Changing World of The Mandaeans

The Mandaeans are the members of an ethno-religious minority who live in Iraq and Iran. They are bearers of a Gnostic tradition that is based on Mandaic scriptures. As a small minority under the constant threat of cultural extinction and ethnocide, they developed elaborate purification rites, which are served as the main reference of their group identity. The concern for group integrity is well encoded in these rituals, which symbolically, as well as practically, protect and reestablish the boundaries of the group identity. Recent social and political unrest and wars in the region led to the emigration of many Mandaeans to North American and European countries and Australia. This dissemination of the Mandaeans in the world made a significant turning point in the people’s history. The dissemination liquefies the boundaries of group identity and posed new identity challenges to the people. Furthermore, the new situation gave rise to new demands and made room for desires that had been repressed before. Therefore, a tendency to the exegeses of scriptures compatible with modern life is traceable. This is an ongoing change that can be called a movement from mythos to logos.