The Mandaeans are a contemporary religion with communities in Iraq and Iran, as well as an expanding Diaspora in Europe, North America, and Australia; their heritage reaches back to Late-Antique Mesopotamia. Most scholars of religion in Late Antiquity have ignored them, especially after earlier attempts to interpret key Gospel passages through Mandaean literature fell sharply, and deservedly, out of favor. In more recent scholarship, their importance for understanding pre-Islamic religion in Sasanian Iran is slowly being recognized. Yet major texts, such as the Mandaic Book of John, are not available in English translation. Professors Charles Häberl of Rutgers University and James McGrath of Butler University are producing a translation of this Book of John; their work-in-progress is helpfully posted on the project blog.Häberl has also made available a developing Mandaic-English lexicon. Another key Mandaean text, the Ginza (“Treasure”), has long remained unavailable in English (though Lidzbarski’s German translation is available at archive.org; and note the work of Dr. Qais al-Saadi, published in 2012 by Drabsha Press, and available on Amazon.de). Häberl’s excellent Introduction to the Ginza, for the reprinting of Petermann’s 19th-century edition by Gorgias Press, is available on his academia page. Older English translations of select texts are at the Gnostic Society Library; and a set of recently updated articles are featured on the online version of the Encyclopedia Iranica. Additional links, including information on contemporary Mandaean communities, are provided by Professor April DeConick of Rice University.
