In a later section of the book, it is revealed that Abatur is the source of Ptahil, who is the demiurge in Mandaean mythology.
An Anglican vicar, Rev. Peter Owen-Jones, included a short segment on a Mandaean group in Sydney, Australia, in his BBC series, Around the World in 80 Faiths.
The Mandaean communities in these cities fled persecution during the 1880s and settled in the Iranian cities of Ahvaz and Khorramshahr.
When Saddam Hussein embarked on a war with Iran he dredged the Shi'i and Mandaean inhabited marshes of Southern Iraq, causing damage to the ancient culture of the Mandaean people who have lived amongst the reeds since Sumerian times.