SABA1SM was the name given to a religious system which anciently prevailed to a great extent in Arabia and 3lesopotamia. Sabaism is frequently coufounded with the &abaci, and Is sometimes described as the religion of the latter people ; but the two words are quite distinct, and are writteu differently in the Semitic languages. The first letter in Sabah= is Tsado (a.), and consequently the word would be written more correctly Tvabsustn.
Tsabaisin was derived, according to its followers, from Tsabi, the son or brother of Enoch, but be 'more probably derived from their worshipping the " Host of Heaven" (r.! 8.?;:). According to the Arabic writers, Teabaisin was the same as the religion of the ancient Chaliimans, and appears to have been one of the earliest and simplest tonne of idolatry. They believed in the unity of the Deity, but at the same time paid adoration to the :tats, or the angels and intelligences, which they supposed to reside in them and to govern the world under the supreme Deity. In the course of time images were made to represent the angels or intelligences dwelling in the stars; and the consequence of this would naturally be, that the common people would eventually worship them, as if they were gods. That the unity of the Deity was however still acknowledged in the religious system of the Tsabians is manifest from the way this religion is spoken of in the Kerlin; in Which it is distinguished from polytheism, and is allowed to exist on the payment of tribute.
The religious books of Tsalmiam were written in Syriac, and are referred to by early Arabic writers, but none of them are known in Europe. It appears that the Tsabians believed that the souls of wicked men would be punished for nine thousand years, and would afterwards be received to mercy. They were obliged to pray three times a day, at sunrise, noon, and sunset ; and to observe three annual fasts, one of thirty days, another of nine, and a third of seven. They offered many sacrifices, but ate no part of them. They abstained from
beans, gsrlick, and some other pulse and vegetables. They were accustomed to go on pilgrimage to flaxen in 3lesopotamia.
-Timbale= as a religious system no longer exists, but the name has been frequently, but incorrectly, applied to the Mandaites, or Christians of St. John, as they have been called. The name of Tsabians has been given to this sect by the Arabs, as they are accustomed to apply the term of Tsabians to many different religious sects. The Mandaites are found principally at the mouths of the Euphrates and near Bagdad, but they are not Christians, and the name of ' Christians of St. John' has been given to them in consequence of John being tho name of the founder of their sect. From the manner in which John the Baptist is mentioned in the sacred books of the Mandaites, it appears that they supposed him to have been the founder of their religious system, and that his doctrines were corrupted by Christ. Their sacred books have been brought over to Europe ; and an account of them is given by Silvestro do Sacy, in the Journal des Savans,' Paris, 1819 ; but they are written in such a mystical style that it is exceedingly difficult to understand their meaning. There are three books : 1. "Ile Book of Adam ; ' 2. ' The Book of Yaliya, or John the Baptist ; ' and 3. The Kholasteh,' or Ritual. They are written in a peculiar character, which boars great resemblance to the Syriac or Western Aramaean ; but the language in which they are composed more nearly resembles the Chaldaic or Eastern Aramm.an. The greater part of the Book of Adam' was published by Norberg, under the title of 'Codex Nese rieua, Liber Adaral appellatus,' 5 vols. Ito, Loud. Goth., 1810-17. In the' Book of Adam' the Christians, Jews, and Mohammedans are equally attacked; but the 3Iandaites appear to have adopted many things from Christianity, and they probably owe their origin to some of the Gnostic sects, which extensively prevailed in Asia.