This article contains a list of historical and active

Mandaean priests A Mandaean priest or ''Tarmida'' () refers to an ordained religious leader in Mandaeism. Overview All priests must undergo lengthy ordination ceremonies, beginning with tarmida initiation. Mandaean religious leaders and copyists of religious text ...

, all of whom have the ranks of

Rishama A rishama (''rišama''; ''riš-ama''), rishamma, or rishema (; ; ; ) is a religious patriarch in Mandaeism. It is the highest rank out of all the Mandaean clergical ranks. The next ranks are the ''ganzibra'' and ''tarmida'' priests (see Mandaean ...

Ganzibra A ganzibra (singular form in , plural form in , literally 'treasurer' in Mandaic; ) is a high priest in Mandaeism. Tarmidas, or junior priests, rank below the ganzibras.Drower, E. S. 1960. ''The Secret Adam: A Study of Nasoraean Gnosis''. Oxfor ...

Tarmida A tarmida (singular form in , plural form in ; ; ) is a junior Mandaean priest, priest in Mandaeism. Ganzibras, or head priests, rank above tarmidas.Drower, E. S. 1960. ''The Secret Adam: A Study of Nasoraean Gnosis''. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ...

. Mandaean priestly families include the Manduia (Manduwi), Kupašia ( Khaffagi), Kuhailia ( Choheili), and Durakia (Dorragi) families, all of which can be traced back to the mid-1400s.

List of Mandaean priests

Active

As of 2023, Australia has the largest number of active Mandaean priests, all of whom reside in the Western Sydney region. Most of the following list of currently active Mandaean priests is based on Buckley (2023) and from ''The Worlds of Mandaean Priests'' website curated by Christine Robins,

Yuhana Nashmi Yuhana Nashmi (; Mandaic language, Mandaic: ; also known as Sheikh Alaa Nashmi or Ala’a Nashmi; ) is an Iraqi-Australian visual artist and ceramicist. Early life Nashmi was born in Baghdad, Iraq. His ''malwasha'' (Mandaean name, baptismal name ...

et al. Note that this is a partial, incomplete list. *Rishamma

Sattar Jabbar Hilow Rishama Sattar Jabbar Hilow al-Zahrooni (; also known as His Holiness Ganzevra Sattar Jabbar Hilo al-Zahrony; born 1956, Al-Kahla District, Al-Kahla, Maysan Governorate, Iraq) is the patriarch and international head of the Mandaeism, Mandaean r ...

, Iraq *Rishamma

Salah Choheili Rishama Salah Choheili (; also known as Ganzibra Ṣalah Jabbar Ṭawus Choheili; Salah Al-Kuhaili; born 1952, Ahvaz, Iran) is an Iranian Mandaean priest in Australia. He is the head priest of Ganzibra Dakhil Mandi in Liverpool, New South Wales, ...

, Australia *Rishamma Professor Brikha Nasoraia, Australia *Ganzibra

Najah Choheili Ganzibra Najah Choheili () is an Iranian Mandaean priest who currently serves as the head of the Mandaean community in Iran. Biography Najah Choheili was born in Ahvaz, Iran into the Kuhailia (Persian pronunciation: ''Choheili'') family. His fa ...

, Iran *Ganzibra

Khaldoon Majid Abdullah Ganzibra Khaldoon Majid Abdullah (; born 16 March 1963, in Amarah, Maysan Governorate, Iraq) is an Iraqi-Australian Mandaean priest. He is currently the ganzibra (senior priest) of Yahya Yuhana Mandi (also known as Mandi Yehya Yahana or Mandi Yeh ...

, Australia *Ganzibra Waleed Khashan, Australia (also known as Walid Abdul Razzak or Walid Ebadfardzadeh) *Ganzibra

Salwan Alkhamas Ganzibra Salwan Alkhamas (, also known as Salwan Shakir Khamas; born 27 March 1970, Basra Governorate, Iraq) is an Iraqi-Swedish Mandaean priest currently serving as the head priest of the Mandaean community in Sweden. Salwan Alkhamas initially ...

(or Salwan Shakir Khamas), Sweden *Ganzibra Salam Ghaiad, Sweden *Ganzibra Taleb Dorragi, Iran *Tarmida Bassam Fadhil al-Haider, United States *Tarmida Asaad Muttar al-Othmani, Australia *Tarmida Thamir Shamkhi, Australia *Tarmida Sahi Bashikh, Australia *Tarmida Peyam Jizan, Australia *Tarmida Saleem al-Zuhairi, Australia *Tarmida

, Australia *Tarmida Qais Edan ( Qais Aidan), Sweden *Tarmida

Rafid Al-Sabti Rbai Rafid al-Sabti, known in full as Rafid al-Rishama Abdallah al-Ganzibra Zahrun al-Rishama Abdallah al-Sabti (; born 1965, Iraq), is an Iraqi-Dutch Mandaean priest in Nijmegen, Netherlands. Biography Al-Sabti was born in 1965 to Rishama Ab ...

, Netherlands *Tarmida Behram Khafajy ( Bihram Khaffagi), Iran *Tarmida Sam Zahrooni, Iran

Historical

This list of historical Mandaean priests, along with the accompanying notes, is primarily adapted from Buckley (2010). The majority of the names are from colophons ( ) in

Mandaean texts This article contains a list of Mandaic manuscripts, which are almost entirely Mandaeism, Mandaean religious texts written in Classical Mandaic language, Mandaic. Well-known Mandaean texts include the ''Ginza Rabba'' (also known as the ''Sidra ...

that provide detailed information about the scribes who had transcribed them. Note that written Mandaic ''br'' means "son of," while written Mandaic ''pt'' means "daughter."

References

{{Mandaeism footer * Mandaean