Yahya Yuhana Mandi baptismal pool 2024 001

Mandaean Australians are Australians of Mandaean descent or Mandaeans who have

Australian citizenship The primary law governing nationality of Australia is the Australian Citizenship Act 2007, which came into force on 1 July 2007 and is applicable in all states and territories of Australia. All persons born in Australia before 20 August 1986 ...

. Most Mandaeans in Australia live in

Greater Western Sydney Greater Western Sydney (GWS) is a large region of the metropolitan area of Greater Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), Australia that generally embraces the north-west, south-west, central-west, far western and the Blue Mountains sub-regions with ...

. As of 2023, Australia has the largest Mandaean population in the world, followed by

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

(which has the largest Mandaean population in Europe) and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Sydney metropolitan area

The

Sydney metropolitan area Greater Sydney is the most populous metropolitan area in Australia and Oceania. Located in the state of New South Wales, it encompasses the City of Sydney (the state capital), its neighbouring local government areas and surrounding regions. It ...

in Australia has the largest Mandaean diaspora community in the world. The community is centered in

suburbs such as Fairfield,

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, and Penrith. In Liverpool, the main mandi (Beth Manda) is

Ganzibra Dakhil Mandi Ganzibra Dakhil Mandi (officially registered as Mandi Genzvra Dakhil) is a Mandaean temple ( mandi) in downtown Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia. It is named after Rishama Dakhil Aidan, who was the head priest of the Mandaean community i ...

. The Sabian Mandaean Association of Australia has purchased land by the banks of the

Nepean River The Nepean River (Darug language, Darug: Yandhai), is a Perennial stream, major perennial river, located in the south-west and west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Nepean River, and, continuing by its downstream name, the Hawkesbury ...

Wallacia, New South Wales Wallacia is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Formerly a rural village it is west of the Sydney GPO (General Post Office), in the local government areas of the City of Penrith, City of Liverpool and Wollondilly S ...

, where

Wallacia Mandi Wallacia Mandi (also known as Mandi Wallacia or Mendi Wallacia; ) is a Mandaean temple ( mandi) under construction in Wallacia, New South Wales, Australia. The mandi is located on the west bank of the Nepean River. It is the only mandi in Aust ...

is currently being built. Another mandi in Greater Sydney is

Yahya Yuhana Mandi Yahya Yuhana Mandi (officially registered as Mandi Yehya Youhanna) is a Mandaean temple ( mandi) in Prestons, New South Wales, Australia. It is named after John the Baptist, who is known as ''Yahya Yuhana'' in Mandaic. Unlike Ganzibra Dakhil ...

(or Mandi Yehya Youhanna), located in Prestons. In

Western Sydney Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia * Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that ...

, Mandaeans mainly perform

masbuta Maṣbuta (; pronounced ''maṣwottā'' in Neo-Mandaic) is the ritual of immersion in water in the Mandaean religion. Overview Mandaeans revere John the Baptist and practice frequent baptism (''masbuta'') as ritual purification, not of initia ...

(baptisms) at Lighthorse Park in Liverpool,

, and

Associations

The Sabian Mandaean Association in Australia is the largest Mandaean association in Australia. Religious affairs are managed by the Mandaean Synod of Australia.

Notable people

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, ...

(born 1952 in Iran), the current

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 ...

and head priest of

Liverpool, New South Wales Liverpool is a suburb of South Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, south-west of the Sydney CBD. It is the administrative seat of the City of Liverpool and is in the Cumberland Plain. History Indigenous Before Bri ...

* Brikha Nasoraia (born 1964 in Iraq),

, professor, and President of the International Mandaean Nasoraean Supreme Council and Nasoraean Mandaean Association *

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 ...

(born 1963 in Iraq), the head priest of Mandi Yehya Youhanna in

Prestons, New South Wales Prestons is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 37 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Liverpool. History In the 1800s, this general area was kno ...

Majid Fandi Al-Mubaraki Majid Fandi Al-Mubaraki () is an Iraqi-Australian writer and researcher based in the Sydney metropolitan area. He is known for his publications of Mandaic texts, including the Ginza Rba and Qulasta. Biography Al-Mubaraki is a Mandaean who wa ...

, a Mandaean living in Australia who has digitised many Mandaean texts using typesetted

Mandaic script The Mandaic alphabet is a writing system primarily used to write the Mandaic language. It is thought to have evolved between the second and seventh century CE from either a cursive form of Aramaic (as did Syriac) or from Inscriptional Parthia ...

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 ...

, artist, photographer, writer, and archivist * Peyam Jizan (born 1978 in Iran), a tarmida in Sydney * Sahi Bashikh, a tarmida in Sydney * Thamir Shamkhi, a tarmida in Sydney * Asaad Othmani, a tarmida in Sydney * Waleed Khashan (born 1963 in Iran; Persian: Waleed Ebadeh Farzadeh; Arabic: Waleed Abdul Razzaq), a tarmida in Sydney *

Carlos Gelbert Carlos Gelbert (born 1948) is an Australian writer and translator. He is best known for publishing the first full-length English translations of the Ginza Rba (2011) and Mandaean Book of John (2017) together with Mark J. Lofts. Gelbert has also ...

(born 1948 in

Basra Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...

, Iraq), a writer, novelist, and translator in Sydney

References

External links

Sabian Mandaean Association in AustraliaMandaean Synod of AustraliaAustralian Association for Mandaean StudiesMandaean Youth Australia
{{Ancestry of Australians * Iraqi diaspora in Australia Iranian diaspora in Australia

Sydney metropolitan area

Associations

Notable people

See also

References

External links