Abstract: The Mandaeans are a Gnostic sect that arose in the Middle East around the same time as Christianity. Although it is one of the few religious traditions that can legitimately claim a 2000-year literary history, there has been very little written about them in English. What little study of the religion there has been has focused on the ancient Mandaeans and their relationship to early Christianity. This book examines the lives and religion of contemporary Mandaeans, who live mainly in Iran and Iraq but also in diaspora communities throughout the world, including New York and San Diego (USA). The author seeks to cross the boundaries between the traditional history-of-religions study of the Mandaean religion (which ignores the existence of living Mandaeans) and the beliefs and practices of contemporary Mandaeans. She provides a comprehensive introduction to the religion, examining some of its central texts, mythological figures, and rituals, and looking at surviving Mandaean communities – showing how their ancient texts inform the living religion, and vice versa. The book is arranged in three parts: Beginnings; Rituals; and Native hermeneutics. A glossary and extensive endnotes are included.

Keywords: ancient texts, Gnosticism, Iran, Iraq, Mandaeans, Mandaeism, Middle East, myths, New York, religious communities, religious history, rituals, San Diego, texts, USA