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Concept
Abatur
Summary
Abatur (, sometimes called Abathur; Yawar, ; and the Ancient of Days) is an Uthra and the second of three subservient emanations created by the Mandaean God Hayyi Rabbi (, “The Great Living God”) in the Mandaean religion. His name translates as the “father of the Uthras”, the Mandaean name for angels or guardians. His usual epithet is the Ancient (Atiga) and he is also called the deeply hidden and guarded. He is described as being the son of the first emanation, or Yoshamin (). He is also described as being the angel of Polaris.
He exists in two different personae. These include Abatur Rama (, the "lofty" or celestial Abatur), and his "lower" counterpart, Abatur of the Scales (), who weighs the souls of the dead to determine their fate. In Mandaean texts such as the Qolasta, Abatur is sometimes referred to as Bhaq Ziwa.
He is one of the main characters in the Scroll of Abatur, one of the more recent texts of the Mandaeans. The text begins with a lacuna. He is said to reside on the borderland between the here and the hereafter, at the farthest verge of the World of Light that lies toward the lower regions. Beneath him was originally nothing but a huge void with muddy black water at the bottom, in which his image was reflected. The existing text starts with Hibil (, an important World of Light envoy) telling Abatur to go and reside in the boundary between the World of Light and the World of Darkness, and weigh for purity those souls which have passed through all the matarta (spiritual toll houses) and wish to return to the light.
Abatur is not happy with the assignment, complaining that he is being asked to leave his home and his wives and do this task. Abatur then rather impatiently asks a whole series of questions regarding specific sins of omission and sins of commission, asking in effect how can such impure souls be saved. Hibil then answers these questions in a rather lengthy response.
A later section of the book reveals that Abatur is the source of Ptahil (), who fills the role of the demiurge in Mandaean mythology.
Official source
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