Adam Kasia

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Adam Kasia (Classical Mandaic: ࡀࡃࡀࡌ ࡊࡀࡎࡉࡀ; also referred to using the portmanteau Adakas ࡀࡃࡀࡊࡀࡎ or Adakas Ziwa in the Ginza Rabba[1]) means "the hidden Adam" in Mandaic.[2] The hidden Adam is also called Adam Qadmaiia (ࡀࡃࡀࡌ ࡒࡀࡃࡌࡀࡉࡉࡀ, "The First Adam").[2] In Mandaeism, it means the soul of the first man.[3] He is also identified as Shishlam, the primordial priest.[4]

Among the Mandaeans, Adam Kasia means the soul of every human.[2][5][6] Adam Kasia shows many similarities with the Jewish idea of Adam Kadmon.[7]

Prayers in the Qulasta, such as the Asut Malkia, also refer to Adam as "Adam the First Man" (Adam Gabra Qadmaiia).[8] The Thousand and Twelve Questions, a Mandaean priestly text, also refers to Adam Kasia as Adam-S'haq[9] ('Adam-was-bright'), Adam-S'haq-Ziwa,[3] or Adam-S'haq-Rba, who is described as the father of Shishlam, the archetype of the prototypical Mandaean.[10]

The wife of Adam Kasia is Hawa Kasia ('hidden Eve'), also known as Hawa Ziwa ('radiant Eve') or Anana Ziwa ('radiant cloud').[11]

  1. ^ Gelbert, Carlos (2011). Ginza Rba. Sydney: Living Water Books. ISBN 9780958034630.
  2. ^ a b c Manfred Lurker (2004). The Routledge Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses, Devils and Demons. Psychology Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-415-34018-2.
  3. ^ a b Drower, E.S. (1960). The Secret Adam - The Study of Nasoraean Gnosis (PDF). Oxford University Press.
  4. ^ Drower, E. S. (26 July 2021). A Mandaic Dictionary. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 464a. ISBN 978-1-7252-7204-0.
  5. ^ Drower, E.S. (1942). Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-00496-2.
  6. ^ Drower, E.S. (2002). The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran: Their Cults, Customs, Magic Legends, and Folklore. Gorgias Press. ISBN 1931956499.
  7. ^ "Adam Kadmon". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 2020-01-11.
  8. ^ Drower, E. S. (1959). The Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans. Leiden: E. J. Brill.
  9. ^ Drower, Ethel S. (1960). The Thousand and Twelve Questions: A Mandaean Text (Alf Trisar Šuialia). Berlin: Akademie Verlag. p. 228, footnote 3.
  10. ^ Drower, Ethel S. (1960). The Thousand and Twelve Questions: A Mandaean Text (Alf Trisar Šuialia). Berlin: Akademie Verlag. pp. 112, 127, 136.
  11. ^ Drower, E.S. (1960). The Secret Adam - A Study of Nasoraean Gnosis (PDF). Oxford University Press. p. 36.