Mambuha

Sheikh Salah Choheili blessing the mambuha contained in a qanina (glass bottle) during the 2014 Parwanaya in Sydney, Australia

In Mandaeism, mambuha (Classical Mandaic: ࡌࡀࡌࡁࡅࡄࡀ), sometimes spelled mambuga (Classical Mandaic: ࡌࡀࡌࡁࡅࡂࡀ), is sacramental drinking water used in rituals such as the masbuta (baptism).[1][2]

The mambuha can be served in a kapta (pronounced kafta), a shallow brass drinking bowl that is 11 inches or less in perimeter, or in a qanina (glass bottle).[3]

Traditionally, mambuha is taken directly from the yardna (river, i.e. the Euphrates, Tigris, or Karun rivers), but the Mandaean diaspora often uses treated tap water.

  1. ^ Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2002). The Mandaeans: ancient texts and modern people. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-515385-5. OCLC 65198443.
  2. ^ Burtea, Bogdan (2008). Zihrun, das verborgene Geheimnis (in German). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. ISBN 978-3-447-05644-1. OCLC 221130512.
  3. ^ Drower, Ethel Stefana. 1937. The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran. Oxford At The Clarendon Press.