Shishlam

In Mandaean scriptures, Shishlam (Classical Mandaic: ࡔࡉࡔࡋࡀࡌ; often transcribed Šišlam) is a figure representing the prototypical priest or prototypical Mandaean. He is also frequently referred to in Mandaean texts as Šišlam Rabba (Classical Mandaic: ࡔࡉࡔࡋࡀࡌ ࡓࡁࡀ, romanized: Šišlam Rba), which literally translates as the Great Šišlam.[1]

Shishlam
Prototypical Mandaean priest
Other namesShishlam Rabba (Šišlam Rba)
Texts
Ethnic groupMandaeans
FestivalsFeast of the Great Shishlam
ConsortZlat

In Mandaean scriptures

In Mandaean texts, Shishlam communicates with uthras from the World of Light and partakes in rituals to re-establish laufa (spiritual connection) with the World of Light.[1] Hence, Shishlam is essentially a literary personification or representation of the Mandaean who is participating in the ritual that the text is being used for.

The Wedding of the Great Shishlam, a ritual text used during Mandaean wedding ceremonies, is named after Shishlam.[2][3]

As the priestly prototype or archetype, Shishlam features prominently in several Mandaean priestly esoteric texts used during tarmida and ganzibra initiation ceremonies. These texts include:

Feast

Shishlam's festival is the Feast of the Great Shishlam, celebrated annually by Mandaeans on the sixth and seventh days of the first month.[11]

See also

References

  1. Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2010). The great stem of souls: reconstructing Mandaean history. Piscataway, N.J: Gorgias Press. ISBN 978-1-59333-621-9.
  2. Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2002). The Mandaeans: ancient texts and modern people. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-515385-5. OCLC 65198443.
  3. Drower, E. S. 1950. Šarḥ ḏ qabin ḏ šišlam rba (D. C. 38). Explanatory Commentary on the Marriage Ceremony of the great Šišlam. Rome: Ponteficio Istituto Biblico. (text transliterated and translated)
  4. Drower, Ethel S. (1960). The Thousand and Twelve Questions: A Mandaean Text (Alf Trisar Šuialia). Berlin: Akademie Verlag.
  5. Drower, Ethel S. (1960). The Thousand and Twelve Questions: A Mandaean Text (Alf Trisar Šuialia). Berlin: Akademie Verlag. p. 158.
  6. Drower, Ethel S. (1960). The Thousand and Twelve Questions: A Mandaean Text (Alf Trisar Šuialia). Berlin: Akademie Verlag. p. 111.
  7. Gelbert, Carlos (2011). Ginza Rba. Sydney: Living Water Books. ISBN 9780958034630.
  8. Drower, E. S. 1962. The Coronation of the Great Šišlam: Being a Description of the Rite of the Coronation of a Mandaean Priest according to the ancient Canon. Leiden: Brill.
  9. Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (1993). The Scroll of Exalted Kingship: Diwan Malkuta ʿLaita. New Haven, Connecticut: American Oriented Society.
  10. Drower, E. S. 1963. A Pair of Naṣoraean Commentaries: Two Priestly Documents, the Great First World and the Lesser First World. Leiden: Brill.
  11. Aldihisi, Sabah (2008). The story of creation in the Mandaean holy book in the Ginza Rba (PhD). University College London.
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