Shishlam

Shishlam
Prototypical Mandaean priest
Other names	Shishlam Rabba (Šišlam Rba)
Texts	The Coronation of the Great Shishlam The Wedding of the Great Shishlam
Ethnic group	Mandaeans
Festivals	Feast of the Great Shishlam
Consort	Ezlat

In Mandaeism, Shishlam (Classical Mandaic: ࡔࡉࡔࡋࡀࡌ, romanized: Šišlam, lit. 'consummate perfection';^[1]) is a figure representing the prototypical Mandaean priest or Mandaean. He is also frequently referred to in Mandaean texts as Šišlam Rabba (Classical Mandaic: ࡔࡉࡔࡋࡀࡌ ࡓࡁࡀ, romanized: Šišlam Rba, lit. 'Great Shishlam'.^[2] Shishlam is sometimes identified with Adam Kasia, the "Perfect Man".^[3]

In Mandaean scriptures

In Mandaean texts, Shishlam communicates with uthras from the World of Light and partakes in rituals to re-establish laufa (spiritual connection) with the World of Light.^[2] Hence, Shishlam is essentially a literary personification or representation of the Mandaean who is participating in the ritual that the text is being used for.

The Wedding of the Great Shishlam, a ritual text used during Mandaean wedding ceremonies, is named after Shishlam.^[4][5]

As the priestly prototype or archetype, Shishlam features prominently in several Mandaean priestly esoteric texts used during tarmida and ganzibra initiation ceremonies. These texts include:

• The Thousand and Twelve Questions,^[6] which mentions Shishlam as the son of Nbat,^[7] or alternatively as the son of Adam S'haq Rba (literally 'Adam was bright, the Great'). Ezlat "She Wove", described as the "Wellspring of Light," is mentioned as Shishlam's wife or female consort.^[8] In Book 2, Part 5.2 of The 1012 Questions, Shishlam is also mentioned as the son of Lihdaia Rba Zadiqa (the "Unique Great Holy One"; or "Unique Great Righteous One," see Right Ginza 9.2^[9]).
• The Coronation of the Great Shishlam^[10]
• The Scroll of Exalted Kingship^[11]
• Alma Rišaia Rba^[12]
• Alma Rišaia Zuṭa^[12]

Feast

Main article: Feast of the Great Shishlam

Shishlam's festival is the Feast of the Great Shishlam, celebrated annually by Mandaeans on the sixth and seventh days of the first month.^[13]

See also

• Self in Jungian psychology, a Jungian archetype
• Adam Kasia
• Mandaean priest
• Yura (Mandaeism)
• Ezlat

References

1. Drower/Macuch: Drower, E. S. (2021). A Mandaic Dictionary. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 464a. ISBN 978-1-7252-7204-0.
2. Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2010). The great stem of souls: reconstructing Mandaean history. Piscataway, N.J: Gorgias Press. ISBN 978-1-59333-621-9.
3. Drower/Macuch: Drower, E. S. (2021). A Mandaic Dictionary. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 464a. ISBN 978-1-7252-7204-0.
4. Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2002). The Mandaeans: ancient texts and modern people. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-515385-5. OCLC 65198443.
5. Drower, E. S. 1950. Šarḥ ḏ qabin ḏ šišlam rba (D. C. 38). Explanatory Commentary on the Marriage Ceremony of the great Šišlam. Rome: Ponteficio Istituto Biblico. (text transliterated and translated)
6. Drower, Ethel S. (1960). The Thousand and Twelve Questions: A Mandaean Text (Alf Trisar Šuialia). Berlin: Akademie Verlag.
7. Drower, Ethel S. (1960). The Thousand and Twelve Questions: A Mandaean Text (Alf Trisar Šuialia). Berlin: Akademie Verlag. p. 158.
8. Drower, Ethel S. (1960). The Thousand and Twelve Questions: A Mandaean Text (Alf Trisar Šuialia). Berlin: Akademie Verlag. p. 111.
9. Gelbert, Carlos (2011). Ginza Rba. Sydney: Living Water Books. ISBN 9780958034630.
10. Drower, E. S. 1962. The Coronation of the Great Šišlam: Being a Description of the Rite of the Coronation of a Mandaean Priest according to the ancient Canon. Leiden: Brill.
11. Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (1993). The Scroll of Exalted Kingship: Diwan Malkuta ʿLaita. New Haven, Connecticut: American Oriented Society.
12. Drower, E. S. 1963. A Pair of Naṣoraean Commentaries: Two Priestly Documents, the Great First World and the Lesser First World. Leiden: Brill.
13. Aldihisi, Sabah (2008). The story of creation in the Mandaean holy book in the Ginza Rba (PhD). University College London.