{{Short description|Wooden staff carried by Mandaean priests}} {{For|the mountain in Switzerland|Piz da la Margna}} {{Infobox clothing type | name = Margna | image_file = Mandaean priest initiation 01.png | image_size = | caption = A Mandaean novice or ''šualia'' {{lang|myz|ࡔࡅࡀࡋࡉࡀ}} holding a ''margna'' in Baghdad, Iraq in 2008 | type = staff | material = wood (typically olive) | location = southern Iraq and southwestern Iran | manufacturer = | url = }} The '''margna''' ({{langx|myz|ࡌࡀࡓࡂࡍࡀ}}, {{IPA|mid|ˈmɑrgənæ}}) is a ritual olive wooden staff carried by Mandaean priests. A Mandaean priest always carries his margna during baptismal (masbuta) rituals.<ref name="Buckley 2002">{{cite book|last=Buckley|first=Jorunn Jacobsen|title=The Mandaeans: ancient texts and modern people|url=http://mandaeannetwork.com/Mandaean/books/english/2The_Mandaeans_Ancient_Texts_and_Modern_People_American_Academy_of_Religion_Books_Jorunn_Jacobsen_Buckley.pdf?bcsi_scan_955b0cd764557e80=0&bcsi_scan_filename=2The_Mandaeans_Ancient_Texts_and_Modern_People_American_Academy_of_Religion_Books_Jorunn_Jacobsen_Buckley.pdf|publisher=Oxford University Press|publication-place=New York|year=2002|isbn=0-19-515385-5|oclc=65198443|archive-date=2017-10-11|access-date=2022-06-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011181602/http://mandaeannetwork.com/Mandaean/books/english/2The_Mandaeans_Ancient_Texts_and_Modern_People_American_Academy_of_Religion_Books_Jorunn_Jacobsen_Buckley.pdf?bcsi_scan_955b0cd764557e80=0&bcsi_scan_filename=2The_Mandaeans_Ancient_Texts_and_Modern_People_American_Academy_of_Religion_Books_Jorunn_Jacobsen_Buckley.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
According to the ''Right Ginza'', the ''margna'' (staff) of Living Water (''Mia Hayya'') is one of the weapons of Manda d-Hayyi.<ref name="Aldihisi 2008">{{cite thesis|url=https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1444088/|last=Aldihisi|first=Sabah|year=2008|title=The story of creation in the Mandaean holy book in the Ginza Rba|type=PhD|publisher=University College London}}</ref>
==Etymology== thumb|Performing ablution for the margna during the 1930s in southern Iraq The Mandaic word ''margna'' is of Iranian origin.<ref name="Segelberg">{{cite book |last=Segelberg |first=Eric |author-link=Eric Segelberg |date=1958 |title=Maṣbuta: Studies in the Ritual of Mandaean Baptism |location=Uppsala |publisher=Almqvist and Wiksell}}</ref>
==In the ''Qulasta''== During priestly rituals, a klila (myrtle wreath) is placed on the margna.<ref name="Buckley 2002"/> In the Qulasta, Prayer 79 is a prayer for the klila placed on the margna.<ref name="Drower 1959"/>
Prayer 14 in the Qulasta is dedicated to the margna.<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> The prayer describes the margna as being covered in radiance (''ziwa'') and light (''nhura'').<ref name="Buckley 2002"/>
==See also== * {{anl|Aaron's rod}} * {{anl|Caduceus}} * {{slink|Mandaean priest|Clothing}} * {{anl|Rod of Asclepius}} * {{anl|Sceptre}} * {{anl|Staff of Moses}} * {{anl|Staff of office}} * {{anl|Was-sceptre}}
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Margna}} Category:Mandaean religious objects Category:Walking sticks Category:Olives in culture Category:Mandaic words and phrases Category:Plants in religion