# Pihta

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{{Short description|Mandaean sacramental bread}}
thumb|right|Kneading dough for pihta during the 1930s in southern Iraq
{{Mandaeism}}
{{Distinguish|pita}}
In [Mandaeism](/source/Mandaeism), the '''pihta''' ({{langx|myz|ࡐࡉࡄࡕࡀ|lit=opened; something broken apart or into pieces}}<ref name="Secret Adam">{{cite book|last=Drower|first=E. S.|author-link=E. S. Drower|date=1960|title=The secret Adam: a study of Nasoraean gnosis|location=Oxford|publisher=Clarendon Press}}</ref>{{rp|3}}) is a type of [sacramental bread](/source/sacramental_bread) used with rituals performed by [Mandaean priest](/source/Mandaean_priest)s. It is a small, round, biscuit-sized [flatbread](/source/flatbread) that can either be salted or saltless, depending on whether the ritual use of the pihta is for living or dead people.<ref name="Buckley 2002"/>

The pihta is not to be confused with the ''[faṭira](/source/fa%E1%B9%ADira)'', a small, round, saltless, half-baked biscuit also used in Mandaean rituals.<ref name="Buckley 2002"/>

==Description==
The pihta, as used in rituals for living people such as the [masbuta](/source/masbuta), is a small, round, salted, biscuit-sized [flatbread](/source/flatbread) made by mixing flour and salt with water, followed by baking. It can only be made by Mandaean priests, and the flour is also ground by priests.<ref name="Drower 1937">Drower, Ethel Stefana. 1937. ''The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran''. Oxford At The Clarendon Press.</ref> Unlike the ''[faṭira](/source/fa%E1%B9%ADira)'', which is saltless sacramental bread used for the [masiqta](/source/masiqta), the pihta (as used in masbuta rituals) is salted (with salt mixed into the dough before baking), since salt (''mihla'') represents symbolizes the soul according to the ''[Alma Rišaia Rba](/source/Alma_Ri%C5%A1aia_Rba)''. However, pihta is also used during [masiqta](/source/masiqta) rituals. In this case, the pihta is not salted, since the lack of salt symbolizes the departure of the soul from the body.<ref name="Buckley 2002"/> (''See also'': [blessed salt](/source/blessed_salt))

==Ritual usage==
Every Sunday, Mandaeans participate in a baptismal mass (''[maṣbuta](/source/ma%E1%B9%A3buta)'') involving immersion in flowing water (''[yardna](/source/yardna)'') by ordained priests. The baptized then consume pieces of salted pihta blessed by a priest in order to restore their connections (''[laufa](/source/laufa)'') with the [World of Light](/source/World_of_Light) (see [Mandaean cosmology](/source/Mandaean_cosmology)).<ref name="Buckley 2002">{{cite book|last=Buckley|first=Jorunn Jacobsen|title=The Mandaeans: ancient texts and modern people|publisher=Oxford University Press|publication-place=New York|year=2002|isbn=0-19-515385-5|oclc=65198443}}</ref>

Saltless pihta is also used in [masiqta](/source/masiqta) rituals.<ref name="DC27">{{cite book|last=Burtea|first=Bogdan|title=Zihrun, das verborgene Geheimnis|publisher=Harrassowitz|publication-place=Wiesbaden|year=2008|isbn=978-3-447-05644-1|oclc=221130512|language=de|url=https://www.harrassowitz-verlag.de/%26Zihrun_das_verborgene_Geheimnis%26/titel_115.ahtml}}</ref>

==Associated ritual objects==
The ''brihi'' is a ritual clay fire saucer. Its narrow end faces north. The ''brihi'' is used for the pihta and [riha](/source/riha_(Mandaeism)).<ref name="SymbolicArt">{{cite book |last=van Rompaey |first=Sandra |title=Mandaean Symbolic Art |publisher=Brepols |publication-place=Turnhout |date=2024 |isbn=978-2-503-59365-4 |url=https://www.brepols.net/products/IS-9782503593654-1}}</ref>

The ''gišar'' is a stone flour mill that can only be used by priests for grinding sacramental flour.<ref name="SymbolicArt">{{cite book |last=van Rompaey |first=Sandra |title=Mandaean Symbolic Art |publisher=Brepols |publication-place=Turnhout |date=2024 |isbn=978-2-503-59365-4 |url=https://www.brepols.net/products/IS-9782503593654-1}}</ref>

==Prayers==
Various prayers in the ''[Qulasta](/source/Qulasta)'', including prayers [36](/source/s%3ATranslation%3AQolasta%2FPrayer_36)–[45](/source/s%3ATranslation%3AQolasta%2FPrayer_45) and [59](/source/s%3ATranslation%3AQolasta%2FPrayer_59), are recited during the sacrament of the pihta.<ref name="Drower 1959">{{Cite book|title=The Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans|last=Drower|first=E. S.|publisher=E. J. Brill|year=1959|location=Leiden}}</ref>

==See also==
*[Sacramental bread](/source/Sacramental_bread)
*[Fatira](/source/Fatira)
*[Sa (Mandaeism)](/source/Sa_(Mandaeism))

==References==
{{Commons category|Pihta}}
{{reflist}}

{{Mandaeism footer}}
{{Flatbreads}}
Category:Flatbreads
Category:Mandaean ceremonial food and drink
Category:Mandaic words and phrases
Category:Unleavened breads

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Pihta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pihta) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pihta?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.