"No water, no life, says Sheikh Nidham, a Mandaean religious leader living in the southern Iraqi city of Amarah, on the banks of the river in which he has been regularly immersed since he was a month old. Mandaeans are members of one of the oldest gnostic religions in the world. Southern Iraq has been their homeland for more than a thousand years, particularly in Maysan province. Amarah, the provincial capital, is built around the Tigris. Water is central to their faith and every major life event requires ritual purification. Marriage ceremonies begin in water, and before drawing their last breath, Mandaeans should be taken to the river for a final cleansing."
"He says he has never got ill from drinking water from the Tigris River and believes that as long as the water is flowing, it is clean. But the truth is that soon it may not be flowing at all. Iraq's famed Tigris is heavily polluted and at risk of drying up. Unless urgent action is taken to save the river, life will be fundamentally altered for the ancient communities who live on its banks."
Sheikh Nidham Kreidi al-Sabahi, a 68-year-old Mandaean leader, uses only flowing river water for drinking and ritual purification and has been regularly immersed in the Tigris since infancy. Mandaeans are among the oldest gnostic faiths and center many life ceremonies on flowing water; marriages begin in water and the dying are taken to the river for final cleansing. The Tigris rises in southeast Turkey and flows through Mosul and Baghdad before joining the Euphrates. The river is heavily polluted and faces the risk of drying up, which would fundamentally alter daily life and religious practice for communities along its banks.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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