongside Babylonian Talmudic Aramaic and Syriac as part of Eastern Aramaic , recent linguistic analysis has led to the recognition of

8845-455: The Living Aramaic Pronunciations”; “Some lexicographical problems of Jewish Palestinian Aramaic”. Macuch's major publications, his Mandaic Handbook and Mandaic Dictionary , his two Grammars in the field of Samaritan Studies and his History of Late and New Syriac literature are standard works of Semitic Studies, still indispensable tools for all working in these disciplines today. Despite new findings and scholarly progress in many details over

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8990-581: The Mandaean diaspora has raised fears among Mandaeans for the religion's survival. Mandaeism does not allow conversion, and the religious status of Mandaeans who marry outside the faith and their children is disputed. On September 15, 2018, the Beth Manda Yardna was consecrated in Dalby , Scania, Sweden. In the United States, Mandaean communities are centered in San Antonio (c. 2,500), New York City , San Diego , Winnetka, California , Austin, Texas , Worcester, Massachusetts (c. 2,500), Warren, Michigan , Chicago , and other major metropolitan areas. There

9135-428: The Mandaean religion is more than likely. Gerard Russell quotes Rishama Sattar Jabbar Hilo , "Ours is the oldest religion in the world. It dates back to Adam." Russell adds, "He [Rishama Sattar Jabbar Hilo] traced its history back to Babylon, though he said it might have some connection to the Jews of Jerusalem." The Mandaean Synod of Australia led by Rishama Salah Choheili states: Mandaeans are followers of John

9280-446: The Mandean religion, can be found in his main fields of research described below. Macuch's dissertation Slovanské mená a výrazy u arabských geografov (“Slavic Names and Expressions in Arabic Geographies”) is an attempt to read and explain a large range of enigmatic Slavic names and terms in Arabic geographies, the material for which he had collected from manuscripts at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris (see Vita above). The topic

9425-421: The Mongolian invasion in the 13th century, and (2) it presents a unique overview of the huge range of literary works produced in New Syriac, many of which were still completely unknown even to specialists of this field before its publication. Two other contributions give summaries of the history and literary history of the Assyrians, “Assyrians in Iran I.: The Assyrian community (Āšūrīān) in Iran. II: Literature of

9570-409: The Old Testament” (“Marcionove názory na Starý zákon” ), on the first century Christian heretic Marcion and his condemnation of the Old Testament; “Obadiah’s Prophecy” (“Proroctovo Abdiášovo” ), a discussion of the “Book of Obadiah”, attributed to the Jewish prophet Obadiah (ca. 5th century B.C.); and “The Creation of the World in the Biblical and Babylonian Tradition” (“Stvorenie sveta v podaní biblickom

9715-419: The Palestinian origin theory of the Mandaeans claiming that the Mandaeans are Mesopotamian. Edwin Yamauchi believes Mandaeism's origin lies in the Transjordan where a group of 'non-Jews' migrated to Mesopotamia and combined their Gnostic beliefs with indigenous Mesopotamian beliefs at the end of the 2nd century CE. Kevin van Bladel claims that Mandaeism originated no earlier than 5th century Sassanid Mesopotamia,

9860-445: The Palestinian origin thesis, which by World War II was again largely deserted by scholars. It was revived in the 1960s by Rudolf Macúch , it is now accepted by Mandaean scholars such as Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley and Şinasi Gündüz . According to Macúch, the eastward migration from the Roman province of Judea to southern Iraq took place in the first century CE, while other scholars such as Kurt Rudolph think it probably took place in

10005-499: The Prehistory of the Creedal Statement lā ilāha illā llāhu“); “On the Problems of the Arabic Translation of the Samaritan Pentateuch”; and a lecture on the “Discrepancy between the Grammarians” (“ Iḫtilāf an-naḥwiyyūn”) held in Arabic at the University of al-Mini­ā, Egypt , in 1981. He was actively involved in establishing an international, interdisciplinary research group on Graeco-Arabic topics, thus combining his first interest, Classics, with his later vocation. He wrote reports on

10150-408: The Problem of Ḏū l-qarnain”. He also published several articles, most of them in Persian, on subjects relevant to Iranian Studies. His first contribution shortly after his arrival in Iran, “ Nufūḏ-e Zardošt dar dīn-e Yahūd wa-Masīḥ“ („Zarathustra’s Impact on the Jewish and Christian Religions”) has already been mentioned above. Another long article in three parts is dedicated to specific problems of

10295-495: The Theologian Society in the year 1940/41 and was responsible for the redaction of the journal Evanjelickí Teológ , in which he also published several of his own first articles. After finishing his second state examination in Theology in 1943, he was accepted as a student to the Franz-Rentorff-Haus, a theological school in Leipzig , where he planned to study Semitic Languages and Egyptology . He had, however, no means to finance his studies and his application to leave Czechoslovakia

10440-668: The U.S. led invasion. The Mandaeans of Iran lived chiefly in Ahvaz , Iranian Khuzestan , but have moved as a result of the Iran–Iraq War to other cities such as Tehran , Karaj and Shiraz . The Mandaeans, who were traditionally considered as People of the Book (members of a protected religion under Islamic rule), lost this status after the Iranian Revolution . However, despite this, Iranian Mandaeans still maintain successful businesses and factories in areas such as Ahwaz. In April 1996,

10585-621: The area of religious and mystical terminology. Mandaic is influenced by Jewish Palestinian Aramaic , Samaritan Aramaic , Hebrew , Greek , Latin , in addition to Akkadian and Parthian . Classical Mandaic belongs to the Southeastern group of Aramaic and is closely related to the Jewish Babylonian Aramaic dialect in the major portions of the Babylonian Talmud , but less to the various dialects of Aramaic appearing in

10730-461: The basis of the modern vernacular, leading to several corrections of the latter’s conclusions. The Handbook is an extensive treatment of the topic, in which the phonetics, morphology and essentials of syntax in both the classic (in bold letters) and modern idioms (in italics) are explained with a large number of examples for every phenomenon. The analysis of the new material also made it possible to divide Mandaic into three periods: classical (ending with

10875-542: The call he had been longing for to the chair of Semitic and Arabic Studies at the Freie Universität Berlin in June 1963 at the age of 43. The call to Berlin opened all the possibilities he had wished for over the years. He could finally dedicate himself entirely to his vocation without having to worry about financial problems, which had threatened him all his life, and could make use of all the privileges given to him as

11020-537: The cause of the Mandaeans' religious status in the Islamic Republic was raised. The parliament came to the conclusion that Mandaeans were included in the protected status of People of the Book alongside Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians and specified that, from a legal viewpoint, there is no prohibition against Muslims associating with Mandaeans, whom the parliament identified as being the Sabians mentioned explicitly in

11165-504: The chair of Semitic and Arabic Studies in Berlin in 1963 Macuch dedicated many years to studying the linguistic and literary traditions of another dwindling ethnic minority, the Samaritans of Palestine , who cultivate their own religious customs and have their own liturgy and rites . The Samaritans, well known in the Christian tradition as deviants from mainstream Judaism from the parable of

11310-606: The cities of Ahvaz and Khorramshahr . Mandaean emigration from Iraq began during Saddam Hussein 's rule, but accelerated greatly after the American-led invasion and subsequent occupation. Since the invasion Mandaeans, like other Iraqi ethno-religious minorities (such as Assyrians, Armenians, Yazidi , Roma and Shabaks), have been subjected to violence, including murders, kidnappings, rapes, evictions, and forced conversions. Mandaeans, like many other Iraqis, have also been targeted for kidnapping since many worked as goldsmiths. Mandaeism

11455-515: The city of Nové Mesto nad Váhom ) as the son of poor peasants. As a child, he visited from 1926 to 1931 the elementary school of his home village, later the Štefánika Gymnasium in Nové Mesto, a high-school that had been opened exactly in the year of his birth, 1919, bringing higher education to one of the remote places of Slovakia. In this excellent school, where he graduated in 1939, he discovered his love of languages, especially Latin and Greek , and

11600-675: The conferences of the Research Group in order to introduce their achievements to the scholarly community, became the honorary President of the Graeco-Arabic Society in Delphi and helped establish a journal dedicated to this field, Graeco-Arabica . His own contributions include articles on “Greek Technical Terms in Arabic Sciences”; “Greek and Oriental Sources of Avicenna’s and Sohrawardi’s Theosophies“; “Pseudo-Callisthenes Orientalis and

11745-495: The connection between Mandaic and its Mesopotamian heritage. This distinction highlights the uniqueness of Mandaic within the broader Aramaic linguistic landscape. Although there appears to be strong religious connections between the Mandaeans with both ancient Babylonian beliefs and Gnostic Jewish sects, such as the Elcasaites , linguistically the Mandaeans speak what can be considered a pure form of Babylonian Aramaic. A priest holds

11890-561: The countries with the most Mandaeans. There are about 2,500 Mandaeans in Jordan , the largest Mandaean community in the Middle East outside of Iraq and Iran. The name "Mandaean" comes from the Mandaic word manda , meaning "to have knowledge". In Muslim countries, Mandaeans are sometimes also called Sabians ( Arabic : الصابئة al-Ṣābiʾa ), a Quranic epithet historically claimed by several religious groups (see also below ). The etymology of

12035-558: The country), in Baghdad , Iraq and in the diaspora (particularly in the United States , Sweden , Australia and Germany ). It is an Eastern Aramaic language notable for its abundant use of vowel letters ( mater lectionis with aleph , he only in final position, ‘ayin , waw , yud ) in writing, so-called plene spelling ( Mandaic alphabet ) and the amount of Iranian and Akkadian language influence on its lexicon, especially in

12180-681: The critical edition of the first part of the Samaritan Targum (books Genesis and Exodus) by A. Tal appeared in 1980, Macuch was able to add this material to his own extensive collection from Samaritan Aramaic literature and complete the Grammar, another meticulous contribution to linguistic history, giving access to difficult texts important for the study of other Aramaic dialects. Specific linguistic problems of this field were also analysed in several articles on „Der liquide Apikal und die apikale Liquide des samaritanischen Hebräisch" (“The Liquid Apical and

12325-416: The darkworld is a giant monster, or dragon, with the name Ur , and an evil, female ruler also inhabits the darkworld, known as Ruha . The Mandaeans believe these malevolent rulers created demonic offspring who consider themselves the owners of the seven planets and twelve zodiac constellations . According to Mandaean beliefs, the material world is a mixture of light and dark created by Ptahil , who fills

12470-535: The decades, these works based on a meticulous analysis of original sources and field research have not yet been replaced by similarly extensive studies. This may be due to the fact that every new attempt to analyse this vast material would be judged in the scholarly community by the high standards set by Macuch's work. The textual sources presented in his other monographs are major contributions, since they preserve rare material, which would otherwise have sunk into oblivion. His field research in these areas has contributed to

12615-427: The earliest adherents of Gnosticism , a belief system of which they are the last surviving representatives today. The Mandaeans were originally native speakers of Mandaic , an Eastern Aramaic language , before they nearly all switched to Mesopotamian Arabic or Persian as their main language. After the invasion of Iraq by the United States and its allies in 2003, the Mandaean community of Iraq , which before

12760-643: The early 1990s, fewer than 5,000 to 10,000 remain there as of 2007. In early 2007, more than 80% of Iraqi Mandaeans were refugees in Syria and Jordan as a result of the Iraq War . In 2019, an Al-Monitor study estimated the Iraqi Mandaean population to be 3,000, 400 of which lived in the Erbil Governorate , which is 5% or less than the pre-Iraq war Mandaean population. Mandaeans in the past were renowned silver and gold smiths, blacksmiths and boatbuilders, even before

12905-549: The early Islamic period, as attested by the voluminous expansion of Mandaic literature and canons. Tib near Wasit is particularly noted as an important scribal center. Yaqut al-Hamawi describes Tib as a town inhabited by ' Nabatean ' (i.e. Aramaic speaking) ' Sabians ' (see below ) who consider themselves to be descendants of Seth . The status of the Mandaeans was questioned by the Abbasid caliph al-Qahir Billah (899–950 CE), even though they had received recognition as People of

13050-584: The end of his life he worked with the Mandean Sheikh Čoheylī on New Mandaic texts, the results of which appeared in his monograph Neumandäische Texte im Dialekt von Ahwāz (“New Mandaic Texts in the Dialect of Ahwāz”) two months after his death on 23 July 1993, at the age of 73 . Rudolf Macuch's work was by no means restricted to these three areas. He has dedicated numerous articles to many relevant fields of research in Arabic and Semitic Studies, being interested as

13195-512: The fall of the shah, its members faced increased religious discrimination, and many emigrated to Europe and the Americas. In Iran, the Gozinesh Law (passed in 1985) has the effect of prohibiting Mandaeans from fully participating in civil life. This law and other gozinesh provisions make access to employment, education, and a range of other areas conditional upon a rigorous ideological screening,

13340-517: The far larger range of Arabic and Iranian Studies as well as Theology and History of Religions , most of his monographs, and a large number of his numerous articles, are dedicated to the study of the languages and literatures of ethnic and religious minorities of the Near East, especially the Mandaeans , Samaritans and Nestorian Christians (or Assyrians , as they prefer to call themselves). His work

13485-685: The field. During this time Macuch also established his third main field of research, New Syriac, which is represented by two monographs: the Neusyrische Chrestomathie (“New Syriac Chrestomathy”, 1974 together with Estiphan Panoussi ), and his monumental Geschichte der spät- und neusyrischen Literatur (“History of Late and New Syriac Literature”), published in 1976. This latter work was the result of decades of meticulously collecting literary works and journals written in Syriac, which were mostly unknown even to specialists of this field before this book

13630-1038: The foundation was laid for his later work. Although he would have preferred to study Classical Philology , he chose Theology, since his parents were not able to finance his studies and this was the only possibility of receiving a grant from the Church. After registration in the Lutheran Theological Faculty of Bratislava , he visited courses on Bible text criticism by Ján Bakoš , a specialist of Semitic Studies, who had studied with famous Orientalists of his time, Julius Wellhausen , Enno Littman and Mark Lidzbarski , in Göttingen . Becoming aware of Macuch's special talent for languages Bakoš suggested that he study Semitic Languages and offered to teach him Arabic and Syriac personally. During his study of Theology in Bratislava Rudolf Macuch also acted as cultural referent of

13775-516: The goal of scholars of Samaritan from various parts of the world. He himself dedicated his work of the following five years to writing his Grammatik des samaritanischen Hebräisch (“Grammar of Samaritan Hebrew”), published in 1969. His next project in this field of study was the Grammatik des samaritanischen Aramäisch (“Grammar of Samaritan Aramaic”), published in 1982. These two grammars have become standard reference works for every student and scholar in

13920-492: The high priest and other priests. He was able to establish the worldwide most extensive specialist library of Samaritan Studies, including valuable original manuscripts, microfilms of dispersed manuscripts from various libraries and institutions worldwide as well as all the monographs and scholarly articles to date at the Institute in Berlin. This collection of material was so unique that it attracted scholars from different regions of

14065-539: The incantation texts on unglazed ceramic bowls ( incantation bowls ) found mostly in central and south Iraq as well as the Khuzestan province of Iran . It is considered a sister language to the northeastern Aramaic dialect of Suret . This southeastern Aramaic dialect is transmitted through religious, liturgical, and esoteric texts, most of them stored today in the Drower Collection , Bodleian Library (Oxford),

14210-416: The influence of the zealous Zoroastrian high priest Kartir persecuted all non-Zoroastrian religions. It is thought that this persecution encouraged the consolidation of Mandaean religious literature. The persecutions instigated by Kartir seems to temporarily erase Mandaeans from recorded history. Their presence, however can still be found in Mandaean magical bowls and lead strips which were produced from

14355-405: The journey in order to study the traditional pronunciation of classical Mandaic, but he discovered to his own surprise that the language was still spoken there as a vernacular dialect, hitherto unknown to Semitists. He was able to make phonetic recordings of the spoken modern dialect, in which classical forms and vocabulary still partly continued. In 1953, his gathered field notes from Nāṣer Ṣābūrī ,

14500-464: The largest lead roll, incised in the smallest scribal hand known so far, containing a row of various charms with noteworthy spelling variants that do not correspond with the standard classic Mandaic orthography. That he was able to read most of it and tried to get some sense out of it can be considered a major achievement, since only two very easily legible Mandaic lead rolls had been published so far. The edition of several shorter lead scrolls followed in

14645-622: The last being a ligature. Its origin and development is still under debate. Graphemes appearing on incantation bowls and metal amulet rolls differ slightly from the late manuscript signs. Lexicographers of the Mandaic language include Theodor Nöldeke , Mark Lidzbarski , Ethel S. Drower , Rudolf Macúch , and Matthew Morgenstern . Neo-Mandaic represents the latest stage of the phonological and morphological development of Mandaic. Having developed in isolation from one another, most Neo-Aramaic dialects are mutually unintelligible and should therefore be considered separate languages. Determining

14790-399: The letters appear quite similar to the Mandaean ones, it is impossible to know whether the inhabitants of Elymais were Mandaeans. Rudolf Macúch believes Mandaean letters predate Elymaic ones. Under Parthian and early Sasanian rule, foreign religions were tolerated and Mandaeans appear to have enjoyed royal protection. The situation changed by the ascension of Bahram I in 273, who under

14935-446: The light, surround and perform acts of worship to praise and honor God. They inhabit worlds separate from the lightworld and some are commonly referred to as emanations and are subservient beings to 'The First Life'; their names include Second, Third, and Fourth Life (i.e. Yōšamin , Abathur , and Ptahil ). The Lord of Darkness ( Krun ) is the ruler of the World of Darkness formed from dark waters representing chaos. A main defender of

15080-475: The lightworld. Mandaeans believe that there is a constant battle or conflict between the forces of good and evil. The forces of good are represented by Nhura (Light) and Maia Hayyi (Living Water) and those of evil are represented by Hshuka (darkness) and Maia Tahmi (dead or rancid water). The two waters are mixed in all things in order to achieve a balance. Mandaeans also believe in an afterlife or heaven called Alma d-Nhura (World of Light). In Mandaeism,

15225-439: The linguistic phenomena of the classical tongue. It served as a guide to the study of the phonetic structure of classical Mandaic and to the traditional pronunciation of the literary and liturgical language. After having received 30 microfilms containing the essential Mandaic literature and related fields from Prof. Roemer (University of Mainz) he began to analyse the material he had gathered during his field research and to undertake

15370-629: The main mandi (Beth Manda) is Ganzibra Dakhil Mandi . The Sabian Mandaean Association of Australia has purchased land by the banks of the Nepean River at Wallacia, New South Wales in order to build a new mandi. Sweden became a popular destination because a Mandaean community existed there before the war and the Swedish government has a liberal asylum policy toward Iraqis. There are between 10,000 and 20,000 Mandaeans in Sweden (2019). The scattered nature of

15515-670: The material directly from mostly unedited Arabic manuscripts at the Bibliothèque Nationale during the second year of his studies. He finished his doctorate on 30 June 1948, with the grade summa cum laude. After receiving the position of assistant at the Institute of Semitic Studies in Bratislava in 1948-49, Macuch married his fiancé on 31 March 1949. They decided to travel to Iran, where he could study Persian and Arabic manuscripts and come into contact with living Aramaic languages and dialects, in order to prepare his habilitation. Before departing he wrote his first monograph to be published, Islám

15660-636: The memory of Lady Drower, Zur Sprache und Literatur der Mandäer . Mandaeans also resided in Southern Iraq , where their religion and texts were studied by one of the most prolific authors in this field, Lady Ethel Stefana Drower , who was, however, a self-made scholar and felt the need to collaborate with an academic expert in her next enterprise. In 1955, Macuch wrote a critical review of one of Lady Drower’s publications (see Vita above) which led to his invitation to Oxford in order to work with her in preparing A Mandaic Dictionary . Lady Drower had collected

15805-672: The monumental Geschichte der spät- und neusyrischen Literatur (“History of Late and New Syriac Literature”), is the first work on Syriac literature after the Mongol invasion in the 13th century. He had already begun to collect the material for this difficult undertaking years ago in Iran, bringing together the texts from a large range of different literary sources, books, articles and numerous journals, among these several rare publications, difficult to find at that period and by now completely inaccessible. Besides this material he used three histories of Syriac literature written in Arabic and Syriac. Due to

15950-459: The most Neo-Mandaic speakers until the Iran–Iraq War caused many people to leave Iran. Ahvaz is the only community with a sizeable portion of Neo-Mandaic speakers in Iran as of 1993. The following table compares a few words in Old Mandaic with three Neo-Mandaic dialects. The Iraq dialect, documented by E. S. Drower , is now extinct. The following is a sample text in Mandaic of Article 1 of

16095-551: The most important prerequisite to communicating with people of other cultures and tying bonds across ethnical and religious barriers. Scholars of the field appreciate his work worldwide and he is esteemed in his homeland, Slovakia, as one of the renowned humanist scholars of Europe (even a small planet in the Asteroid girdle, discovered by Peter Kolény and Leonard Kornoš in 1998, has been named after him: 24974 Macúch ). He received numerous honours for his life achievement, one of which

16240-493: The name Yahya ibn Zakariya . Consequently, the Muslim caliph provided them acknowledgement as People of the Book ( ahl al-kitāb , adherents of religions recognized as guided by previous revelations). However, this account is likely apocryphal: since it mentions that Anush bar Danqa traveled to Baghdad , it must have occurred after the founding of Baghdad in 762, if it took place at all. Mandaeans appeared to have flourished during

16385-489: The name of every baptismal water in Mandaeism. Mara ḏ-Rabuta ( Mandaic : "Lord of Greatness", one of the names for Hayyi Rabbi ) is found in the Genesis Apocryphon (1Q20) II, 4. They formally refer to themselves as Naṣuraiia ( ࡍࡀࡑࡅࡓࡀࡉࡉࡀ ‎), meaning guardians or possessors of secret rites and knowledge. Another early self-appellation is bhiria zidqa , meaning 'elect of righteousness' or 'the chosen righteous',

16530-847: The number of Iranian Mandaeans as high as 60,000 in 2011. Until the Iranian Revolution , Mandaeans were mainly concentrated in the Khuzestan Province , where the community used to coexist with the local Arab population. Other than the main cities of Ahvaz and Khorramshahr , Mandaean communities also existed in towns such as Chogha Zanbil in Shush County , Shushtar , and Abadan , as well as Mahshahr , Shadegan , Behbahan , and Susangerd (Khafajiyeh). Mandaean communities had also formerly existed in Dezful , Hamidiyeh , Hoveyzeh , Karun , and Abadan . They were mainly employed as goldsmiths , passing their skills from generation to generation. After

16675-652: The origins of the Mandeans and their religion, in „Alter und Heimat des Mandäismus nach neuerschlossenen Quellen“ (“Age and Homeland of the Mandeans According to New Sources”), „Anfänge der Mandäer“ (“The Beginnings of the Mandeans”); „Zur Frühgeschichte der Mandäer“ (“On the Early History of the Mandeans”); “The Origins of the Mandaeans and their Script”; „Gnostische Ethik und die Anfänge der Mandäer“ (“Gnostic Ethics and

16820-541: The other hand, the Mandaean community in Iran has increased over the last decade because of the exodus from Iraq of the main Mandaean community, which used to be 50,000–70,000 strong. Following the Iraq War, the Mandaean community dispersed mostly throughout Jordan , Syria , and Iran . Mandaeans in Jordan number about 2,500 (2018) and in Syria there are about 1,000 remaining (2015). There are Mandaean diaspora populations in Sweden (c. 10,000–20,000), Australia (c. 10,000),

16965-480: The pagan astral religion of Harran. Early contact with Europeans came about in the mid-16th century, when Portuguese missionaries encountered Mandaeans in Southern Iraq and controversially designated them "Christians of St. John". In the next centuries Europeans became more acquainted with the Mandaeans and their religion. The Mandaeans suffered persecution under the Qajar rule in the 1780s. The dwindling community

17110-541: The position of dānešyār, “extraordinarius”, at the University of Teheran for Semitic Languages . With his experience in learning languages, he learned Persian very quickly and was able to publish his first article in that language in the spring of 1950 with the title Nuf­ūz-e Zardošt dar dīn-e Yahūd wa-Masīḥ (“Zarathustra’s Impact on the Jewish and Christian Religions”). The most important achievement of these years, however,

17255-440: The principal prerequisite for which is devotion to the tenets of Islam. These laws are regularly applied to discriminate against religious and ethnic groups that are not officially recognized, such as the Mandaeans, Yarsanis and Baháʼís . In 2002, the US State Department granted Iranian Mandaeans protective refugee status. Since then, roughly 1,000 have emigrated to the US, now residing in cities such as San Antonio, Texas . On

17400-453: The reason for Mandaeans' departure from Palestine. Lupieri believes Mandaeism is a post-Christian southern Mesopotamian Gnostic off-shoot and claims that Zazai d-Gawazta to be the founder of Mandaeism in the 2nd century. Jorunn J. Buckley refutes this by confirming scribes that predate Zazai who copied the Ginza Rabba . In addition to Edmondo Lupieri, Christa Müller-Kessler argues against

17545-450: The redaction of the Ginza, ca. 7th century), post-classical and the modern language, a division which delivers an important key for the critical analysis of Mandaic literature, although a precise limitation of the duration of these periods is not possible. The Handbook led to a large number of reviews over the years, thirteen of which are discussed extensively by Macuch in a later book dedicated to

17690-470: The regions of their historical living sites between Wasiṭ and Baṣra , and frequently in central Iraq , for example ( Bismaya , Kish , Khouabir, Kutha , Uruk , Nippur ), north and south of the confluences of the Euphrates and Tigris (Abu Shudhr, al-Qurnah ), and the adjacent province of Khuzistan ( Hamadan ). Mandaic is written in the Mandaic alphabet . It consists of 23 graphemes, with

17835-620: The reign of terror established by the Communist Party in Czechoslovakia under Antonín Novotný after his departure. By refusing to obey, he lost his nationality and his work at the University of Bratislava and became a refugee in Iran. He began working as a teacher in an American missionary school, Community School, in Teheran, where he taught French , Latin and German . In 1954 he also received

17980-534: The relationship between Neo-Aramaic dialects is difficult because of poor knowledge of the dialects themselves and their history. Although no direct descendants of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic survive today, most of the Neo-Aramaic dialects spoken today belong to the Eastern sub-family of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic and Mandaic, among them Neo-Mandaic that can be described with any certainty as the direct descendant of one of

18125-630: The role of the demiurge , with help from dark powers, such as Ruha , the Seven, and the Twelve. Adam's body (believed to be the first human created by God in Abrahamic tradition) was fashioned by these dark beings, however his soul (or mind) was a direct creation from the Light. Therefore, many Mandaeans believe the human soul is capable of salvation because it originates from the lightworld. The soul, sometimes referred to as

18270-729: The second part. His work on New Mandaic texts include several contributions over the years, beginning with an article in the Festschrift of his mentor, Ján Bakoš (“The Bridge of Shushtar. A Legend in Vernacular Mandaic with Introduction, Translation and Notes” ). In later years, two monographs are dedicated to analysing and preserving New Mandaic texts: Neumandäische Chrestomathie mit grammatischer Skizze, kommentierter Übersetzung und Glossar (“New Mandaic Chrestomathy with Grammatical Sketch, Annotated Translation and Glossary”) and Neumandäische Texte im Dialekt von Ahwāz (“New Mandaic Texts in

18415-537: The third century. There are also other theories. Kevin van Bladel has argued that the Mandaeans originated in Sasanian-ruled Mesopotamia in the fifth century . According to Carlos Gelbert , Mandaeans formed a vibrant community in Edessa in late antiquity . Brikha Nasoraia , a Mandaean priest and scholar, accepts a two-origin theory in which he considers the contemporary Mandaeans to have descended from both

18560-621: The title of Rabbi and a place of worship is called a Mashkhanna . According to Mandaean sources such as the Haran Gawaita , the Nasuraiia inhabited the areas around Jerusalem and the River Jordan in the 1st century CE. There is archaeological evidence that attests to the Mandaean presence in pre-Islamic Iraq. Scholars, including Kurt Rudolph , connect the early Mandaeans with the Jewish sect of

18705-538: The topic of Christianity and Islam towards the end of his life, planning an extensive monograph titled Kritik der monotheistischen Religionen (“Critique of the Monotheistic Religions”), which remained fragmentary due to his demise and was not published. His continuing interest in religious questions is, however, documented in other publications, in which he repeatedly discussed the texts he was studying also from this perspective, using his philological findings for

18850-430: The vast material presented in the book, including an overview of the historical setting of every discussed period, extensive summaries of the literary works and numerous details on the authors, this work has been greeted as one of the most important scholarly achievements of the past decades in this field. The book fulfils two important desiderata: (1) it offers an introduction to the hardly known Late Syriac literature since

18995-470: The vocabulary of the vernacular described by Macuch in his Handbook and comparative material from other Semitic languages. He also published vast textual material, including both ancient sources and texts in the modern vernacular, demonstrating that already in early times there was a gnostic literary language attributed to the priests, the Naṣuraiia (Nasoraeans) meaning observers, besides the spoken language of

19140-566: The war numbered 60,000–70,000 persons, collapsed due to the rise of Islamic extremism and the absence of protection against it, with most of the community relocating to Iran , Syria and Jordan , or forming diaspora communities beyond the Middle East . Mandaeans have been forcibly converted to Islam, making them apostates from Islam if they revert to their religion, thereby risking being murdered. Such Mandaeans have voiced feeling unsafe in any Muslim country for this reason. The remaining community of Iranian Mandaeans has also been dwindling as

19285-420: The world, even from Jerusalem , the centre of Samaritan Studies, to work in Berlin. Besides organizing the library Macuch worked five years on his Grammatik des samaritanischen Hebräisch (“Grammar of Samaritan Hebrew”), which is a through treatment of the differences between Samaritan and Jewish-Masorean Hebrew in orthography, phonology, morphology and syntax . As to the pronunciation of Samaritan Hebrew, which

19430-619: The “good Samaritan” in the New Testament , accept only their own version of the Pentateuch , the first five books of the Hebrew Bible , which differs from the Masoretic text , the authoritative Hebrew text for Rabbinic Judaism . Macuch contacted the Samaritans in Nablus, where their Holy Place on Mount Gerizim is situated, and spent many months recording the pronunciation of Samaritan Hebrew with

19575-465: The “ritual slaughterer” of the community, and to become acquainted with the traditional pronunciation of the Mandaean priests; in 1989, he would later perform further field work with Salem Choheili , a yalufa (learned Mandaean layman) of Ahvaz. Although the modern idiom, being overlaid by foreign influences, especially from Persian and Arabic, differs from the language of the classical Mandaic texts, it was, as Macuch found out, important for understanding

19720-530: Was a feat of daring to engage in writing the dictionary within the timespan of two years under the conditions of that period (mechanical typewriter, no Internet, many relevant lexical works out-dated or still missing), he delivered the manuscript on time. After spending several months in the United States and Canada in a futile search for a position at one of the Universities, Rudolf Macuch returned with his family to Iran, where his fortune finally turned. He started

19865-474: Was finally brought to West Berlin and published by Walter de Gruyter in 1965. In 1955 Macuch published a review of Lady Ethel Stefana Drower ’s work The Haran Gawaita and the Baptism of Hibil-Ziwa in a renowned German scholarly journal. Although the review was extremely critical, it was exactly this kind of criticism that convinced Lady Drower that he was the best living specialist on Mandaic. She arranged for

20010-630: Was financed by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), to record texts, Macuch discovered that strange differences exist in the phonetics and morphology of the Čoheylī tribe in comparison to his earlier source of the fifties, the Ṣābūrī tribe. His last monograph discusses these divergent grammatical features based on chosen oral texts recorded in his sessions with the Sheikh. His numerous articles in this field are dedicated to several controversially discussed problems, especially regarding

20155-604: Was his designation as a member of the Norwegian Academy of Sciences on 10 March 1988 – an honour bestowed on only a few distinguished scholars. Rudolf Macuch's scholarly work encompasses contributions to a large range of disciplines: (1) Theology and History of Religions; (2) Arabic and Iranian Studies; (3) Semitic Studies, with his most important research in three specialities, (a) Mandaic, (b) Samaritan and (c) New Syriac. Since he employed an interdisciplinary approach in his work, these various fields are so intertwined that it

20300-455: Was his discovery of a hitherto unknown vernacular dialect spoken by the Mandaeans of Ahwāz ( Khūzistān ) during his field research in 1953, which he described in his Handbook of Classical and Modern Mandaic . Although this work was finished in 1955, it took 10 years to be brought out, since the publisher, Akademie-Verlag , in East Berlin , having accepted the manuscript, failed to print it. It

20445-423: Was not satisfied with the results and wanted to include different readings from manuscripts which he had not yet consulted. He never published his thesis due to circumstances beyond his command. His focus of interest shifted to other areas, but he returned occasionally to topics in the field of Arabic studies in several important articles, among these „Zur Vorgeschichte der Bekenntnisformel lā ilāha illā llāhu“ (“On

20590-489: Was possible, through the Mandaean traditions, to shed some new light on the history of John and on the origins of Christianity . This brought around a revival of the otherwise almost fully abandoned idea of their Palestinian origins. As the archeological discovery of Mandaean incantation bowls and lead amulets proved a pre-Islamic Mandaean presence in the southern Mesopotamia, scholars were obliged to hypothesize otherwise unknown persecutions by Jews or by Christians to explain

20735-681: Was published. Although research in these two fields absorbed many years of his life, he never ceased to continue work in his first speciality, Mandaic Studies. Besides numerous articles, he published a monograph Zur Sprache und Literatur der Mandäer (“On the Language and Literature of the Mandeans”) in 1976, dedicated to Lady Ethel Stefana Drower, and the Neumandäische Chrestomathie mit grammatischer Skizze, kommentierter Übersetzung und Glossar (“New Mandaic Chrestomathy with Grammatical Outline, Commented Translation and Glossary”) in 1989. Towards

20880-470: Was refused by the military due to the war against Nazi Germany . After his ordination on the 26th of June 1943, he worked as a vicar from 1943-1945 and entered military service in 1944, hoping to continue his studies after the war. He resigned immediately his position as vicar when the war ended in 1945 after having received a grant from the French government enabling him to continue his study of Arabic and Semitic languages in Paris for two years (1945–47) at

21025-408: Was threatened with complete annihilation, when a cholera epidemic broke out in Shushtar and half of its inhabitants died. The entire Mandaean priesthood perished and Mandaeism was restored due to the efforts of few learned men such as Yahya Bihram . Another danger threatened the community in 1870, when the local governor of Shushtar massacred the Mandaeans against the will of the Shah. Following

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