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A SACRED, SULLIED SPACE
22,147
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A SACRED, SULLIED SPACE
Location: United Kingdom
Nationality: Iranian
Focus:
Photographer, Photojournalist, Travel, Environment, Documentary, Photography, Portraiture, International News, Student, Freelance, Assignments, Explorer, Human Rights, International, Short Films, Editorial, Photo Shoots
Covering:
Europe,
Middle East,
Skills:
Color Correction, Adobe InDesign, Apple Final Cut Pro, Photojournalism, Film Photography
A SACRED, SULLIED SPACE
One of Iran and Iraq's religious minority groups, which has survived for centuries, is now rapidly disappearing. Mandaeism, the last surviving Gnostic religion, is an ancient faith rooted in the teachings of John the Baptist. Originating in Mesopotamia, water is everything to the Sabian Mandaeans, who are baptized in it, get married in it and receive their last rites by the river's edge.
During their celebrations, the community believes that each individual should be baptized as many times as possible. But river pollution in recent years has been making it harder for the community to practice their rituals. Mandaeans fear extinction unless their traditions and people are protected.
Their numbers in Iran are estimated to be 5,000 and 10,000, though no census count exists. Not officially recognized by Iran’s constitution, they lack opportunities afforded by the Shia Muslim majority. The Mandaeans suffer varying degrees of discrimination in education and employment.
Throughout a journey into the Mandaeans' world and everyday lives and practices, this story explores the untold dimensions of being an ethnoreligious minority in Ahvaz, in southwestern Iran.
The sacred yet sullied river blurs the boundaries of the long-existing dichotomy of the sacredness of religiosity and profanity of contamination, as the Mandaeans are occasionally and arbitrarily labelled as Najis, ritually unclean, by the Muslim community of Ahvaz. This twofold tension between the Mandaeans' imagery of the purity of the Karun River and the Muslim community's image of Mandaeans as ritually unclean, as well as the reality of the pollution of the Karun river, shapes the story.
The story shows the challenges faced by the Mandaeans as they navigate social stigmas, environmental degradation, and their commitment to maintaining a connection to living water. The narrative unfolds as the Karun River becomes a metaphor for the complex interplay of culture, religion, pollution, and the photographer's role as a storyteller.
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© 2025 Solmaz Daryani
The Mandaean women wear gloves throughout their menstrual cycle; water figures prominently in their rites. Still, the stigma inhibits their lives in Iran in a very visceral way. Ahvaz, Iran.2016
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Mandean teenagers take selfies, before starting to sing religious songs in Mandy.
Ahvaz.Iran.2016
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Don’t take photos of the places that are dirty,” says Ms. KHafaji, the administrator of the Mandi, the place of worship for Mandaeans. “Take photos here; of the parts that are clean. “As Mandaeans are occasionally and arbitrarily labeled as Najis (ritually unclean, by the Muslim community of Ahvaz), This two-fold tension between the Mandaeans' imagery of the purity of the Karun River and the Muslim community's image of Mandaeans as ritually unclean as well as the reality of the pollution of the Karun river shape the story.Ahvaz, Iran.2016
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One of Mandea baptisms at occurs at the time of marriage.A mandean priest reads Ginza Rabba ( The Great Treasury) for bride before her baptize.Ahvaz, Iran.2016
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During the baptism ceremony of a recently married couple, the mother-of-the-bride suffers an asthma attack. The city of Ahvaz is the world’s most air-polluted, and many suffer from respiratory illness because of it. Ahvaz, Iran.2016
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Karun River with the length of 890 Km, is the longest river in the country which flows along many industrial and agricultural zones, however the discharge of untreated urban wastewater and industrial effluent, and the uncontrolled discharge of solid wastes directly into Karoon River. Ahvaz city, Iran.2016
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The Dead Cow in Karoun River.Ahvaz, Iran.2016
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One of the Mandean baptisms occurs at the time of marriage. A Mandean priest reads Ginza Rabba ("The Great Treasury") Scriptures as part of ritual purification. They dress in white “rastas” which symbolize purity and during the ceremony. Ahvaz, Iran.2016
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A local fisherman throws his net into the Karun River close to where Hospital waste goes into the water. Overexploitation of the Karun have spoiled the vitality of the critical water source and turned its blue waters green. Ahvaz, Iran. September 2016
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Industry and overexploitation of the Karun have spoiled the vitality of the critical water source and turned its blue waters green. The Karun River rushes from its headwaters in the Zagros mountain range through the Khuzestan plain. As Iran’s largest river, it is a lifeforce—not just for the millions of residents of Ahvaz, but for Iran at large. More than 70 per cent of the four million that live in the Khuzestan province, depending on the Karun River and its tributaries.Ahvaz, Iran. September 2016
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The banks offer a rare respite from the city of Ahvaz – a city that carries the title of world’s most air-polluted – and its population of 1.1 million. From here, the traffic that rushes across the Pol-e Sefid, the White Bridge, which crosses over the Karun and leads into the city centre is no more than a murmur. But the acrid smell of sewage is inescapable—a consequence of the volumes of wastewater that gush directly into the river, untreated. Ahvaz, Iran.2016
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Mrs.Choheili sits in the courtyard of her house.two of her daughter moved to USA.although she has Alzheimer but she remembers them and sometimes calls them loudly. she thinks they still live in the house. Ahvaz, Iran.2016
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Manije and his father are walking along the Karoun River.she says many of the younger Mandaeans are looking for opportunities abroad, many who have put down roots in Iran find it harder to leave. “We have not stayed here out of helplessness, It’s like, I have a family member with cancer. How can I abandon her? You know most of our youth wish that they could take Iran with themselves.”
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Some young Mandaeans are not so convinced with imbibing water or baptize in Karun as an act of their faith. Some of them think it is not clean and they cannot drink it.”Ahvaz, Iran.2016
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The Mandaeans are not recognized as a discrete group in the Islamic Republic's constitution and are not accorded the representation in parliament as others minorities are. They face varying challenges of discrimination in education and employment. Many of the younger Mandaeans are looking for opportunities abroad, but there are just as many who would prefer to stay. Ahvaz, Iran.2016
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Ms. Khafaji, administrator of the mandi in Ahvaz, where Iran’s Mandaeans go to worship. She stands partially obscured by a doorway of the mandi, where she reprimands a young woman for wearing red on Ashura, a major religious holiday of mourning for Shia Muslims, who typically wear black in honor of the day.
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Saeede, 18, gets ready for a religious singing ceremony. She talks about the challenges she and her peers face as Mandaeans, who are perceived as "Najis" by the broader regional community.In school, some of her friends choose not to admit they are Mandaean, she says. Ahvaz, Iran. November 2016
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Muslims light candles in front of the Mandaean house On the day of Ashura (the tenth day of Muharram in the calendar. Commemorates the death of Hussain ibn Ali). To respect Muslims, Mandaean refuse to go out with white clothing. Ahvaz, Iran.2016.
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A man enters The mandi and pictures of the Mandean martyrs of Iran-Iraq war are in the background. A Mandi is a place of worship for followers of Mandaeism. A mandā« must be built beside a river in order to perform maá¹£buta (or baptism) because water is an essential element in the Mandaean faith.Ahvaz.2016
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Mr.Zahrooni, A Mandean retired teacher stands in front of his house. he says: “Even some barbers do not cut our hair,”.One barber, he encountered reserved a special set of shaving equipment and clippers to use on members of the religious minority group. “I ask him why he uses a different set of equipment…When a Muslim customer comes, he says, ‘You see, I use a different set of equipment for Mandaeans and I even wash my hands afterward.”Ahvaz, Iran.2016
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A 30 years old Mandean goldsmith killed in his jewelry by thieves. His funeral and special ceremonies take place in Mandi. His family members said that if police caught the thieves the sentence of the court for Christians will not be the same as the Muslims, and the laws are being discriminated against Mandean community.Ahvaz, Iran.2016
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An Iranian Mandean couple holds twigs from the Yannis tree after their marriage baptizes in the Karun river in Ahvaz. Ahvaz, Iran.2016
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After participating in the religious ceremony, the girls return to their homes. Shahrzad, 17, says, "I was born here and I am used to the life here, so it makes me feel I want to stay in Iran. But I know I can't find a job here so I think I should leave. I know it's no use to get a degree as I can't find a job. I know in another country I can be successful." Many of the younger Mandaeans are looking for opportunities abroad, but there are just as many who would prefer to stay. Ahvaz, Iran.2016
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