pihta
{{Short description|Mandaean sacramental bread}}
{{Mandaeism}}
{{Distinguish|pita}}
In Mandaeism, the pihta ({{langx|myz|ࡐࡉࡄࡕࡀ|lit=opened; something broken apart or into pieces}}{{cite book|last=Drower|first=E. S.|author-link=E. S. Drower|date=1960|title=The secret Adam: a study of Nasoraean gnosis|location=Oxford|publisher=Clarendon Press}}{{rp|3}}) is a type of sacramental bread used with rituals performed by Mandaean priests. It is a small, round, biscuit-sized flatbread that can either be salted or saltless, depending on whether the ritual use of the pihta is for living or dead people.
The pihta is not to be confused with the faṭira, a small, round, saltless, half-baked biscuit also used in Mandaean rituals.
Description
The pihta, as used in rituals for living people such as the masbuta, is a small, round, salted, biscuit-sized flatbread made by mixing flour and salt with water, followed by baking. It can only be made by Mandaean priests, and the flour is also ground by priests.Drower, Ethel Stefana. 1937. The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran. Oxford At The Clarendon Press. Unlike the faṭira, which is saltless sacramental bread used for the masiqta, the pihta (as used in masbuta rituals) is salted (with salt mixed into the dough before baking), since salt (mihla) represents symbolizes the soul according to the Alma Rišaia Rba. However, pihta is also used during masiqta rituals. In this case, the pihta is not salted, since the lack of salt symbolizes the departure of the soul from the body. (See also: blessed salt)
Ritual usage
Every Sunday, Mandaeans participate in a baptismal mass (maṣbuta) involving immersion in flowing water (yardna) by ordained priests. The baptized then consume pieces of salted pihta blessed by a priest in order to restore their connections (laufa) with the World of Light (see Mandaean cosmology).{{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}}
Saltless pihta is also used in masiqta rituals.{{cite book|last=Burtea|first=Bogdan|title=Zihrun, das verborgene Geheimnis|publisher=Harrassowitz|publication-place=Wiesbaden|year=2008|isbn=978-3-447-05644-1|oclc=221130512|language=de|url=https://www.harrassowitz-verlag.de/%26Zihrun_das_verborgene_Geheimnis%26/titel_115.ahtml}}
Associated ritual objects
The brihi is a ritual clay fire saucer that is narrow end faces north. It is used for the pihta and riha.{{cite book |last=van Rompaey |first=Sandra |title=Mandaean Symbolic Art |publisher=Brepols |publication-place=Turnhout |date=2024 |isbn=978-2-503-59365-4 |url=https://www.brepols.net/products/IS-9782503593654-1}}
The gišar is a stone flour mill that can only be used by priests for grinding sacramental flour.{{cite book |last=van Rompaey |first=Sandra |title=Mandaean Symbolic Art |publisher=Brepols |publication-place=Turnhout |date=2024 |isbn=978-2-503-59365-4 |url=https://www.brepols.net/products/IS-9782503593654-1}}
Prayers
Various prayers in the Qulasta, including prayers 36-45 and 59, are recited during the sacrament of the pihta.{{Cite book|title=The Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans|last=Drower|first=E. S.|publisher=E. J. Brill|year=1959|location=Leiden}}
See also
References
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Category:Mandaean ceremonial food and drink