The Scroll of Exalted Kingship (Classical Mandaic: ࡃࡉࡅࡀࡍ ࡌࡀࡋࡊࡅࡕࡀ ࡏࡋࡀࡉࡕࡀ Diwan Malkuta ʿLaita; Modern Mandaic: Diwān Malkuthā Əlaythā^[1]) is a Mandaean religious text. Written as a large illustrated scroll, the text consists of 1363 lines. The scroll is a commentary on the initiation of the tarmida "junior priest".

Other related texts include The Coronation of the Great Shishlam, also a commentary on the initiation of the tarmida, and the two esoteric texts^[2] Alma Rišaia Rba "The Great 'First World'" (DC 41) and Alma Rišaia Zuṭa "The Lesser 'First World'" (DC 48).^[3]

Manuscripts and translations

An English translation of the text, based on Manuscript 34 of the Drower Collection (commonly abbreviated DC 34), was published by Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley in 1993.^[4]

A typesetted Mandaic version of DC 34 was published by Majid Fandi Al-Mubaraki in 2002.^[5]

MS RRC 2O, another manuscript version of Diwan Malkuta Elaita, was copied by Sam Yuhana br Yahia Adam in Ḥuwaiza in 1077 A.H. (1666–7 A.D.).^[6] Although it is missing a large section corresponding to lines 912–1131 of DC 34, it is often more accurate than DC 34.^[7]

Contents

The beginning of the scroll, from lines 7–227, references 103 prayers in the Qulasta, which are:^[3]

• a masbuta liturgy (prayers 1–31)
• a masiqta liturgy (prayers 32–72)
• 2 ʿngirta prayers (prayers 73 and 74)
• 3 prayers of praise (prayers 75–77)
• the ʿnianas (prayers 78–103)

The scroll describes what happens in the World of Light (such as being blessed by a certain uthra) for each Qulasta prayer that is recited.

The scroll has an illustrated diagram of a wellspring (aina) with 9 trees emerging out of the wellspring. The wellspring diagram contains the first 6 letters of the Mandaic alphabet (a ࡀ, b ࡁ, g ࡂ, d ࡃ, h ࡄ, u ࡅ), along with 14 sections labeled with the words teacher, crown, wreath, ether, fire, garment, stole, tunic, girdle, mother, father, brother, sister.^[3]

Prayer sequence

See also

• The Thousand and Twelve Questions

References

External links

• Transliterated text (The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon) based on Jorunn J. Buckley's text of DC 34
• Diwan Malkutha 'laitha (Mandaic text from the Mandaean Network)
• Diwan Malkutha 'laitha (Mandaic text from the Mandaean Network)