Qulasta

The Qulasta, and two other key texts to Mandaic literature, the Mandaean Book of John and the Ginza Rabba, may have been compiled together. and others believing it to be conceived during the first century. A study of the colophons of this text would appear to push back a date to the third century at the latest. In the first colophon of the Qulasta (directly after prayer 74), Nukraya, son of Šitil, a scribe from the earliest part of the Islamic period, wrote that he copied the text while consulting at least seven manuscripts (ṭupsia). One of them belonged to "a library in a house of 'a People of the Book'" (anašia ḏ-ktiba), while another originated from "a town of Byzantines" (i.e., Byzantine Christians), indicating that Mandaean liturgical texts were being kept in non-Mandaean libraries at the start of the Islamic period. However, some scholars such as Kevin van Bladel believe that the material shared with the Psalms of Thomas may only be the use of a common source (perhaps Elkesaite funerary hymns), and that the text as a whole may date considerably later. Van Bladel also argues that the present form of the text must post-date the early Muslim conquests at minimum, given the references made in the Qulasta to the advancement of the Arab armies. ==Translations and manuscripts==

In 1867, Julius Euting published a printed Mandaic version of the Qolasta. The Qulasta has been translated into English by E. S. Drower in 1959 and by Mark Lidzbarski into German in 1920. Lidzbarski's translation was based on two manuscripts, including Ms. Syr. F. 2 (R) held at the Bodleian Library, which he called "Roll F." A typesetted Mandaic version has also been published in 1998 by Majid Fandi Al-Mubaraki. In 2025, Carlos Gelbert and Mark J. Lofts published a full English translation titled The Qulasta, which includes all of the prayers in Drower (1959). ==Contents==

Mandäische Liturgien (Lidzbarski 1920) Part 1 of Mark Lidzbarski's Liturgien (1920) (commonly abbreviated ML in Mandaic studies), titled the Qolastā, has only 103 prayers. Part 2 includes 4 books from the "Oxford Collection," with 60, 33, 19, and 20 prayers respectively for books 1-4. Part 2 has 132 prayers total; combined, Part 1 and Part 2 have 235 prayers. All of the prayers have the original Mandaic transcribed in Hebrew letters side-by-side with their respective German translations. The contents are as follows, with Drower's CP numbers provided as well. The prayers in Al-Mubaraki's Qulasta correspond to prayers 1–259 and 410 in Drower (1959). Note that a zhara () is a name insertion used by the person reciting the prayer. • Sidra ḏ-Nišmata (Book of Souls) (Volume 1) • maṣbuta: 1–31 (with zharia after 18, 30, 31) • masiqta: 32–72 • engirta: 73–74 (with zhara after 74) • bauata ḏ-tušbihta (prayers of praise): 75–103 (with zharia after 77 and 103) • Ktaba ḏ-Eniania (Book of Responses) (Volume 2, Part 1) • rušuma: 104 • asut malkia: 105 • rahmia: 106–118 • rahmia ḏ-iumia (daily rahmia prayers): 119–164 • iuma ḏ-habšaba (Sunday): 119–124 • iuma ḏ-trin habšaba (Monday): 125–130 • iuma ḏ-tlata habšaba (Tuesday): 131–136 • iuma ḏ-arba habšaba (Wednesday): 137–142 • iuma ḏ-hamša habšaba (Thursday): 143–148 • iuma ḏ-rhaṭia (Friday): 149–154 • iuma ḏ-šapta (Saturday): 155–162 • iuma ḏ-habšaba (Sunday): 163–164 • abatar bauata ḏ-iumia (after the daily prayers) • 165–169 • zhara • 170–174 • 2, 4, 6 (šrita (loosing or deconscrating) prayers) • 178 • 410 • 175–177 • Ktaba ḏ-Qabin (Book of Marriage) (Volume 2, Part 2) • bauata ḏ-qabin: 179–232 • kḏ azil bhira dakia: 233–256 • zharia ḏ-hušbania ḏ-iumia (zharia for reckoning of days) • Sunday to Saturday zharia • zhara ḏ-nasakia (zhara of scribes) • 257–259 • zhara Qulasta (Gelbert & Lofts 2025) The Qulasta, translated and edited by Carlos Gelbert and Mark J. Lofts (2025), includes a total of 339 prayers (excluding variants) or 342 prayers (including 3 variant prayers: #258, #259, and #412) organized into 8 groups. The Šabania Šaia and Right Ginza hymns are not counted as Qulasta prayers. The prayer numbers below, indicated by pound signs (#), follow the numbering system in Drower (1959). Gelbert & Lofts (2025) includes excerpts of introductions, footnotes, and commentary from Lidzbarski (1920) and Drower (1959), as well as an analysis of passages in the Psalms of Thomas with parallels in Mandaean texts. • Group 1 (74 prayers): The Book of Gadana, which contains the baptism and commemoration hymns (#1–#74) (74 prayers) • Baptism (maṣbuta) (#1–#31) • Commemoration of the dead (masiqta) (#32–#74) • 1st colophon • Group 2 (3 prayers): Three prayers (#75–#77) • 2nd colophon • Group 3 (26 prayers): The responses (eniania = maṣbuta and masqita prayers) (#78–#103) • 3rd colophon • Group 4 (66 prayers): The daily hymns (rahmia) (#104–#169) • Rušma = Rušuma (3 prayers): The Sign (the daily ablutions) (#104) • Asut Malkia (Salute to the Kings) (#105) • 106–#118 • Sunday (#119–#124), Monday (#125–#130), Tuesday (#131–#136), Wednesday (#137–#142), Thursday (#143–#148), Friday (#149–#154), Saturday (#155–#160) hymns • Saturday evening and fruits of aether hymns (#161–#169) • 4th colophon • Group 5 (9 prayers excluding variants; 12 prayers including variants): Ungrouped hymns (#170–#178; variants: #258–#259 and #412) • Abahatan Qadmaiia (ṭab ṭaba l-ṭabia) (#170 = #411) • The Šal Šulta (#171 = #257) (a long prayer invoking various uthras) • 172, #258, #259 (three variants of the same prayer asking Hayyi for the forgiveness of sins) • The Šumhata (The Names) (#173) • 174, #175 and #412 (interrogation of the soul; #175 and #412 are two variants of the same prayer), #176 (kušṭa asiak prayer), #177 = #413 (vines hymn), #178 • Group 6 (78 prayers, excluding the Šabania Šaia and Right Ginza hymns): Wedding (qabin) hymns (#179–#256; #260) • 1st sequence (#179 = #206; #180–#199 = #285–#304) • 5th colophon • 2nd sequence • 1st series (#200–#214) • 2nd series: the wedding songs (#215–#232) • 3rd series: "when/where the chosen pure one went" () (#260; #233–#256 = #261–#284). These prayers all begin with the line, "When the chosen pure one went" () "to the place where the Perfected Ones dwell" (). • Šabania Šaia (the weekly forecast of hourly fortune): Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday (including nights for each) • 6th colophon (or astrological colophon) • 3 Right Ginza hymns: 15.15, 15.16, 15.17 (These hymns also start with the opening line, .) • Hymn repetitions (DC 53) • 257–#284 • 7th colophon • 285–#304 • 8th colophon • Group 7 (44 prayers): Coronation and banner hymns (#305–#347; #414) • Coronation (taga) hymns • 305–#328 = #387–#409 • Seven hymns of Šišlam-Rba (#305–#311) • Seven responses to the hymns of Šišlam-Rba (#312–#318) • Hymn of the seal-ring (#319) • Hymn of distributing the crowns (#320) • Hymn of receiving the crowns (#321) • Hymn of sewing the crowns (#322) • Various other coronation hymns (#323–#328) • 414 • 329 = #386 (hymn for the consecration of the crowns) • Banner (drabša) hymns • 330–#347 • 9th colophon • Group 8 (39 prayers): Zidqa brika prayers (#348–#385; #410) • Zidqa brika hymns (#348–#350) • Pihta hymns (#351–#357). Prayers #352–#355 begin with the line, "I am the white Pihta" (). • Praises to Yawar (#358–#369). These prayers all begin with the line, "When He opened His garment (), and when radiance was created ()." • Prayers to the cult hut (#370–#374) • Petitions to the Father of Glory (Mara ḏ-Rabuta) (#375–#385) (#376, #378, and #379 are very long prayers.) • Yahya's petition (#410) ==Frequently used prayers==

One of the most important prayers is prayer 170, called the Ṭabahatan ("Our Ancestors"). As a commemoration prayer with a long list of names, the prayer starts with the line ṭab ṭaba lṭabia ("Good is the Good for the Good"). A different version of this prayer is found in DC 42, Šarḥ ḏ-Ṭabahata ("The Scroll of Ṭabahata" [Parents]), which is used during Parwanaya rituals. and Zihrun Raza Kasia are given below. Drower's and Lidzbarki's numberings are equivalent for these prayers, since the first 103 prayers are nearly identical in both versions. • 1, 3, 5, 19 ("four prayers for the crown": masbuta prayers for the turban and baptismal wreath) • 22–24 (oil prayers) • 25–28 (sealing prayers, or haṭamta) • 32–34 (masiqta prayers) • 9, 35 (prayers of radiance) (sometimes swapped as 35, 9) • 59–60 (masiqta prayers for the pihta and mambuha) • 71–72 (masiqta prayers for the souls) • 75–77 (long praise prayers) • 91–99 (ʿniania: masiqta response hymns) • 101–103 (ʿniania: masiqta response hymns) The "loosening prayers" are known as širiata. ==Recurring formulas==

Many of the prayers in the Qulasta have recurring formulas such as: () ==List of prayers==

==Correspondences with the Ginza Rabba==

Several of the prayers in Drower's Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans (CP), mostly ʿniania ("responses") and masiqta prayers, correspond to hymns in Book 3 of the Left Ginza (GL 3): Prayer 66 also corresponds with Psalms of Thomas 6. Some marriage hymns (hadaiata) in the Canonical Prayerbook also correspond to some hymns in Book 12 of the Right Ginza (GR 12): • CP 179 = GR 12.2 • CP 214 = GR 12.4 ==Use with other texts==

Various esoteric texts used in priestly initiation ceremonies frequently refer to prayers in the Qulasta. These include: • The Thousand and Twelve Questions • Scroll of Exalted Kingship • The Coronation of the Great Shishlam • Alma Rišaia Rba • Alma Rišaia Zuṭa • Zihrun Raza Kasia • Scroll of the Ancestors • The Wedding of the Great Shishlam (for wedding ceremonies) Many passages in these texts are essentially priestly commentaries on both the practical ritual applications and esoteric symbolism of specific prayers in the Qulasta. ==See also==