Le Jésus mandéen: Entre mémoire nazoréenne et controverse religieuse à l’époque islamique

Abstract

Jesus is a well-known figure in Mandaean sources. Described as a “ false messiah,” a “seducer,” or a “sorcerer,” he is presented as the antagonist of John the Baptist, who is the embodiment of the genuine prophet and the presumed founder of the Mandaean religion. Based on an examination of the Jesus passages in the Mandaean sources, it is assumed that their highly polemical character reflects inter-religious conflicts in the Islamic period, when the Mandaeans were forced to distinguish themselves from the Christians as “People of the Book” with their own prophet and holy scriptures. This essay will also aim to open up some new avenues of reflection on the origins of Mandaeism and, above all, the re-elaboration of the memory of Mandaeism in the context of the advent of Islam in 7th-century Iraq and Iran.