{{Short description|Mandaean ritual meal commemorating the dead}} {{Mandaeism}} In Mandaeism, the '''lofani''', '''laufani''',<ref>Crangle, E., Nasoraia, B. (2010). "[https://poj.peeters-leuven.be/secure/POJ/downloadpdf.php?ticket_id=604f368d44fec Soul Food: The Mandaean Laufani]". ''ARAM Periodical'', 22, 97-132.</ref> or '''laufania''' ({{langx|myz|ࡋࡀࡅࡐࡀࡍࡉࡀ}}<ref>Al Saadi, Qais (2012). ''Nhura: English-Mandaic/Mandaic-Mandaic Dictionary''. First Edition, Drabsha.</ref>) is a type of ritual meal commemorating the dead.<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> It is etymologically related to the word ''laufa'' ("spiritual communion"), since lofani meals symbolize the connection of the souls of the living and the dead. The meal sometimes contains sacrificed sheep or dove meat.<ref name="Drower 1937">Drower, Ethel Stefana. 1937. ''The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran''. Oxford At The Clarendon Press.</ref>
The lofani is a minor ritual meal which does not require the presence of a priest.<ref>{{cite book |last=Drower |first=E. S. |title=Water into wine: a study of ritual idiom in the Middle East |publisher=John Murray |location=London |date=1956 |url=https://archive.org/details/waterintowinestu0000drow}}</ref>{{rp|232}} It is distinct from the ''zidqa brikha'' and ''dukrana'', which are two other types of ritual meal offered for the dead.<ref name="Drower 1937"/>
During Abu al-Haris, a day of remembrance commemorating the drowned people of Noah's flood (on the first day of the 6th Mandaean month Sarṭana), grains and cereals are eaten as part of a special lofani.<ref name="Häberl 2022">{{cite book | last=Häberl | first=Charles | url=https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10.3828/9781800856271 | title=The Book of Kings and the Explanations of This World: A Universal History from the Late Sasanian Empire | location=Liverpool | publisher=Liverpool University Press | date=2022 | isbn=978-1-80085-627-1}}</ref>{{rp|17}}
==Gallery== Lofani being prepared by Mandaean laypeople in Ahvaz, Iran:
<gallery> File:Parwanaya 2015 Ahvaz 20.jpg File:Parwanaya 2015 Ahvaz 21.jpg File:Lofani 01.jpg File:Lofani 02.jpg File:Lofani 03.jpg File:Lofani 04.jpg File:Lofani 05.jpg File:Lofani 06.jpg File:Lofani 07.jpg </gallery>
==See also== *Sacred food as offering *Dukrana *Eucharist *Holy Qurbana in Syriac Christianity *Kispu in Ancient Mesopotamia *Koliva *Laufa *Prasada in Hinduism *Zidqa brika
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Lofani}} *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKB9YThZhTA Lofani in Ahvaz, part 1] *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8cLfPLMJ9Y Lofani in Ahvaz, part 2] *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTVkJjFIH-w Lofani in Ahvaz, part 3] *[https://mandaeanpriests.exeter.ac.uk/items/show/124 Lofani/Dokhrani (ritual meal for the dead)]: Lay Mandaeans in Iran (unedited clips and photographs) *[https://mandaeanpriests.exeter.ac.uk/items/show/126 Lofani/Dokhrani (ritual meal for the dead)]: as performed and explained by Tarmida Khaldoon Majid Abdullah
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Category:Mandaean ceremonial food and drink Category:Mandaic words and phrases Category:Funeral food and drink
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