Lupieri reconstructs the history of the interaction between Mandaeanism and the Western world, beginning with Ricoldo da Montecroce, a thirteenth century Italian monk who is the first known European to write about the Mandaeans, and continuing on to recent scholarship. He also offers a critical analysis of the Mandaean written and oral traditions concerning their origin, history, and self-understanding - including their view that they are the only ones on earth who possess the true and oldest faith.
This book is made even more valuable with the inclusion of an extensive anthology of translated Mandaean texts, complete with notes. This gathering of writings presents the spiritual world of Mandaeanism with fragments of mythical-theological texts and pages of ethical and historical meditations. Special attention is given in the notes to the contraposition against other religions Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and other minor groups) and to the ideas Mandaeans have of biblical and historical figures.
Out of the over 60,000 Mandaeans in Iraq in the early 1990s, only about 5,000 to 7,000 remain there; as of early 2007, over 80% of Iraqi Mandaeans are now refugees in Syria and Jordan. There are small Mandaean diaspora populations in Australia (c. 3,500 as of 2006), Canada, the USA (c. 1,500) and Sweden (c. 5,000).