klila
{{Short description|Mandaean ritual myrtle wreath or ring}}
{{Mandaeism}}
File:Mandaeans celebrating the Creation Day (Brunaya), Maysan, Iraq - Mar 17, 2019 10.jpg festival on the banks of the Tigris River in Maysan Governorate, Iraq on 17 March 2019]]
In Mandaeism, the klila ({{langx|myz|ࡊࡋࡉࡋࡀ}}) is a small myrtle ({{langx|myz|ࡀࡎࡀ|translit=asa}}) wreath or ring (translated as "circlet" by E. S. Drower) used during Mandaean religious rituals. The klila is a female symbol that complements the taga, a white crown which always takes on masculine symbolism.{{cite book|last=Buckley|first=Jorunn Jacobsen|title=The Mandaeans: ancient texts and modern people|publisher=Oxford University Press|publication-place=New York|year=2002|isbn=0-19-515385-5|oclc=65198443}}Drower, Ethel Stefana (1937). The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran. Oxford at the Clarendon Press.
The klila is used to adorn the drabsha, a wooden cross covered with a white cloth that is the main symbol of Mandaeism.
Description
The klila that is used for wearing on the right little finger is made by splitting a young myrtle twig with leaves in half, and then intertwining the two split halves to make a ring that can fit around the finger.
Use in rituals
In the ''Qulasta''
{{further|Qulasta#List of prayers}}
Several prayers in the Qulasta are recited when consecrating and putting on the klila, including prayers 19, 46, 47, 61, and 79.{{Cite book|title=The Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans|last=Drower|first=E. S.|publisher=E. J. Brill|year=1959|location=Leiden}}
In E. S. Drower's version of the Qulasta, prayers 305-329 are recited for the klila, as well as for the taga.
Hazazban (or Haza-Zban) is mentioned in Qulasta prayers 19 and 27 as an uthra who sets wreaths (klila) upon the heads of Mandaeans who are performing masbuta.
Syriac parallels
In the Syriac Peshitta, the word {{transliteration|syc|klila}} ({{langx|syc|ܟܠܝܠܐ|lit=wreath}}) is used to refer to Jesus' crown of thorns in the Gospels. In contrast, {{transliteration|syc|tga}} ({{langx|syc|ܬܓܐ|lit=diadem}}), cognate with Mandaic taga, is used to refer to heavenly crowns in the Book of Revelation.{{cite web | title=Dukhrana Analytical Lexicon of the Syriac New Testament | website=Dukhrana Biblical Research | date=2021-02-13 | url=http://dukhrana.com/lexicon/ | access-date=2023-12-10}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2ILF6Vv8Lk Preparing the klila: cutting myrtle] (video)
- [https://mandaeanpriests.exeter.ac.uk/items/show/52 Sydney 2014 Masbuta 06: Crown the Baptisee with the Klila] (photo gallery)
{{Mandaeism footer}}
Category:Mandaean religious objects
Category:Symbols of Abrahamic religions