Private collections Buckley has also found
Ginza manuscripts that are privately held by Mandaeans in the United States (two in
San Diego, California; one in
Flushing, New York; and one in
Lake Grove, New York). Buckley has also located a privately held copy of the
Book of the Zodiac dating from 1919, which belonged to
Lamea Abbas Amara in
San Diego.
Individual Mandaean priests, including
Salah Choheili and
Sahi Bashikh, among others, also have private manuscript collections.
Rbai Rafid Collection The Rbai Rafid Collection (RRC), held by Rbai
Rafid al-Sabti in
Nijmegen, Netherlands, is likely the world's largest private collection of Mandaean manuscripts. The physical manuscripts date back to the 17th century, while the contents date back to pre-Islamic times. The entire collection was photographed by
Matthew Morgenstern in 2013. and Morgenstern's article "New Manuscript Sources for the Study of Mandaic". The collection also contains multimedia items, including audio and video recordings. A few of them include: • Mn iardna silqit – "I rose up from the river" (
Qulasta 21) (RRC AUDIO-A12) • Nukraiia (Qulasta
49) (RRC AUDIO-A9) • Zidana u-mzaudana (Qulasta
96) (RRC AUDIO-A22)
Drower Collection The Drower Collection (DC), held at the
Bodleian Library in
Oxford University, is the world's most extensive institutional library collection of Mandaean manuscripts. The collection consists of 55 Mandaean manuscripts collected by
E. S. Drower. Drower has published some of the smaller texts in journal articles, while other larger texts have been published as monographs. Many texts remain unpublished. DC 1–5, 22, 30, 31, 38, 45, and 53 are codices, with the rest of the DC manuscripts being scrolls. as well as Drower (1937) and other sources, is given below. The manuscripts are abbreviated DC. •
DC 1 – prayerbook (codex) containing prayers for rituals such as minor ablutions (
rahmia and
lofania). •
DC 5 – prayerbook (codex). •
DC 7 – Diwan Nahrwata ("
The Scroll of the Rivers"). The illustrated scroll is a geographical treatise. In 2022,
Brikha Nasoraia published an English translation and analysis. About 3300 words. Copied by
Ram Zihrun, son of Sam Bihram, Kupašia in
Shushtar in 1259 A.H. (1843 A.D.). •
DC 8 –
Diwan Abatur. Copied by Ram Yuhana, son of Ram, of the Dihdaria and Sabur clans (active ca. 1743). A scroll wrapped in linen cloth that is 14,630 mm long by 316 mm wide (about 48 feet long and 1 foot wide), with approximately 800 lines. Interspersed illustrations. A note inside the box is labelled "Bahrami purchase". Donated by Drower to the Bodleian Library in 1950. •
DC 9 –
Haran Gawaita. Copied by
Ram Zihrun, son of Sam Bihram, Kupašia in Margab, Iran in 1276 A.H. (1859 A.D.). •
DC 10 – Pišra ḏ-Šambra (love charm magic scroll). A
qmaha that is an invocation to
Libat (Venus). Translated and published in
JRAS (1939). •
DC 11 –
zrazta (talisman). Illustrated scroll with 183 lines. •
DC 12 – Pašar Haršia ("The Exorcism of Wizards" / "The Loosing of Spells"). A
qmaha that is an exorcism of witches and wizards. Purchased by Drower from Shaikh
Abdallah in
Ahvaz in 1933. Dates to 1196 A.H. / 1782 C.E. Transcribed by Adam Yuhana, son of Sam, son of Bihram, Kamisia clan at Šaka by the Karka River (or Kerak River). An English translation of the colophon can be found in Gelbert (2017). CAL text. •
DC 13 –
zrazta of
Hibil Ziwa. Also called "Roll C." Part of the
Zrazta ḏ-Hibil Ziwa (DC 44). Purchased by Drower from Shaikh Kumait in 1933. •
DC 14 –
zrazta or magical / "protective" text. •
DC 20 – Šafta ḏ-Dahlulia ("The Scroll of, i.e. against Evil Spirits"). Illustrated scroll copied by Sheikh Faraj for Drower in Baghdad in 1935. Originally copied in 1250 A.H. (1834–5 A.D.) in Shaṭra by Adam br Bihram br Yahia. 236 lines. See also Müller-Kessler (1999). Analysis by Hunter (2013). •
DC 22 –
Ginza Rba codex. Purchased by Drower from Shaikh Nejm in 1936. Transcribed in 1831 by
Ram Zihrun, son of Sam Bihram, Kupašia. Ram Zihrun copied the
Right Ginza in
Qurna, and the
Left Ginza in
Basra. •
DC 23 – Pašar Šumqa / Pašar Šmaq ("The Exorcism of Fever"). CAL text. •
DC 24 – Šarḥ ḏ-Parwanaia, or Panšā ("
The Scroll of the Parwanaya"). Used for rituals such as the consecration of the
cult-hut, the dove (
ba) sacrifice,
zidqa brikha, the
myrtle ritual, etc. •
DC 25 – a
qmaha scroll. Purchased by Drower from Hirmiz bar Anhar in Baghdad in 1936. •
DC 26 – two talismans (
qmahas). Published by Drower in
Iraq 5 (1938): 31–54.) in 1355 A.D. (December 1936) for Drower in Baghdad.
Bit Mišqal Ainia (
Qmaha ḏ-Bit mišqal ainia), a different version of DC 28, was published in Drower (1938). Morgenstern finds Drower's translation to be erroneous; he makes uses of RRC 1T in addition to DC 26 and 28. An illustrated scroll purchased by Drower from Shaikh Yahia, Qal’at Salih in May 1937. The colophon date is 1088 A.H. ( 1677 A.D). 559 lines. See Rebrik (2008). CAL text. •
DC 28 – Pišra ḏ-Bit Mišqal Ainia (The Exorcism of "I Sought to Lift My Eyes"), •
DC 32 – The
qmahia of
Nirigh,
Sira, and
Libat ("exorcism of Mars, Moon, and Venus"). Love talisman scroll. Purchased by Drower from Shaikh Nejm in 1938. •
DC 33 –
Tlata qmahia or the "three
qmahia" (exorcism scrolls):
Šuba lbišna,
‛Sirna hthimna, and
Yawar Ziwa nišimtai. Purchased by Drower at Litlata in April 1938. Published in
JRAS No. 3 (1937). •
DC 34 –
Scroll of Exalted Kingship / Diwan Malkuta 'laita. Illustrated scroll purchased by Drower from Shaikh Nejm in April 1939. 1353 lines. •
DC 35 – Diwan Maṣbuta ḏ-Hibil Ziwa ("
The Baptism of Hibil Ziwa"). Bought in Persia through Shaikh Nejm on April 29, 1939. Copied by Yahia Bihram, son of Adam Yuhana, of the Qindila, Kamisia and Rish Draz clans in 1831 (1247 AH), but his added postscript extends to 1848. Date incorrectly given as 1750 by Drower. 544 lines of pure text and then 3937 mm of mixed text and illustrations. Donated by Drower to the Bodleian Library in December 1958. Colophons analyzed in Morgenstern (2019). •
DC 36 –
Haran Gawaita and
1012 Questions (complete version with all 7 books). CAL text. •
DC 37 – Šafta ḏ-Masihfan Rba ("The Scroll of the Great Overthrower"). A scroll that Drower had purchased from Shaikh Nejm in April 1939, along with DC 36, 37, and 39. Transcribed by Adam Yuhana. •
DC 39 – Šafta ḏ-Qaština ("The Scroll of 'I Shoot'"), Salt is also frequently sprinkled around Mandaean houses to keep evil spirits away. •
DC 41 –
Alma Rišaia Rba ("The Great Supreme World"). English translation and commentary by Drower (1963). An illustrated scroll about 545 lines long, dating to 1809 (1220 A.H.). Copied for Colonel J. E. Taylor (Vice-Consul in Baghdad) in Šuštar in 1224 A.H. (1809–10) by Adam Yuhana, son of Sam Bihram (i.e.,
Ram Zihrun, son of Sam Bihram), of the Kamisia and Rish Draz clans. Bought from Sheikh Nejm in Iraq by Drower in autumn 1939. Donated by Drower to the Bodleian Library in December 1958. CAL text. •
DC 42 -
Šarḥ ḏ-Ṭabahata ("The Scroll of Ṭabahata" [Parents], or "
The Scroll of the Ancestors"). •
DC 43 – The Poor Priest's Treasury, and copied in 1270 A.H. (1853 A.D.) in the marshlands in the territory of the Kit bin Sa'ad, by
Yahia Bihram br Adam Yuhana. Variants in DC 23b. See also Burtea (2005). CAL texts: DC 43a, 43c, 43d, 43f, 43g I, 43g II, 43h, 43i. •
DC 44 – Zrazta ḏ-Hibil Ziwa ("The Protection of Hibil Ziwa"). The text was first made known to the international scholarly community by
Jacques de Morgan (1905), based on a
qmaha scroll that de Morgan had purchased during his travels to Iran from 1889 to 1891. •
DC 47 – Pišra ḏ-Šambra ("
A Phylactery for Rue"). by
Yahia Bihram, son of Adam Yuhana. Another manuscript analyzed by Drower was a manuscript that the Mandaean silversmith
Zahroun Amara had copied for
Anastase-Marie de Saint-Élie around the turn of the 20th century. Drower abbreviates the manuscript as
P.A. (listed as DC 47 in Drower 1953 Dates to 972 A.H. or 1564 A.D. CAL text. •
DC 49 – Small exorcism scroll •
DC 50 – Šarḥ ḏ-Maṣbuta Rabtia ("
The Scroll of the Great Baptism"). Also known in full as
Šarḥ ḏ-Maṣbuta Rabtia ḏ-Tlatma u-Šitin Maṣbutiata. •
DC 51 – Pišra ḏ-Pugdama ḏ-Mia ("Exorcism: the Command of the Waters"), CAL text. •
DC 52 – missing •
DC 53 –
Qulasta (Canonical Prayerbook, a complete codex). Purchased by Drower in 1954. Copied in 1802 by the ganzibra Adam Yuhana, the father of
Yahia Bihram, in
Huwaiza,
Khuzistan. •
DC 54 –
The Coronation of the Great Šišlam. English translation and commentary by Drower (1962). Or. 6592, British Museum is another manuscript of this text. The scroll is from either
Basra or
Huwaiza and dates to 1008 A.H. (1599 A.D.). Copied by Sam Šitlan, son of Ram Bayan, Ša‛puria clan.
Morgenstern notes that DC 54 is corrupt, while RRC 1A and BL. Or. 6592 are more reliable. •
DC 55 – Drower's personal notebook ==Timeline of major publications==