Abdullah bar Sam

{{Infobox religious biography

| child =

| honorific_prefix = Sheikh

| name = Abdullah bar Sam

| native_name =

| native_name_lang = myz

| honorific_suffix =

| image = Ganzibra Dakhil Mandi 013.jpg

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption = Portrait of Ganzibra Sheikh Abdullah bar Sam at Ganzibra Dakhil Mandi

| citizenship = Iraqi

| pronunciation =

| birth_name =

| birth_date = unknown; {{circa|1890}}?

| birth_place = Qal'at Saleh, Ottoman Iraq

| death_date = 1981

| death_place = Baghdad, Iraq

| other_names = Adam Zihrun bar Sam

| years_active = until 1981

| occupation = Mandaean priest

| education =

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| known_for =

| spouse =

| partner =

| father = Sam, son of Jabbar

| children = Abdul Jabbar Abdullah

| relatives = Sinan Abdullah (grandson)

| relativesvv =

| website =

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| nocat_wdimage =

| religion = Mandaeism

| church =

| ordained =

| laicised =

| writings =

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| offices_held =

| title = Ganzibra

| module =

| initiated = Jabbar Choheili (1948), Salah Choheili (1976)

| predecessor = Dakhil Aidan

| successor = Abdullah bar Negm

}}

Sheikh (Rabbi) Abdullah bar Sam ({{langx|ar|عبدالله ابن سام}}; born in Qal'at Saleh, Iraq; died 1981, Baghdad, Iraq) was an Iraqi Mandaean priest. He is known as the priestly initiator of Jabbar Choheili and Salah Choheili, as well as the father of physicist Abdul Jabbar Abdullah.{{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}}{{rp|44}}

Life

File:مندى ديانة الصابئة المندائية في بغداد 06.jpg (left) at the Sabian–Mandaean Mandi of Baghdad]]

File:Keychain of Ganzibra Sam.jpg

Abdullah bar Sam was born into the Manduia and ‛Kuma families in Qal'at Saleh, Iraq, probably sometime just before the turn of the 20th century. His father's name was the Ganzibra Sam, son of Sheikh Jabbar. Abdullah bar Sam's Mandaean baptismal name was Adam Zihrun bar Sam ({{langx|myz|ࡀࡃࡀࡌ ࡆࡉࡄࡓࡅࡍ ࡁࡓ ࡎࡀࡌ|translit=Adam Zihrun br Sam}}).

Ganzibra Abdullah copied the Ginza Rabba by hand in 1928; as of 2010, that copy of the Ginza Rabba belonged to the Elmanahi family in New York state, United States.{{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}}{{rp|65–66}}

In 1948, he initiated Jabbar Choheili from Ahvaz, Iran into the priesthood. In 1976, he initiated Jabbar Choheili's son Salah Choheili as a tarmida at the Mandi of Dora, Baghdad.{{cite web | title=Rishamma Salah Choheili, Chapter 2(Ba) | work=The Worlds of Mandaean Priests | via=YouTube | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stOdSSwNTi0 | access-date=2023-09-27}}

Family

His son Abdul Jabbar Abdullah (1911–1969) was a well-known physicist and meteorologist, while his grandson is Sinan Abdullah.{{rp|44}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ajabdullah.com/docs/documents/birth_certificate.pdf|title=Birth Certificate|website=|date=|access-date=12 December 2017}}