The Mandaic Book of John

As an update on the Mandaean Book of John translation project, let me share the news that a blog has been created for the purpose of posting completed drafts of both the typed Mandaic text and English translation of the Mandaean Book of John. It can be visited at http://rogueleaf.com/book-of-john/  Please keep in mind that, for the time being at least, what is posted are drafts and not final, polished, corrected and edited versions of either the text or the translation, unless otherwise specified.

Since the texts I will be talking about in my conference paper at the Society of Biblical Literature International Meeting in London in July, "The Reception of Lukan Infancy Traditions in the Mandaean Book of John," would be rather much for a "handout," hopefully it will be not only adequate but better to provide the Mandaic text and English translation online. Here are direct links to the relevant sections:

Chapter 18 Mandaic
Chapter 18 English
Chapter 32 English

I will also make a copy of my paper available in due course.

(Cross-posted at Exploring Our Matrix)

Online Mandaic Lexicon

As a result of Charles Häberl's hard work, an online Mandaic lexicon is now available.

It is a work in progress, both in terms of content (lexemes will continue to be added as they are encountered) and in terms of formatting. Nevertheless, those interested in the Mandaic language, more broadly in Aramaic, or in the Mandaeans and Mandaism, will certainly find it interesting and useful immediately!

Ginza Rba Concordance Online

Via the Mandaean Gnosticism blog, I learned that in addition to numerous other Mandaean texts, the Ginza Rba is online (in both Mandaic script and transliteration, and now it also has a Google site), and what's more, now so too is the searchable concordance to the Ginza Rba.

Unicode Mandaic!

Steve Caruso shared the big news that the latest version of Unicode includes Mandaic characters!

Translating the Utras

There are supernatural beings in the Mandaean religious tradition called Utras (sometimes transliterated Uthras). The word 'utra has the root meaning of "wealth" but translating it that way might obscure the fact that this is a technical term for spiritual beings, and certainly would not be intelligible without a footnote and commentary.

One of the challenges translators face is illustrated by this example. Leaving the term untranslated and referring to Utras might capture that this is a technical term, but it also leaves the translator feeling as though they have simply failed to translate. But other options - angels, aeons, spirits, powers - seem either too broad, or too specific, or too loaded with specific connotations from other traditions.

Those of us involved in this project will be having ongoing discussions about this and other similar translation issues, and we'd love input from people who work on Aramaic, ancient religious texts, and other related fields. But we'd also love input from those who read translations of ancient texts, about how you feel when a word is simply left untranslated with a footnote, and conversely, when it is translated and a footnote indicates that there isn't a precise correspondence with the English word used.

Mandaean Book of John Project Software

The software/font side of the Mandaean Book of John project is the domain of Steve Caruso, and just today he posted on his blog The Aramaic Blog about where he sees this aspect of the project headed. Pay a visit and find out what he hopes to accomplish!

NEH Announces Grant Award To Fund English Translation Of The Mandaean Book Of John

The NEH has announced that it will be funding a grant proposal I wrote for a project to translate the Mandaean Book of John into English. Over the next two years, the focus will be on producing a typed eclectic Mandaic text using the available manuscript evidence, and an English translation. The longer-term goal is to publish the Mandaic text and English translation in a volume that also includes commentary.

My principal collaborator on the project is Dr. Charles Häberl of Rutgers University, an expert in Semitic languages whose doctoral research and first book are on a spoken dialect of Neo-Mandaic. Also involved as a consultant is Dr. April DeConick, well known not only for her contribution to scholarship on the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Judas, Gnosticism and mysticism in antiquity, but also for her blog, Forbidden Gospels. Steve Caruso, whom you may know from The Aramaic Blog, will also be involved.

I'm delighted to be able to announce this project and share our excitement about it with you!