Scroll of Exalted Kingship

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Scroll of Exalted Kingship
Diwan Malkuta ʿLaita
ࡃࡉࡅࡀࡍ ࡌࡀࡋࡊࡅࡕࡀ ࡏࡋࡀࡉࡕࡀ
Information
ReligionMandaeism
LanguageMandaic language

The Scroll of Exalted Kingship (Classical Mandaic: ࡃࡉࡅࡀࡍ ࡌࡀࡋࡊࡅࡕࡀ ࡏࡋࡀࡉࡕࡀ Diwan Malkuta ʿLaita) is a Mandaean religious text. Written as a large illustrated scroll, the text consists of 1363 lines. The scroll is a commentary on the initiation of the tarmida "junior priest".

Other related texts include The Coronation of the Great Shishlam, also a commentary on the initiation of the tarmida, and the two esoteric texts[1] Alma Rišaia Rba "The Great 'First World'", DC 41 and Alma Rišaia Zuṭa "The Lesser 'First World'", DC 48.[2]

Manuscripts and translations

An English translation of the text, based on Manuscript 34 of the Drower Collection (commonly abbreviated DC 34), was published by Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley in 1993.[3]

A typesetted Mandaic version of DC 34 was published by Majid Fandi Al-Mubaraki in 2002.[4]

Contents

The beginning of the scroll, from lines 7–227, references 103 prayers in the Qolasta, which are:[2]

  • a masbuta liturgy (prayers 1–31)
  • a masiqta liturgy (prayers 32–72)
  • 2 ʿngirta prayers (prayers 73 and 74)
  • 3 prayers of praise (prayers 75–77)
  • the ʿnianas (prayers 78–103)

The scroll describes what happens in the World of Light (such as being blessed by a certain uthra) for each Qolasta prayer that is recited.

The scroll has an illustrated diagram of a wellspring (aina) with 9 trees emerging out of the wellspring. The wellspring diagram contains the first 6 letters of the Mandaic alphabet (a ࡀ, b ࡁ, g ࡂ, d ࡃ, h ࡄ, u ࡅ), along with 14 sections labeled with the words teacher, crown, wreath, ether, fire, garment, stole, tunic, girdle, mother, father, brother, sister.[2]

Prayer sequence

See also

References

  1. ^ Drower, E. S. 1963. A Pair of Naṣoraean Commentaries: Two Priestly Documents, the Great First World and the Lesser First World. Leiden: Brill.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (1993). The Scroll of Exalted Kingship: Diwan Malkuta ʿLaita. New Haven, Connecticut: American Oriented Society.
  4. ^ Al-Mubaraki, Majid Fandi (2002). Malkutha 'laitha (D.C. 34). Mandaean Diwan. Vol. 3. Sydney. ISBN 1-876888-03-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

External links