Scroll of the Rivers

The Diwan ḏ-Nahrawata or Diwan ḏ-Nahrauata (Classical Mandaic: ࡃࡉࡅࡀࡍ ࡖࡍࡀࡄࡓࡀࡅࡀࡕࡀ, lit. 'Scroll of the Rivers') is a Mandaean religious text. It is written as an illustrated scroll.[1][2]

Diwan ḏ-Nahrawata
Scroll of the Rivers
Information
ReligionMandaeism
LanguageMandaic language
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Contents

The scroll contains esoteric schematic diagrams of the cosmos. Well-springs are shown as small circles, mountains as triangles, and rivers as long straight lines. Illustrations in the scroll also depict Hibil Ziwa as the grand mediator and messenger of the Life.[3]: 70 

Manuscripts and translations

E. S. Drower obtained a copy of the text and later donated it to the Bodleian Library at Oxford University, where it was catalogued as Manuscript 7 of the Drower Collection (abbreviated DC 7).[1]

The Diwan Nahrawata is a geographical treatise[4] that focuses mainly on esoteric cosmology.[5] Kurt Rudolph published a German translation in 1982, based on a copy held in a private library in Dora, Baghdad that was originally from Ahvaz.[6] It has about 3300 words and was copied by Ram Zihrun, son of Sam Bihram, Kupašia in Shushtar, Iran in 1259 A.H. (1843 A.D.).

References
  1. Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2010). The great stem of souls: reconstructing Mandaean history. Piscataway, N.J: Gorgias Press. ISBN 978-1-59333-621-9.
  2. Trompf, G.; Nasoraia, B. (2011). Reflecting on the 'Rivers Scroll'. ARAM Periodical, 22(2010), 61-86. doi:10.2143/ARAM.22.0.2131032
  3. Nasoraia, Brikha H.S. (2021). The Mandaean gnostic religion: worship practice and deep thought. New Delhi: Sterling. ISBN 978-81-950824-1-4. OCLC 1272858968.
  4. Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2002). The Mandaeans: ancient texts and modern people. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-515385-5. OCLC 65198443.
  5. Nasoraia, Brikha (2022). The Mandaean Rivers Scroll (Diwan Nahrawatha): an analysis. London: Routledge. p. 208. ISBN 978-0-367-33544-1. OCLC 1295213206.
  6. Rudolph, Kurt. Der Mandäische ‘Diwan der Flüsse.’ Berlin: Abhandlungen der Sächsischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, philosophisch-historische Klasse, vol. 70, no. 1, 1982.


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