Krun (; myz, ࡊࡓࡅࡍ) or Akrun () is a Mandaean lord of the

underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld ...

. According to Mandaean cosmology, he dwells in the lowest depths of creation, supporting the entirety of the physical world.

In mythology

Krun is the greatest of the five Mandaean lords of the

, the others being Shdum, Hag, Gaf, and Zartai-Zartanai, according to the 5th book of the right half of the ''Great Treasure'' (''

Ginza Rabba The Ginza Rabba ( myz, ࡂࡉࡍࡆࡀ ࡓࡁࡀ, translit=Ginzā Rbā, lit=Great Treasury), Ginza Rba, or Sidra Rabba ( myz, ࡎࡉࡃࡓࡀ ࡓࡁࡀ, translit=Sidrā Rbā, lit=Great Book), and formerly the Codex Nasaraeus, is the longest ...

'') of the Mandaeans, their most sacred text. He is represented by the image of a lion on the '' skandola'' talisman, which is used to seal the graves of the newly dead. The epithet most frequently associated with him is ṭura rba ḏ-bisra, "the great mountain of flesh."Drower (1937), p. 270.

In astronomy

The Mandaean community of Iraq and Iran is one of the few communities from the Middle East that still preserve the ancient

Babylonia Babylonia (; Akkadian: , ''māt Akkadī'') was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Syria). It emerged as an Amorite-ruled state ...

n tradition of divination by the stars and heavenly bodies (

astrology Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Di ...

), directly from its source, even retaining the traditional

Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to: * Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire * Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language * Akkadian literature, literature in this language * Akkadian cuneiform, early writing system * Akkadian myt ...

names for the stars and the visible planets. Despite this unique distinction, the Mandaeans had previously been unrepresented in astronomical place-names. Starting March 20, 2015, the Search for Extraterrestrial Life solicited names, and votes on names, from the interested public for the features of

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Sun. It is the largest k ...

and its satellites, which had yet to be documented. Rutgers professor Charles G. Häberl initiated a social media campaign, "Vote Krun," to recognize the Mandaeans by bestowing a Mandaic name upon one such feature. The Vote Krun campaign noted that since the time of Percival Lowell and Clyde Tombaugh, heavenly cosmography had expanded beyond names from Greco-Roman antiquity to the celebrated figures of many cultures and traditions, but not yet the Mandaeans. A dark region along the equator of the dwarf planet Pluto, immediately to the right of the large bright feature Tombaugh Regio, has been named "Krun Macula" by NASA scientists. In real-color images, Krun Macula appears as a dark red patch.

Notes

Sources

* {{Mandaeism footer Demons in Mandaeism Giants

In mythology

In astronomy

See also

Notes

Sources