{{Short description|Chief priest in Mandaeism}} {{For|the Mandaean ablution ritual|Rishama (ablution)}} {{Mandaeism}} A '''rishama''' (''rišama''; ''riš-ama''), '''rishamma''', or '''rishema''' ({{langx|myz|ࡓࡉࡔࡀࡌࡀ|lit='head/leader of the people'}}; {{langx|mid|rišammā}};<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 | page=219}}</ref> {{langx|ar|ريش امّة}}; {{langx|fa|ریشا اد اما}}) is a religious patriarch in Mandaeism.<ref name="Global Imams Council">{{cite web|title=His Holiness Sattar Jabbar Hilo – Global Imams Council|website=Global Imams Council|url=https://imams.org/team/his-holiness-sattar-jabbar-hilo/|access-date=2021-09-21|archive-date=2021-10-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211017161002/https://imams.org/team/his-holiness-sattar-jabbar-hilo/|url-status=dead}}</ref> It is the highest rank out of all the Mandaean clergical ranks.<ref name="GR Saadi">{{cite book |url=https://www.amazon.de/Ginza-Rabba-English-Translation-Drabsha/dp/B00A3GO458|last1=Al-Saadi |first1=Qais Mughashghash |last2=Al-Saadi |first2=Hamed Mughashghash |title=Ginza Rabba: The Great Treasure. An equivalent translation of the Mandaean Holy Book |year=2012 |publisher=Drabsha}}</ref> The next ranks are the ''ganzibra'' and ''tarmida'' priests (see Mandaean priest).
In Iraq, the current rishama is Sattar Jabbar Hilow.<ref name="Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker e.V. (GfbV)">{{cite web|title=Leader of the world's Mandaeans asks for help|website=Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker e.V. (GfbV)|url=https://www.gfbv.de/en/news/leader-of-the-worlds-mandaeans-asks-for-help-4879-1/|access-date=2021-09-21}}</ref><ref name="cese.iq">{{cite web|title=برئاسة الريش امة ستار جبار حلو، كجةجي يلتقي وفد من طائفة الصابئة المندائيين|website=cese.iq|url=http://www.cese.iq/akhbar/CESE-arch-2014/akh-arch-338-06082014.htm|date=2014|access-date=2021-09-21}}</ref><ref name="Mandaean Library">{{cite web|title=الريشما ستار جبار حلو رئيس ديانة الصابئة المندائيين|website=Mandaean Library مكتبة موسوعة العيون المعرفية|url=http://www.mandaeannetwork.com/mandaean/ar/pictures/mandaeannetwork_sheikh_sattar_jabar_hilu.html|language=ar|access-date=2021-09-21}}</ref> In Australia, there are two rishamas, namely Salah Choheili and Brikha Nasoraia.<ref>{{cite web|date=25 March 2019|title=Harmony Day - Liverpool signs declaration on cultural and religious harmony|url=https://www.liverpoolchampion.com.au/story/5971890/harmony-day-liverpool-signs-declaration-on-cultural-and-religious-harmony/|website=Liverpool City Champion|access-date=5 November 2021|archive-date=5 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211105211537/https://www.liverpoolchampion.com.au/story/5971890/harmony-day-liverpool-signs-declaration-on-cultural-and-religious-harmony/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite thesis |last=Amirteimour |first=Iman |date=2017 |title=The Iranian Children of Adam: A study on the Iranian Sabaean Mandaean community |url=https://www.duo.uio.no/bitstream/handle/10852/57957/Masters--thesis-by-Iman-Amirteimour.pdf |degree=M.A. |publisher=University of Oslo}}</ref>
==Etymology== The Mandaic term ''rišama'' is derived from the words ''riš'' 'head' and ''ama'' 'people'. Although the term for the Mandaean daily minor ablution is also spelled the same in written Classical Mandaic (''rišama''), the word for 'minor ablution' is pronounced in Modern Mandaic as {{lang|mid|rešāmā}}, while 'head priest' is pronounced {{lang|mid|rišammā}}.<ref name="Häberl 2022"/>
==Notable ''rishama'' or patriarchs== {{See also|List of Mandaean priests}}
===Pre-20th century=== *Zazai d-Gawazta bar Hawa, patriarch datable to around the year 270 CE and earliest known copyist of Alma Rišaia Zuṭa, Qulasta, The Thousand and Twelve Questions, The Baptism of Hibil Ziwa, Scroll of Exalted Kingship, and The Wedding of the Great Šišlam. The Ginza Rabba, however, predates Zazai's time.<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=2021-11-21|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>{{rp|157}}<ref>{{cite web|last=Gündüz|first=Şinasi|title=The problems of the nature and date of Mandaean sources|url=https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/188727|access-date=21 November 2021}}</ref> *Anush bar Danqa, the leader of the Mandaeans, who appeared before Muslim authorities at the beginning of the Muslim conquest of Persia *Yahya Bihram, who revived the entire Mandaean priesthood during the 1830s *Ram Zihrun, who revived the Mandaean priesthood during the 1830s together with his younger cousin Yahya Bihram
===20th and 21st centuries=== ;Iraq *Dakhil Aidan (1881–1964), patriarch from 1917 to 1964 in Iraq *Abdullah bar Sam (died 1981), patriarch from 1964 to 1981 in Baghdad *Abdullah bar Negm (died 2009; son of Negm bar Zahroon), patriarch from 1981 to 1999 in Baghdad; he emigrated to the United Kingdom in 2000 *Sattar Jabbar Hilow (born 1956), the current Mandaean patriarch in Baghdad since 2000
;Iran *Jabbar Choheili (1923–2014), rishama in Ahvaz
;Australia *Salah Choheili (born 1952), an Iranian-Australian priest who has been a rishama in Sydney since 2010<ref>{{cite web | title=Rishamma Salah Choheili: July 2016, Chapter 1 | website=The Worlds of Mandaean Priests | date=2016-07-01 | url=http://mandaeanpriests.exeter.ac.uk/items/show/24 | access-date=2021-11-09}}</ref> *Brikha Nasoraia (born 1964), an Iraqi-Australian priest who has been a rishama in Sydney since 2024
<gallery caption="Incumbent rishamas" style="text-align:center"> Mandaean priest initiation 02.png|Rishama Sattar Jabbar Hilow (Iraq) Rishamma Salah Choheili July 2016.jpg|Rishama Salah Choheili (Australia) Ganzibra Brikha Nasoraia July 2016.jpg|Rishama Brikha Nasoraia (Australia) </gallery>
==See also== * Chief Rabbi * Kohanim * Nasoraeans * Samaritan High Priest * Archbishop * Ethnarch * List of Mandaean priests * Ganzibra * Tarmida
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://mandaeanpriests.exeter.ac.uk/items/browse?collection=1&sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CTitle The Worlds of Mandaean Priests]
{{Mandaeism footer}} Category:Rishamas * Category:Mandaic words and phrases Category:Mandaean titles