my-server
← Wiki

Sidra d-Nishmata

The Sidra ḏ-Nišmata (; Modern Mandaic: Sedrā d-Nešmāthā), also known as the Book of Souls or Book of Gadana, is a collection of Mandaean litugical prayers that constitutes the first part of the Qulasta. It is typically considered to consist of 103 prayers. The Sidra ḏ-Nišmata most likely constitutes the oldest stratum of Mandaean literature and dates to at least the 3rd century CE or earlier.

The Sidra ḏ-Nišmata contains the most important prayers used in core Mandaean rituals, namely the masbuta and masiqta.

Structure

Matthew Morgenstern (in the Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon) and Majid Fandi Al-Mubaraki (2010) considers the Sidra ḏ-Nišmata to contain 103 prayers, which correspond to the first 103 prayers in both Mark Lidzbarski's and E. S. Drower's Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans (1959).

The Sidra ḏ-Nišmata consists of the following sections. Each of the three parts has its own colophon.

  • Part 1: Prayers 1–74
  • Prayers 1–31: masbuta liturgy
  • Prayers 32–72: masiqta liturgy
  • CP 73–74: the 2 "Letter" (engirta) prayers
  • Part 2: Prayers 75–77: 3 long prayers of praise
  • Part 3: Prayers 78–103: the "responses" (eniania)

Types of prayers

Eric Segelberg (1958) lists the following types of prayers in the Sidra ḏ-Nišmata.

  • buta (plural form: bauata; generic Mandaic term for prayers)
  • Prayers , , : prayers for the crown
  • Prayer : prayer for the pandama
  • Prayers 9–11: prayers at the river bank
  • Prayers 22–24: prayers over the oil
  • Prayers 25–28: buta haá¹­amta or "sealing prayer"
  • Prayer : opening masiqta prayer
  • Prayers 75–77: long baptismal prayers
  • qaiamta: Prayers –
  • pugdama (): Prayers , , , ; also applies to Prayers , ,
  • Å¡rita (plural form: Å¡iriata) (loosening or deconsecrating prayers): Prayers , , , ,
  • draÅ¡a
  • Prayers , , –
  • eniana
  • Prayers –: three hymns in the beginning of the baptismal rite
  • Prayer : hymn after the acts in the water
  • Prayer –: hymns said after the sealing prayers

List of prayers

Below is a list of individual prayers of the Sidra ḏ-Nišmata based on the text of Drower (1959), with additional notes from Segelberg (1958) and Buckley (2002).

Litanies in the Sidra d-Nishmata include prayers , , , , , , , , and .

Maá¹£buta liturgy

  • 3 sets of paired prayers for the burzinqa
  • : prayer containing a creation narrative
  • : Å¡rita (loosening prayer) dedicated to Zihrun
  • : prayer to Yawar Ziwa bar Nhur Hiia, Hamgai Ziwa bar Hamgagai Ziwa, Zihrun
  • : Å¡rita (loosening prayer) praising Manda d-Hayyi and the Light of Tarwan (taruan nhura)
  • : prayer to Yufin-Yufafin, Eit Ená¹£ibat Eutria, Eit Yawar bar Ená¹£ibat Eutria
  • : Å¡rita (loosening prayer)
  • "Adjutores baptismi" (adiauria ḏ-maá¹£buta) prayers
  • : litany
  • : short prayer about the yardna
  • : short prayer to Yawar Ziwa and seven manas
  • : prayer of Yur bar Barit opening up the yardna
  • : descent to the yardna, attended by Ê¿uthria
  • : margna prayer (pugdama or declaration of the margna)
  • Exorcism prayers
  • : prayer for binding demons
  • : "perfected gem" prayer
  • : invocation of Ê¿uthria so that evil spirits would flee
  • : long prayer blessing the yardna which begins with the invocation of Piriawis (main prayer said during the maá¹£buta immersion)
  • : short prayer for crowning with the klila, and pronouncing Ê¿uthria names over the baptized person ("Manda created/called me")
  • : yardna prayer beginning with a blessing of the outer door (tira baraia), for deconsecrating the yardna
  • : ascent from the yardna; the prayer rejects the sun, moon, and fire as witnesses
  • Oil (miÅ¡a) prayers
  • : invocation of Ê¿uthria before anointing with oil
  • : praising the oil
  • : oil driving off evil spirits and healing illnesses
  • Sealing (haá¹­amta) prayers
  • : long litany
  • : short prayer sealing the baptized souls
  • : prayer invoking Ê¿Uá¹£ar-Hai and Pta-Hai, Manda ḏ-Hiia, and Hayyi
  • : prayer of healing and driving off illnesses
  • : short prayer of rising up
  • : prayer about conquering the mountain, fire, and sea (draÅ¡a of the maá¹£buta)
  • : final Å¡rita (loosening prayer)

Masiqta liturgy

  • : short opening prayer
  • : mambuha prayer dedicated to the Water of Life
  • : shorter incense prayer
  • : long prayer ("I sought to lift my eyes" (bit miÅ¡qal ainia)) dedicated to Manda d-Hayyi, used for versatile ritual applications
  • Pihta prayers (Prayers 36–42 begin with "I worship, laud and praise" (sagidna Å¡ahabana u-mÅ¡abana).)
  • : prayer to the Mana, Drop (Niá¹­ufta), Å ar, Pirun
  • : prayer to the Cloud (Anana)
  • : prayer to Yawar Ziwa
  • : prayer of the Å¡uta (declaration) of Yawar
  • : prayer to Ê¿Uá¹£ar
  • : prayer to Ê¿Uá¹£ar Nhur
  • : prayer of the Å¡uta (declaration) of Yawar
  • : prayer to Manda ḏ-Hiia
  • Masiqta prayers
  • Klila prayers
  • : klila prayer (nhur nhura). Almost identical to , except that the first two words of Prayer 46 are nhar nhura instead of nhur nhura in Prayer 5. As a result, Lidzbarski (1920) omits Prayer 46 as a duplicate of Prayer 5, although Drower (1959) and Gelbert & Lofts (2025) keep the prayer.
  • : klila prayer (zhira u-mzahra)
  • : oil prayer
  • : prayer for the spirit and soul; á¹¢auriel is invoked
  • : prayer mentioning "Hamamulai"
  • : investiture prayer
  • : prayer invoking Yusmir
  • : masiqta sealing prayer (obtaining a letter from Abatur)
  • : prayer invoking YukaÅ¡ar (entering the scales of Abatur)
  • : short pandama loosening prayer
  • : short living water prayer
  • : short incense prayer
  • : litany
  • : short pihta prayer
  • : short mambuha prayer
  • : klila prayer
  • : short prayer praising the Naá¹£oraeans
  • : oil prayer
  • : short prayer ("The Life dwells in its own radiance and light.")
  • : raising up of souls
  • : Left Ginza 3.43
  • : prayer of ascension
  • : Left Ginza 3.20
  • : "go in peace" (ˁzil b-Å¡lam)
  • : litany
  • : prayer of Shum (Shem), son of Noah, which contains a litany
  • : prayer asking Manda ḏ-Hiia for the forgiveness of sins

Engirta prayers

  • : long prayer about a sealed letter
  • : short prayer about the seal and word of KuÅ¡á¹­a

Three long prayers

  • : "Mandaic targum" bearing many similarities to Psalm 114
  • : prayer of perfecting the souls
  • : litany

Eniania

  • : short prelude prayer
  • : short myrtle prayer (placing the klila on the margna)
  • "Hear me" (Ê¿unan ab Ê¿unian) litanies
  • : longer "hear me" litany
  • : shorter "hear me" litany
  • : short mambuha prayer
  • Maá¹£buta prayers
  • : short prayer about plants planted and raised by the yardna
  • : short maá¹£buta prayer about the baptizer
  • : short maá¹£buta prayer about Shilmai, Nidbai, and Anush Uthra
  • : short maá¹£buta prayer about the yardna
  • : short maá¹£buta prayer about priests
  • : long prayer
  • : long prayer
  • : long prayer. See Gärtner (2013) for a study of the prayer comparing it with Jewish Christianity.
  • Masiqta prayers
  • : short prayer about crossing the waters of death
  • : Left Ginza 3.4 (ˁzil b-Å¡lam bhira dakia)
  • : short prayer about the Mana
  • : Left Ginza 3.3 (á¹­ubak á¹­ubak niÅ¡ma)
  • : short prayer about Sunday, Kushta, and Zidqa (alms)
  • : Left Ginza 3.2 (zidana u-mzaudana)
  • : short prayer about being taken to the World of Light
  • : Left Ginza 3.7 (iuma ḏ-napiq niÅ¡ma)
  • : prayer about the chosen ones
  • : short prayer about fragrant trees
  • : short prayer
  • : short prayer about the building of Life
  • : final masiqta prayer

References

External links

Audio recordings of prayers