The à  arḥ á¸Â-Zihrun Raza Kasia (; "The Scroll of Zihrun, the Hidden Mystery") is a Mandaean religious text that describes rituals such as the masbuta, masiqta, and other related topics. It is an illustrated scroll.
Zihrun (referred to as Zihrun Raza Kasia or "Zihrun the Hidden Mystery" in full) is the name of an uthra.
The name Zihrun Raza Kasia is also mentioned in the Mandaean prayer Asut Malkia.
An illustrated scroll was purchased by E. S. Drower from Shaikh Yahia at Qal'at Saleh, southern Iraq in May 1937. Today, it is held as manuscript 27 in the Drower Collection of the Bodleian Library at Oxford University, and is commonly abbreviated DC 27.
Bogdan Burtea translated the DC 27 manuscript into German in 2008, and also provided a detailed commentary as part of the published translation.
The scroll consists of pieces of paper that have been glued together and is approximately 691 cm long, of which 660 cm contain writing and illustrations. The scroll is about 30 cm wide, with 26 cm used for writing. There are 559 lines of writing. A scribal note in the manuscript says that the text was copied in 1088 A.H. (1677 A.D.).
The contents of the DC 27 scroll are:
The masiqta of Zihrun Razia Kasia is performed for people who have died from unclean deaths, such as during one of the minor mbaá¹Âá¹Âal days (inauspicious days during which all rituals are forbidden), or from snakebite, attacks by wild animals, or insect bites.
Below is the ritual and prayer sequence for both the Masiqta and Masbuta of Zihrun Raza Kasia in the à  arḥ á¸Â-Zihrun Raza Kasia, as summarized in Burtea (2008). All prayer numbers, originally in Roman numerals, are from Part 1 (the QolastÃÂ) of Mark Lidzbarski's Mandäische Liturgien (ML) unless otherwise specified (e.g., the , which is Part 2 of Lidzbarski's Mandäische Liturgien, or CP, which is Drower's 1959 Canonical Prayerbook).
Below is the ritual and prayer sequence for the Masiqta of Zihrun Raza Kasia as given in the text:
Summary of the prayer sequence listed above:
Below is the ritual and prayer sequence for the Masbuta of Zihrun Raza Kasia as given in the text:
Summary of the entire masbuta prayer sequence listed above:
Zihrun Raza Kasia (DC 27) contains two large illustrations: one depicting uthras, and another one depicting plants.
Below is an illustration of uthras in the World of Light in Zihrun Raza Kasia (DC 27). Clockwise starting from the top-center figure (standing upright): Nidbai Rba, riha ("incense"; small rectangular block to the right of Nidbai Rba), Adatan Rba, [u-]Iadatan Rba, Hibil Ziua, aà ¡ganda (priest's assistant, the only figure without a margna), Mara á¸Â-Rabuta ("Father of Greatness"), Anuà ¡ Rba, à  ilmai Rba.
Below is an illustration of heavenly garden with trees and plants in Zihrun Raza Kasia (DC 27). All plant names are masculine except for à ¡uà ¡mia (sesame) and hiá¹Âia (wheat), which are feminine [fem.]. Various kinds of plants are depicted: the date palm, fig, grape, myrtle, olive, pomegranate, quince, sesame, walnut, and wheat, along with incense.