The Asut Malkia[1] ("Salutation of Kings"[2]) or Asiet Malkia is one of the most commonly recited prayers in Mandaeism. In the prayer, the reciter wishes health and victory (asuta u-zakutaࡀࡎࡅࡕࡀ ࡅࡆࡀࡊࡅࡕࡀ) upon dozens of heavenly and ancestral figures. According to E. S. Drower, it is recited daily by priests and also before all baptisms (masbuta), ritual meals (lofani), and various rites.[3]
The Asut Malkia is numbered as Prayer 105 in E. S. Drower's version of the Qulasta, which was based on manuscript 53 of the Drower Collection (abbreviated DC 53).[4]
Etymology
Asut or asuta can be literally translated as 'healing', while malkia means 'kings' (singular form: malka).[1]
Similarly, Mandaeans typically greet each other with the phrase:[1]
Asuta nihwilkun (Classical Mandaic: ࡀࡎࡅࡕࡀ ࡍࡉࡄࡅࡉࡋࡊࡅࡍ, lit. 'Healing be upon you (pl.)')
Asawata ḏ-Hiia nihwilak (Classical Mandaic: ࡀࡎࡀࡅࡀࡕࡀ ࡖࡄࡉࡉࡀ ࡍࡉࡄࡅࡉࡋࡀࡊ, lit. 'All healings of the Living One(s) be upon you (sg.)')
Prayer
The formula asuta u-zakuta nihuilkun (ࡀࡎࡅࡕࡀ ࡅࡆࡀࡊࡅࡕࡀ ࡍࡉࡄࡅࡉࡋࡊࡅࡍ "health and victory are yours") is recited dozens of times in the prayer before the names of each uthra or set of uthras, Hayyi Rabbi, some of the prophets, and the reciter himself, almost all of whom are addressed as malka (ࡌࡀࡋࡊࡀ "king").
Drower (1937)
Drower's (1937) version lists the following uthras, etc.[3]
Treasure of the Great First Sublime Life (ginza d-hiia rbia qadmaiia yaqira)
malki (kings) and ʿutri and indwellers, and flowing waters and outgushings and all the dwellings of the World of Light
The word niṭufta (spelled niṭupta) originally means 'drop' and has sometimes also been translated as 'cloud'. It is also often used as an appellation to refer to the consorts of uthras.[5]
Drower (1959)
Drower's (1959) version, which differs from the version in Drower (1937), lists the following uthras, etc.[4]
running streams and škintas of the world(s) of light
Al-Mubaraki (2010)
Below is a list of names and entities mentioned in the Asut Malkia, from Majid Fandi Al-Mubaraki's Qulasta (volume 2),[6] as edited by Matthew Morgenstern and Ohad Abudraham in the Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon.[7] Some names are addressed with the title Malka ("King"), while others are not. It is longer than Drower's version and is currently the most commonly used version recited by contemporary Mandaeans.
Great Gate of the House of Honored Mercies (Baba Rba ḏ-Bit Rahmia Yaqira)
honored first ancestors (Abahatan Qadmaiia Yaqiria)
Treasure (Ginza) of Hayyi Rabbi, the Honored First One (Qadmaiia Yaqira)
Malka Exalted Lord of Greatness (Mara ḏ-Rabuta ˁlaita)
Malka Pure Yušamin, son of Niṣibtun (Yušamin Dakia bar Niṣibtun)
Below is the full transliterated Mandaic text of the above. The recurring formula [asuta u-zakuta] Error: {{Lang}}: invalid parameter: |lit= (help) is repeated 66 times.[7]
^Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2010). The great stem of souls: reconstructing Mandaean history. Piscataway, N.J: Gorgias Press. ISBN978-1-59333-621-9.
^ abDrower, Ethel Stefana. 1937. The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran. Oxford At The Clarendon Press.
^ abDrower, E. S. (1959). The Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans. Leiden: E. J. Brill.
^Macúch, Rudolf (1965). Handbook of Classical and Modern Mandaic. Berlin: De Gruyter.
^Al-Mubaraki, Majid Fandi; Mubaraki, Brian (2010). Qulasta - 'niania & Qabina / Mandaean Liturgical Prayer Book (Responses & Marriage). Vol. 2. Luddenham, New South Wales: Mandaean Research Centre. ISBN9781876888152. (1999 edition: ISBN 0-9585704-4-X)
