DeConick A.D

330
PLEASANTVILLE RELIGIONS
At his tread and at his footsteps
The earthly world was alarmed.
The dead heard him and lived.
The sick heard him and were cured,
Lepers heard him and were healed,
They got up, they arose, they were healed
By the healing of Manda d-Hiia,
Which, in his goodness, he bestowed upon them
And life is victorious.
Miriai’s story is amplified in other Mandaean literature. In these stories,
Miriai hates everything about her ancestors, from their synagogues to
their laws. She curses them with dust in their mouths and dung on their
heads. She only loves Manda d-Hiia, her Lord, her helper come from the
world of light (Book of John 34).
In another prayer, this one uttered by Mandaean priests on Fridays, the
great angel of light is described as a man, a nazirutha ( nazoraean ), whom
Miriai loves. Nazoraean is another Mandaean self-designation, meaning
“guardian ” or “possessor” of secret knowledge, and today it refers to
priestly initiates or learned laymen. To make matters even more interesting,
this is also the name that some of the first Christians used to designate
themselves as guardians of the Jewish law as Jesus wanted them to observe
it (Fossum and Munoa 2004, 156–57).
Miriai is the object of persecution by her Jewish family and her neighbors
in Jerusalem, who do not like the fact that she not only abandoned
the ancestral religion but also is a priest of a new baptizing religion, the
Nazoreaens. She has been installed as a priest by Anush (Man), an ‘uthralike
Manda d-Hiia who is from the realm of light and is a stranger on earth.
Anush is the heavenly messenger sent to earth during the Roman period.
He takes on bodily form and appears in Jerusalem. According to the
Mandaean scriptures, he heals the sick, gives sight to the blind, cleanses
lepers, raises up the lame so that they can walk, and makes the deaf and
dumb speak. He also raises people from the dead, using the power given
him by the king of light. He teaches that there is life and death, light and
darkness, truth and error. His teaching is recognized as the true religion.
Stories about him emphasize that he healed Miriai from head to foot and
did so for no fee (Right Ginza 1.29, 2.53, 14.328, 14.331).