Haran Gawaita

*Haran Gawaita*
Haran Gawaita
Information
Religion	Mandaeism
Language	Mandaic language

The Haran Gawaita (Mandaic: ࡄࡀࡓࡀࡍ ࡂࡀࡅࡀࡉࡕࡀ, meaning "Inner Harran" or "Inner Hauran"; Modern Mandaic: (Diwān) Harrān Gawāythā^[1]) also known as the Scroll of Great Revelation, is a Mandaean text which recounts the history of the Mandaeans as Nasoraeans from Jerusalem and their arrival in a region described as "Inner Harran ('haran gauaita) which is called the mountains of Madday" (Mandaic: ṭura ḏ-madai), which some scholars have identified with Media.^[2]^[3] The Haran Gawaita continues the historical narrative of the Mandaean Book of Kings,^[4] adding a new eighth age to the seven described in that work.^[5]

The text was published for the first time in 1953.^[6]

Text, dating and authorship

The text is in the Mandaic language and script. It is of unknown authorship.

The recipients of the text are stated to be those disciples who must persevere in their faith during the Arab age, meaning that it must post-date the early Muslim conquests at the least. Furthermore, the text makes repeated reference to Baghdad, a city built in 762, and as such is likely to also post-date the 8th century.^[6]

Content

According to the Haran Gawaita, John the Baptist was baptized, initiated, and educated by the patron of the Nasirutha (secret knowledge), Enosh (Anush or Anush-ʼuthra), the hierophant of the sect.^[7]^: 6–7 This research was conducted by the Oxford scholar and specialist on the Nasoraeans, Lady Ethel S. Drower. According to Jorunn J. Buckley, the Mandaeans see themselves to be former Judeans based in Jerusalem that loved Adonai until the birth of Jesus.^[8]^: 49^[3]^: 96 These Nasoraean disciples of John the Baptist^[7]^: IX are aware of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 CE, but they did not leave because of this. They fled before 70 CE due to persecution by a faction of more normative or Orthodox Jews. With the help of a king named Artabanus, whom the Mandaean Book of Kings identifies explicitly with Artabanus IV and describes as "one of our forefathers",^[9] they travel to a region described as "Inner Harran ('haran gauaita) which is called the mountains of Madday" (Mandaic ṭura ḏ-madai), which some scholars have identified with Media.^[10] The traditional pronunciation Madday (rather than Māḏāy 'Media') and its identification with a Jebel Mandai "Mandaean mountain"^[11] argue against this identification.^[12]

Manuscripts

An English translation of the Haran Gawaita and the Diwan Masbuta d Hibil Ziwa was published in 1953 by Lady E. S. Drower, which was based on manuscripts 9 and 36 of the Drower Collection (abbreviated DC 9 and DC 36, respectively).^[13]

A typesetted Mandaic version of DC 9 was published by Majid Fandi Al-Mubaraki in 2002.^[14]

MS RRC 3E is another manuscript of the Haran Gawaita. The manuscript was copied by Zihrun br Iahia Iuhana br Adam Zihrun in Dezful in 1174 A.H. (1760-1 A.D.). It has been digitized and analyzed by Matthew Morgenstern.^[15]

Copies and translations

A German translation, which makes use of Drower's manuscripts as well as two additional privately held manuscripts, was published in 2020 by Bogdan Burtea.^[16]

Buckley has also located a privately held copy of the Haran Gawaita dating from 1930 in Flushing, New York.^[17] It was owned by Nasser Sobbi and was originally copied by Mulla Sa’ad, the grandfather of Jabbar Choheili.^[18]

References

^ 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.
^ "And sixty thousand Nasoraeans abandoned the Sign of the Seven and entered the Median Hills, a place where we were free from domination by all other races." Karen L. King, What is Gnosticism?, 2005, Page 140
^ ^a ^b Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2010). Turning the Tables on Jesus: The Mandaean View. In Horsley, Richard (March 2010). Christian Origins. Fortress Press. ISBN 9781451416640.(pp94-111). Minneapolis: Fortress Press
^ Häberl, Charles (2022). The Book of Kings and the Explanations of This World. Liverpool: Liverpool. ISBN 9781837642595. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
^ Häberl, Charles G. (2022). "The Inner Harran and the Writing of Mandean History". Bibliotheca Orientalis. 79 (3–4): 277–288. doi:10.2143/BIOR.79.3.3291421.
^ ^a ^b Bladel, Kevin Thomas van (2017). From Sasanian Mandaeans to Ṣābians of the marshes. Leiden studies in Islam and society. Leiden; Boston: Brill. pp. 7–8. ISBN 978-90-04-33943-9.
^ ^a ^b Drower, Ethel Stefana (1953). The Haran Gawaita and the Baptism of Hibil-Ziwa. Vatican City: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana.
^ Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2002). The Mandaeans: ancient texts and modern people. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-515385-5. OCLC 65198443.
^ Häberl, Charles (2022). The Book of Kings and the Explanations of This World. Liverpool: Liverpool. p. 71. ISBN 9781837642595. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
^ "And sixty thousand Nasoraeans abandoned the Sign of the Seven and entered the Median Hills, a place where we were free from domination by all other races." Karen L. King, What is Gnosticism?, 2005, Page 140
^ Drower, Ethel S. (2002). The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran: their cults, customs, magic, legends, and folklore. Gorgias reprint series (2nd ed.). Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press. p. 316. ISBN 978-1-931956-49-9.
^ Häberl, Charles G. (2022). "The Inner Harran and the Writing of Mandean History". Bibliotheca Orientalis. 79 (3–4): 277–288. doi:10.2143/BIOR.79.3.3291421.
^ Les textes de Nag Hammadi: - Page 111 Jacques E. Ménard, Université des sciences humaines de Strasbourg. Centre de recherches d'histoire des religions - 1975 "This part of the theory is based on a sort of « History of the Mandaean Movement », called Diwan of the Great Revelation, called Harran Gawaita (the Inner Harran) published in 1953 by Lady ES Drower s». It begins, after a preamble and a .."
^ Al-Mubaraki, Majid Fandi (2002). Haran gawaitha (D.C. 9). Mandaean Diwan. Vol. 5. Sydney. ISBN 1-876888-02-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ Morgenstern, Matthew (ed.). "Haran Gauaita". The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon. Retrieved 2024-07-27.
^ Burtea, Bogdan (2020). Haran Gauaita, ein Text zur Geschichte der Mandäer: Edition, Übersetzung, Kommentar (in German). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 978-3-447-11362-5. OCLC 1138882232.
^ Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2010). The great stem of souls: reconstructing Mandaean history. Piscataway, N.J: Gorgias Press. ISBN 978-1-59333-621-9.
^ Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2023). 1800 Years of Encounters with Mandaeans. Gorgias Mandaean Studies. Vol. 5. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press. ISBN 978-1-4632-4132-2. ISSN 1935-441X.

External links

Haran Gawaitha (Mandaic text from the Mandaean Network)
Haran Gawaitha (Mandaic text from the Mandaean Network)
Transliterated text (The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon)

[Häberl_2022-1] 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] "And sixty thousand Nasoraeans abandoned the Sign of the Seven and entered the Median Hills, a place where we were free from domination by all other races." Karen L. King, What is Gnosticism?, 2005, Page 140

[BuckleyOrigins-3] Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2010). Turning the Tables on Jesus: The Mandaean View. In Horsley, Richard (March 2010). Christian Origins. Fortress Press. ISBN 9781451416640.(pp94-111). Minneapolis: Fortress Press

[4] Häberl, Charles (2022). The Book of Kings and the Explanations of This World. Liverpool: Liverpool. ISBN 9781837642595. Retrieved 19 July 2024.

[5] Häberl, Charles G. (2022). "The Inner Harran and the Writing of Mandean History". Bibliotheca Orientalis. 79 (3–4): 277–288. doi:10.2143/BIOR.79.3.3291421.

[:1-6] Bladel, Kevin Thomas van (2017). From Sasanian Mandaeans to Ṣābians of the marshes. Leiden studies in Islam and society. Leiden; Boston: Brill. pp. 7–8. ISBN 978-90-04-33943-9.

[HG-7] Drower, Ethel Stefana (1953). The Haran Gawaita and the Baptism of Hibil-Ziwa. Vatican City: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana.

[Buckley_2002-8] Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2002). The Mandaeans: ancient texts and modern people. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-515385-5. OCLC 65198443.

[9] Häberl, Charles (2022). The Book of Kings and the Explanations of This World. Liverpool: Liverpool. p. 71. ISBN 9781837642595. Retrieved 19 July 2024.

[10] "And sixty thousand Nasoraeans abandoned the Sign of the Seven and entered the Median Hills, a place where we were free from domination by all other races." Karen L. King, What is Gnosticism?, 2005, Page 140

[11] Drower, Ethel S. (2002). The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran: their cults, customs, magic, legends, and folklore. Gorgias reprint series (2nd ed.). Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press. p. 316. ISBN 978-1-931956-49-9.

[12] Häberl, Charles G. (2022). "The Inner Harran and the Writing of Mandean History". Bibliotheca Orientalis. 79 (3–4): 277–288. doi:10.2143/BIOR.79.3.3291421.

[13] Les textes de Nag Hammadi: - Page 111 Jacques E. Ménard, Université des sciences humaines de Strasbourg. Centre de recherches d'histoire des religions - 1975 "This part of the theory is based on a sort of « History of the Mandaean Movement », called Diwan of the Great Revelation, called Harran Gawaita (the Inner Harran) published in 1953 by Lady ES Drower s». It begins, after a preamble and a .."

[14] Al-Mubaraki, Majid Fandi (2002). Haran gawaitha (D.C. 9). Mandaean Diwan. Vol. 5. Sydney. ISBN 1-876888-02-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[15] Morgenstern, Matthew (ed.). "Haran Gauaita". The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon. Retrieved 2024-07-27.

[16] Burtea, Bogdan (2020). Haran Gauaita, ein Text zur Geschichte der Mandäer: Edition, Übersetzung, Kommentar (in German). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 978-3-447-11362-5. OCLC 1138882232.

[Buckley2010-17] Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2010). The great stem of souls: reconstructing Mandaean history. Piscataway, N.J: Gorgias Press. ISBN 978-1-59333-621-9.

[Buckley_2023-18] Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2023). 1800 Years of Encounters with Mandaeans. Gorgias Mandaean Studies. Vol. 5. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press. ISBN 978-1-4632-4132-2. ISSN 1935-441X.

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