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Document Details :

Title: The Tree Šatrin and its Place in Mandaean Art
Author(s): VAN ROMPAY, Sandi
Journal: ARAM Periodical
Volume: 22    Date: 2010   
Pages: 183-207
DOI: 10.2143/ARAM.22.0.2131037

Abstract :
The notion of the tree in its many guises is a recurring theme in Mandaean religious manuscripts. The frequency of written references to specific trees or plants varies greatly from document to document, but these are particularly numerous in the Canonical Prayer Book of the Mandaeans. A corresponding pictorial range of trees and plants appears in the Mandaean illustrated manuscripts, each version varying in size, context and purpose. The fact that these tree illustrations are so numerous and depicted differently across eight major illustrated scrolls is highly significant. It indicates that tree and plant motifs are of prime symbolic importance to Mandaean religious thought and are represented by a particular iconography that is uniquely Mandaean.

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