Adam Kasia
The hidden Adam in Mandaeism
Adam Kasia (Classical Mandaic: ࡀࡃࡀࡌ ࡊࡀࡎࡉࡀ; also referred to using the portmanteau Adakas ࡀࡃࡀࡊࡀࡎ or Adakas Ziwa in the Ginza Rabba[1]) means "the hidden Adam" in Mandaic.[2] The hidden Adam is also called Adam Qadmaiia (ࡀࡃࡀࡌ ࡒࡀࡃࡌࡀࡉࡉࡀ, "The First Adam").[2] In Mandaeism, it means the soul of the first man.[3] He is also identified as Shishlam, the primordial priest.[4]
Among the Mandaeans, Adam Kasia means the soul of every human.[2][5][6] Adam Kasia shows many similarities with the Jewish idea of Adam Kadmon.[7]
Prayers in the Qolasta, such as the Asiet Malkia, also refer to Adam as "Adam the First Man" (Adam Gabra Qadmaiia).[8] The Thousand and Twelve Questions, a Mandaean priestly text, also refers to Adam Kasia as Adam-S'haq[9] ('Adam-was-bright'), Adam-S'haq-Ziwa,[3] or Adam-S'haq-Rba, who is described as the father of Shishlam, the archetype of the prototypical Mandaean.[10]
The wife of Adam Kasia is Hawa Kasia ('hidden Eve'), also known as Hawa Ziwa ('radiant Eve') or Anana Ziwa ('radiant cloud').[11]
See also
- Adam and Eve
- Adam Kadmon in Judaism
- Adam Pagria (earthly Adam)
- Al-Insān al-Kāmil in Islam
- Cosmic Man
- Purusha in Hinduism
- Shishlam
References
- ^ Gelbert, Carlos (2011). Ginza Rba. Sydney: Living Water Books. ISBN 9780958034630.
- ^ a b c Manfred Lurker (2004). The Routledge Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses, Devils and Demons. Psychology Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-415-34018-2.
- ^ a b Drower, E.S. (1960). The Secret Adam - The Study of Nasoraean Gnosis (PDF). Oxford University Press.
- ^ Drower, E. S. (26 July 2021). A Mandaic Dictionary. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 464a. ISBN 978-1-7252-7204-0.
- ^ Drower, E.S. (1942). Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-00496-2.
- ^ Drower, E.S. (2002). The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran: Their Cults, Customs, Magic Legends, and Folklore. Gorgias Press. ISBN 1931956499.
- ^ "Adam Kadmon". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 2020-01-11.
- ^ Drower, E. S. (1959). The Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans. Leiden: E. J. Brill.
- ^ Drower, Ethel S. (1960). The Thousand and Twelve Questions: A Mandaean Text (Alf Trisar Šuialia). Berlin: Akademie Verlag. p. 228, footnote 3.
- ^ Drower, Ethel S. (1960). The Thousand and Twelve Questions: A Mandaean Text (Alf Trisar Šuialia). Berlin: Akademie Verlag. pp. 112, 127, 136.
- ^ Drower, E.S. (1960). The Secret Adam - A Study of Nasoraean Gnosis (PDF). Oxford University Press. p. 36.
Sources
- Ethel Stefana Drower: The Secret Adam: A Study of Naṣoraean Gnosis, Clarendon Press, 1960, p. 21
- Ethel Stefana Drower: The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran: Their Cults, Customs, Magic Legends, and Folklore, Gorgias Press, p. 73, ISBN 1-931956-49-9
- Manfred Lurker: A Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses, Devils and Demons, Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, 1987, p. 6
- Gerhard J. Bellinger: Knaurs Lexikon der Mythologie. 3100 Stichwörter zu den Mythen aller Völker von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart. Droemer Knaur Verlag, München 1989, ISBN 3-426-26376-9.
- Horst Robert Balz, Gerhard Krause, Gerhard Müller: Theologische Realenzyklopädie. Band 22. 1992.
