This entry records that Mandaeism, an ancient religion originating in the region of modern Iraq and Iran and generally regarded by scholars as the only Gnostic-related religious tradition to survive as a continuously practiced living faith into the present day, centers religious life heavily on ritual purification through repeated baptism in flowing water, called masbuta, performed by an ordained priesthood and accompanied by specific prayers and ritual formulas recorded in Mandaean religious texts including the Ginza Rba, without reproducing that specific liturgical content here.
Mandaean religious language, Mandaic, a form of Aramaic still used liturgically by the Mandaean priesthood, and the tradition's considerable body of scripture remain maintained and used by a shrinking but still active priesthood and community, primarily now in diaspora following severe displacement from Iraq particularly since the 2003 invasion and its aftermath.
Mandaean theology holds John the Baptist in particularly high regard as a central prophetic figure, a distinctive feature that has led some scholars to explore possible historical connections between Mandaeism and the wider baptismal and purity-focused religious movements documented in the region around the turn of the first millennium.