'''Mandaeans''' a gnostic [[Gentile Gnostic]] community that seceded from the Sebomenoi around 60 CE. Mandaean is the term used for the laypeople of the community, and Nasorean is the term used for the priesthood. With the advent of Islam, the only surviving Mandaeans lived in southern Iraq. They were originally protected under Islamic law as Nosaari, but they adopted the name Sabian when Christians assumed exclusive use of the name Nosaari. They continue to live in Lower Babylonia, in the territory of Wasiṭ and Bassora, near Khuzistan. ca. 1st c. CE to the present day, although very few in number.
