Shishlam

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Shishlam
Prototypical Mandaean priest
Other namesShishlam Rabba (Šišlam Rba)
Texts
Ethnic groupMandaeans
FestivalsFeast of the Great Shishlam
ConsortEzlat

In

Mandaean texts as Šišlam Rabba (Classical Mandaic: ࡔࡉࡔࡋࡀࡌ ࡓࡁࡀ, romanized: Šišlam Rba, lit.'Great Shishlam'.[2] Shishlam is sometimes identified with Adam Kasia, the "Perfect Man".[3]

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.[2] 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.[4][5]

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.[13]

See also

References

  1. .
  2. ^ .
  3. .
  4. .
  5. ^ 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)
  6. ^ Drower, Ethel S. (1960). The Thousand and Twelve Questions: A Mandaean Text (Alf Trisar Šuialia). Berlin: Akademie Verlag.
  7. ^ Drower, Ethel S. (1960). The Thousand and Twelve Questions: A Mandaean Text (Alf Trisar Šuialia). Berlin: Akademie Verlag. p. 158.
  8. ^ Drower, Ethel S. (1960). The Thousand and Twelve Questions: A Mandaean Text (Alf Trisar Šuialia). Berlin: Akademie Verlag. p. 111.
  9. .
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (1993). The Scroll of Exalted Kingship: Diwan Malkuta ʿLaita. New Haven, Connecticut: American Oriented Society.
  12. ^ a b Drower, E. S. 1963. A Pair of Naṣoraean Commentaries: Two Priestly Documents, the Great First World and the Lesser First World. Leiden: Brill.
  13. ^ Aldihisi, Sabah (2008). The story of creation in the Mandaean holy book in the Ginza Rba (PhD). University College London.