Ruha

For the city in southern Turkey, seeUrfa.

Ruha
Other names	Namrus, Ewath
Abode	World of Darkness
Genealogy
Parents	Qin
Siblings	Zahreil
Consort	Gaf
Offspring	Ur,Seven Planets(Šuba),Twelve Constellations(Trisar)

InMandaeism,Rūha(Classical Mandaic:ࡓࡅࡄࡀ,lit. 'spirit/breath'; also known asNamrūsorHiwat(Ewath;Classical Mandaic:ࡏࡅࡀࡕ)) is the queen of theWorld of Darkness(alma ḏ-hšuka) orunderworld.She rules the underworld together with her sonUr,the king of the World of Darkness, and her entourage of theseven planetsandtwelve constellations,who are also her offspring with Ur.

Ruha is the daughter ofQin,the Mistress of Darkness in the first underworld. She is the ruler of the thirdmaṭarta(watch-house or purgatory). She is associated with lust, uncleanness (i.e., menstrual impurity), and other negative feminine qualities.

Names and epithets

TheGinza Rabbarefers to Ruha using variousepithets,such as:

• Rūha Masṭanita"Ruha the Seductress"
• Rūha ḏ-Qudša"Holy Spirit"
• ḏ-Libat ʿstra Amamit"Libat-Ishtar-Amamit"(i.e.,Venus)

Use of the term "Holy Spirit" for Ruha is primarily confined topolemicaltexts, and not found in esoteric or ritual scrolls.

Other epithets mentioned in theGinza Rabbaare:

• Amamit
• Namrus (Nimrus)
• Qananit (inRight GinzaBook 6, i.e. theBook ofDinanukht)
• Dayum (inLeft Ginza3.27)

Gelbert (2013) connects the name Ruha to the cityUrha(Edessa), although this hypothesis has not been peer reviewed.

Children

See also:Mandaean cosmologyandMandaean calendar

Rūha bears a son calledUrwithGaf,one of the giants in theWorld of Darknessdescribed in book 5 of theGinza Rabba.She then commits incest with Ur, giving birth to theseven planetsand twelvezodiacs(listed below).

Twelve Constellations (trisar malwašia)

• Daula(Aquarius)
• Nuna(Pisces)
• ʿmbra(Aries)
• Taura(Taurus)
• Ṣilmia(Gemini)
• Sarṭana(Cancer)
• Aria(Leo)
• Šumbulta(Virgo)
• Qaina(Libra)
• Arqba(Scorpio)
• Hiṭia(Sagittarius)
• Gadia(Capricorn)

Seven Planets (šuba šibiahia)

• Shamish(Sun)
• Libat(Venus)
• Nbu(Mercury)
• Sin(Moon)
• Kiwan(Saturn)
• Bil(Jupiter)
• Nirig(Mars)

Ruha also disguised herself asNoah's wife Anhuraita, sleeping with him and giving birth to three sons,Ham,Yam,andYafet.

Cosmological role

According toJorunn Jacobsen Buckley,Ruha is a complex character who can not be simply portrayed as an evilarchon.

Captivity and role in creation

As part of his descent to the World of Darkness,Hibil Ziwaleads Ruha out of the World of Darkness, claiming to lead her to her parents in the world above, and seals her in a world belonging to neither light nor darkness. When sealed in this world, she gives birth toUr.Whereas Ur wishes to wage war against the World of Light, viewed in Ruha's mirror, Ruha discourages this intent. Hibil confiscates this mirror and binds Ur in chains, noting thatHayyi Rabbihad sent him in anger against Ur.

Ruha sleeps with Ur in a futile attempt to liberate him, giving birth to theseven planetsand twelve signs of the Zodiac, with whom she expresses dissatisfaction. Ruha andPtahilboth play a role in creation, with each gaining control when the other's power subsides, but cannot animate mankind with a soul, despite providing him with their own mysteries, since Ruha represents the ambivalent "spirit" element rather than the light-world "soul" element. Adam is made after Ptahil's image, while Hawa (Eve) is made either after Adam's image or after Ruha's, depending on account. When Adam dies and ascends to the World of Life, Ruha tempts Eve to mourn his loss, and laments her own lack of gnosis of the treasures of salvation; when Eve dies and is lead to the World of Light by Hibil, Ruha bewails that Hibil takes from her everything which is desirable, leaving only that which is worthless.

Founding of Jerusalem and interaction with envoys

Ruha, in command of her sons theseven planets,including Adonai (Shamish), sets out to buildJerusalem.Anush Uthraadmonishes that 365 Mandaeans will arise in the city, but Ruha goes ahead with its construction, erecting itsseven pillars.Anush preaches Mandaeism in Jerusalem and gains a following converting Jews to Mandaeism; due to this, the Jews persecute and kill the Mandaeans, leading Anush to plan to destroy the city in retribution. Ruha futilely begs Anush for a compromise, first for him not to destroy her city, then for her to be permitted to aid him in the destruction by collapsing the walls upon the Jews, killing them; Anush accepts neither plea.Although Adonai is depicted under Ruha's sway, theHaran Gawaitaindicates the Mandaeans loved Adonai while in Jerusalem until the birth of Jesus.

Ruha's other interactions with lightworld envoys such asHibil ZiwaandManda d-Hayyiare often more positive, where Ruha is rebuked but empowered, obtaining guidelines for her own salvation.

Redemption

In chapter 68 of theMandaean Book of John,Manda d-Hayyi retrieves Kanath-Niṭufta (translated byCharles G. HäberlandJames F. McGrathas "Droplet Steady" ) from the World of Darkness, who remains at the outer wall until summoned further under various epithets, including Marganita-Niṭufta (Droplet Pearl) and Simat-Hayyi-Niṭufta (Droplet Life's Treasure).Buckley notes that some of these names appear as epithets of Ruha in the illustratedDiwan Abatur(an observation which had been noticed, but dismissed as a confusion, byMark Lidzbarski), and that the namesSimat Hayyi(Life's Treasure) and Niṭufta (Drop), are names used for the consort of Hayyi Rabbi in the World of Light.

Buckley interprets a passage in theQolastareferring toSimat Hayyicoming forth from the World of Darkness and eventually being raised to the Place of Light as referring to Ruha, noting thatE. S. Drowerhad interpreted it in reference toZahreil,but arguing that Zahreil never left the World of Darkness. Buckley therefore argues that the Mandaean texts consider Ruha will eventually attain redemption, and merge with herdmutha(ideal counterpart) in the World of Light.

Revealer of gnosis

Buckley notes that Ruha's insights while still inTibil(Earth) reflect the insights of a Mandaean gnostic.

In Book 6 (also known as the "Book ofDinanukt") of theRight Ginza,Ruha makes a speech similar to the Gnostic poemThe Thunder, Perfect Mind.Part of the speech is given as an excerpt below.

I am the Life that was from the beginning.
I am the Truth (kušṭa) which existed even earlier in the beginning.
I am radiance; I am light.
I am death; I am life.
I am darkness; I am light.
I am error; I am truth.
I am destruction; I am construction.
I am light; I am error.
I am blow; I am healing.
I am the elevated man who is older and who was there before the builder of heaven and earth.
I have no peers among kings, and there is as yet no crown in my kingdom.
There is no human being who can give me a message in the foggy clouds of darkness.

– Translated byBuckley(2002)fromLidzbarski(1925),Right Ginza6, p. 207, lines 34–42.

As the spirit

Ruhacan also mean 'spirit', which is roughly equivalent topneumaor "breath" in Greek philosophy. It is distinct from thenišimta,or incarnatesoul.In Mandaeism, humans are considered to be made up of the physical body (pagra), soul (nišimta), and spirit (ruha).

Parallels

The story of Ruha in Mandaeism is one of the parallels to theGnosticstory ofSophiafalling out of thepleroma.Ruha at first dwells in theWorld of Light,until she "falls" and bears her sonUr.However, the conflict arising from seeking to create without the consent of the supreme deity is attributed toYushamin,the Second Life, and the origin of the demiurgic (Ptahil) is attributed toAbatur,the Third Life.

See also

• Krun
• Holy Spirit
• Rūḥ(Arabic cognate)
• Nishimta,the soul in Mandaeism