Book of the Zodiac

Book of the Zodiac
Sfar Malwašia
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ReligionMandaeism
LanguageMandaic language
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The Book of the Zodiac (Classical Mandaic: ࡎࡐࡀࡓ ࡌࡀࡋࡅࡀࡔࡉࡀ, romanized: Sfar Malwašia; Modern Mandaic: Asfar Malwāši[1]) is a Mandaean text. It covers Mandaean astrology in great detail.[2] The book is used to obtain a Mandaean's baptismal name (malwasha).[3] It is also an important source on Mandaean numerology.[4]

Manuscripts and translations

An English translation of the text, based on Manuscript 31 of the Drower Collection (DC 31), was published by E. S. Drower in 1949.[5] The manuscript is a kurasa, or unbound manuscript consisting of loose sheets.[6]

Buckley has also located a privately held copy of the Book of the Zodiac dating from 1919, which belonged to Lamea Abbas Amara in San Diego.[7]

There is also a manuscript of the Book of the Zodiac from 1789 CE that is currently held at the Bibliothèque National in Paris, which was used by Drower and may have also been used by Nicolas Siouffi.[6]

Contents

Drower's manuscript (DC 31) consists of 289 pages in Mandaic. There are 20 individual books or sections, which are:[6]: 44–48 

  • Book 1: The Book of the Signs of the Zodiac for Men
  • Book 2: The Book of the Signs of the Zodiac for Women
  • Book 3: The Book of Stars
  • Book 4: lists of astrological terms and calculations
  • Book 5: The Book of the Moon
  • Book 6: charms against evil spirits
  • Book 7: charms against evil spirits
  • Book 8: The Days of the Month
  • Book 9: illnesses
  • Book 10: astrological information
  • Book 11: selecting days for certain activities
  • Book 12: The Opening of a Door
  • Book 13: predictions
  • Book 14: predictions
  • Book 15: predictions
  • Book 16: predictions
  • Book 17: geographical regions governed by the planets and zodiac signs
  • Book 18: predictions
  • Book 19: transits of Saturn, halos of the sun, meteors and comets, and rainfall
  • Book 20: meteorology

There is also an appendix (labeled as Part II in Drower's text) that discusses omens, predictions, remedies, eclipses, and other topics.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ Häberl, Charles (2022). The Book of Kings and the Explanations of This World: A Universal History from the Late Sasanian Empire. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. ISBN 978-1-80085-627-1.
  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. ^ Rudolph, Kurt. "Mandaeans". The Gnostic Society Library. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  4. ^ Häberl, Charles G. (2023). "Binding the Lion: Numerology in the Mandaean Tradition". SSRN Electronic Journal. Elsevier BV. doi:10.2139/ssrn.4502834. ISSN 1556-5068. S2CID 259863711. SSRN 4502834.
  5. ^ Drower, Ethel S. (1949). The Book of the Zodiac: Sfar Malwašia. London: Murray.
  6. ^ a b c d Masco, Maire (2012). The Mandaeans: Gnostic astrology as an artifact of cultural transmission. Tacoma, WA: Fluke Press. ISBN 978-1-938476-00-6. OCLC 864905792.
  7. ^ Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2010). The great stem of souls: reconstructing Mandaean history. Piscataway, N.J: Gorgias Press. ISBN 978-1-59333-621-9.