TEHRAN – A select of rare bowls belonged to ancient Mandaean followers dating from 4th to 7th centuries CE are on show at an online exhibition in Tehran.

The Glass and Ceramic Museum of Iran (commonly known as Abgineh) has organized the event concurrent with the Mandaean New Year that fell on July 16 this year, IRIB reported on Saturday.

The manuscript written on these earthenware bowls shows they were used in religious rituals of the Mandaean followers, the report added.

According to Encyclopedia Iranica, the Mandaeans must have arrived in Iran from the west (i.e., Jordan, Palestine) as early as the 1st and 2nd centuries CE.

The Mandaeans, whose official designation by their Iranian and Iraqi neighbors is “Sabeans” (“dippers,” “dyers,” “baptizers”), call themselves “Mandaeans” (“the knowledgeable ones”).

Today, the Mandaeans, whose population in Iran is estimated at 14,000 persons, are found chiefly in Khuzestan’s capital city of Ahwaz.

AFM/MG