Mandaean Sect Preserves Its Ancient Water Rituals

The origins of the Mandaeans, a sect that practices water rituals, are lost in ancient Mesopotamia, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in what is now Iraq.

Even its leaders are unsure when the faith began. “It’s as old as Adam,” was all Sheik Abdullah Najim Zahrun would say when asked about it.

The gray-bearded priest, leader of the sect in Baghdad, was processing documents related to weddings and baptisms to be held in the modern brick-and-stucco temple on the bank of the Tigris, which snakes through the city.

“We were the first to believe in one God,” asserted Qais al-Saadi, general secretary of the church’s central council, who teaches education at Baghdad University.

Mandaeans, named for the language of their writings and rituals, also are sometimes known as Sabaeans, a name they adopted in the 7th Century. Mandaean is a dialect of Aramaic, the tongue spoken in the time of Christ.

They revere Jesus as a messiah and a prophet, but not a god. He is regarded as an angel who will return to Earth, said Anis Zahrun, a physician who serves on the central council.

“Christ will remain 500 years,” he said. “Then comes the end of the world.”

John the Baptist, who baptized Christ, is the Mandaeans’ primary prophet.

The presence of water is paramount to the faith. All rituals are either conducted in water or related to it in some way.

The Baghdad temple used to conduct its rituals in the Tigris, but “now we have a pool,” said Sheik Rafid Sheik Abdullah Sheik Najim, son of the old sheik.

Al-Saadi, the general secretary, said the faith has about 100,000 adherents, 70,000 of them in Iraq and 50,000 of those in Baghdad. Many are gold smiths or silver smiths.

Iran has 15,000 Mandaeans, and the rest are spread through the world, including about 3,000 in Australia and the United States, he said.

Although Christian beliefs appear to predominate, the faith embraces elements of pagan Mesopotamian beliefs, Judaism and Islam. It also borrows from star worship and astrology. Al-Saadi said Mandaeans have a reputation for telling fortunes.

The Mandaeans have taken many traditions and social customs from Islam, which arrived in the area in the 7th Century. Jewish beliefs probably were introduced after the conquest of Jerusalem in the 6th Century BC by King Nebuchadnezzar, who took many Jews to Babylon as captives.

It is a closed sect that keeps its sacred texts and details of its beliefs secret, revealed only to priests and the elderly. The holy book is called The Treasure, said Talib al-Khafaji, another member of the central council.

Christianity is represented by the strong emphasis on John the Baptist, who conducted the most sacred of its rituals.

“Baptism marks the entry of persons into the Mandaean faith,” said Zahrun, the physician. “Then, later, it erases sin. A person can be baptized several times during his life, but notably during childhood.”

He said Mandaeans believe an angel carried the ritual from Mesopotamia to John the Baptist.

Baptism may even have originated among the Mandaeans, who incorporated John into their religion after Christianity came to Mesopotamia in the 1st Century.

March 21 is celebrated as the birthday of the prophet. Al-Saadi said gifts are exchanged and feasts held, much like Christmas.

The Mandaeans are formally considered a Christian sect.