Amandi, mashkhanna[1] (ࡌࡀࡔࡊࡍࡀmaškna),[2]orbeth manda (beit manda, ࡁࡉࡕ ࡌࡀࡍࡃࡀbit manda, 'house of knowledge'; also bimanda[3]), is a Mandaean building that serves as a community center and place of worship. A mandi is traditionally built on the banks of a yardna, or flowing river.
Although mandis are traditionally "cult-huts" made of straw, bamboo, and mud that are built by the river,[4] nowadays mandis can also be modern buildings that serve as community houses and local administrative centers. A mandi typically holds weekly worship services, weddings, and many other important events and rituals.[2]
There is a mandi in Detroit, Michigan, USA that is run by the local Mandaean community.[13]
InNieuwegein, Utrecht, Netherlands, there is a mandi called Vereniging Mandi van de Mandeeërs Gemeenschap in Nederland (Mandi Association of the Mandaean Community in the Netherlands).[14]
The bit manda is described as biniana rab ḏ-srara ("the Great building of Truth") and bit tušlima ("house of Perfection") in Mandaean texts such as the Qolasta, Ginza Rabba, and the Mandaean Book of John. The only known literary parallels are in Essene texts from Qumran such as the Community Rule, which has similar phrases such as the "house of Perfection and Truth in Israel" (Community Rule 1QS VIII 9) and "house of Truth in Israel."[15]
^ abBuckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2002). The Mandaeans: ancient texts and modern people. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN0-19-515385-5. OCLC65198443.
^Drower, E. S. (1960). The secret Adam: a study of Nasoraean gnosis. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
^Drower, E. S. 1960. The Secret Adam: A Study of Nasoraean Gnosis. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
