On the banks of the rivers of southern Iraq and Iran, a small community still practices a religion that is nearly two thousand years old. Its members are called Mandaeans, and their holy book is the Ginza Rabba , "the Great Treasure." They baptize in flowing water, they honor John the Baptist as their greatest prophet, and they say that the world was made not by the true God but by lesser powers. Almost every other Gnostic religion died out centuries ago. The Mandaean faith survives, and its book is a rare chance to hear a Gnostic voice from inside a living tradition. Who the Mandaeans Are The Mandaeans take their name from the word manda , which means "knowledge" in their language, Mandaic, a dialect of Aramaic. They are also known as Sabians in Arabic sources, a name that gave them legal protection under Islamic rule. Their home has been the marshes and rivers of southern Iraq and the Iranian province of Khuzestan. Where the religion began is debated. Some ...