MANDAEAN LITERATURE 531
hypothesis that Mani was born into a Mandaean community has also been re-
futed, in this case, by the Cologne Mani Codex, which indicates that Mani was
raised among the Jewish-Christian sect of the Elkesaites (see the introduction
to Part Five).
In dating the origins and development of Mandaeism, scholars have em-
ployed a number of approaches. Although the earliest extant manuscripts are
late (from about the sixteenth century), bowls and lead amulets used for
magic are much earlier, with one such amulet dated to the second or third
century CE. Comparisons of the Mandaic alphabet with other scripts, such as
Nabataean and Elymaean, have also shed light on where and when the group
developed. Another criterion for dating is the presence of Arabic terms in
Mandaean texts (for example, the name Allah for the highest god), thereby
suggesting a post-Islamic context for particular textual recensions. Recently,
attention has been focused on the colophons appended to practically all of the
Mandaean scrolls. These colophons contain scribal genealogies, in some cases
dating back for centuries, as well as historically valuable information on geog-
raphy, politics, and relations within the community. The oldest of these ge-
nealogies may date back to 270 CE, making it one of the earliest extant sources
on the Mandaeans.MYTHOLOGY
Mandaeism possesses an incredibly rich mythology, which—to borrow a
gnostic phrase—provides knowledge of "whence we have come and whither
we are going." Perhaps even more than their gnostic relatives, the Mandaeans
employ myth as the chief vehicle for articulating and transmitting their
worldview and ritual practices. Therefore, in order to understand Mandaean
theology, cosmology, anthropology, and ritual we must turn to myths. Like the
rabbinic midrash they frequently resemble, these are typically nonsystematic
in their presentation. While this does not diminish the myths' profundity or
cultural significance, it nevertheless presents an interpretive challenge to the
uninitiated. Additional features of many Mandaean mythological texts are the
highly original geometrical illustrations that accompany them.
Mandaean mythology evinces a dualistic worldview in which the world of
light (alma dnhura) opposes the world of darkness (alma dshuka) from the
beginning. As in other gnostic mythologies, a theogonic process of emanation
precedes a cosmogonic fall or rupture. The first god, known by a number of
names including the "great life" (hiia raba) and "lord of greatness" (mara