Ginza Rabba Explained

Ginza Rabba
Religion:Mandaeism
Language:Mandaic language

The Ginza Rabba (ࡂࡉࡍࡆࡀ ࡓࡁࡀ|translit=Ginzā Rbā|lit=Great Treasury), Ginza Rba, or Sidra Rabba (ࡎࡉࡃࡓࡀ ࡓࡁࡀ|translit=Sidrā Rbā|lit=Great Book), and formerly the Codex Nasaraeus, is the longest and the most important holy scripture of Mandaeism.

The Ginza Rabba is composed of two parts: the Right Ginza (GR) and the Left Ginza (GL). The Right Ginza is composed of eighteen tractates and covers a variety of themes and topics, whereas the three tractates that make up the Left Ginza are unified in their focus on the fate of the soul after death. The Left Ginza is also occasionally referred to as the Book of Adam.

Language and authorship

The language used is Classical Mandaic, a variety of Eastern Aramaic written in the Mandaic script (Parthian chancellory script), similar to the Syriac script. The authorship is unknown, and dating is a matter of debate, with estimates ranging from the first to third centuries.[1] [2] Determining date and authorship is complicated by the late date of the earliest manuscripts, the potentially lengthy oral transmission of Mandaean religious texts prior to their being written, and that conclusions about the dating of some tractates or either GR (Right Ginza) or GL (Left Ginza) may not carry over for material elsewhere in the Ginza.[3]

Dating

The date of Mandaean texts remains hotly contested.[4] Even within the scope of the Ginza Rabba, the GL and GR are separate compositions with separate dates, making the Ginza Rabba a composite text of diverse origins. Furthermore, the individual tractates within these collections appear to have separate origins by virtue of their distinct genre, grammar, and according to their colophon evidence. The GL has its own colophon, as do the first thirteen tractates of the GR. Each from the fourteenth through eighteenth subsequent tractates have their own colophons. The current form and final compilation of the Ginza as a whole must come from Islamic times as it contains numerous references to Muhammad, the Islamic conquests, and related.

Left Ginza

In 1949, Torgny Säve-Söderbergh argued that the third-century Coptic Manichaean Psalms of Thomas depend on the Left Ginza,[5] A recent re-evaluation suggests instead that both sources derived their shared material from a common source, perhaps Elcesaite poetry.[6]

In 1965, Rudolf Macúch argued for a third century date on the basis of a tradition saying Zazai of Gawazta copied important Mandaean texts 368 years prior to the Arab conquest of Iraq c. 640, or 272. However, this tradition, extant from one manuscript, only refers to an unspecified year of the hijri calendar and not the point in time before 640. This means that 272 is the earliest possible date if the very first hijri year is being referenced, though later dates are not excluded. The number 368 itself may be invented.

Right Ginza

Book of Kings (GR 18)

GR 18, also known as the Book of Kings, says that "after the Persian kings there will be Arabian kings. They will reign seventy-one years." Starting with Theodor Nöldeke, historians have widely interpreted this as a reference to the Islamic-era Arab rulers, and so have dated GR 18 to the Islamic era. Recently, Häberl has argued from the colophons and external references that GR 18s dates to the rule of Lakhmid Arab kings in the pre-Islamic period. The latter is argued to place GR 18, separately from the rest of the Ginza Rabba, in the hands of a copyist at one point named Ennoš b. Danqā who appears to have worked in the mid-7th century, implying the text is no later than ~650. The Arab kings reigning for 71 years are identified to be the Lakhmid kings starting with Al-Mundhir III ibn al-Nu'man, installed into power in 531 by Khosrow I (r. 531–579), to Khosrow II who deposed Al-Nu'man III ibn al-Mundhir in 602. To supplement this observation, Häberl points to the absence of Arabic language on or explicit references to Islam in GR 18 unlike later Mandaean texts. The final Sassanid ruler mentioned by the text is interpreted to be Kavad II, who ruled until 628, roughly giving the date soon after which the text entered its current form. Häberl offers the following chronology for the events mentioned in GR 18, alongside the earlier chronology implied by Nöldeke's work.

!Event!Internal chronology!Noldeke!Häberl
Destruction of JerusalemAP 1214 BC321/322 BC
Yazdiger, son of King BahrānAP 594~380 AD271/272 AD
Arab uprisingsAP 792~578 AD469/470 AD
King of the Arabs diesAP 793~579470/471
Arabs become lordsAP 795~581472/473
False Messiah triumphs>AP 803>589>480/481
Beginning of Arab rule>AP 850>636>527/528
End of Arab rule>AP 921>707>598/599
End of the worldAP 1001~786678/679

Other tractates

An Islamic-era date for several tractates of the Right Ginza is evident from various references to Muhammad or Islam:

The Ginza may have been composed, at least partially, as a response to the Arab conquests, along with other pieces of Mandaean literature such as the Mandaean Book of John, and a study of the colophons of the Ginza date the emergence of the text to the second half of the seventh century.[8]

Structure

The Ginza Rabba is divided into two parts – the Right Ginza, containing 18 books, and the Left Ginza, containing 3 books. In Mandaic studies, the Right Ginza is commonly abbreviated as GR, while the Left Ginza is commonly abbreviated as GL. Alternatively, sometimes the Right Ginza is abbreviated as GY or Gy after the Mandaic Ginza Yamina, while the Left Ginza is commonly abbreviated as GS or Gs after the Mandaic Ginza Smala.[9] [10]

Ginza Rabba codices traditionally contain the Right Ginza on one side, and, when turned upside-down and back to front, contain the Left Ginza (the Left Ginza is also called "The Book of the Dead"). The Right Ginza part of the Ginza Rabba contains sections dealing with theology, creation, ethics, historical, and mythical narratives; its six colophons reveal that it was last redacted in the early Islamic Era. The Left Ginza section of Ginza Rabba deals with man's soul in the afterlife; its colophon reveals that it was redacted for the last time hundreds of years before the Islamic Era.[11] [12]

There are various manuscript versions that differ from each other. The versions order chapters differently from each other, and textual content also differs.

Contents

The Ginza Rabba is a compilation of various oral teachings and written texts, most predating their editing into the two volumes. It includes literature on a wide variety of topics, including liturgy and hymns, theological texts, didactic texts, as well as both religious and secular poetry.[11]

For a comprehensive listing of summaries of each chapter in the Ginza Rabba, see the articles Right Ginza and Left Ginza.

Manuscript versions

See also: List of Mandaic manuscripts. Manuscript versions of the Ginza include the following. Two are held in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, three in the British Library in London, four in the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, and others are in private ownership.[13] All extant manuscripts of the Ginza appear to derive from a few copies that were produced around 1500.[14]

For his 1925 German translation of the Ginza, Lidzbarski also consulted other Ginza manuscripts that were held at Leiden (complete) and Munich (fragmentary).

Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley has also found Ginza manuscripts that are privately held by Mandaeans in the United States. Two are in San Diego, California, which belong to Lamea Abbas Amara; they were originally copied by Mhatam Zihrun (Sheikh Dakhil Aidan) in 1935, and by a copyist named Adam (Sheikh Aidan, father of Dakhil) in 1886, respectively.[16] One is in Flushing, New York, which belonged to Nasser Sobbi (1924–2018) and was originally copied by Adam Zihrun in 1928. Another one is in Lake Grove, New York and belongs to Mamoon Aldulaimi, which was originally given to him by Sheikh Abdullah, son of Sheikh Negm and was copied by Yahya Ram Zihrun in 1940.[13] A version of the Ginza by Mhatam Yuhana[17] was also used by Carlos Gelbert in his 2011 English translation of the Ginza. Another manuscript known to Gelbert is a privately owned Ginza manuscript in Ahvaz belonging to Shaikh Abdullah Khaffaji, the grandson of Ram Zihrun.[18]

Printed versions of the Ginza in Mandaic include:

Translations

Notable translations and printed versions of the Ginza Rabba include:

Häberl (2022) is a translation of the Book of Kings, the final book of the Right Ginza.[47]

See also

External links

Mandaean Network texts
Petermann Ginza
Norberg Ginza
Paris Ginza manuscripts

Notes and References

  1. Drower, Ethel Stefana (1937). The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran. Oxford At The Clarendon Press, pg. 20.
  2. "Sod, The Son of the Man" Page iii, S. F. Dunlap, Williams and Norgate – 1861
  3. Drower, Ethel Stefana (1937). The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran. Oxford At The Clarendon Press.
  4. Book: Häberl, Charles G. . The book of kings and the explanations of this world: a universal history from the Late Sasanian Empire . 2023 . Liverpool University Press . 978-1-80085-627-1 . Translated texts for historians . Liverpool.
  5. Gündüz . Şinasi . 1994 . The Problems of the Nature and Date of Mandaean Sources . Journal for the Study of the New Testament . en . 16 . 53 . 87–97 . 10.1177/0142064X9401605305 . 0142-064X . 162738440.
  6. Book: Bladel, Kevin Thomas van . From Sasanian Mandaeans to Ṣābians of the marshes . 2017 . Brill . 978-90-04-33943-9 . Leiden studies in Islam and society . Leiden Boston (Mass.) .
  7. Book: Hart, Jennifer . The Discursive Fight Over Religious Texts in Antiquity . 2009 . Aarhus University Press . Jacobsen . Anders-Christian . 178–184 . The Influence of Islam on the Development of Mandaean Literature.
  8. Book: Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen . The great stem of souls: reconstructing Mandaean history . 2006 . Georgias Press . 978-1-59333-338-6 . Corrected 2. print . Piscataway, NJ .
  9. Web site: Rudolph . Kurt . Mandaeans: ii. The Mandaean religion . Encyclopædia Iranica . 2012 . 2024-07-29.
  10. Book: Nasoraia, Brikha H.S.. Brikha Nasoraia. The Mandaean gnostic religion: worship practice and deep thought. Sterling. New Delhi. 2021. 978-81-950824-1-4. 1272858968.
  11. Häberl, Charles G. (2007). Introduction to the New Edition, in The Great Treasure of the Mandaeans, a new edition of J. Heinrich Petermann's Thesaurus s. Liber Magni, with a new introduction and a translation of the original preface by Charles G. Häberl. Gorgias Press, LLC.
  12. The story of creation in the Mandaean holy book in the Ginza Rba. Aldihisi. Sabah. 2008. PhD. University College London.
  13. Book: Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen. The great stem of souls: reconstructing Mandaean history. Gorgias Press. Piscataway, N.J. 2010. 978-1-59333-621-9.
  14. Book: Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen . The great stem of souls: reconstructing Mandaean history . 2006 . Georgias Press . 978-1-59333-338-6 . Corrected 2. print . Piscataway, NJ . 89.
  15. Morgenstern, Matthew (2021). The Mandaeans in the Face of Modernity: Yahia Bihram, the Pasha’s Wife and the British Empire. In P. Machinist et. al. (eds), Ve-‘Ed Ya’aleh (Gen 2:6): Essays in Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies Presented to Edward L. Greenstein, vol. 1, pp. 81–98. Atlanta: SBL Press.
  16. Book: Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen. 1800 Years of Encounters with Mandaeans. 2023. Piscataway, NJ. Gorgias Press. Gorgias Mandaean Studies. 5. 1935-441X. 978-1-4632-4132-2.
  17. Book: Mhatam Yuhana . Jabbar Choheili . 2004 . Ginza Rba . Ahvaz . Mandaean Council of Ahvaz. (Right Ginza: 497 pp.; Left Ginza: 177 pp.)
  18. Book: Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen. The Mandaeans: ancient texts and modern people. Oxford University Press. New York. 2002. 0-19-515385-5. 65198443.
  19. Book: Norberg, Matthaeus . Lexidion et Onomasticon Codicis Nasaraei, cui Liber Adami Nomen . Gorgias Press . Piscataway, New Jersey . 2010 . 978-1-61719-398-9 . Syriac Studies Library . 139.
  20. Petermann, Heinrich. 1867. Sidra Rabba: Thesaurus sive Liber Magnus vulgo "Liber Adami" appellatus, opus Mandaeorum summi ponderis. Vols. 1–2. Leipzig: Weigel.
  21. Book: Petermann, Julius Heinrich . The Great Treasure or Great Book, commonly called "The Book of Adam," the Mandaeans' work of highest authority . Gorgias Press . Piscataway, NJ, USA . 2007-12-31 . 978-1-4632-1222-3 . 10.31826/9781463212223 .
  22. Book: Petermann, Julius Heinrich . The great treasure or great book, commonly called "The book of Adam," the Mandaeans' work of highest authority . 1 . Gorgias Press . Piscataway, New Jersey . 2007 . 978-1-59333-526-7.
  23. Book: Petermann, Julius Heinrich . The great treasure or great book, commonly called "The book of Adam," the Mandaeans' work of highest authority . 2 . Gorgias Press . Piscataway, New Jersey . 2007 . 978-1-59333-527-4.
  24. Book: Petermann, Julius Heinrich . The great treasure or great book, commonly called "The book of Adam," the Mandaeans' work of highest authority . 3 . Gorgias Press . Piscataway, New Jersey . 2007 . 978-1-59333-700-1.
  25. Majid Fandi al-Mubaraki, Haitham Mahdi Saaed, and Brian Mubaraki (eds.) (1998). Ginza Rabba: The Great Treasure. Northbridge, New South Wales: The Mandaean Research Centre. .
  26. Book: Al-Mubaraki . Majid Fandi . Al-Mubaraki . Brayan Majid . Ginza Rba : English transliteration . . The Mandaean Research Centre . 1998 . 0-9585705-2-3.
  27. Book: Ginza Rba English Transliteration. Brian. Mubaraki. Majid Fandi. Al-Mubaraki. 1998. Sydney. 0-9585705-2-3.
  28. Book: Concordance of the Mandaean Ginza Rba. Brian. Mubaraki. Majid Fandi. Al-Mubaraki. 2004. Sydney. 1-876888-09-1.
  29. Book: The Treasure of Life: The holy book of the Mandaeans (ࡂࡉࡍࡆࡀ ࡖ ࡄࡉࡉࡀ). Rabi Rafid. Al-Sabti. 1. 978-9090360058. 1351435847. 24 July 2022. Amsterdam.
  30. Web site: Holy book publication (RRC 6R); ࡂࡉࡍࡆࡀ ࡖ ࡄࡉࡉࡀ book design . Ardwan . 2022-07-24 . 2023-12-16.
  31. Norberg, Matthias. Codex Nasaraeus Liber Adami appellatus. 3 vols. London, 1815–16.
  32. Book: Lidzbarski, Mark. 1925. Ginza: Der Schatz oder Das große Buch der Mandäer. Göttingen. Vandenhoek & Ruprecht.
  33. Qūzī, Yūsuf Mattī, al-Suhayrī, Ṣabīḥ Madlūl, and ʿAbd al-Wāḥid, ʿAbd al-Razzāq, eds and trans (2000). Kanzā Rabbā: al-Kanz al-ʿAẓīm, al-Kitāb al-Muqaddas li-l-Ṣābīʾah al-Mandāʾīyīn. Baghdad: al-Dīwān li-l-Ṭabāʿah.
  34. Book: گنزا ربا = الكنز العظيم : الكتاب المقدس للصابئة المندائيين / Ginzā rabbā = al-Kanz al-ʻaẓīm: al-Kitāb al-muqaddas lil-Ṣābiʼah al-Mandāʼīyīn. Yūsuf Mattī Qūzī. Ṣabīḥ Madlūl Suhayrī. ʻAbd al-Razzāq ʻAbd al-Wāḥid. Bashīr ʻAbd al-Wāḥid Yūsuf. Baghdad. اللجنة العليا المشرفة على ترجمة گنزا ربا / al-Lajnah al-ʻUlyā al-mushrifah ʻalá tarjamat Ginzā Rabbā. 2001. 122788344. (Pages 1–136 (2nd group: al-Yasār) are bound upside down according to Mandaean tradition.)
  35. Book: Choheili, Salem . Salem Choheili . 2021 . گنزا ربا . Ahvaz . Tarava [ترآوا] . 9786003474161.
  36. Web site: برگردان فارسی کتاب مقدس منداییان منتشر شد . ایسنا . 2021-04-22 . fa . 2024-07-30.
  37. Web site: گنزا ربا . شبکه جامع کتاب گیسوم . fa . 2024-07-30.
  38. Web site: سالم چحیلی. اطلس اقلیت‌های دینی ایران. fa. 2024-02-02.
  39. Book: Ginza Rabba: The Great Treasure. An equivalent translation of the Mandaean Holy Book . Al-Saadi . Qais Mughashghash . Al-Saadi . Hamed Mughashghash . 2012 . Drabsha.
  40. News: Online Resources for the Mandaeans. 2013-05-30. Hieroi Logoi. 2017-12-27. en-US. 17 December 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231217134530/https://hieroilogoi.org/2013/05/30/online-resources-for-the-mandaeans. dead.
  41. Web site: Ginza Rabba "The Great Treasure" The Holy Book of the Mandaeans in English. Mandaean Associations Union. Al-Saadi. Qais. 2014-09-27. 2021-09-21.
  42. Book: Gelbert. Carlos. The Teachings of the Mandaean John the Baptist. 9780958034678. Fairfield, NSW, Australia. Living Water Books. 2017. 1000148487.
  43. Book: Ginza Rba . Gelbert . Carlos . Lofts . Mark J. . 2011 . Living Water Books . Sydney . 9780958034630.
  44. Web site: About the author. Living Water Books. 2021-09-05. He has translated Lidzbarski's books from the German to two different languages: English and Arabic..
  45. Gelbert, C., trans. (2000). Kinza Rabba. Kitāb al-Mandāʾīna al-kabīr / Ginza. Das große Buch der Mandäer von M. Lidzbarski. Translated from German to Modern Arabic. Sydney: Living Water Books.
  46. Book: Gelbert. Carlos. گینزا ربَّا = Ginza Rba. ar. Edensor Park, NSW, Australia. Living Water Books. 2021. 9780648795407.
  47. Book: Häberl, Charles . The Book of Kings and the Explanations of This World: A Universal History from the Late Sasanian Empire . Liverpool . Liverpool University Press . 2022 . 978-1-80085-627-1 . 10.3828/9781800856271 . 31 January 2024 .