{{Short description|Religious concept of vines in Mandaeism}} {{Mandaeism}} In Mandaeism, a '''gufna'''{{efn|/f/ is an allophone of /p/ in Mandaic.}} or '''gupna''' ({{langx|myz|ࡂࡅࡐࡍࡀ|lit=(grape)vine}}) is an uthra that is described as a personified grapevine in the World of Light.
==List of gufnas== In various Mandaean texts, several heavenly beings are described as personified grapevines (''gupna'') in the World of Light. For example, ''Right Ginza'' 15.8 lists the following gupnas in order:
*{{anchor|Taureil}}Taureil (Taurʿil) – also mentioned in Qulasta prayers 379 and 381.<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> ''Right Ginza'' 4 identifies Taureil as another name for Anan Anṣab. According to ''Right Ginza'' 15.8, the gupna Taureil "rests at the river of the pure Tarwan."<ref name="GR Gelbert">{{cite book |url=https://livingwaterbooks.com.au/product/ginza-rba/ |last1=Gelbert |first1=Carlos |title=Ginza Rba |year=2011 |publisher=Living Water Books |location=Sydney |isbn=9780958034630}}</ref> *{{anchor|Rwaz}}Rwaz (Ruaz) – also mentioned in ''Right Ginza'' 6 and 15.7, and in Qulasta prayers 71, 117, 196, 212, and 379 *{{anchor|Taureil}}Yusmir – also mentioned in ''Mandaean Book of John'' 62 and Qulasta prayers 14 (as "Yusmir-Yusamir"), 18, 28, 52, 171, and 379. According to ''Right Ginza'' 15.8, the gupna Yusmir "rests upon the earth of Sam Ziwa." In ''The Baptism of Hibil Ziwa'', Yusmir is the name of a shganda in the World of Light.<ref name="drower">{{cite book|last=Drower|first=Ethel S.|author-link=E. S. Drower|title=The Haran Gawaita and The Baptism of Hibil-Ziwa: The Mandaic text reproduced together with translation, notes and commentary |location=Vatican City |publisher=Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana|year=1953}}</ref> *Šarhabeil (Šarhabʿil) – also described as the Great First Radiance in Qulasta prayers 25 and 381. In ''Right Ginza'' 18, Šarhabeil and her husband Šurbai were the only survivors after the world was destroyed during the second epoch of the universe. According to ''Right Ginza'' 15.8, the gupna Šarhabeil "rests upon the earth of Hibil Ziwa." *{{anchor|Šar}}Šar (Shar; literal meaning: 'he was firm') – also mentioned in Qulasta prayers 36 and 374. Šar-Ziwa is mentioned in Qulasta prayer 372. Also identified with Hibil Ziwa. According to ''Right Ginza'' 15.8, the gupna Šar "rests upon the earth of the First Life." *{{anchor|Pirun}}Pirun – also mentioned in Qulasta prayers 36, 374, and 379 and in the first chapter of the ''Mandaean Book of John''. Pirun is described as a banner (drabsha) in Qulasta prayer 333, and as a "torrent" (river) in Qulasta prayer 378. In the ''Baptism of Hibil Ziwa'' (DC 35), Pirun is the name of a heavenly tree.<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> *Yawar is identified in ''Right Ginza'' 15.8 as "the first Gupna."
Yusmir, Šar, and Pirun are also mentioned in the first chapter of the ''Mandaean Book of John''.<ref name="Gelbert 2017">{{cite book|last1=Gelbert|first1=Carlos|url=https://livingwaterbooks.com.au/product/john-the-baptist/|title=The Teachings of the Mandaean John the Baptist|isbn=9780958034678|location=Fairfield, NSW, Australia|publisher=Living Water Books|year=2017|oclc=1000148487}}</ref><ref>{{citation|mode=cs1 |url=http://www.gnosis.org/library/The_Mandaean_Book_of_John_Open_Access_Ve.pdf |first1=Charles G. |last1=Häberl |author-link=Charles G. Häberl |first2=James F. |last2=McGrath |author-link2=James F. McGrath |date=2019 |title=The Mandaean Book of John: Text and Translation |version=Open Access Version |publisher=De Gruyter |place=Berlin/Boston}}</ref>
{{anchor|Šarat}}''Right Ginza'' 17.1 mentions Šarat (literal meaning: 'she was firm') as a ''gupna''. Šarat-Niṭupta is mentioned in ''Mandaean Book of John'' 68, and Šahrat is mentioned in Qulasta prayer 188.
In Mandaeism, vines are used to symbolize believers, or 'those of the true faith'.<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>
==See also== *Anana (Mandaeism) *Uthra *True Vine in Christianity
==Notes== {{Notelist}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{Authority control}} * Category:Mandaean cosmology Category:Mandaic words and phrases Category:Vines in religion