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{{Short description|Central religious text of Mandaeism}}
{{For|other books with similar titles|Books of Adam}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox religious text
|name=Ginza Rabba
|religion=[[Mandaeism]]
|image=Ginza Rba 2011 - Gelbert and Lofts - Living Water Books.jpg
|alt=
|language=[[Mandaic language]]
|caption=2011 English translation of the ''Ginza Rba'' by [[Carlos Gelbert]]
}}
{{Mandaeism}}
[[File:Parwanaya 2015 Ahvaz 01.jpg|thumb|right|[[Salem Choheili]] reading the ''[[Left Ginza]]'' in [[Ahvaz]], Iran]]
[[File:Ganzibra Dakhil Mandi 023.jpg|thumb|right|The Ginza Rabba (Mubaraki version) on the pulpit of a [[mandi (Mandaeism)|mandi]]]]
The '''Ginza Rabba''' ({{langx|myz|ࡂࡉࡍࡆࡀ ࡓࡁࡀ|translit=Ginzā Rbā|lit=Great Treasury}}, {{IPA|mid|ˈgɪnza ˈrɑbbɑ}}), '''Ginza Rba''', or '''Sidra Rabba''' ({{langx|myz|ࡎࡉࡃࡓࡀ ࡓࡁࡀ|translit=Sidrā Rbā|lit=Great Book}}), and formerly the '''Codex Nasaraeus''',<ref name="Norberg"/> is the longest and the most important holy scripture of [[Mandaeism]]. 

The Ginza Rabba is composed of two parts: the [[Right Ginza]] (GR) and the [[Left Ginza]] (GL). The Right Ginza is composed of eighteen tractates and covers a variety of themes and topics, whereas the three tractates that make up the Left Ginza are unified in their focus on the fate of the soul after death. The Left Ginza is also occasionally referred to as the '''Book of Adam'''.<ref name="Norberg" />

==Language and authorship==
The language used is Classical [[Mandaic language|Mandaic]], a variant of [[Eastern Aramaic languages|Eastern Aramaic]] written in the [[Mandaic script]] (Parthian chancellory script), similar to the [[Syriac script]]. The authorship is unknown, and dating is a matter of debate, with estimates ranging from the first to third centuries.<ref name="Drower 19372">Drower, Ethel Stefana (1937). The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran. Oxford At The Clarendon Press, pg. 20.</ref><ref>"Sod, The Son of the Man" Page iii, S. F. Dunlap, Williams and Norgate – 1861</ref> Determining date and authorship is complicated by the late date of the earliest manuscripts, the potentially lengthy oral transmission of Mandaean religious texts prior to their being written, and that conclusions about the dating of some tractates or either GR (Right Ginza) or GL (Left Ginza) may not carry over for material elsewhere in the Ginza.<ref name="Drower 1937">Drower, Ethel Stefana (1937). The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran. Oxford At The Clarendon Press.</ref>{{rp|20}}

== Dating ==
The date of Mandaean texts remains heavily contested.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Häberl |first=Charles G. |title=The book of kings and the explanations of this world: a universal history from the Late Sasanian Empire |date=2023 |publisher=Liverpool University Press |isbn=978-1-80085-627-1 |edition= |series=Translated texts for historians |location=Liverpool}}</ref>{{rp|14}} Even within the scope of the Ginza Rabba, the GL and GR are separate compositions with separate dates, making the Ginza Rabba a composite text of diverse origins. Furthermore, the individual tractates within these collections appear to have separate origins by virtue of their distinct genre, grammar, and according to their colophon evidence.<ref name=":3" />{{rp|13}} The GL has its own colophon, as do the first thirteen tractates of the GR. Each from the fourteenth through eighteenth subsequent tractates have their own colophons.<ref name=":3" />{{rp|36}} The current form and final compilation of the Ginza as a whole must come from Islamic times as it contains numerous references to the Arabs and the [[Arab conquest of Mesopotamia|Islamic conquest]].<ref name=":2" />

=== Left Ginza ===
In 1949, [[Torgny Säve-Söderbergh]] argued that the third-century Coptic Manichaean [[Psalms of Thomas]] depended on the Left Ginza,<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Gündüz |first=Şinasi |date=1994 |title=The Problems of the Nature and Date of Mandaean Sources |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0142064X9401605305 |journal=Journal for the Study of the New Testament |language=en |volume=16 |issue=53 |pages=87–97 |doi=10.1177/0142064X9401605305 |issn=0142-064X |s2cid=162738440|url-access=subscription }}</ref> A 2017 study by Kevin van Bladel instead suggests that both sources derived their shared material from a common source, perhaps [[Elcesaites|Elcesaite]] funerary hymns.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Bladel |first=Kevin Thomas van |title=From Sasanian Mandaeans to Ṣābians of the marshes |date=2017 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-33943-9 |series=Leiden studies in Islam and society |location=Leiden Boston (Mass.) |pages=}}</ref>{{rp|76–78}}

In 1965, [[Rudolf Macúch]] argued for a third-century date on the basis of a colophon note saying that [[Zazai of Gawazta]] copied important Mandaean texts 368 years prior to the Arab conquest of Iraq {{c.}} 640, resulting in the date of 272.<ref name="Buckley 2002" />{{rp|4}}<ref name="Buckley2010" />{{rp|89}} However, this note, extant from one manuscript, only refers to an unspecified year of the ''[[Hijri year|hijri]]'' calendar and not the point in time before 640. This means that 272 is the earliest possible date if the very first ''hijri'' year is being referenced, though later dates are not excluded. The number 368 itself may be invented.<ref name=":1" />{{rp|8–14}}

=== Right Ginza ===

==== Book of Kings (GR 18) ====
GR 18, also known as the ''Book of Kings'', says that "after the Persian kings there will be Arabian kings. They will reign seventy-one years."<ref name=":0" /> Starting with [[Theodor Nöldeke]], historians have widely interpreted this as a reference to the Islamic-era Arab rulers, and so have dated GR 18 to the Islamic era.<ref name=":3" />{{rp|24–27}} Recently, Häberl has argued from the colophons and external references that GR 18s dates to the rule of [[Lakhmid kingdom#Lakhmid rulers|Lakhmid Arab kings]] in the pre-Islamic period. The latter is argued to place GR 18, separately from the rest of the Ginza Rabba, in the hands of a copyist at one point named [[Anush bar Danqa|Ennoš b. Danqā]], who appears to have worked in the mid-7th century, implying the text is no later than ~650. The Arab kings reigning for 71 years are identified to be the Lakhmid kings starting with [[Al-Mundhir III ibn al-Nu'man]], installed into power in 531 by [[Khosrow I]] (r. 531–579), to [[Khosrow II]] who deposed [[Al-Nu'man III ibn al-Mundhir]] in 602. To supplement this observation, Häberl points to the absence of Arabic language on or explicit references to Islam in GR 18 unlike later Mandaean texts. The final Sassanid ruler mentioned by the text is interpreted to be [[Kavad II]], who ruled until 628, roughly giving the date soon after which the text entered its current form. Häberl offers the following chronology for the events mentioned in GR 18, alongside the earlier chronology implied by Nöldeke's work.<ref name=":3" />{{rp|2, 36–60}}
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Event
!Internal chronology
!Nöldeke
!Häberl
|-
|Destruction of Jerusalem
|AP 1
|214 BC
|321/322 BC
|-
|Yazdiger, son of King Bahrān
|AP 594
|~380 AD
|271/272 AD
|-
|Arab uprisings
|AP 792
|~578 AD
|469/470 AD
|-
|King of the Arabs dies
|AP 793
|~579
|470/471
|-
|Arabs become lords
|AP 795
|~581
|472/473
|-
|False Messiah triumphs
|>AP 803
|>589
|>480/481
|-
|Beginning of Arab rule
|>AP 850
|>636
|>527/528
|-
|End of Arab rule
|>AP 921
|>707
|>598/599
|-
|End of the world
|AP 1001
|~786
|678/679
|}

==== Other tractates ====
Book 7 of the Right Ginza uses the name Yahyā for John, which is the form of the name John that appears in the [[Quran]].<ref name=":1" />{{rp|55–56}} However, Häberl has argued that the use of this name is known in pre-Islamic Arabic text, and so its presence does not conclusively argue for an Islamic-era dating.<ref name=":3" />{{rp|44}}

The Ginza may have been composed, at least partially, as a response to the Arab conquests, along with other pieces of Mandaean literature such as the [[Mandaean Book of John]], and a study of the colophons of the Ginza date the emergence of the text to the second half of the seventh century.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Hart |first=Jennifer |title=The Discursive Fight Over Religious Texts in Antiquity |date=2009 |publisher=Aarhus University Press |editor-last=Jacobsen |editor-first=Anders-Christian |pages=178–184 |chapter=The Influence of Islam on the Development of Mandaean Literature}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Buckley |first=Jorunn Jacobsen |title=The great stem of souls: reconstructing Mandaean history |date=2006 |publisher=Georgias Press |isbn=978-1-59333-338-6 |edition=Corrected 2. print |location=Piscataway, NJ}}</ref>

==Structure==
{{further|Right Ginza|Left Ginza}}
The ''Ginza Rabba'' is divided into two parts – the [[Right Ginza]], containing 18 books, and the [[Left Ginza]], containing 3 books. In Mandaic studies, the Right Ginza is commonly abbreviated as ''GR'', while the Left Ginza is commonly abbreviated as ''GL''.<ref name="Haberl 2007"/> Alternatively, sometimes the Right Ginza is abbreviated as ''GY'' or ''Gy'' after the Mandaic ''Ginza Yamina'', while the Left Ginza is commonly abbreviated as ''GS'' or ''Gs'' after the Mandaic ''Ginza Smala''.<ref name="Iranica">{{cite web | last=Rudolph | first=Kurt | title=Mandaeans: ii. The Mandaean religion | website=Encyclopædia Iranica | date=2012 | url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/mandaeans-2-religion | access-date=2024-07-29}}</ref><ref name="Nasoraia 2021">{{cite book|last=Nasoraia|first=Brikha H.S.|author-link=Brikha Nasoraia|title=The Mandaean gnostic religion: worship practice and deep thought|publisher=Sterling|publication-place=New Delhi|year=2021|isbn=978-81-950824-1-4|oclc=1272858968}}</ref>

Ginza Rabba codices traditionally contain the [[Right Ginza]] on one side, and, when turned upside-down and back to front, contain the [[Left Ginza]] (the Left Ginza is also called "The Book of the Dead"). The Right Ginza part of the ''Ginza Rabba'' contains sections dealing with theology, creation, ethics, historical, and mythical narratives; its six [[colophon (publishing)|colophon]]s reveal that it was last redacted in the early Islamic Era. The Left Ginza section of ''Ginza Rabba'' deals with man's soul in the afterlife; its colophon reveals that it was redacted for the last time hundreds of years before the Islamic Era.<ref name="Haberl 2007">Häberl, Charles G. (2007). ''[https://scholarship.libraries.rutgers.edu/discovery/fulldisplay/alma991031549909304646/01RUT_INST:ResearchRepository Introduction to the New Edition, in The Great Treasure of the Mandaeans, a new edition of J. Heinrich Petermann's Thesaurus s. Liber Magni, with a new introduction and a translation of the original preface by Charles G. Häberl]''. Gorgias Press, LLC. {{doi|10.7282/T3C53J6P}}</ref><ref name="Aldihisi 2008">{{cite thesis|url=https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1444088/|last=Aldihisi|first=Sabah|year=2008|title=The story of creation in the Mandaean holy book in the Ginza Rba|type=PhD|publisher=University College London}}</ref>

There are various manuscript versions that differ from each other. The versions order chapters differently from each other, and textual content also differs.

==Contents==
The Ginza Rabba is a compilation of various oral teachings and written texts, most predating their editing into the two volumes. It includes literature on a wide variety of topics, including liturgy and hymns, theological texts, didactic texts, as well as both religious and secular poetry.<ref name="Haberl 2007"/>

For a comprehensive listing of summaries of each chapter in the Ginza Rabba, see the articles [[Right Ginza]] and [[Left Ginza]].

==Manuscript versions==
{{see also|List of Mandaic manuscripts}}
Manuscript versions of the Ginza include the following. Two are held in the [[Bodleian Library]] at Oxford, three in the [[British Library]] in London, four in the [[Bibliothèque nationale de France]] in Paris, and others are in private ownership.<ref name="Buckley2010">{{cite book|last=Buckley|first=Jorunn Jacobsen|title=The great stem of souls: reconstructing Mandaean history|publisher=Gorgias Press|publication-place=Piscataway, N.J|year=2010|isbn=978-1-59333-621-9}}</ref> All extant manuscripts of the Ginza appear to derive from a few copies that were produced around 1500.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Buckley |first=Jorunn Jacobsen |title=The great stem of souls: reconstructing Mandaean history |date=2006 |publisher=Georgias Press |isbn=978-1-59333-338-6 |edition=Corrected 2. print |location=Piscataway, NJ |pages=89}}</ref>

*[[Bodleian Library]] manuscripts
**[[Drower Collection|DC]] 22 (copied by [[Ram Zihrun]] in 1831)
**[[Huntington Ms. 6]] (copied by Adam Paraš in 1615)
*[[British Library]] manuscripts catalogued under the same title, ''Liber Adami Mendaice''
**Add. 23,599 (copied by female priests during the 1700s)
**Add. 23,600 (copied by Yahya Bihram bar Adam, of the Manduia and ‛Kuma clans, in 1735–36, who also copied Paris Ms. D)
**Add. 23,601 (copied by Adam Yuhana bar Sam in 1824)
*Paris manuscripts, [[Bibliothèque nationale de France]] (consulted by [[Mark Lidzbarski|Lidzbarski]] for his 1925 German translation)
**Paris Ms. A (copied by Ram Baktiar in 1560)
**Paris Ms. B (copied by Baktiar Bulbul in 1632; also called the "[[Matthias Norberg|Norberg]] version," since it was used by Norberg during the early 1800s)
**Paris Ms. C (copied by Yahya Adam in 1680)
**Paris Ms. D (copied by Yahya Bihram in the early 1700s)
*[[Rbai Rafid Collection]] (RRC) manuscripts<ref name="Morgenstern 2021">Morgenstern, Matthew (2021). [https://www.academia.edu/103828698/The_Mandaeans_in_the_Face_of_Modernity_Yahia_Bihram_the_Pasha_s_Wife_and_the_British_Empire The Mandaeans in the Face of Modernity: Yahia Bihram, the Pasha’s Wife and the British Empire]. In P. Machinist et. al. (eds), ''Ve-‘Ed Ya’aleh (Gen 2:6): Essays in Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies Presented to Edward L. Greenstein'', vol. 1, pp. 81–98. Atlanta: SBL Press.</ref>
**RRC 5J (copied at the Margab quarter of [[Suq eš-Šuyūḵ]] in AH 1277 (1860–1861 AD))
**RRC 5L (copied at the Margab quarter of Suq eš-Šuyūḵ in AH 1256 (1840–1841 AD))
For his 1925 German translation of the Ginza, [[Mark Lidzbarski|Lidzbarski]] also consulted other Ginza manuscripts that were held at [[Leiden]] (complete) and [[Munich]] (fragmentary).<ref name="GR Gelbert"/>

[[Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley]] has also found Ginza manuscripts that are privately held by Mandaeans in the United States. Two are in [[San Diego]], California, which belong to [[Lamea Abbas Amara]]; they were originally copied by Mhatam Zihrun (Sheikh [[Dakhil Aidan]]) in 1935, and by a copyist named Adam (Sheikh Aidan, father of [[Dakhil Aidan|Dakhil]]) in 1886, respectively.<ref name="Buckley 2023">{{cite book|last=Buckley|first=Jorunn Jacobsen|title=1800 Years of Encounters with Mandaeans|date=2023|location=Piscataway, NJ|publisher=Gorgias Press|series=Gorgias Mandaean Studies|volume=5|issn=1935-441X|isbn=978-1-4632-4132-2}}</ref>{{rp|54}} One is in [[Flushing, New York]], which belonged to [[Nasser Sobbi]] (1924–2018) and was originally copied by Adam Zihrun in 1928. Another one is in [[Lake Grove, New York]], and belongs to Mamoon Aldulaimi, which was originally given to him by [[Abdullah bar Negm|Sheikh Abdullah]], son of [[Negm bar Zahroon|Sheikh Negm]] and was copied by Yahya Ram Zihrun in 1940.<ref name="Buckley2010"/> A version of the Ginza by [[Mhatam Yuhana]]<ref>{{cite book |editor=Mhatam Yuhana |editor-link=Jabbar Choheili |date=2004 |title=Ginza Rba |location=Ahvaz |publisher=[[Mandaean Council of Ahvaz]]}} (''[[Right Ginza]]'': 497 pp.; ''[[Left Ginza]]'': 177 pp.)</ref> was also used by [[Carlos Gelbert]] in his 2011 English translation of the Ginza. Another manuscript known to Gelbert is a privately owned Ginza manuscript in [[Ahvaz]] belonging to Shaikh [[Abdullah Khaffaji]],<ref name="GR Gelbert"/> the grandson of [[Ram Zihrun]].<ref name="Buckley 2002">{{cite book|last=Buckley|first=Jorunn Jacobsen|title=The Mandaeans: ancient texts and modern people|publisher=Oxford University Press|publication-place=New York|year=2002|isbn=0-19-515385-5|oclc=65198443}}</ref>

Printed versions of the Ginza in Mandaic include:
*'''Norberg version''' (Mandaic, in Syriac script): A printed Ginza in Mandaic (printed using the [[Syriac alphabet]]) was published by [[Matthias Norberg]] in 1816. Based on Code Sabéen 2 (Paris Ms. B). It was republished by [[Gorgias Press]] in 2007.<ref>{{cite book | last=Norberg | first=Matthaeus | title=Lexidion et Onomasticon Codicis Nasaraei, cui Liber Adami Nomen | publisher=Gorgias Press | publication-place=Piscataway, New Jersey | date=2010 | isbn=978-1-61719-398-9 | series=Syriac Studies Library | volume=139}}</ref>
*'''Petermann version''' (Mandaic): In 1867, [[Julius Heinrich Petermann]] published Mandaic and Syriac transcriptions of the ''Ginza Rabba''.<ref name="Petermann">Petermann, Heinrich. 1867. ''[https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001337063 Sidra Rabba: Thesaurus sive Liber Magnus vulgo "Liber Adami" appellatus, opus Mandaeorum summi ponderis]''. Vols. 1–2. Leipzig: Weigel.</ref> His work was based on four different Ginza manuscripts held at Paris, and relied most heavily on MS Paris A (also known as [[commons:File:Sabéen 1.pdf|Code Sabéen 1]]). Only 100 copies were printed, 13 of which Petermann kept himself.<ref name="Haberl 2007"/> A three-volume set of Petermann's work was republished by [[Gorgias Press]] in 2007.<ref name="Petermann 2007">{{cite book | last=Petermann | first=Julius Heinrich | title=The Great Treasure or Great Book, commonly called "The Book of Adam," the Mandaeans' work of highest authority | publisher=Gorgias Press | publication-place=Piscataway, NJ, USA | date=2007-12-31 | isbn=978-1-4632-1222-3 | doi=10.31826/9781463212223 | url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.31826/9781463212223/html}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Petermann | first=Julius Heinrich | title=The great treasure or great book, commonly called "The book of Adam," the Mandaeans' work of highest authority | volume=1 | publisher=Gorgias Press | publication-place=Piscataway, New Jersey | date=2007 | isbn=978-1-59333-526-7}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Petermann | first=Julius Heinrich | title=The great treasure or great book, commonly called "The book of Adam," the Mandaeans' work of highest authority | volume=2 | publisher=Gorgias Press | publication-place=Piscataway, New Jersey | date=2007 | isbn=978-1-59333-527-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Petermann | first=Julius Heinrich | title=The great treasure or great book, commonly called "The book of Adam," the Mandaeans' work of highest authority | volume=3 | publisher=Gorgias Press | publication-place=Piscataway, New Jersey | date=2007 | isbn=978-1-59333-700-1}}</ref>
*'''Mubaraki version''' (Mandaic, in both Mandaic and Roman scripts): The full Ginza Rba in printed [[Mandaic script]], compiled primarily from the Mhatam Zihrun br rbai Adam manuscript from Iraq (copied in 1898 and dated 6 July 1899),<ref name=":3"/> was first published by [[Majid Fandi Al-Mubaraki]], [[Brikha Nasoraia|Haitham Mahdi Saed]] (also known as Brikha Nasoraia), and Brian Mubaraki in Sydney, Australia in March 1998 during [[Parwanaya]].<ref>Majid Fandi al-Mubaraki, [[Brikha Nasoraia|Haitham Mahdi Saaed]], and Brian Mubaraki (eds.) (1998). ''Ginza Rabba: The Great Treasure''. Northbridge, New South Wales: The Mandaean Research Centre. {{ISBN|0-646-35222-9}}.</ref> Two other Ginza versions were also consulted, including one copied by [[Ram Zihrun]] in Šuštar in 1843, and another one by Sam bar Zihrun, from the Manduia and ‛Kuma clans.<ref name="Buckley2010"/>{{rp|73}} A Roman transliteration of the entire Ginza Rba was also published in 1998 by Majid Fandi Al-Mubaraki and Brian Mubaraki.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Al-Mubaraki | first1=Majid Fandi | last2=Al-Mubaraki | first2=Brayan Majid | title=Ginza Rba : English transliteration | publication-place=[[Northbridge, New South Wales]] | publisher=The Mandaean Research Centre | date=1998 | isbn=0-9585705-2-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Ginza Rba English Transliteration|url=https://mandaeannetwork.com/Mandaean/Concordance_of_the_Mandaean_Ginza_Rba_holy_book_%20search_words_online/grconcord1.htm|editor-first2=Brian|editor-last2=Mubaraki|editor-first=Majid Fandi|editor-last=Al-Mubaraki|year=1998|location=Sydney|isbn=0-9585705-2-3}}</ref> At present, there are two published Mandaic-language editions of the Ginza published by [[Mandaeans]] themselves. The ''[[Concordance (publishing)|Concordance]] of the Mandaean Ginza Rba'' was published by Brian Mubaraki and Majid Fandi Al-Mubaraki in 2004.<ref>{{cite book|title=Concordance of the Mandaean Ginza Rba|editor-first=Brian|editor-last=Mubaraki|editor-first2=Majid Fandi|editor-last2=Al-Mubaraki|year=2004|location=Sydney|isbn=1-876888-09-1|url=https://mandaeannetwork.com/Mandaean/Concordance_of_the_Mandaean_Ginza_Rba_holy_book_%20search_words_online/}}</ref>
*'''Gelbert version''' (Mandaic, in Arabic script; derived from the '''Mhatam Yuhana version'''): The full [[Mhatam Yuhana]] Ginza manuscript from [[Ahvaz]], Iran was transcribed in [[Arabic script]] by [[Carlos Gelbert]] in 2021. As the fourth edition of the Gelbert's Arabic Ginza, Gelbert (2021) contains an Arabic translation side by side with the Mandaic transcription.<ref name="Gelbert 2021"/>
*'''Al-Sabti version''' (Mandaic): In 2022, Rbai [[Rafid al-Sabti]] published a printed Mandaic version of the ''Ginza Rabba'' based on a comparison of 22 manuscripts.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Treasure of Life: The holy book of the Mandaeans (ࡂࡉࡍࡆࡀ ࡖ ࡄࡉࡉࡀ)|editor-first1=Rabi Rafid|editor-last1=Al-Sabti|edition=1|isbn=978-9090360058|oclc=1351435847|date=24 July 2022|publication-place=Amsterdam}}</ref> The Al-Sabti Ginza contains 157 chapters, 602 pages, 111,684 words, and 560,825 letters.<ref>{{cite web | title=Holy book publication (RRC 6R); ࡂࡉࡍࡆࡀ ࡖ ࡄࡉࡉࡀ book design | website=Ardwan | date=2022-07-24 | url=https://ardwan.nl/ginza | access-date=2023-12-16}}</ref>

==Translations==
Notable translations and printed versions of the ''Ginza Rabba'' include:

*'''Norberg version''' (Latin, 1816): From 1815 to 1816, [[Matthias Norberg]] published a Latin translation of the ''Ginza Rabba'', titled ''Codex Nasaraeus liber Adami appellatus'' (3 volumes). The original Mandaic text, based on MS Paris B, was also printed in Syriac script alongside the Latin translation.<ref name="Norberg">Norberg, Matthias. ''Codex Nasaraeus Liber Adami appellatus''. 3 vols. Lund, 1815–16.</ref> There are also additional ''Onomasticon'' (glossary of names) and ''Lexidion'' (dictionary) volumes. Norberg's ''Codex Nasaraeus'' is known for influencing [[Helena Blavatsky]], the 19th-century founder of the [[Theosophy]] movement, by way of [[Samuel Fales Dunlap]]'s works.<ref name="Winchester">{{cite thesis|first=Jake B.|last=Winchester|title=Roots of the Oriental Gnosis: W. E. Coleman, H. P. Blavatsky, S. F. Dunlap|degree=MA|date=2015|publisher=University of Amsterdam|location=Amsterdam|url=https://www.academia.edu/15576311}}</ref>
*'''Lidzbarski version''' (German, 1925): In 1925, [[Mark Lidzbarski]] published the German translation ''Ginzā: Der Schatz, oder das grosse Buch der Mandäer''.<ref name="GR Lidzbarski">{{cite book|last=Lidzbarski|first=Mark|date=1925|title=Ginza: Der Schatz oder Das große Buch der Mandäer|location=Göttingen|publisher=Vandenhoek & Ruprecht|url=https://archive.org/details/MN41563ucmf_2}}</ref> Lidzbarski translated an edition of the Ginza by [[Julius Heinrich Petermann]] from the 1860s, which in turn relied upon four different Ginza manuscripts held at Paris. Lidzbarski was also able to include some material from a fifth Ginza which was held at [[Leiden]]. In 2022, an unproofed English translation of Lidzbarski (1925) was published online by Ram Al Sabiry.<ref>{{cite web | title=English Ginza Rabba, Mark Lidzbarski | first=Ram | last=Al Sabiry | location=Nuremberg | via=Internet Archive | date=2022-06-24 | url=https://archive.org/details/ginza-lidzbarski-mark-ram-al-sabiry.translated-2 | access-date=2024-08-22}}</ref>
*'''Baghdad version''' (Arabic, abridged, 2000): An Arabic version of the ''Ginza Rabba'', similar to that of the Al-Saadi (Drabsha) version, was first published in Baghdad in 2000.<ref>Qūzī, Yūsuf Mattī, al-Suhayrī, Ṣabīḥ Madlūl, and ʿAbd al-Wāḥid, ʿAbd al-Razzāq, eds and trans (2000). ''Kanzā Rabbā: al-Kanz al-ʿAẓīm, al-Kitāb al-Muqaddas li-l-Ṣābīʾah al-Mandāʾīyīn''. Baghdad: al-Dīwān li-l-Ṭabāʿah.</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=گنزا ربا = الكنز العظيم : الكتاب المقدس للصابئة المندائيين / Ginzā rabbā = al-Kanz al-ʻaẓīm: al-Kitāb al-muqaddas lil-Ṣābiʼah al-Mandāʼīyīn|author1=Yūsuf Mattī Qūzī|author2=Ṣabīḥ Madlūl Suhayrī|author3=ʻAbd al-Razzāq ʻAbd al-Wāḥid|author4=Bashīr ʻAbd al-Wāḥid Yūsuf|location=Baghdad|publisher=اللجنة العليا المشرفة على ترجمة گنزا ربا / al-Lajnah al-ʻUlyā al-mushrifah ʻalá tarjamat Ginzā Rabbā|year=2001|oclc=122788344}} (Pages 1–136 (2nd group: al-Yasār) are bound upside down according to Mandaean tradition.)</ref> A Persian translation based on the 2000 Arabic Ginza was completed by [[Salem Choheili]] in 2021.<ref>{{cite book |last=Choheili |first=Salem |author-link=Salem Choheili |date=2021 |title=گنزا ربا |url=https://www.gisoom.com/book/11777008/%DA%A9%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A8-%DA%AF%D9%86%D8%B2%D8%A7-%D8%B1%D8%A8%D8%A7/ |location=Ahvaz |publisher=Tarava [ترآوا] |isbn=9786003474161}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=برگردان فارسی کتاب مقدس منداییان منتشر شد | website=ایسنا | date=2021-04-22 | url=https://www.isna.ir/news/1400020201133/%D8%A8%D8%B1%DA%AF%D8%B1%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%B3%DB%8C-%DA%A9%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A8-%D9%85%D9%82%D8%AF%D8%B3-%D9%85%D9%86%D8%AF%D8%A7%DB%8C%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%85%D9%86%D8%AA%D8%B4%D8%B1-%D8%B4%D8%AF | language=fa | access-date=2024-07-30}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title=گنزا ربا | website=شبکه جامع کتاب گیسوم | isbn=978-600-347-416-1 | url=https://www.gisoom.com/book/11777008/%DA%A9%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A8-%DA%AF%D9%86%D8%B2%D8%A7-%D8%B1%D8%A8%D8%A7/ | language=fa | access-date=2024-07-30}}</ref><ref name="adyan">{{cite web|title=سالم چحیلی|website=اطلس اقلیت‌های دینی ایران|url=https://adyan-iran.com/1399/11/27/%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85-%DA%86%D8%AD%DB%8C%D9%84%DB%8C2/|language=fa|access-date=2024-02-02}}</ref>
*'''Al-Saadi (Drabsha) version''' (English, abridged, 2012): Under the official auspices of the Mandaean spiritual leadership, Drs. Qais Al-Saadi and Hamed Al-Saadi published an English translation of the ''Ginza Rabba: The Great Treasure'' in 2012. In 2019, the second edition was published by Drabsha in Germany. The translation, endorsed by the Mandaean [[rishama]]s [[Salah Choheili]] (Salah Jabbar Tawos) and [[Sattar Jabbar Hilo]], is designed for contemporary use by the Mandaean community and is based on an Arabic translation of the ''Ginza Rabba'' that was published in Baghdad.<ref name="GR Saadi">{{cite book |url=https://www.amazon.de/Ginza-Rabba-English-Translation-Drabsha/dp/B00A3GO458|last1=Al-Saadi |first1=Qais Mughashghash |last2=Al-Saadi |first2=Hamed Mughashghash |title=Ginza Rabba: The Great Treasure. An equivalent translation of the Mandaean Holy Book |year=2012 |publisher=Drabsha}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://hieroilogoi.org/2013/05/30/online-resources-for-the-mandaeans/|title=Online Resources for the Mandaeans|date=2013-05-30|work=Hieroi Logoi|access-date=2017-12-27|language=en-US|archive-date=17 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231217134530/https://hieroilogoi.org/2013/05/30/online-resources-for-the-mandaeans|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Ginza Rabba "The Great Treasure" The Holy Book of the Mandaeans in English|website=Mandaean Associations Union|last=Al-Saadi|first=Qais|date=2014-09-27|url=http://www.mandaeanunion.com/component/k2/item/1383-ginza-rebba|access-date=2021-09-21}}</ref> However, it has been criticized for being overly abridged and paraphrased.<ref name="Gelbert John">{{cite book|last1=Gelbert|first1=Carlos|url=https://livingwaterbooks.com.au/product/john-the-baptist/|title=The Teachings of the Mandaean John the Baptist|isbn=9780958034678|location=Fairfield, NSW, Australia|publisher=Living Water Books|year=2017|oclc=1000148487}}</ref>
*'''Gelbert version''' (English translation in 2011; Arabic translation in 2000, revised 2021): The first full [[English language|English]] translation of the ''Ginza Rba'' was published by [[Carlos Gelbert]] in 2011, with the collaboration of Mark J. Lofts and other editors.<ref name="GR Gelbert">{{cite book |url=https://livingwaterbooks.com.au/product/ginza-rba/ |last1=Gelbert |first1=Carlos |editor-last1=Lofts |editor-first1=Mark J. |title=Ginza Rba |year=2011 |publisher=Living Water Books |location=Sydney |isbn=9780958034630}}</ref> The Mandaic transcription is mostly based on the Mhatam Yuhana ''Ginza Rba'' from Iran (transcribed in the late 1990s and published in 2004 under the supervision of [[Mhatam Yuhana]], the ''[[ganzibra]]'' or head-priest of the [[Mandaean Council of Ahvaz]] in Iran). Most of the English translation was based on [[Mark Lidzbarski]]'s 1925 German translation of the Ginza, along with additional English translations of passages from the Mubaraki and Mhatam Yuhana Ginzas that are not found in Lidzbarski (1925).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://livingwaterbooks.com.au/about-the-author/|title=About the author|work=Living Water Books|access-date=2021-09-05|quote=He has translated Lidzbarski's books from the German to two different languages: English and Arabic.}}</ref> Gelbert's 2011 edition is currently the only full-length English translation of the Ginza that contains detailed commentary, with extensive footnotes and many original Mandaic phrases transcribed in the text. An Arabic translation of the Ginza was also published by Gelbert in 2000,<ref>Gelbert, Carlos, trans. (2000). ''Kinza Rabba. Kitāb al-Mandāʾīna al-kabīr / Ginza. Das große Buch der Mandäer von M. Lidzbarski''. Translated from German to Modern Arabic. Sydney: Living Water Books.</ref> with the fourth edition published in 2021.<ref name="Gelbert 2021">{{cite book|last1=Gelbert|first1=Carlos|url=https://livingwaterbooks.com.au/product/ginza-rba-2/|title=گینزا ربَّا = Ginza Rba|lang=ar|location=Edensor Park, NSW, Australia|publisher=Living Water Books|year=2021|isbn=9780648795407}}</ref> The Arabic edition also contains the original Mandaic text transcribed in Arabic script.
*'''Häberl''' (2022): An English translation and analysis of the ''Book of Kings'', the final book of the [[Right Ginza]].<ref name="Häberl 2022">{{cite book | last=Häberl | first=Charles | url=https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10.3828/9781800856271 | title=The Book of Kings and the Explanations of This World: A Universal History from the Late Sasanian Empire | location=Liverpool | publisher=Liverpool University Press | date=2022 | isbn=978-1-80085-627-1 | page=| doi=10.3828/9781800856271 | doi-broken-date=12 July 2025 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Right Ginza]]
* [[Left Ginza]]
* [[Qulasta]]
* [[Mandaean Book of John]]
* [[List of Mandaic manuscripts]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote|Ginza Rabba}}
{{Commons category|Ginza Rabba}}
*[https://archive.org/details/ginzderschatzode0000unse German translation] (1925) by [[Mark Lidzbarski]] at the [[Internet Archive]] ([[:commons:File:Ginza der Schatz.pdf|Commons file]])
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20240220092053/https://mandaeannetwork.com/Mandaean/Concordance_of_the_Mandaean_Ginza_Rba_holy_book_%20search_words_online/grconcord1.htm Roman transliteration of the Ginza Rba] by Majid Fandi Al-Mubaraki and Brian Mubaraki (1998)
*[https://cal.huc.edu/showsubtexts.php?subtext=74410&cset=H Transliterated text of the Right Ginza] (''The [[Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon]]'') based on MS Paris Codex Sabéen 2 and MS Leiden
*[https://cal.huc.edu/showsubtexts.php?subtext=74411&cset=H Transliterated text of the Left Ginza] (''The [[Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon]]'') based on MS Paris Codex  Sabéen 1 and also consults the Codex Sabéen 2 and 3 manuscripts

;Mandaean Network texts
*[https://mandaeannetwork.com/Mandaean/mandaean_mandaic_ginzarba_holy_book_of_mandaean.html Ginza Rabba] (Mandaic text from the Mandaean Network)
*[http://www.mandaeannetwork.com/mandaean/ma/books/mandaeannetwork_mandaeans_holy_book_ginza_rba_mandaic.html Ginza Rabba] (Mandaic text from the Mandaean Network)
*[http://www.mandaeannetwork.com/mandaean/ma/books/mandaeannetwork_concordance_to_ginza_rba.html Ginza Rabba concordance] (Mandaic text from the Mandaean Network)

;Petermann Ginza
*[https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001337063 Petermann edition of the Ginza Rabba] (4 versions of volume 1; 2 versions of volume 2)
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=iGQVAAAAYAAJ Petermann Ginza] (Mandaic script) (Google Books)
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=meRCAAAAcAAJ Petermann Ginza] (Syriac script, Vienna copy) (Google Books)
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=eiLQ8fUrd4AC Petermann Ginza] (Syriac script, Munich copy) (Google Books)

;Norberg Ginza
*''Codex Nasaraeus'' [[commons:File:Codex Nasaraeus I.pdf|Vol. 1]], [[commons:File:Codex Nasaraeus II.pdf|Vol. 2]], [[commons:File:Codex Nasaraeus III.pdf|Vol. 3]] from Wikimedia Commons
**[https://books.google.com/books?id=DAdMAAAAYAAJ Volumes 1 and 2] and [https://books.google.com/books?id=wtlCAAAAcAAJ Volume 3] from [[Google Books]]
*[[commons:File:Onomasticon Codicis Nasaraei.pdf|''Onomasticon Codicis Nasaraei'']] from Wikimedia Commons
*[[commons:File:Lexidion Codicis Nasaraei.pdf|''Lexidion Codicis Nasaraei'']] from Wikimedia Commons

;Paris Ginza manuscripts
*[[commons:File:Sabéen 1.pdf|Code Sabéen 1]] (Paris Ms. A) from Wikimedia Commons
*[[commons:File:Sabéen 4.pdf|Code Sabéen 4]] (Paris Ms. D) from Wikimedia Commons

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