Shishlam

In Mandaean scriptures, Shishlam (often transcribed Šišlam) is a figure representing the prototypical priest or prototypical Mandaean. He is also frequently referred to in Mandaean texts as Šišlam Rabba, meaning the Great Šišlam.[1]

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In Mandaean scriptures

In Mandaean texts, Šišlam communicates with uthras from the World of Light and partakes in rituals to re-establish laufa (spiritual connection) with the World of Light.[1] Hence, Šišlam is essentially a literary personification or representation of the Mandaean who is participating in the ritual that the text is being used for.

The Wedding of the Great Šišlam, a ritual text used during Mandaean wedding ceremonies, is named after Shishlam.[2][3]

As the priestly prototype or archetype, Shishlam features prominently in several Mandaean priestly esoteric texts used during tarmida and ganzibra initiation ceremonies. These texts include:

See also

References
  1. Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2010). The great stem of souls: reconstructing Mandaean history. Piscataway, N.J: Gorgias Press. ISBN 978-1-59333-621-9.
  2. Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2002). The Mandaeans: ancient texts and modern people. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-515385-5. OCLC 65198443.
  3. Drower, E. S. 1950. Šarḥ ḏ qabin ḏ šišlam rba (D. C. 38). Explanatory Commentary on the Marriage Ceremony of the great Šišlam. Rome: Ponteficio Istituto Biblico. (text transliterated and translated)
  4. Drower, Ethel S. (1960). The Thousand and Twelve Questions: A Mandaean Text (Alf Trisar Šuialia). Berlin: Akademie Verlag.
  5. Drower, E. S. 1962. The Coronation of the Great Šišlam: Being a Description of the Rite of the Coronation of a Mandaean Priest according to the ancient Canon. Leiden: Brill.
  6. Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (1993). The Scroll of Exalted Kingship: Diwan Malkuta ʿLaita. New Haven, Connecticut: American Oriented Society.
  7. Drower, E. S. 1963. A Pair of Naṣoraean Commentaries: Two Priestly Documents, the Great First World and the Lesser First World. Leiden: Brill.


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