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Title: An Arabo-Islamic Tale in Agreement with the Mandaean Belief that John the Baptist got Married
Author(s): PENNACCHIETI, Fabrizio A.
Journal: ARAM Periodical
Volume: 11    Issue: 2   Date: 1999-2000   
Pages: 233-236
DOI: 10.2143/ARAM.11.2.504464

Abstract :
It is well known that, according to the Mandaean tradition, the prophet John the Baptist got married and begot eight scores of children, although it has to be said that the prospect of being a married man did not particularly attract John the Baptist. Christian and Islamic literatures have no parallel with the Mandaean belief concerning the private life of John the Baptist. Only one unpublished Arabo-Islamic tale, The Story of the Skull and the King (حديث الجمجمة مع الملك), hints at the married status of John the Baptist. This tale is in fact a fancy Arabo-Islamic reinterpretation of the Jewish legend of Susanna and the Two Elders.

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