The Mandaeans are a Gnostic sect that arose in the middle east around the same time as Christianity. What little study of the religion there has been has focused on the ancient Mandaeans and their relation to early Christianity. Buckley examines the lives and religion of contemporary Mandaeans, who live mainly in Iran and Iraq but also in New York and San Diego. She provides a comprehensive introduction to the religion and shows how its ancient texts inform the living religion, and vice versa.
"One of the Mandeans’ great sages was a creature named Dinanukht, who was half-book and half-man. He sat by the waters between worlds, reading himself until the end of time."
A fascinating religion, its members almost wiped out following the disastrous US invasion of Iraq in 2003. This book can be read in its entirety online (or downloaded as a pdf to the device of your choosing) - worth giving it a gander, not least for wonderful thinks like Dinanukht.
This was my first book on Mandaean. I was really intrigued and mind blown by the first part of the book and felt thirsty for more lore and myths around Ruha and other Beings.
My biggest complaint is the way the book was written . A mesh-mash of travel journal and straight classroom lectures. Some parts of the book deserved more elaboration , other parts less details. Some parts are missing telling the rest of the story like Miriam and Jesus. There is no talk about Jesus being the false prophet which is part of Mandaean's doctrine. Why was this left out? I skimmed through a lot of the book because the writing style made it unbearable to read.
Anyways, I'm going to read other books on Mandaean especially the Ginza Rabba.