Ship in Mandaeism
An 18th-century manuscript of the Scroll of Abatur in the Bodleian Library , Oxford . The illustration on top depicts the ship Shahrat ferrying Mandaean souls towards the house of Abatur , while the lower illustration shows the tree of Shatrin with the souls of unbaptized children. Carving of a ship carrying Mandaean souls , on the front door of the Ganzibra Dakhil Mandi in Liverpool, New South Wales , Australia. It is based on the manuscript illustration above. In Mandaeism , Shahrat (Classical Mandaic : ࡔࡀࡄࡓࡀࡕ , romanized: Šahrat , lit. 'she kept watch') is a ship or boat mentioned in the Scroll of Abatur . Shahrat ferries souls from Tibil across the river Hitpun and into the house of Abatur .[1] According to the Mandaean priest Brikha Nasoraia (2021), it is basically a "space-ship " traveling "faster than the speed of light" through ayar (ether ) to higher realms.[2] : 71
In Mandaean Book of John 55:60–61, the ship ferrying souls to the house of Abatur is described as follows.[3]
I (Hibil Ziwa ) made a ship for the good,
a ferry of souls carrying them,
over to Abatur's house,
who gives them strength and truth from head to toe.