Adam Kasia

{{Short description|The hidden Adam in Mandaeism}}

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{{Mandaeism}}

Adam Kasia ({{langx|myz|ࡀࡃࡀࡌ ࡊࡀࡎࡉࡀ}}; also referred to using the portmanteau Adakas {{lang|myz|ࡀࡃࡀࡊࡀࡎ}} or Adakas Ziwa in the Ginza Rabba{{cite book |url=https://livingwaterbooks.com.au/product/ginza-rba/ |last1=Gelbert |first1=Carlos |title=Ginza Rba |year=2011 |publisher=Living Water Books |location=Sydney |isbn=9780958034630}}) means "the hidden Adam" in Mandaic.{{cite book|author=Manfred Lurker|title=The Routledge Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses, Devils and Demons|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vtj0wSsw1JcC&pg=PA3|year=2004|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-34018-2|page=3}} The hidden Adam is also called Adam Qadmaiia ({{lang|myz|ࡀࡃࡀࡌ ࡒࡀࡃࡌࡀࡉࡉࡀ}}, "The First Adam"). In Mandaeism, it means the soul of the first man.{{Cite book|url=http://khazarzar.skeptik.net/books/mandaean/adam.pdf|title=The Secret Adam - The Study of Nasoraean Gnosis|last=Drower|first=E.S.|author-link=E. S. Drower|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1960|isbn=|location=|pages=}} He is also identified as Shishlam, the primordial priest.{{cite book |last1=Drower |first1=E. S. |title=A Mandaic Dictionary |date=26 July 2021 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=978-1-7252-7204-0 |page=464a |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nws8EAAAQBAJ&q=464 |language=en}}

Among the Mandaeans, Adam Kasia means the soul of every human.{{Cite book|title=Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans|last=Drower|first=E.S.|publisher=Brill|year=1942|isbn=978-90-04-00496-2|location=|pages=}}{{Cite book|title=The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran: Their Cults, Customs, Magic Legends, and Folklore|last=Drower|first=E.S.|publisher=Gorgias Press|year=2002|isbn=1931956499|location=|pages=}} Adam Kasia shows many similarities with the Jewish idea of Adam Kadmon.{{Cite web|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/adam-kadmon|title=Adam Kadmon|website=www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org|access-date=2020-01-11}}

Prayers in the Qulasta, such as the Asut Malkia, also refer to Adam as "Adam the First Man" (Adam Gabra Qadmaiia).{{Cite book|title=The Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans|last=Drower|first=E. S.|publisher=E. J. Brill|year=1959|location=Leiden}} The Thousand and Twelve Questions, a Mandaean priestly text, also refers to Adam Kasia as Adam-S'haq{{cite book|last=Drower|first=Ethel S.|title=The Thousand and Twelve Questions: A Mandaean Text (Alf Trisar Šuialia)|location=Berlin|publisher=Akademie Verlag|year=1960|page=228, footnote 3}} ('Adam-was-bright'), Adam-S'haq-Ziwa, or Adam-S'haq-Rba, who is described as the father of Shishlam, the archetype of the prototypical Mandaean.{{cite book|last=Drower|first=Ethel S.|title=The Thousand and Twelve Questions: A Mandaean Text (Alf Trisar Šuialia)|location=Berlin|publisher=Akademie Verlag|year=1960|pages=112, 127, 136}}

The wife of Adam Kasia is Hawa Kasia ('hidden Eve'), also known as Hawa Ziwa ('radiant Eve') or Anana Ziwa ('radiant cloud').{{Cite book|url=http://khazarzar.skeptik.net/books/mandaean/adam.pdf|title=The Secret Adam - A Study of Nasoraean Gnosis|last=Drower|first=E.S.|author-link=E. S. Drower|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1960|page=36}}