Scroll of the Ancestors


The Scroll of the Ancestors is a Mandaean religious text that describes the rituals of the Ṭabahata masiqta, held during the 5-day Parwanaya festival.

Manuscripts

Copies of the scroll include Manuscript 42 of the Drower Collection, currently held at the Bodleian Library. The scroll was originally transcribed in 1743 and has 834 lines. It is similar to Prayer 170 of the Qulasta, but some names are different.
DC 42 verso, copied at Basra in 1248 A.H., contains six texts:
  • Šarḥ ḏ-ahaba ḏ-mania b-iuma ḏ-paruanaiia
  • Aprišata ḏ-ahaba ḏ-mania
  • Šarḥ ḏ-ahaba ḏ-mania ḏ-tarmida ʿu ganzibra kḏ napiq
  • Šarḥ ḏ-ṭabahata qria b-šuma ḏ-gabrauʿnta
  • Šarḥ ḏ-dukrana ḏ-šumaiia
  • ''Šarḥ ḏ-zidqa brika ḏ-paruanaiia''

Ṭabahata Masiqta

The Ṭabahata Masiqta, or the "masiqta of the Parents", is held only once a year during the Parwanaya intercalary festival. Priests recite dozens of prayers, prepare 72 faṭiras symbolizing ancestors, and also sacrifice a white dove, called ba, which symbolizes the spirit. According to The Thousand and Twelve Questions, this masiqta cannot be held at any other time other than during the Parwanaya. For a more detailed description of the Ṭabahata Masiqta according to the Scroll of the Ancestors, see chapter 8 in Buckley.
Below is the Qulasta prayer sequence for the Ṭabahata Masiqta, following the numbering in Drower's 1959 Canonical Prayerbook. Some of the prayers involve fatiras that must be signed by a priest, who dips it with four fingers, tips pressed together, into sacramental masiqta oil and signs the fatira with oil three times, from left to right. The masiqta has 3 parts. The first two parts are known as the "Mother Masiqta," while the final part is known as the "Father Masiqta."
1st ritual:
60 faṭiras
2nd ritual:
6 faṭiras
3rd ritual:
6 faṭiras
91
96
79
80
333333
81
343434
35351
75–7775–7775–77
999
353535
36–4536–4536–45
46–4746–47
484848
49, signs49, no signs at 6th49, all 6 signed
50, signs50, no signs50
51, signs51, no signs at 6th51, all 6 signed
52, signs, except for last52, no signs at 6th52, all 6 signed
53 53
49, with ḏ-abahatan49
4444
54, pihta in hamra5454
55, pihta swallowed5555
56, drinking halalta 5656
57–7257–7257–72
9191–9991–99
7170
100102
71–7271–72
80
101–103101–102
6363
10858
33
9
5858
6565
7176
170 170