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I wonder why a religion that seems to have always been from around-about southern Iraq is so concerned with the prophets out of Jewish history. It makes sense
by adrianratnapala 8y ago
I wonder why a religion that seems to have always been from around-about southern Iraq is so concerned with the prophets out of Jewish history.
It makes sense if the religion appeared fairly late, so that Roman Christians could make that history a big thing that others pay attention too. But it is more puzzling if the Mandaens are pre-Christian as they seem to claim.
Other possibilities are (a) Judaism itself is was bigger deal among non-Jews than I imagined or (b) it's a selection effect under Islam: people who happened to revere Jewish prophets could make a strong claim to being "People of the Book" and were thus allowed to keep their religion.
- acjohnson55 8y agoDue to the exile, the Jewish people were widely dispersed throughout the entirety of the Roman Imperial era [1], even more so after the suppression of the revolts. So regardless of whether Mandaeism is pre-Christian or not, Judaism must have been nearby. Especially in Babylon. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_diaspora#Dispersion_of_the_Jews_in_the_Roman_Empire https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_diaspora#Dispersion_of_...
- cdoxsey 8y agoThe Jewish people were dispersed when Israel was conquered, first by Assyria and then by Babylon (modern day Iraq). This led to the exile (diaspora). In addition to the people the ideas were dispersed. A good example of this are the magi who come to visit the young Jesus following an astrological sign - an odd mix of Jewish and Persian syncretism. During Roman times Jews could be found all over the Roman Empire. In particular Alexandria, which was a center for scholastic thought (see philo) So it doesn't seem a stretch that religions may have been influenced by Judaism fairly early.