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Scroll of Abatur

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The Diwan Abatur ( ࡃࡉࡅࡀࡍ ࡀࡁࡀࡕࡅࡓ ‎; "Scroll of Abatur"; Modern Mandaic : Diwān Abāthor ) is a Mandaean religious text. It is a large illustrated scroll that is over 20 ft. (6.1 m) long.

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7-702: A similar illustrated Mandaean scroll is the Diwan Nahrawata ("The Scroll of the Rivers"), a lavishly illustrated geographical treatise which translated into German and published by Kurt Rudolph in 1982. An English translation of the text was published by E. S. Drower in 1950 A.D., which was based on manuscript 8 of the Drower Collection (abbreviated DC 8 ). A manuscript of the Diwan Abatur , MS Borgiani Siriaci 175 (abbreviated BS 175 ),

14-564: Is held at the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana in Vatican City. A facsimile copy of the manuscript, photographed by B. Pörtner, was published by Julius Euting in 1904. In 2024, Bogdan Burtea completed a translation project for the Diwan Abatur . The Diwan Abatur mentions a heavenly tree called Shatrin ( Šatrin ) where the souls of unbaptized Mandaean children are temporarily nourished for 30 days. On

21-542: The 30th day, Hibil Ziwa baptizes the souls of the children, who then continue on to the World of Light . The tree has a length of 360,000 parasangs according to the Diwan Abatur . Additionally, the Diwan Abatur mentions a ship called Shahrat ( Šahrat ; lit. "she kept watch") that ferries souls from Tibil across the Hitpun and into the house of Abatur . The Scroll of Abatur lists several matartas belonging to

28-549: The Life. E. S. Drower obtained a copy of the text and later donated it to the Bodleian Library at Oxford University , where it was catalogued as Manuscript 7 of the Drower Collection (abbreviated DC 7 ). A typesetted Mandaic version of DC 7 was published by Majid Fandi Al-Mubaraki in 2002. In 2022, Brikha Nasoraia published an English translation and analysis. Nasoraia (2022) lists four known manuscripts of

35-542: The Rivers';) is a Mandaean religious text. It is written as an illustrated scroll. The scroll contains esoteric schematic diagrams of the cosmos. Well-springs are shown as small circles, mountains as triangles, and rivers (including the Tigris , Euphrates , and Karun ) as long straight lines. Zamzam Well is also depicted. Illustrations in the scroll also depict Hibil Ziwa as the grand mediator and messenger of

42-513: The scroll, which he labels Mss A, B, C, and D. Only Mss A and B were previously known to Western scholars. Diwan Nahrawata is a geographical treatise that focuses mainly on esoteric cosmology . Kurt Rudolph published a German translation in 1982, based on Ms B, a copy held in Dakhil Aidan 's private library in Dora, Baghdad that was originally from Ahvaz . It has about 3300 words and

49-537: The sons of Ptahil , namely Raglʿil, Sharhabiel , El-Sfar, Nbaṭ , Bhaq, and Shitil . There are also illustrations and descriptions of matartas belonging to each of the seven planets, with each matarta having an area of 2,000 parasangs and being 2,000-3,000 parasangs away from the next matarta. In the Diwan Abatur , the sons of Ptahil who each rule different matartas are: Diwan Nahrawata Diwan ḏ-Nahrawata or Diwan ḏ-Nahrauata ( Classical Mandaic : ࡃࡉࡅࡀࡍ ࡖࡍࡀࡄࡓࡀࡅࡀࡕࡀ , lit.   'Scroll of

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