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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; Modern Mandaic: Diwān Malkuthā Əlaythā[1]) 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[2] Alma Rišaia Rba "The Great 'First World'", DC 41 and Alma Rišaia Zuṭa "The Lesser 'First World'", DC 48.[3]

Manuscripts and translations

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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.[4]

A typesetted Mandaic version of DC 34 was published by Majid Fandi Al-Mubaraki in 2002.[5]

MS RRC 2O, another manuscript version of Diwan Malkuta Elaita, was copied by Sam Yuhana br Yahia Adam in Ḥuwaiza in 1077 A.H. (1666–7 A.D.).[6] Although it is missing a large section corresponding to lines 912–1131 of DC 34, it is often more accurate than DC 34.[7]

Contents

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The beginning of the scroll, from lines 7–227, references 103 prayers in the Qulasta, which are:[3]

  • 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 Qulasta 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.[3]

Prayer sequence

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Häberl, Charles (2022). The Book of Kings and the Explanations of This World: A Universal History from the Late Sasanian Empire. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. ISBN 978-1-80085-627-1.
  2. ^ Drower, E. S. 1963. A Pair of Naṣoraean Commentaries: Two Priestly Documents, the Great First World and the Lesser First World. Leiden: Brill.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (1993). The Scroll of Exalted Kingship: Diwan Malkuta ʿLaita. New Haven, Connecticut: American Oriented Society.
  5. ^ 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)
  6. ^ Morgenstern, Matthew (2019). "Neo-Mandaic in Early Mandaean Colophons. Part 2: Texts, Translations and Conclusion". Aramaic Studies. 17 (1): 100–121. doi:10.1163/17455227-01602004. ISSN 1477-8351.
  7. ^ Morgenstern, Matthew. New Manuscript Sources for the Study of Mandaic. In: V. Golinets et. al (eds.), Neue Beiträge zur Semitistik. Sechstes Treffen der Arbeitsgemeinschaft Semitistik in der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft vom 09.–11. Februar 2013 in Heidelberg. AOAT, Ugarit Verlag.
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