Ethel Stefana Drower ( Stevens; full name: Ethel May Stefana Drower; 1 December 1879 – 27 January 1972) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

cultural anthropologist Cultural anthropology is a branch of anthropology focused on the study of cultural variation among humans. It is in contrast to social anthropology, which perceives cultural variation as a subset of a posited anthropological constant. The portman ...

, orientalist and novelist who studied the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

and its cultures.Christa Müller-Kessler, Drower ée Stevens Ethel May Stefana, Lady Drower, in ''New Dictionary of National Biography'', vol. 16 (Oxford, 2004), pp. 193–194

/ref> She was and is still considered one of the primary specialists on the Mandaeism, Mandaeans, and was the dedicated collector of Mandaean manuscripts.

Biography

Drower was the daughter of a clergyman. In 1906, she was working for Curtis Brown, a London literary agency when she signed Arthur Ransome to write ''

Bohemia in London ''Bohemia in London'' (1907) was Arthur Ransome's seventh published book, and his first success. The book is about literary and artistic London in the 1900s, and the area of London covered is Chelsea, Soho, and Hampstead. He had moved to London in ...

''. In 1911, she married Edwin Drower and after his knighthood became Lady Drower. As E. S. Stevens, she wrote a series of romantic novels for

Mills & Boon Mills & Boon is a romance imprint of British publisher Harlequin UK Ltd. It was founded in 1908 by Gerald Rusgrove Mills and Charles Boon as a general publisher. The company moved towards escapist fiction for women in the 1930s. In 1971, the ...

and other publishers. In 1921, she accompanied her husband to Iraq where Sir Edwin Drower was adviser to the Justice Minister from 1921 to 1947. Among her grandchildren was the campaigning journalist Roly Drower. Her works include the comprehensive description and display of the last practising gnostic

Mandaean Mandaeans ( ar, المندائيون ), also known as Mandaean Sabians ( ) or simply as Sabians ( ), are an ethnoreligious group who are followers of Mandaeism. They believe that John the Baptist was the final and most important prophet. ...

s' rituals, rites, and customs in ''The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran: Their Cults, Customs, Magic, Legends, and Folklore'', ''The Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans'' (a translation of the

Qolasta The Qolastā, Qulasta, or Qolusta ( myz, ࡒࡅࡋࡀࡎࡕࡀ; mid, Qōlutā, script=Latn) is the canonical prayer book of the Mandaeans, a Gnostic ethnoreligious group from Iraq and Iran. The Mandaic word ''qolastā'' means "collection". The p ...

), ''The Secret Adam: A Study of Nasoraean Gnosis'', and ''The Peacock Angel'' (novel about the

Yezidis Yazidis or Yezidis (; ku, ئێزیدی, translit=Êzidî) are a Kurmanji-speaking endogamous minority group who are indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran. The maj ...

), editions of unique manuscripts such as astronomical divinations ( omen) (''The Book of the Zodiac'') and magical texts (''A Book of Black Magic''; ''A Phylactery for Rue''), and relevant translations of

religious works such as ''The Haran Gawaita and the Baptism of Hibil-Ziwa'' and ''The Coronation of the Great Šišlam''. Drower's final major work titled ''Mass and Masiqta'' or ''Messiah, Mass and Masiqta'' remains unpublished to this day and it is unclear if the full manuscript exists. Before her scholarly activity, "Already under her maiden name of Ethel Stefana Stevens, Lady Drower had been fired by the romance of the Orient; between 1909 and 1927 she published 13 novels, and she was the author of two delectable books of travel." Drower died on 27 January 1972. She was survived by her daughter, Margaret "Peggy" Hackforth-Jones, and other family members.

Awards and honors

Drower received several honours for her scholarly contributions: *honorary DLitt from

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

*honorary DD from

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance during ...

*honorary fellow of the

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury a ...

of London University *the Lidzbarski gold medal for her work on the Mandaeans and their literary transmission on 1 October 1964

Drower Collection

The Drower Collection (DC), held at the Bodleian Library in

, is the most extensive collection of Mandaean manuscripts. The collection consists of 55 manuscripts. Drower donated MSS. Drower 1-53 to the Bodleian Library in 1958. MS. Drower 54, ''

The Coronation of the Great Šišlam ''The Coronation of the Great Šišlam'' (or ''The Coronation of Shishlam Rabba''; myz, ࡔࡀࡓࡇ ࡖࡕࡓࡀࡑࡀ ࡖࡕࡀࡂࡀ ࡖࡔࡉࡔࡋࡀࡌ ࡓࡁࡀ, translit=Šarḥ ḏ-Traṣa ḏ- Taga ḏ-Šišlam Rba) is a Mandaean reli ...

'', was given to the library by Lady Drower in 1961. MS. Drower 55, Lady Drower's personal notebook, was added in 1986.Mandaean manuscripts given by Lady Ethel May Stefana Drower
Archives Hub. After her death, some of Drower's private notebooks were obtained by Rudolf Macúch. These notebooks are not part of the Bodleian Library's Drower Collection. MS. DC 2, which was copied by Sheikh Negm for Drower in 1933, mentions the

Mandaean baptismal name Mandaean names can include both birth names (i.e., secular names) and baptismal (zodiacal) names (i.e., religious names), called ''malwasha'' () in Mandaic. Birth names Mandaean birth names are secular names that are given at birth and are used ...

(i.e., spiritual name given by a Mandaean priest, as opposed to a birth name) of E. S. Drower as

Klila In Mandaeism, the klila ( myz, ࡊࡋࡉࡋࡀ) is a small myrtle (''asa'') wreath or ring (translated as "circlet" by E. S. Drower) used during Mandaean religious rituals. The klila is a female symbol that complements the '' taga'', a white cro ...

pt Šušian ("Wreath, daughter of Susan"), as her middle name Stefana means 'wreath' in Greek. MS. DC 26, a manuscript copied by copied by Sheikh Faraj for Drower in 1936, contains two ''qmahas'' (exorcisms). MS. DC 26 is dedicated to Drower's daughter, Margaret ("Peggy"), who is given the Mandaean baptismal name ''Marganita pt Klila'' ("Pearl, daughter of Wreath") in the text.

Bibliography

Works as E. S. Stevens

''The Veil: A Romance of Tunis'', New York, F.A. Stokes, 1909.
*''The Mountain of God'', London, Mills & Boon, 1911. * Two works reviewing the

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. Established by Baháʼu'lláh in the 19th century, it initially developed in Iran and parts of the ...

in 1911 - "Abbas Effendi: His Personality, Work, and Followers" in '' Fortnightly Review'', and "The Light in the Lantern" in ''

Everybody's Magazine ''Everybody's Magazine'' was an American magazine published from 1899 to 1929. The magazine was headquartered in New York City. History and profile The magazine was founded by Philadelphia merchant John Wanamaker in 1899, though he had little role ...

''. *''The Long Engagement'', New York, Hodder & Stoughton, 1912. *''The Lure'', New York, John Lane, 1912. *''Sarah Eden'', London, Mills & Boon, 1914. *''Allward'', London, Mills & Boon, 1915. *''"--And What Happened"'', London,

, 1916. *''The Safety Candle'', London, Cassell and Company, 1917. *''Magdalene: A Study in Methods'', London, Cassell, 1919. *''By Tigris and Euphrates'', London, Hurst & Blackett, 1923. *''Sophy: A Tale of Baghdad'', London, Hurst & Blackett, 1924. *''Cedars, Saints and Sinners in Syria'', London, Hurst & Blackett, 1926. *''The Losing Game'', London, Hurst & Blackett, 1926. *''Garden of Flames'', New York, F.A. Stokes, 1927. *''Ishtar'', London, Hurst & Blackett, 1927. *''Folk-Tales of Iraq, set down and translated from the vernacular by E. S. Stevens'', New York, B. Blom, 1971.

Works as E. S. Drower

''The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran: Their Cults, Customs, Magic, Legends, and Folklore''
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1937.

London: J. Murray, 1941. *''Water into Wine: A Study of Ritual Idiom in the Middle East'', London: Murray, 1956.
''The Secret Adam: A Study of Nasoraean Gnosis''
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1960. *
A Mandaic Dictionary
' with Rudolf Macuch, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1963.''damienlabadie.blogspot.gr''
/ref> *''Drower's Folk-Tales of Iraq'', edited by Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley, Piscataway, N.J.: Gorgias Press, 2007.

Translations as E. S. Drower

*''The

Book of the Zodiac The ''Book of the Zodiac'' ( myz, ࡎࡐࡀࡓ ࡌࡀࡋࡅࡀࡔࡉࡀ, translit=Sfar Malwašia) is a Mandaean text. It covers Mandaean astrology in great detail. The book is used to obtain a Mandaean's baptismal name (''malwasha''). Manuscrip ...

= Sfar malwašia: D. C. 31'', Oriental Translation Fund XXXVI; London: Royal Asiatic Society, 1949. *
Šarḥ ḏ qabin ḏ šišlam rba
(D. C. 38). Explanatory Commentary on the Marriage Ceremony of the great Šišlam'', text transliterated and translated, Rome: Ponteficio Istituto Biblico, 1950. *'' Diwan Abatur or Progress Through the Purgatories'', text with translation notes and Appendices, Città del Vaticano: Biblioteca apostolica vaticana, 1950. *'' Haran Gawaita - The Haran Gawaita and the Baptism of Hibil-Ziwa: the Mandaic text reproduced, together with translation, notes and commentary'', Città del Vaticano: Biblioteca apostolica vaticana, 1953. *''Mandaeans. Liturgy and Ritual. The Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans'', translated with notes, Leiden: Brill, 1959. *
Alf trisar šuialia

The Thousand and Twelve Questions ''The Thousand and Twelve Questions'' ( myz, ࡀࡋࡐ ࡕࡓࡉࡎࡀࡓ ࡔࡅࡉࡀࡋࡉࡀ ) is a Mandaean religious text. The ''1012 Questions'' is one of the most detailed texts on Mandaean priestly rituals. The text contains detailed com ...

: A Mandaean Text'', edited in transliteration and translation, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1960. *''

'', Leiden: Brill, 1962. *
A Pair of Naṣoraean Commentaries: Two Priestly Documents, the Great First World and the Lesser First World
', translated, Leiden: Brill, 1963.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drower, Ethel Stefana British anthropologists 1879 births 1972 deaths Place of birth missing Place of death missing Cultural anthropologists British women novelists British romantic fiction writers Women romantic fiction writers 20th-century British women writers 20th-century British novelists British women anthropologists Scholars of Mandaeism Translators from Mandaic