New Lines Magazine highlights plight of endangered Mandaeans from Iraq 

BAGHDAD —  New Lines Magazine has highlighted the gradual disappearance of the Mandaeans, one of the oldest religious communities in Beth Nahrin (Mesopotamia). In “The Weight of Gold: A Mandaean Journey“, journalist Nora Adin Fares, who lives in Sweden but of Mandaean origin, describes how post-Saddam Hussein violence has led to migration from their ancient homelands of Iraq, stripping them of much of their heritage and identity.

The Mandaeans adhere to ancient precepts of Gnosticism -an ancient belief system based on the dualism between evil and good, darkness and light, matter versus spirit- and the worship of John the Baptist. Water and riverbanks are essential for their spiritual life because only running water can sanctify Mandaean rituals and purify the faithful. Their holy scripture, the Ginza Rabba (“Great Treasure”), is written in an Eastern Aramaic dialect, further emphasizing their unique cultural heritage. They are also known as Sabaeans.

A bleak future

Nora Adin Fares paints a bleak picture of a religious community that has almost collapsed: “There are only about 100,000 Mandaeans left in the world today. The majority used to live in Iraq, but the 2003 U.S.-led invasion precipitated their mass departure.”

After 2003, kidnappings for ransom became common. Mandaeans were known to be active as goldsmiths and in gold trading -a craft they practiced for centuries and which runs like a thread through Fares’ story- making them targets of kidnappings and high ransoms. “Over 200 Mandaeans were killed in the years following the [U.S.] invasion.”

The systematic violence against them escalated, leading to the exodus of around 70,000 out of an original population of 100,000. Today, some 5,000 Mandaeans remain in Iraq, living under dire conditions and sometimes forced to practice their faith in secret due to threats.

In the diaspora, the ancient Mandaean community of Beth Nahrin has become almost entirely disconnected from its traditions. Mandaeans have gradually disappeared from the Mesopotamian society that once shaped their spiritual and social way of life. And the future in the diaspora does not bode well.