More than 50 Mandaean families have left Iraq in the past five months, community elder tells Rudaw

BETH NAHRIN — Ghanem Hashim, head of the Mandaean Council of Elders, revealed that more than 50 to 60 Mandaean families have left Iraq in the past five months, continuing a wave of emigration that has persisted since 2005. The US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, which toppled Saddam Hussein, marked the beginning of a rapid deterioration in the country’s security situation, sparking the mass departure of the ancient religious community.

Speaking to Rudaw, Hashim explained that the families leaving their homeland come from several governorates, including Basra, Maysan, Baghdad, and Kerkeslokh (Kirkuk). He attributed their emigration primarily to economic hardship and a lack of employment opportunities. For centuries, Mandaeans have been renowned as skilled goldsmiths and traders in precious metals, a craft that has long sustained their community.

According to journalist Nora Adin Fares, writing in New Lines Magazine, there are only about 100,000 Mandaeans left in the world today. Once concentrated mainly in Iraq, the community suffered heavily in the aftermath of the 2003 invasion, when kidnappings for ransom became common and violence escalated. “Over 200 Mandaeans were killed in the years following the [US] invasion,” she noted.

The systematic persecution eventually forced around 70,000 of the original 100,000 Mandaeans to flee the country. Today, only about 5,000 remain in Iraq, often living in precarious conditions and sometimes compelled to practice their faith in secrecy due to threats and intimidation.

In the diaspora, the Mandaeans of Beth Nahrin (Mesopotamia) — have grown increasingly detached from their cultural and spiritual traditions. The displacement has weakened their ties to the land and rivers that once shaped their way of life, raising concerns about the future survival of the community.

The Mandaeans follow ancient Gnostic precepts centered on the duality of good and evil, light and darkness, spirit and matter, and they venerate John the Baptist as their most important prophet. Flowing water is central to their religious practice, since only living rivers can sanctify rituals and purify the faithful. Their holy scripture, the Ginza Rabba (“Great Treasure”), is written in an Eastern Aramaic dialect, underscoring the community’s unique cultural and linguistic heritage. Known historically as the Sabaeans, the Mandaeans today face an uncertain future as their numbers dwindle and their traditions risk being lost.